Laying t he f oundat ions

68 © M ichael Harris and Paul M cCann 1994. This page may be photocopied for use in the classroom.

3.2 Laying t he f oundat ions

The best t im e t o st art int egrat ing self -assessm ent int o a course and t o int roduce st udent s t o self -assessm ent is f rom t he f irst day of class. Bef ore you open a t ext book or begin t o do ot her classroom act ivit ies, you have t he ideal opport unit y t o get st udent s t o t hink about t heir ow n learning. The best w ay of doing t his can be eit her t hrough learner quest ionnaires or t hrough classroom survey act ivit ies. In t his sect ion w e w ill look at som e learner t raining act ivit ies f or t he f irst t w o w eeks of t erm in w hich self -assessm ent f eat ures prom inent ly. Classroom survey: past learning experiences Even if st udent s com e f rom sim ilar learning backgrounds it can be usef ul t o get t hem t o recall previous learning experiences. As w ell as rem inding st udent s of t heir past learning experiences t he f eedback f rom st udent s can give you usef ul inf orm at ion t o help your ow n planning. Learner quest ionnaire: Init ial self -assessment A sim ple quest ionnaire can help you f ind out in m ore det ail about how your st udent s f eel about t heir ow n English, doing an init ial self -assessm ent of st rong and w eak areas. It is im port ant t o realise t hat at t his st age any grades t hat st udent s give are t ot ally subject ive and relat ed t o how t hey f eel about previous learning experiences. These quest ionnaires can be handed in individually, in w hich case t hey can provide a usef ul init ial record of each st udent ’s f eelings t ow ards t heir learning. Anot her w ay of gat hering t his sort of f eedback f rom older and higher level learners is t hrough a let t er or not e direct ed t o you t he t eacher. St udent s can w rit e a not e t elling you about t heir problem s and how t hey f eel about t he diff erent areas of English. Give this questionnaire to your students at the beginning of the year. My Learning a So far have you found learning English: • quite difficult? • quite easy? • very difficult? b Which of these areas of English are easiest for you? Order them in these terms 1 = easiest 7 = the most difficult • speaking • listening • writing • reading • grammar • vocabulary • pronunciation c Give yourself a mark out of ten for each of the areas above. Example: speaking 610 Don’t worry about other people, think about how you feel about the different areas. If you feel satisfied, give yourself a good mark; if you don’t give yourself a low mark. © M ichael Harris and Paul M cCann 1994. This page may be photocopied for use in the classroom. 69 Diagnost ic quest ionnaires If your st udent s com e f rom a variet y of prim ary schools, it can be int erest ing t o f ind out w hat t hey have covered and t o ask st udent s w hat t hey t hink t hey are able t o do. By collect ing t hem in and looking at t hem you can get a bet t er idea of your st udent s. At t he sam e t im e t he st udent s t hem selves are receiving t raining in self - assessm ent . Look through this diagnostic questionnaire and modify it according to the needs of your students putting it into their L1 if necessary. Then give it to your students at the beginning of the year. You can also include other areas, eg listening: How well students can understand different people in different situations. What can I do in English? Mark which of the things below you can do like this: a I can do this well b I can do it c I can’t do it • Ask the teacher for help, eg about the meaning of a word • Ask the teacher for permission to do things, eg open the window • Say my name, address and telephone number. • Talk about what I like, eg musichobbies • Talk about my family. • Tell the time. • Buy things in a shop. • Ask information about pricestimes of trains or buses. • Describe people and animals. • Talk about what I do every day. • Talk about the weather. • Give and ask for directions. • Talk about what I did last weekend. • Talk about my last holidays. • Talk about my life in the past. • Give my opinions about filmsTVsport. • Give instructions. • Make suggestions to do things with friends. • Invite people to parties. • Agree and disagree with people. Est ablishing object ives and goals Having t hought about past learning experiences t hat st udent s have had, it is a good t im e t o t hink about object ives f or t he com ing year. W hile t his can also be done unit by unit , t he st art of a course is a good t im e f or learners t o t hink about t heir priorit ies and needs. At t he end of t he course t hey w ill t hen be able t o ref er back t o t hem t o assess w het her t hey have reached t hem or not . In t his w ay aw areness of init ial goals is an im port ant st ep in t he developm ent of self -assessm ent . 