Professional Development Course on Catering for Diversity
in English Language Teaching
ENG5316
Assessing Diversity in English Language Learning
Session 5
Assessment of oral language and behaviour
Prepared by YANG, Chi Cheung Ruby,
Department of English, HKIEd
The Nature of Oral Language Ability
 Children use oral language either in conversation or in
extended talk.
 In conversations, speakers are supported by feedback from
other speakers.
 In extended talk, speakers must monitor their audience’s
response and adapt, if necessary, to convey the message more
clearly.
2
Assessment of Oral Language
 Structurally, language can be viewed as having five
components: phonology, morphology, syntax,
semantics and pragmatics.
 Each of these five components involves both reception
and expression.
3
Assessment of Oral Language
 Phonology involves the use of phonemes, the smallest
significant units of sound that are combined into words,
to create meaning.
 The assessment of phonology involves both the aural
discrimination of speech sounds and the articulation of
speech sounds.
4
Assessment of Oral Language
 Morphology is concerned with how phonemes are put
together to give meaning.
 Example of assessment instrument: Test for Examining
Expressive Morphology
5
Assessment of Oral Language
 Syntax involves how words are put together to form
sentences.
 Assessment of syntax involves the measurement of the
understanding of the meaning of sentences and the
ability to formulate sentences.
6
Assessment of Oral Language
 Semantics refers to the meaning of words.
 The assessment of semantics skills usually involves the
measurement of a person’s receptive and expressive
vocabulary skills.
 Receptive vocabulary can be measured using instruments
such as the Peabody Vocabulary Test.
 Expressive vocabulary measures are included on tests such
as Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children.
7
Assessment of Oral Language
8
Guidelines for Observing Oral Communication
Speech and Language Disorders
 Speech disorders affect the clarity, voice quality, and
fluency of a child’s spoken words.
 Language disorders affect a child’s ability to hold
meaningful conversations, understand others, and express
thoughts through spoken or written word.
9
Speech Disorders
10
Screening for Speech Disorders
Informal Assessment of Oral Language
 Formal language testing usually occurs in a contrived
situation.
11
Informal Assessment of Oral Language
 One approach that can be used to evaluate the spontaneous
use of language in a naturalistic setting is language
sampling. This usually involves eliciting an individual’s
language.
 The procedures for obtaining a language sample include:
a spontaneous sample taken during free play or conversation
an elicited sample asking the child to respond to questions,
pictures, etc.
12
Different Types of Oral Language Assessment
 Storytelling
 Picture description
 Oral presentations
 Question-and-answer tasks
 Mini-dialogues and role plays
 Information-gap tasks
 Group discussions
 Total physical response (TPR) tasks
 Dictation
13
Activity 1
 In pairs/small groups, discuss some ways in which your
school/department could involve pupils with special
educational needs more fully in learning oral language.
Remember to justify your decisions.
14
Assessment of Behavior
 Brainstorming:
Try to list the sources that a teacher can collect
information about his/her student’s current and past
classroom behavior.
15
Sources of Information About Classroom
Behavior
 School Records
 The students
 Teachers
 Parents
16
Functional Behavioral Assessment
 Information to determine why a student displays a
specific behavior can be obtained through three broad
methods of assessment:
Indirect method
Direct observation method
Functional behavioral analysis method
17
Functional Behavioral Assessment
 Indirect Method
It includes techniques such as interviewing the
classroom teacher and parents, reviewing data in the
school records, completing behavioral rating scales,
checklists, and so on (Overton, 2009).
18
Functional Behavioral Assessment
 Behavioral Checklists
19
Functional Behavioral Assessment
 Rating scales
A rating questionnaire may be similar in content to a
checklist, although the respondent rates the answer.
For example, the format of the checklist would change
so that the respondent would rate student behaviors as
‘never’, ‘almost never’, ‘sometimes’, ‘somewhat often’,
‘frequently’, or ‘almost always’ (Overton, 2009).
