Table of Contents
Introduction
Assessments created for native English speakers are less reliable for English language learners (ELL). Standardized tests designed for native speakers may not reliably measure the learning progress of second language learners. These can be challenging because of their linguistic complexity, test anxiety, and vocabulary limitations.
Any attempts to set rigid policies for planning, distributing, communicating, and evaluating assessments for ELL students focused only on standardized tests will not address the issue. A more appropriate assessment strategy would be to conduct informal assessments regularly, tracking student progress over time.
This article lists 10 effective assessment strategies to assess ELL progress informally.
Considerations for assessment strategies
Before providing examples of effective assessment strategies for English Language Learners, let’s start with the prerequisites for any assessment strategies.
Assessment strategies have to take into consideration:
- The objectives of the course.
- The principles of good assessment.
- The requirements of the assessment.
- Types of assessment.
- The methods or tools of assessment.
The objectives of the course
Assessment strategies have to be aligned with the course objectives. Otherwise, the assessment will be flawed. What we assess has to stick to the specified behavior, skill, or action we want our students to demonstrate. Objectives have to be measurable by means of specific assessment tools. Everything in our teaching should work together to ensure students attain the course objectives.
The principles of good assessment
Assessment should abide by some basic requirements, such as validity and reliability.
- Validity refers to the extent to which a test measures what it is supposed to measure.
- Reliability refers to the consistency of test scores when administered on different occasions.
The assessment requirements
Assessment has to cater to all learning styles and needs. Varying the assessment tools and methods may fulfill the requirement of equity. Learners have to be engaged in different forms of tasks: writing, speaking, reading, listening, drawing, etc.
Assessment is not a one-size-fits-all strategy. Learners’ needs differ and the assessment of their learning should be adapted accordingly to their needs.
Types of assessment
Teachers use formative, summative and alternative assessments to test their student’s progress.
Formative assessment
Formative assessment is used to evaluate students’ progress and understanding in order to identify learning needs and adapt teaching appropriately.
Summative assessment
Summative testing, however, evaluates student learning according to a benchmark, for example at the end of an instructional unit.
Alternative assessment
There is another type of assessment that does not fall into the categories of tests mentioned above: alternative assessment.
This may involve learners in diverse activities such as project work, creative writing, interviews, portfolios, etc
Other alternative ways to assess learning can be simple and may require only a very short time.
In this article on Edutopia, Todd Finley introduces Alternative formative assessment (AFA) and says that these strategies:
can be as simple (and important) as checking the oil in your car — hence the name “dipsticks.” They’re especially effective when students are given tactical feedback, immediately followed by time to practice the skill. My favorite techniques are those with simple directions, like The 60 Second Paper, which asks students to describe the most important thing they learned and identify any areas of confusion in under a minute.
He also provides a downloadable list of 53 ways to check for understanding. Here is the link to the article:
Dipsticks: Efficient Ways to Check for Understanding
And here is the link to the:
Downloadable list of 53 ways to check for understanding
Types of Testing
There are different types of tests:
- Standardized
Standardized tests are created with consistent questions and interpretations, and they are administered and scored in a predetermined, consistent manner. They allow for comparison between students across different schools. - Non-standardized
As opposed to standardized tests, non-standardized tests are designed to see to what extent learning has taken place but do not allow for a comparison between students across different schools. They are also sometimes called informal tests.
This article focuses on the non-standardized assessment of language learners.
Assessment Strategies For English Language Learners
The following is a list of 10 assessment strategies for English language learners that are not based on standardized testing. They all use specific methods or tools of assessment that are formative and seek the collection of information about learners’ progress. They are also sometimes called assessments for learning.
1. Interview
An interview is an organized discussion in which one participant asks questions and the other replies. Interviews can be a good assessment tool. This may entail evaluating the interviewee’s spoken communication, problem-solving, and interpersonal skills. The assessment tool can assist the interviewee to discover their strengths and limitations. This may also provide feedback to help them improve their speaking abilities.
2. Public speaking
Public speaking, the act of speaking face to face to a live audience, can be an amazing language learning and assessment tool. Teachers may assess the public speaker’s communication competencies. This includes the ability to structure discourse with:
An introduction that gets the audience’s attention and a clear presentation of the thesis.
A body of speech where ideas flow clearly and logically to make a point.
A summary of the speech that provides a brief and clear wrap-up of the topic.
Assessing public speakers also involves evaluating extralinguistic abilities such as the use of nonverbal communication.
3. Summarizing
As an assessment tool, teachers may invite their students to summarise class readings, lectures, and conversations. Summaries demonstrate the student’s understanding of what has been taught.
Summarizing does wonders not only for assessing students’ knowledge but also it is ideal for long-term retention. It is an effective technique to boost learning and memory.
4. Reports
A report is a written document that organizes information for a specified audience and purpose. Although report summaries might be presented orally, entire reports are usually typically delivered in written form.
Reports are similar to summaries in that they require students to demonstrate their understanding of key themes from class discussions. Reports, on the other hand, take things a step further since the student must explain his or her knowledge in a way that offers a clear image to anyone who reads the report, even if that person is not a classmate.
Using reports for assessment can provide information about the learners’ progress. Reports can be assigned as an individual work, in pairs, or in, groups. Teachers may assess their students’ reports’ structure, presentation, style, analysis, content, use of figures and tables, references, etc.?
5. Conducting research
In addition to training students to conduct research, a skill they will need in higher studies, encouraging them to do so provides valuable information about their progress. To what extent:
- Can they think critically?
- Can they solve problems?
- Can they apply the research methodology?
- Do they use appropriate and correct language to communicate ideas?
- Do they have confidence and can work independently?
These are competencies that are part and parcel of 21st-century skills.
6. Posters
Posters generally incorporate both written and graphic elements. They are intended to be both visually appealing and informative.
As an assessment method, Teachers invite students to design a poster (print or digital) to demonstrate their understanding of a specific topic. Students present their posters to their classmates and discuss them critically. Posters may be created individually, in pairs, or groups and have several advantages as an assessment tool.
- They tend to encourage creativity
- They promote the development of communication skills
- Students are involved in the assessment, which encourages them to dig deeper into the subject.
- Promotes peer learning
- They allow teachers to investigate common mistakes for later treatments and adjustments.
7. Drawing
Drawing can be the perfect tool for some students. Here are some examples of how to proceed:
As a post-reading activity, ask students to draw a picture that represents ideas in a reading text and talk about it.
After teaching vocabulary items, invite students to draw pictures that illustrate these items.
Picture dictation: Describe a picture slowly for your students to draw (e.g., there is a table in the middle of the room. Under the table, there is a black cat. On the table, there is a vase.)
Students draw a picture of their family tree and describe it.
8. Presentations.
In presentations as an assessment tool, students are asked to conduct research on a certain topic before preparing and delivering an oral presentation. Some presentations are done in small groups and necessitate collaboration.
Very much like public speaking and research conduction, presentations require students to collect information, analyze it, and provide a synthesis.
9. Concept Maps
A concept map depicts the relationship between ideas and concepts visually. To assess your students’ comprehension, have them create idea maps from scratch or fill out existing concept maps to demonstrate their comprehension.
10. Portfolios
A portfolio is a collection of work that provides data about a student’s efforts, progress, or achievement in language learning. It is a tool that can be used for both learning and assessment.
Portfolios can provide information about the process of students’ learning over a long period. It is authentic because it includes a real sample of the student’s work and shows their progress over an extended time.