70 © M ichael Harris and Paul M cCann 1994. This page may be photocopied for use in the classroom. The degree of learner part icipat ion in est ablishing object ives w ill depend on your t eaching sit uat ion. In m any secondary sit uat ions, t he overall object ives w ill already have been est ablished by t he m inist ry or t he school depart m ent . How ever, t his does not m ean t hat st udent s cannot be consult ed about object ives and given t he chance t o t hink about t heir ow n needs. Again t his is part icularly im port ant in m ixed abilit y sit uat ions and w here st udent s can have t he opport unit y of w orking on t heir ow n or in sm all groups. Having consult ed st udent s at t he beginning of t he year, t heir needs can be t aken int o account in course planning t hroughout t he year. For exam ple, if you f ind t hat st udent s are part icularly int erest ed in a cert ain t opic it m ay be possible t o relat e a t ask-based unit or project t o it . Setting objectives Give your students a list with some of your objectives for the coming year. Tell them individually to choose five priorities for themselves eg listening to storiesspeaking about likes. If they like they can add other objectives particularly in terms of topic areas to cover. They can hand these in to you individually or discuss their answers in groups and then report them back to the rest of the class. Objectives elementary level • Topic areas nature and the environment, shopping, food • Speaking using English in the classroom talking about your own lives – likes, homes, food • Listening getting used to listening without understanding everything listening to stories, conversations, cartoons • Reading getting used to understanding the general idea reading teenage magazines, comics, simplified readers using dictionaries • Writing planning and organising writing writing postcards, penfriend letters • Grammar revision and introduction of basic tenses: present simple present continuous, past simple, future • Vocabulary related to: classroom, animals, food • Pronunciation difficult sounds • Learning organising vocabulary, books, self-assessment © M ichael Harris and Paul M cCann 1994. This page may be photocopied for use in the classroom. 71 As w ell as looking at overall course object ives, t he object ives of part icular m odules or unit s can be looked at t hroughout t he course. Bef ore beginning a new m odule you can inf orm st udent s of t he m ost im port ant aim s and encourage t hem t o t hink about w hich are m ost usef ul t o t hem . Then, w hen st udent s have f inished t he m odule t hey w ill be able t o look back and decide t o w hat degree t he object ives have been achieved. Learning skills The beginning of a course is also a good t im e f or st udent s t o assess how eff ect ive t hey are as learners and f rom t here t o t hink about how t hey could becom e bet t er learners. This involves t hinking about bot h t heir at t it udes t ow ards learning and t heir st udy habit s. Self-assessment of learning style Look through the questionnaire below. Think about how you might adapt it for your own students translating it into their L1 if necessary. Having given it to your students you can discuss the answers. Are you a good learner? 1 What is your attitude towards other countries? a I’m very interested in how other people live. b I’m quite interested in how other people live. c I’m only interested in where I live. 2 What is your attitude towards English? a I’m interested in listening to songs in English and watching films and TV programmes in English. b I only like songs and films from my own country. 3 For which of these things do you think English may be useful? a For travelling to different countries. b For helping to get me a job. c For studying at school or university. 4 Do you try to speak English in class? a Always. b Sometimes. c Never. 5 What do you bring to class? a My coursebook, vocabulary book and a notebook. b Only my coursebook. c Nothing. 6 What do you do when you find an important new word? a I write it down on a piece of paper. b I don’t write it down, I say it to myself. c I write it in my vocabulary book. 72 © M ichael Harris and Paul M cCann 1994. This page may be photocopied for use in the classroom. 