PART I: REPORT ON CLASSROOM OBSERVATION

Assessment can be confusing and can mean different things, depending upon individual
perceptions: some people think that assessment is the same as testing; some may think that
grading is synonymous with assessment; and others may think that assessment equals
measurement. The method of assessing student progress is one of the vital decisions a teacher
must take. In order to achieve optimal assessment results, it is important to design the
assessment instrument within a theoretical framework. As for this report, I will describe about
the strengths and weaknesses of the assessment of a teacher in a classroom based on the
video that I have chosen to be analysed. The teaching and learning process in the video took
place somewhere in China. The classroom consists of six students and the level was from
average to high. The lesson was 30 minutes long and the focus was listening and speaking. The
theme of the lesson was World of Knowledge and the topic chosen by the teacher was
Animals.
Firstly, I will talk about the strengths of the test in the lesson based on the basic
principles of assessment. The first principle that that was applied in the lesson was principle of
reliability. Reliability means the degree to which an assessment tool produces stable and
consistent results. It is a concept, which is easily being misunderstood (Feldt & Brennan, 1989).
Reliability essentially denotes consistency, stability, dependability, and accuracy of assessment
results (McMillan, 2001a, p.65 in Brown, G. et al, 2008). The test was reliable because it fulfills
the criteria of being consistent in its conditions across two or more administrations whereby the
teacher was consistent in giving marks to the students in each stage of the teaching or learning
process. For example, the student will be given marks whenever they succeeded in answering
questions. Since there is tremendous variability from either teacher or tester to teacher or tester
that affects student performance, thus reliability in planning, implementing, and scoring student
performances gives rise to valid assessment. Next, the lesson contains item or tasks that are
unambiguous to the test-taker whereby the tasks were easy to be carried out as well as the
items were familiar to the students. For example, the teacher used pictures of the animals that
were common to the students. In terms of factor, the teacher fulfilled the factor that influenced
reliability which is the teacher-student relationship. This factor contributes to positive effects to
the reliability of a test include teachers encouragement, positive mental and physical condition,
familiarity to the test formats, and perseverance and motivation. The fulfillment of this factor was
shown in the video whereby the teacher develops good relationship with the students as well as
having good physical condition and positive mental and good attributes. Also, the classroom

environment fulfills the criteria of favourable environment such as enough space, comfortable
chairs and desks and so on. An examination environment certainly influences test-takers and
their scores. Any favourable environment with comfortable chairs and
ventilation, sufficient light and space will improve the

desks,

good

reliability of the test.

The next strength in the test of the lesson was the used of the principle of validity.
Validity refers to the evidence base that can be provided about appropriateness of the
inferences, uses, and consequences that come from assessment (McMillan, 2001).
Appropriateness has to do with the soundness, trustworthiness, or legitimacy of the claims or
inferences that testers would like to make on the basis of obtained scores. Clearly, we have to
evaluate the whole assessment process and its constituent parts by how soundly we can defend
the consequences that arise from the inferences and decisions we make. Content validity is
concerned with whether or not the content of the test is sufficiently representative and
comprehensive for the test to be a valid measure of what it is supposed to measure (Henning,
1987). The assessment considered as valid because content of the test are assessing specific
skills which are the listening and speaking skills. For example, in the video, we can see that the
teacher gave marks every time the pupils can pronounce the animal words. The most important
step in making sure of content validity is to make sure all content domains are presented in the
test. Another method to verify validity is through the use of Table of Test Specification that can
give detailed information on each content, level of skills, status of difficulty, number of items, and
item representation for rating in each content or skill or topic.
Thirdly, the strength of the test in the lesson was the use of principle of practicality.
Bachman & Palmer (1996) define practicality as the relationship between the resources that will
be required in the design, development, and use of the test and the resources that will be
available for these activities. If the resources required for implementing the test exceed the
resources (human or materials or time) available, the test will be impractical. The test was
considered as practical since the teacher did not exceed the resources as the teaching aids
used were simple and affordable. Practicality, then, can be determined for a specific testing
situation. A test may be practical in one situation but may be not in another. Moreover, according
to Brown (2004) said that the test that is practical it needs to be within the means of financial
limitations, appropriate time constraints, easy to administrator, score, and interpret. Therefore,
the test in the lesson was practical because it was easy to administer as the transition between
teaching stages and handling the teaching activities was smooth. Also, the teacher utilised

