Inf orm al assessm ent of non-linguist ic f act ors

© M ichael Harris and Paul M cCann 1994. This page may be photocopied for use in the classroom. 21

1.4 Inf orm al assessm ent of non-linguist ic f act ors

W e also need t o t hink about our st udent s’ overall educat ional developm ent . It is im port ant f or learners t o develop in t erm s of a language and in t erm s of at t it udes t ow ards learning, t ow ards language, diff erent cult ures and ot her people. We also need t o consider st udent s’ abilit y t o t ake responsibilit y f or and organise t heir ow n learning. We need t o consider how m uch im port ance w e are going t o give t o non- linguist ic f act ors. If w e discount non-linguist ic f act ors and only assess language, w e can f ind ourselves passing t hose st udent s w ho have done no w ork and have even been disrupt ive in class but w ho st art ed w it h a higher level t han m ost of t he class. The converse could also be t rue. Giving non-linguist ic f act ors great er im port ance w ill encourage personal eff ort and achievem ent im port ant in a m ixed abilit y sit uat ion. How ever, w e could be open t o accusat ions t hat w e are f ailing t o ref lect our st udent s’ linguist ic perf orm ance and t hat w e m ust assess st udent s in relat ion t o pre-est ablished syllabus goals. The balance is a diff icult one and how w e solve it w ill depend on t he part icular t eaching sit uat ion t hat w e are in. Assessing non-linguist ic areas can also be a very diff icult area t o deal w it h in t erm s of reliabilit y and f airness. If w e say t hat a st udent has a poor at t it ude w it hout having concret e evidence f or it , w e can lay ourselves open t o accusat ions of part ialit y and unf airness. We need t o be clear about t he crit eria w e are using and provide proof t o back up our decisions about non-linguist ic f act ors. W e need t o carry out syst em at ic observat ion and t o keep records of it , eg at t endance, part icipat ion in class et c. St udent s’ w ork, eg com posit ions vocabulary books et c can be good indicat ors of at t it udes and responsibilit y. Informal assessment – Non-linguistic factors Either on your own or with a colleague, decide which of the items below you think are important in terms of assessment. If you think that an item should be assessed, how could you assess it? If not, why not? a Attitude • is interested in class activities • is willing to offer opinions • is co-operative with teacherpeers • is willing to respond to the opinions of others b Co-operativeness • is able to work in pairs • is able to work in groups • is able to work as a member of the whole class • is able to share ideas and knowledge c Independence • is able to plan and organise own work • is able to self-correct where necessary • is able to use sources of information d Creativity and presentation • shows original thought, initiative, inventiveness • presents work neatly and in an ordered manner 22 © M ichael Harris, Paul M cCann 1994, M acmillan Publishers Ltd W e w ill int roduce t he f act ors f irst and t hen af t er init ial discussion w e w ill suggest a w ay of m apping t he f act ors discussed ont o a report ing syst em . At t it ude W e can look at at t it udes t ow ards learning, at t it udes t ow ards t he language it self , at t it udes t ow ards ot her cult ures and at t it udes t ow ards ot her people. The m ost im port ant one is t he f irst one, as w it hout a posit ive at t it ude t o learning, learning it self is not very likely t o t ake place. One w ay of assessing our st udent s’ at t it ude is by w rit ing prof iles. Look at t he t w o st udent prof iles. W hich one is t he best st udent ? St udent A This st udent appears in t he classroom t o be a passive learner. He of f ers no opinions nor adds anyt hing t o any language discussion. St udent A appears t o be unint erest ed in everyt hing t hat is going on around him . He seem s bored. He does not co-operat e w it h ot her m em bers of t he class. If involved in t w o-w ay com m unicat ion, he int errupt s his com panions const ant ly and of t en dism isses t heir opinions, insist ing t hat his opinions are right . St udent B This st udent appears alw ays t o be act ively involved in class act ivit ies. She alw ays of f ers an opinion and enriches discussions w it h her view s. St udent B alw ays appears t o be int erest ed in w hat is happening in t he classroom . She appears t o be st im ulat ed by class act ivit ies. She co-operat es w it h you t he t eacher and t he rest of t he class. She is a good list ener and appears t o accept her com panions’ view point s w hilst at t he sam e t im e giving her ow n at t he appropriat e m om ent in a conversat ion. A judgem ent or rat ing could be m ade each m ont h or t erm or academ ic year. St udent A and B prof iles ident if ied t he f ollow ing areas as