• This Graduate Practical English Course uses continuous (onging) learner-centered assessment, which is entered by learners and by the teacher, in the Classroom Journal.
  • Assessment is absolute (not relative), and focuses on development and growth (affective, cognitive, social) as observed by the participants in that growth - the course members.
  • There are, therefore, no mid-term or final examinations.
  • This means that eveything that happens inside and outside of class is important in terms of assessment.

The ongoing assessment has four aspects :

  1. Attendance and self-assessed participation: contribution to the learning environment (40%)
  2. It's Up to You: self/peer-assessed mini-presentation (week 9) (10%)
  3. It's Up to You: self/peer-assessed final presentation (week 15) (20%)
  4. English Reflections: completion of group discussions and individual reflections (30%)
  • Assessment in this course is continuous (ongoing).
  • Assessment in this course is learner-centred.
  • Assessment in this course is absolute (not relative).
  • The assessment focuses on cognitive growth
    • learning to learn, problem-solving, critical thinking.
  • The assessment focuses on affective growth
    • development of confidence, motivation, positive attitudes to learning
    • management of stress, nervousness and anxiety
  • The assessment focuses on social growth.
    • collaboration, interpersonal responsibility, use of the Zone of Proximal Development

    In addition to teacher-based evaluation, self-assessment and peer-assessment are effective, valid and reliable evaluation tools, both feasible and practical for the language classroom.Course participants will be invited to evaluate their own progress and that of their classmates, particularly for presentations (peer- and self-assessment), and Class Participation (self-assessment).

    Check out these links to learn more about alternative assessment                                      

    Attendance and active participation are valuable indicators of attitude and motivation. Course members will monitor their own attendance and participation (self-assessment) in the Classroom Journal. This will be available in each class and course members will enter their attendance, participation, assessments and other comments.

If you miss a class, you lose attendance marks and participation marks. However, you can make these up by doing a make-up assignment. (See pages 286, 287 of It's Up to You (U2U), Student Workbook)

    Much of the course will be concerned with development of fluency and conversation skills, so attendance and active participation will be beneficial to everyone.

    We learn by doing, and in a skills-based or performance-based course, development depends on regular practice, as with learning to swim or to play a musical instrument. It follows therefore, that if we come to every class and paricipate actively, we will develop and improve our performance skills.

Q: What does "active" participation look like?
A: It's what happens when everyone is on task (concentrating), getting involved in the activities, using the target language (English), thinking about what is going on in the lesson, discussing with classmates, asking questions and thinking critically.

Q: What does non-"active" participation look like?
A: Some examples of non-participation include:

      • being late for lessons
      • "forgetting" to bring resources (books, pens, notepads, portfolios)
      • not communicating with classsmates
      • not preparing assignments

Q: So "active" participation really means going to class and doing your best?
A: That's right. Language learning is largely about beliefs and motivation. Positive beliefs (e.g. "I will do my best" "I am a good language learner" "I will be a good teacher") lead to positive results, so let's do our best for ourselves and for everyone else!                                

    Since this is a performance-based, workshop-style course, assessment focuses on performance. The textbook (U2U) guides students into a mini-presentation in Week 9, which is peer-assessed. There is no need to worry about this presentation, since the classwork in preceding weeks prepares learners for the presentation performance, and for making realistic peer-assessments. In this way, classroom practice and assessment are integrated.

    Learners work on Project Packs after the mini-presentation. These packs lead them into group presentations, on topics of their choice. As with the mini-presentation, assessment is integrated in classroom activities, and students get the opportunity to plan, design, perform and evaluate their presentations.

    Everyone will complete their own copy of English Reflections. This will be useful for a number of educational and personal reasons:

    • It will provide good practice in process writing. Course members will be able to see their writing skills improving through, and because of, this medium.
    • It will encourage course members to reflect on their learning and on the class activities.
    • It will offer course members a chance to make personal observations about themselves and their situations.
    • It will help course members to refine their ideas about teaching and to adapt them to the needs of the most important people in the classroom - the learners.
    • While writing ttheir reflections, course members will also be raising their awareness of the learning process, and developing self-confidence, motivation, and autonomy.

    Entries will be made in English Reflections at least once a week (though more frequent entries can be made if wished), and the Journal will be handed in to the professor twice during the semester.

    There are a number of assignments suggested for each week. These are to help you get the most out of the course. Please make sure you check out the assignments every week.

    The Classroom Journal contains pages for marking attendance, participation, and presentation marks. These marks are entered by students and by the teacher. At the end of the semester, all the required marks will be in the CJ, and grades can be allocated.

    The Classroom Journal is "Common Property". This means that it belongs to everyone, and is available for everyone to look at and to write in. There are many empty spaces for learner-comments, so course members should feel free to write their comments each week.

 

    Assessment of oral language should focus on a student's ability to interpret and convey meaning for authentic purposes in interactive contexts. It should include both fluency and accuracy. Cooperative learning activities that present students with opportunities to use oral language to interact with others - whether for social or academic purposes - are optimal for assessing oral language. (O'Malley, J. H. & Valdez-Pierce, L. (1996). Authentic Assessment for English Language Learners. USA: Addison-Wesley, p. 61.

    In addition to 'normal' testing, we need to pay attention to the basic moral purpose of education: promoting the self-actualization of every learner, to the fullest. (Lier, L. Van (1996). Interaction in the Language Classroom. Harlow: Longman, p. 120)

    It is quite possible that the deepest, most satisfying aspects of achievement, and the most profound effects of education, both in positive and negative terms, are entirely unmeasurable … What if we held educators accountable for the quality of the memories they gave to their students, rather than for averages on national tests? (Lier, L. Van (1996). Interaction in the Language Classroom. Harlow: Longman, p. 120)
 

Most recenlty updated on July 31, 2004