everything during the lesson wisely which include the pupils and the teaching aids to help to
make the teaching and learning process become more fun and effective.
The last strength of the test that I have identified from the lesson was the use of principle of
washback effect. Washback or backwash is the effect that tests have on learning and teaching.
It generally refers to the effects the tests have on instruction in terms of how students prepare
for the test. According to (Brown, 2004), backwash is now seen as a part of the impact a test
may have on learners and teachers, on educational systems in general, and on society at large
(Hughes, 2003). Since it can be harmful or beneficial, teachers should avoid the former and try
to achieve the latter. Cheng, Watanabe, and Curtis (2004) offered an entire anthology to the
issue of washback while Spratt (2005) challenged teachers to become agents of beneficial
washback in their language classrooms. In large-scale assessment, washback often refers to
the effects that tests have on instruction in terms of how students prepare for the test. In the
lesson, the washback was fulfilled through the early and good preparation of teaching aids and
activities were well organized thus produced smooth transition in each activity. (Brown, 2010)
discusses the factors that provide beneficial washback in a test . He mentions that such a test
can positively influence what and how teachers teach, students learn; offer learners a chance to
adequately prepare, give learners feedback that enhance their language development, is more
formative in nature than summative, and provide conditions for peak performance by the
learners. So all of these factors can be seen in the lesson whereby the teacher offered the
learners a chance to adequately prepare. In every activity, the teacher made a clear demo to the
students so that they can understand what the teacher wanted them to do. Next, the teacher
gave the learners feedbacks that enhance their language development. Therefore, the marking
system motivates pupils to participate actively in the lesson. The teacher also had exploitable
teaching materials for assessment purpose. The teacher also promoted sense of
accomplishment by giving praise when the students achieved something or answer the
questions correctly.

Lastly, the teacher also provided drills for peak performance by the

learners.
Before I move on to the suggestion for improvements of the test, I would like to state that the
test was conducted based on the China context. The learners are learning English as a Foreign
Language. Therefore, simpler content was being taught since the students have limited
exposure to the language. Also, the mother tongue of the students influenced the learning
process which affects the pronunciation of the language as well as the form of assessment.

Therefore, in terms of Malaysian context, the test should be modified a little bit to suit the needs
of the students in the country.
In the principle of reliability, the teacher should provide clear instructions before carrying out
activities. The demonstration was good but in terms of learning language, it limits the use of the
language. Also, the assessment should be more specific to ensure the consistency of scoring.
The careful specification of an analytical scoring instrument (score) can increase reliability
(Brown & Abeywickrama, 2010). In terms of principle of validity, the teacher did not put much
emphasis on the pronunciation stress of the language although there was some drilling
conducted. Therefore, the assessment was based on the successfulness of pronouncing the
words, not on the successfulness of the activity. A test with content validity has a representative
sample of the language skills, structures, etc. with which it is meant to be concerned (Hughes,
2003). A comparison of test specification and test content is the basis for judgments as to
content validity. If a course has 10 objectives, but only two are covered in a test, content validity
suffers. So, the teacher should put emphasize on the oral production of syllable stress the
students then give a direct testing. Same materials used in assessment will not be valid. So,
using work sheets would be more appropriate. The teacher also should standardized scoring
system by having rubrics for assessment because scoring given by the teacher was changing
from one to another. Also, the teacher should prepare a proper way to record the score such as
having a board or chart. The test-takers will get the same score no matter when or where they
take it, within reason of course. (Centre of Applied Linguistics, 2011). Not only the test items
but also the ways in which the responses are marked contribute to the validity of a test (Hughes,
2003). If a test aims to test how well the student can write an essay in English, deducting the
score just because the handwriting is not neat will reduce the validity of this writing test. In
terms of practicality, the lesson was carried out in a country that is taking English as a Foreign
Language, so the content is rather too simple or easy to be carried out here in Malaysia.
Therefore, teacher should design activities that challenge students critical thinking as an added
value (not solely) to the meaningful, purposeful and fun activity. Also, provide a pair work or
group activity to promote communication between pupils. Bachman & Palmer (1996) argue that
teachers need to find an appropriate balance among these qualities (human, materials, time)
available which will vary from one testing situation to another. A good test in one situation,
therefore, may not be a good test in another. Having only a few qualities very high without
having the rest will not yield a good test, either.

Assessment is one essential component of curriculum practice that has salient contribution
for effective curriculum operation and implementation. Instructors' recognition for continuous
assessment and practice has significance for students learning of substantive knowledge and
skill. Teachers should integrate plan for continuous assessment with the instructional process to
raise learning standards of students. Teachers who show only grades or marks are not providing
enough feedback to help improve student learning (Nitko, 2004). Teachers should devise
assessment tasks that practically challenge students, provide feedback and comments as they
assess, engage students in the assessment process. Research experiments have established
that, while learning is advanced by feedback through comments, giving of numerical scores or
grades has a negative effect, in that students ignore comments when marks are also given
(Black & William, 2004). Brookhart (1997, 2001) pointed out that when students are able to
monitor progress toward meeting challenging but possible learning objectives and by receiving
feedback, their self-efficacy is enhanced. It has also been found that successful students
engage in self-assessment regularly and actively interpret feedback about their performance as
related to course work. Hence, it is an advantage for the enhancement of student learning and
provision of quality education if instructors in higher learning institutes emphasize on providing
feedback and comment on assessed work of students in the learning process. In conclusion,
teachers should do their best to make sure that their tests are both reliable and valid so that
their decisions based on the test scores can be justified. At the same time, tests should not only
be as similar to the real-world tasks as possible but also gives beneficial backwash. All the
necessary test qualities should be balanced and maximized to ensure good, useful and effective
tests.