Principles for assessing children’s language learning

-Assessment should be seen from a learning-centered perspective (Vygotsky: we cannot get a true assessment by testing what the child can do alone)

-Assessment should support learning and teaching (the process and outcomes of assessment can motivate learners;

-Assessment activity and feedback from it can support further learning, the outcomes of assessment can help teachers plan more effective lessons and can inform the evaluation and improvement of courses and programs.

-Assessment is more than testing: The test results do not reflect the big picture.

-Assessment should be in harmony with learning; interactional rather than isolated.

-Children and parents should understand assessment issues: Parents need to know what teachers are doing and why.

Assessment types

In teaching young learners we distinguish between formal and informal assessment.

Formal assessment

Formal assessment uses formal tests or structured continuous assessment to evaluate a learner's level of language. For example, at the end of the course the learners have a final exam to see if they pass to the next course or not. Alternatively, the results of a structured continuous assessment process are used to make the same decision. Standardized tests are formal tools for measuring student progress. Standardized test is a test in which all the questions, format, instructions, scoring and reporting of scores are the same for all test takers.

Informal assessment

In formal assessment is a way of collecting information about students performance in normal classroom conditions. Often the students don’t realize that they are being assessed.

Informal and formal assessments are both useful for making valid and useful assessments of learners' knowledge and performance. Many teachers combine the two, for example by evaluating one skill using informal assessment such as observing group work, and another using formal tools, for example a discrete item grammar test.

Alternative (informal) techniques of assessment for young learners

-Non-verbal response (for silent period)

-Oral interview (using visual clues)

-Role-play

-Written narratives (writing sample)

-Presentations

-Student-teacher conference: structured- interviews.

-Self-assessment: A pupil who learns to assess his or her own work moves from being “other -regulated” to “self-regulated” or autonomous.

-K-W-L Charts (Know, Wonder, Learn)

-Learning Logs

-Dialogue Journals

-Peer and group assessment

-Student portfolios

-On-line quiz

Nonverbal response

At the early stages of learning, before the emergence of speech, children should be instructed and assessed largely through the use of physical performance responses and pictorial products. These tasks require simple directions to carry out. At a later stage, students may perform hands-on tasks. They may be asked to produce and manipulate drawings, models, charts. This technique fits very well within the Total Physical response methodology for early language development

Oral Interview

Teachers can do a one on one interview with each of their students to get a good idea of their listening and speaking abilities. They can schedule these types of interviews during class (perhaps take each student into the hall to have a private discussion while the rest of the class does seat work) or schedule with students individually. Asking questions that use grammatical structures and vocabulary that the class has studied will help teachers know exactly what each student has grasped.

Role Play

By giving students a situation and roles to play, teachers can see how creatively the students are able to use language with one another. Teachers listen for content and grammar as with any oral assessment, but they should also pay attention to how the students are making creative use of their language to communicate with one another.

Class Presentation

A presentation in class assesses a different aspect of spoken language. When teachers ask a student to speak in front of the class, he is able to prepare and practice what he wants to say. He can also research information on his topic. In this case, the grade teachers give to the student should be based on both content and presentation.