You can’t learn without goofing!
ERROR ANALYSIS AND
ASSESSMENT
“To correct or not to correct, that is ...“
WS 2006/ 07: Renate Vaupetitsch
EA+A
ERROR ANALYSIS + ASSESSMENT (EA+A)
Course syllabus:
Introduction: Course objectives (expectations and promises)
Course organisation (oral reports, term paper, test)
1) What is error analysis?
a) a historical overview
b) ‘error analysis’ today
2) What is an error / a mistake? The “acceptability” issue.
a) the linguistic approach
b) the didactic approach
3) Mistake-noticing:
a) the role of co-text and context
b) strategies and resources
4) Learning and making mistakes : changing attitudes towards correction
a) To correct or not to correct [the ‘accuracy‘ / ‘fluency‘ controversy]
b) When / How to correct: teacher roles and feedback strategies
c) Constructive feedback to
writing
speaking
5) Assessing learner performance and learner competence
a) assessment methods and strategies
b) learner autonomy and assessment
6) Teaching English as an international language (EIL)
a) the debate over standards
b) re-defining language competence
Conclusion:
Teacher Questionnaire Reports
Tying up loose threads
Course evaluation
Requirements for a certificate





Oral reports + minutes of reports (peer assessment): topics see p.5, handout.
Term paper: see guidelines p. 31, handout.
Class test (language test : see samples pp 32 - 37, handout.
Class participation, oral report assessments: see team ass.sheet p. 40, handout.
Teaching resource portfolio (TRP) incl. Language File + Teacher Interview: see
guidelines pp. 6/7, handout.
For a successful completion of the course the “language part” (class test and “error
analysis” section of the term paper) have to be positive.
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Background reading - relevant sections from:
Bartram Mark, Walton Richard (2002), Correction, Boston: LTP Series
Bobb Wolff, Leslie (2000). Changing Attitudes towards the Treatment of Mistakes. Dublin
Crystal David. (1997). English as a global language. Cambridge: Cambridge University
Press
Dulay H., Burt M., Krashen St.( 1982). Language Two, Oxford: OUP
Edge, Julian (1989). Mistakes and Correction, London/ New York: Longman
Ellis, Rod (1990). Instructed Second Language Acquisition, Oxford: Blackwell
Ellis, Rod (1997). Second Language Acquisition, Oxford: OUP
Ellis, Gail/ Sinclair, Barbara (1989). Learning to Learn English, Cambridge: CUP
Graddol, David (2006). English Next. www.britishcouncil.org/files/documents/learningreseach-english-next.pdf.
Heaton, J.B. (1988). Writing English Language Tests, London/ New York: Longman
Hyland Ken (2003), Writing, Cambridge: CUP
James, Carl (1988). Errors in Language Learning and Use, London/ New York: Longman
Lewis, Michael (1993). The Lexical Approach, Hove: LTP
McKay, Sandra Lee (2002). Teaching English as an International Language. Oxford:
OUP
Mitchell, Rosamond/ Myles, Florence (1998). Second Language Learning Theories, New
York: Arnold
Seidlhofer, Barbara. (2003). A concept of International English and related issues: From
‘Real English’ to ‘Realistic English’. Strasbourg: Council of Europe(Language Policy
Division): http://www.coe.int/t/dg4/linguistic/Source/SeidlhoferEN.pdf
Thornbury, Scott (1999). How to Teach Grammar, Harlow: Longman
Thornbury, Scott (2002). How to Teach Vocabulary, Harlow: Longman
Tribble, Christopher (1996). Writing, Oxford: OUP
Tudor, Ian (1996). Learner-centredness as Language Education, Cambridge: CUP
Landesschulrat für Steiermark (2000). Empfehlungen für Leistungsbeurteilungen, www.lsrstmk.gv.at
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ORAL REPORTS
Audience
The audience of your reports is your colleagues (they will assess your report on the basis of
the criteria listed in the assessment scale (see last page of handout) – you should never lose
sight of your audience. Keep asking yourself what is interesting for them, how you can
present the material so that you can hold their attention, how you can make what is really
important stick out.
Objectives

To provide your colleagues with relevant ideas and strategies that they might be able to try
out themselves in their teaching one day (relevance and practicality)

To make your colleagues aware of the problems involved ( problem awareness)

On the basis of the literature suggested, to give your colleagues an idea of what some
experts have to say on the subject and to acquaint them with useful terms ( knowledge of
subject)

To analyse the ideas and the material critically in the light of your own learning
experience and by comparing viewpoints (critical assessment of sources)

To prioritise: to present the material in the time given, you need to select very carefully
and decide what is useful and relevant for your colleagues