7 When you are listening to the cassette in class and you only understand a little, how do you feel? a Fine. I know that some listenings are more difficult than others, I try to understand as much as I can. b A bit frustrated but I continue listening. c Very depressed. I stop listening. 8 When your are reading, which of these things do you do? a If I see a new word I try to guess the meaning from the context. If I cannot and the word is important, I use my dictionary. b I ask the teacher what it means. c I stop reading. 9 When you get written work back from the teacher, what do you do? a Look at the mistakes I have made and think about how I can improve next time. b I look through it quickly. c I only look at the mark, then I throw it away. 10 Which of these things do you try to do outside the class? a Listen to songs in English. b Read stories in English. c Speak in English when I meet foreign people. d Watch films or TV in English. e Think about any English words I see on advertisements and labels. One point t o rem em ber w hen st udent s are assessing t heir ow n at t it udes and learning habit s is t hat t here is not alw ays a ‘ correct ’ answ er. For diff erent learners dif f erent learning st rat egies can be eff ect ive. For exam ple, if you are considering how st udent s learn vocabulary best you w ill f ind t hat som e st rat egies like using w ord net w orks or draw ing pict ures are suit ed t o som e learners but not t o ot hers. W hat is im port ant is f or st udent s t o assess how eff ect ive t hey are as learners and if t here are any w ays in w hich t hey can becom e m ore ef f ect ive. Learner diaries Anot her im port ant st ep at t his st age is t o est ablish one of t he m ost im port ant inst rum ent s in self -assessm ent , t he learner diary. Learner diaries are records by st udent s of w hat has happened in t heir language learning over a period of t im e f or inst ance a lesson or a w eek. They can be very det ailed and include a lot of inf orm at ion, such as w hat w ent on in class, w hat st udent s f eel t hey have learned, w hat problem s t hey have had and w hat t hey are going t o do t o overcom e t hem . Com plex diaries are how ever som ew hat im pract ical f or m ost secondary school learners, m ainly due t o rest rict ions of t im e. A com plex diary could t ake up t he m ajorit y of class t im e in m any sit uat ions. Theref ore, it is perhaps bet t er f or diaries t o be sim ple and short , so t hat t hey can be f illed in during a spare f ive or t en m inut es at t he end of a class. In t his sim ple f orm , st udent s can be asked t o list t he act ivit ies t hey enjoyed and t he problem s t hat t hey had. In t his w ay, st udent s are given a rough record of t he w eek’s classes t hat t hey can ref er t o w hen t hinking about t heir ow n progress. © M ichael Harris and Paul M cCann 1994. This page may be photocopied for use in the classroom. 73 Look at the two learner diaries. Which one is most suitable for your learners? • Simple learner diary Complete your learner diary every week. Example: Week 1 Favourite activities – animal guessing game animal crossword Problems – listening to animal descriptions new vocabulary – animals Week 2 Favourite activities- Problems- Week 3 Favourite activities- Problems- • Detailed learner diary Answer these questions about the lesson: • What have I done? list the activities • Which activities were most useful to me? • Which activities were not so useful for me? • Did I participate in the lesson? • Did I work well with my group? • What did I learn? • What problems did I have? All of t he act ivit ies t hat w e have looked at in t his sect ion, as w ell as providing general learner t raining, aim t o m ake st udent s ref lect on t heir ow n learning and t o st art t o assess t hem selves. The am ount of t im e you spend on t hese aw areness act ivit ies w ill depend on t he t im e you have available. How ever, even one or t w o classes f ocusing on learning and building up m echanism s f or f ut ure self -assessm ent like learner diaries, w ill help st udent s t o assess t hem selves t hroughout t he course and it is im port ant t o rem em ber t hat , if w e w ant our st udent s t o t ake som e responsibilit y f or t heir ow n learning, w e have t o m ake it clear f rom t he beginning. 74 © M ichael Harris and Paul M cCann 1994. This page may be photocopied for use in the classroom.

3.3 Assessing perf orm ance