Why try?
You know how afraid her students are to hear, “In the next class we have a test on …” Wow, you can practically hear her moans of disgust even now. Even teachers hate tests to a degree. There is preparing the test, administering it, and then the little effort to try to avoid the almost inevitable pitfalls. It’s a cat and mouse game of “catch me if you can”. Who is “smarter”, the teacher or the students? So considering the fear and dread that both students and teachers have of tests, what really is the role of tests, evaluation and assessment in teaching the English language? The following are key points when considering English and other foreign language tests.
Did you know that:
o Students learn more in classes that use tests
o The connection between testing and increased learning is well proven in research.
o Students are more motivated in classes that use tests …
o The classes in which students learn the most and in which they study the most are those in which they are frequently and exhaustively tested … (Eggan – Kauchak, 1994)
o Students expect to be assessed – adult learners expect and respect formal tests and are challenged by them … (M. Thompson, 2001)
EVALUATION means judging the student’s performance by gathering information about him.
There are basically two types of evaluation, informal and formal.
INFORMAL ASSESSMENT is when we observe students to see how well they are doing and then comment on their performance.
FORMAL ASSESSMENT is when we assess students through tests or exams and give them a grade.
In addition, testing, evaluation and assessment in English and in the teaching of other foreign languages can also serve the interests of four different groups; teachers, students, administration and parents in the case of young language learners.
FOR TEACHERS:
Testing, evaluation and assessment in the teaching of English and other foreign languages can serve the interests of teachers in at least three main ways:
– Evaluation of didactic and teaching methods
– Assessment of the student’s language skills
– Teacher responsibility to administration and parents: that is, are the objectives being met?
FOR STUDENTS:
Testing, evaluation and assessment in the teaching of English and other foreign languages can serve the interests of students in three main ways:
– Demonstrate knowledge
– Diagnosis to indicate areas of weakness or disability.
– Promote the study
There are five key categories of evaluation (ref. Cucchiarelli, Panti, Valenti, 2000):
– Location evaluation
– Formative evaluation
– Diagnostic evaluation
– Summative evaluation
– Self appraisal
In the next part of this series of articles, we will continue and consider each of these evaluation categories in more detail. Teachers of English and other foreign languages, your knowledge, observations, questions and personal comments on this subject will be greatly appreciated.