Ongoing peer-assessment of oral skills: Instructions.

This oral peer-assessment is designed to take place a number of times during the semester. If possible, it should become a part of normal conversation practice.

Step 1: Students get into groups of 6:

Step 2: Students 2, 3, 5 & 6 have a conversation on a topic agreed by them in advance, or given to them by the teacher. Students 1 & 4 use their peer-assessment sheets to assess the other four students, using criteria for Attitude, Interaction, Fluency, Delivery and Range.

2

3

 

1

4

 

6

5

   
Step 3: Students 1 & 4 cut up their assessment sheet (4 parts) and give the assessments to the appropriate students (immediate feedback). Assessed and assessor can discuss the profile of results at this stage if they wish. Assessed students make an ongoing "assessment profile" in their portfolios.
Step 4:(Next session) Students 1, 2, 4, 5 have a conversation on a topic agreed by them earlier, or given to them by the teacher. Students 6 & 3 use their peer-assessment sheets to assess the other four students, using criteria for Attitude, Interaction, Fluency, Delivery and Range.Step 3.

1

2

 

6

3

 

5

4

   
Step 4: (Next session) Students 6, 1, 3, 4 have a conversation on a topic agreed by them earlier, or given to them by the teacher. Students 5 & 2 use their peer-assessment sheets to assess the other four students, using criteria for Attitude, Interaction, Fluency, Delivery and Range. Step 3.

6

1

 

5

2

 

4

3

     
Step 5: This process continues in batches of three sessions.

Rationale: In 12 sessions (for example), each student assesses four others in the group 4 times. Each student is also assessed by members of the group 8 times. Students therefore have practice assessing and being assessed. Use of the assessment criteria raises awareness of oral skills and the factors affecting them, and therefore positively affects the learning process. Students get feedback from their peers about their language level and its development over the semester. This also raises consciousness of language-learning, and assists students to set learning goals and to reflect on their achievement. By the end of the session, each student has a profile of development of oral skills over that time. Extra awareness can be prompted by inviting students to improve the assessment criteria. Groups might want to exchange members, though this would affect consistency.



Click here for the peer-assessment sheet in .doc format
Click here for the peer-assessment criteria (basic level) in html and in .doc format
Click here for the peer-assessment criteria (intermediate level) in html and in .doc format

Sample peer-assessment

Assessor (name): ±èÁöÀº

 

Date: March 25 2002

 
 

Name: ¹ÚÁÖÇö

 

Name: ÁÖÇö¹Ú

 

4

                     

4

3

                     

3

2

                     

2

   

1

                     

1

0

A

I

F

D

R

 

A

I

F

D

R

0

 

Name: Çö¹ÚÁÖ

 

Name: ¹ÚÇöÁÖ

 

4

                     

4

3

                     

3

2

                     

2

   

1

                     

1

0

A

I

F

D

R

 

A

I

F

D

R

0

Ongoing peer-assessment of oral skills: Sample.

The sample sheet shows results of one session.

¹ÚÁÖÇö shows a quite low profile, with an especially low rating for attitude. This seems to indicate that the student is not interested in learning. However, the score for interaction (3) shows that he/she is trying to participate, so that the attitude problem could be due to a lack of self-confidence, or to inhibiting anxiety. The delivery is also tending to impede communication. This student probably needs positive input, in order to improve his/her self-esteem.

ÁÖÇö¹Ú Has an excellent attitude score, and is only held back by a lack of range. His/her goal must therefore be to improve vocabulary and structure.

Çö¹ÚÁÖ Has excellent range, but is lacking in attitude and delivery. Depending on the specifics of this session, he/she needs to work on confidence, motivation, anxiety, pronunciation, intonation, stress, rhythm, hesitation.

¹ÚÇöÁÖ Has excellent marks in three categories, but shows problems with attitude and interaction. This again indicates a lack of self-confidence and motivation, along with anxiety about language learning. The teacher might want to point out some aspects of interaction skills.

The role of the teacher in this ongoing assessment is to monitor the sessions, and to look out for indicators which need his/her attention. Thus if students show signs of unreasonably high (or low) expectations about their abilities, the teacher can talk with them and counsel about learning strategies, study styles, etc.

Students can be assessed using these sheets, since they provide a profile of development rather than of level. However, their value is in the feedback they provide for each student, both while assessing and being assessed.



Most recently updated on March 1, 2002