possible crit eria f or assessm ent : ◆ is passiveact ive ◆ of f ers opinionsdoes not off er opinions ◆ show s int erest does not show int erest ◆ co-operat esdoes not co-operat e ◆ accept s opinionsdoes not accept opinions Ot her areas w e could consider in t erm s of at t it ude are ef f ort and int erest . Here w e can look at concret e indicat ors of eff ort and int erest , eg w het her a st udent hands in hom ew ork regularly w hen asked, w het her a st udent is punct ual, w het her hisher at t endance is regular and w het her heshe reads in English out side t he class. Group w ork In language classroom s t he abilit y t o w ork w it h ot her people in a group is crucial. It should also be one of our general educat ional object ives t o develop t he abilit y t o co-operat e w it h ot her people. Assessm ent of group w ork can be carried out in t he © M ichael Harris, Paul M cCann 1994, M acmillan Publishers Ltd 23 sam e w ay as t hat of at t it ude and t he f ollow ing areas as assessm ent can be ident if ied: ◆ has dif f icult ydoes not have diff icult y in groups ◆ co-operat esdoes not co-operat e w it h group m em bers ◆ is able t o w ork in groupsonly able t o w ork alone ◆ accept sreject s group organisat ion ◆ accept sreject s t he w ork of ot hers We also need t o consider w hen t o observe and collect our dat a – project w ork, role- plays and gam es all provide us w it h opport unit ies t o observe and assess. Perhaps t he m ost usef ul of t hese is project w ork w hen st udent s need t o w ork t oget her t o produce som et hing. Co-operat ion w ill t hus involve m aking decisions in groups, sharing out w ork, helping each ot her and posit ively crit icising t he w ork of ot hers. As w e w ill m ent ion in t he chapt er on self -assessm ent , peer assessm ent can be a very good source of inf orm at ion about t his. W hile you can observe st udent s w orking t oget her in t he classroom you w ill not be aw are of t he dynam ics of each group in t he class. Organisat ion of w ork This is t he abilit y of st udent s t o organise t heir ow n w ork, a very im port ant learning skill w hich w e need t o help our st udent s develop. Assessm ent can be carried out in t he sam e w ay as t he previous t w o f act ors and t he f ollow ing areas as assessm ent crit eria can be ident if ied: ◆ is ableunable t o organise w ork syst em at ically ◆ is ableunable t o plan w ork ◆ is ableunable t o produce present able w ork ◆ is conscient iousnot conscient ious ◆ self -correct sdoes not self -correct Ot her t hings w hich w e could t ake int o considerat ion w hen looking at st udent s’ abilit y t o organise t heir ow n w ork are t he f ollow ing: t heir not ebook, t heir gram m ar not es and t heir vocabulary books. All of t hese are im port ant indicat ors and one w ay of helping you assess t his area could be t o t ake t hem in and look at t hem . It is f airly easy t o see t heir abilit y t o organise t heir w ork f rom t he w ay st udent s w rit e t heir not es and st ore lexis and gram m ar. It is w ort h point ing out how ever t hat if you do t his you should give t hem som e help t o st art w it h. Learner t raining act ivit ies at t he beginning of t he year should include looking at w ays of organising learning such as est ablishing vocabulary books. Independence This is t he abilit y of st udent s t o w ork on t heir ow n as w ell as part of a group see under Group W ork. St udent s should be encouraged and t rained t o w ork alone using resources available t o t hem such as dict ionaries, t ext books and ot her ref erence w orks. The f ollow ing areas as assessm ent crit eria can be ident if ied: ◆ is ableunable t o use dict ionaries ◆ is ableunable t o use t he course t ext book as a resource ◆ is ableunable t o ref er back t o previous w ork as an aid ◆ is ableunable t o produce pieces of w ork w it hout help All t he f act ors m ent ioned need t o be m apped ont o a rat ing scale if t hey are t o be assessed w it h any degree of reliabilit y. On t he f ollow ing page is a suggest ed m odel, t aking as it s crit eria a YESNO response t o t he areas ident if ied in each non-linguist ic f act or above. The diff erent crit eria w ould be best separat ed out int o f our diff erent scales w it h a decision m ade f or each it em . 24 © M ichael Harris and Paul M cCann 1994. This page may be photocopied for use in the classroom. At t it ude Is an act ive m em ber of t he class. YesNo Is able and w illing t o off er ow n opinions on subject s. YesNo Show s int erest in class act ivit ies. YesNo Is generally co-operat ive w it h ot her people in class. YesNo Is capable of m odif ying opinions in t he light of t hose of ot hers YesNo Use the criteria suggested about group work, organisation of work and independence to write your own scales like those above for attitude.

1.5 Result s f rom inf orm al assessm ent