20
Functional Behavioral Assessment
 Direct Observation Techniques
The student is observed in the environment in which
the behaviors are occurring.
Several techniques may be employed: anecdotal
recording, event recording, time sampling,
duration recording, and interresponse time.
21
Functional Behavioral Assessment
 Anecdotal recording
The teacher observes the student and writes down
everything that occurs (Overton, 2009).
22
Functional Behavioral Assessment
 Event recording
It assesses the frequency with which behaviors occur.
23
Functional Behavioral Assessment
 Time sampling
The teacher identifies the target behaviors and
records student activity for a time period, such as 2
or 5 minutes, throughout the period or day (Overton,
2009).
24
Functional Behavioral Assessment
 Duration recording
This technique is used when the length of the
behavior is the target variable of the behavior
(Overton, 2009).
25
Functional Behavioral Assessment
 Interresponse time
It assesses the length of time between the behaviors or
responses.
For example, a student may be distracted or off task
every 2 minutes between the observation period of 2
to 3 pm, but become distracted only every 20 minutes
during the observation period of 10 to 11 am
(Overton, 2009).
26
Functional Behavioral Assessment
 Functional Behavioral Analysis
It goes beyond observation to gather the information
needed to plan positive behavioral interventions
for students with problem behaviors.
It makes use of a variety of informal assessment
techniques.
27
Functional Behavioral Assessment
 Functional Behavioral Analysis
Describing the Target Behavior
Identifying Factors That Influence the Behavior
Generating a Hypothesis
Program Planning
28
Functional Behavioral Assessment
 Describing the target behavior
The behavior must be observable and measurable.
 Identifying factors that influence the behavior
In order to arrive at hypotheses about possible causes, it is
necessary to gather information from other sources. These
sources are the persons who know the student best; the
student him/herself and the student’s teachers.
Interviews are typically used for data collection.
29
Functional Behavioral Assessment
 Generating a hypothesis
This hypothesis must take into account the behavior itself
and the setting, antecedents (the variables triggering the
behavior), and possible consequences that follow the
behavior.
 Program planning
The plan includes objectives related to the replacement
behaviors and a data collection system for monitoring the
progress.
30
Activity 2
 Identify a student in your class who has behavioural
problems. Then try to use Functional Behavioural Analysis
to analyse your student’s behaviour. Be prepared to share
with other participants.
31
Instruments for the Assessment of
Behavior: Some examples
 Classroom and home behavior instruments
Behavior Rating Profile
Devereux Behavior Rating Scale - School Form
 ADHD instruments
Attention Deficit Disorders Evaluation Scale
Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder Test
 Autism instruments
Autism Screening Instrument for Educational Planning
Gilliam Autism Rating Scale
32
Instruments for the Assessment of
Behavior: Some examples
 Classroom and home behavior instruments
Behavior Rating Profile
Devereux Behavior Rating Scale - School Form
33
Instruments for the Assessment of
Behavior: Some examples
 ADHD instruments
Attention Deficit Disorders Evaluation Scale
Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder Test
34
Instruments for the Assessment of
Behavior: Some examples
 Autism instruments
Autism Screening Instrument for Educational Planning
Gilliam Autism Rating Scale
35
References
 McLoughlin, J. A. & Lewis, R. B. (2008). Assessing students with
special needs (7th ed.). Upper Saddle River, N.J.:
Pearson/Merrill/Prentice Hall.
 Overton, T. (2009). Assessing learners with special needs: An applied
approach (6th ed.). Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Pearson Merrill
Prentice Hall.
 Spinelli, C. G. (2006). Classroom assessment for students in special and
general education (2nd ed.). Upper Saddle River, N.J. :
Pearson/Merrill/Prentice Hall.
 Taylor, R. L. (2000). Assessment of exceptional students: Educational
and psychological procedures (5th ed.). Boston, Mass.: Allyn and
Bacon.
36