To make your colleagues aware of recurrent and related issues by referring to previous
course work and presentations, eventually also to what you have found out in other
courses ( networking)-
Procedure
1) Form a team: three people choose a topic.
2) Come and see me at least a week before the presentation to discuss the details of the topic.
3) Together study the literature (all team members should study all the literature!).
4) Decide who is going to present what in what order.
5) After having prepared the individual parts of the report, meet to see how the parts
interconnect and to discuss presentation modes (“Power Point” is a possibility, but
certainly not the only one!).
6) Together decide how to do the handout – again check together before finalising it. The
handout is meant to be one unit (not three separate pieces) with a clear layout indicating
what is important and how the parts interconnect, no longer than 3 pages. Don’t forget to
give your sources (bibliography.
7) Make sure you can observe the time limit (20 – 30 minutes!).
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5
Topics for reports:
1) Errors and learning: attitudes towards the role of errors in learning [reference: J.Edge
(1989): ch.3 /4 (pp.13 -22);; R. Ellis (1997): ch.2 (pp.15 –30); M.Lewis (1993): ch. 10
(p.164 – 172) ]
Date /Team: _____________________________________________________
2) How to deal with grammatical errors [reference: S. Thornbury (1999): ch.7 (p. 113 –
126)¸ M.Lewis (1993): ch. 8 (p. 133 – 137) ]
Date /Team: _____________________________________________________
3) How to deal with lexical errors [reference:; S. Thornbury (2002): ch.2 (p. 13 – 31);
M.Lewis (1993): ch.7 (p. 115 – 128)]
Date /Team: _____________________________________________________
4) Responding to student writing (a critical evaluation of strategies) [ reference: Ch. Tribble
(1996), from ch.11 (p.118 – 129),L. Bobb Wolff (2000); handout pp.16 – 22]
K. Hyland (2003), ch.7 (“Responding to student writing”, pp.177 – 211).
Date /Team: _____________________________________________________
5) Assessment strategies for writing [ reference: Ch. Tribble (1996), from ch.11 (p. 129 134); handout pp.18 – 20; K. Hyland (2003), ch.8 „Assessing student writing“pp.212 –
243); handout pp.22 – 27]
Date /Team: _____________________________________________________
6) Responding to and assessing student speaking (a critical evaluation of strategies)
[reference: J.Edge (1989): ch. 5 + 6 (p. 23 – 49); L. Bobb Wolff (2000); handout p.11 ,
handout pp. 28, 29 ]
Date /Team: _____________________________________________________
7) English as an international language (rethinking goals) [reference: McKay (2002): ch. 3
(“Standards for English as an international language” (p. 49 – 79); “Conclusion”
(p.125 – 129); Seidlhofer (2003): p. 7- 10; 14 - 23]
Date /Team: _____________________________________________________
8) Learner autonomy [ reference: I. Tudor (1996): ch.6 (“Self-assessment”, p.161 – 196);
G.Ellis / B. Sinclair (1989). Learning to Learn English, “How well are you doing?”;
Empfehlungen für Leistungsbeurteilungen, Landesschulrat für Steiermark; handout
p.30]
Date /Team: _____________________________________________________
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Teaching Resource Portfolio (TRP)
CONTENT:
 language file
 teacher interview
 oral-report handouts
Why a TRP ?
The idea is that you collect
material that might prove useful
in a teaching situation one day, a
file that you can consult at some
future point in time.
LANGUAGE FILE
Notes on recurrent errors and sources of error gleaned from
 coursework
 other courses (indicate what material from which course)
 other resources like “Spotlight” (language notes, see copies in library), Zotter (see
course folder on reference shelf etc. ) – indicate where you haven taken material from.
You should impose an order or system on your language file that will make it possible to
access your file for correcting purposes (you can use your LANGUAGE FILE
in the test and it also meant to be helpful when you do your term paper).
Don’t forget to indicate your sources – one function of the LANGUAGE FILE is to help you
find out which reference sources are useful for what purposes [see RESOURCES next page].
TEACHER INTERVIEW
Compile a questionnaire to ask a language teacher( not a university teacher! ) about her
/his experience with correcting and assessing, to find out what s/he recommends, to find
out about the problems s/he sees, how much time s/he spends on correcting in relation to
other tasks, how s/he feels about conflicting teacher roles, etc.
Your teacher questionnaire is meant to reflect course work – you should try to find out to
what extent the teacher is familiar with the methods and strategies that will be discussed in
class (e.g. in oral reports).
Hand in a short report based on the answers you received.
ORAL REPORT HANDOUTS AND NOTES
There will be oral presentations on the theory and principles of error treatment, on
feedback and assessment, on useful tools and strategies.
You are meant to collect the handouts provided by the presenters, complemented with
your own annotations.
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RESOURCES
This is my very personal list of reference books and tools that I use regularly when
correcting; you should add on whatever you have found useful.
Dictionaries:
I can’t do without them – I constantly use monolingual learner dictionary like Collins
Cobuild English Dictionary or Macmillan English Dictionary for Advanced Learners ,
and occasionally also a bilingual one, but only to cross-check. It’s very important to study
introductions and the small print!
The Dictionary of Common Errors that Longman has published offers useful information
as well.
Internet:
Good dictionaries are now available electronically (for example the Cambridge
Dictionary ) but I’m still a bit wary of what the Internet has got to offer ( a word of
warning concerning the popular LEO site!). I can’t see much point in offering a list of site
addresses that change quite fast anyway, but there is a lot of information available.
Often I simply try to find an answer via Google (“Language Tools”), which is also a
way of finding out whether the learners have “plagiarised” something!. But be careful –
the info that you get that way may not be reliable; always cross-check!
Corpora:
The BNC (British National Corpus), which can be accessed with various programmes
(e.g. SARA), seems to provide answers to collocation queries [also see information on the
“Bank of English” (pp.38 /39)]. However, these corpora offer an Anglophone model
(mainly Brit. and Am. sources, only a few international ones).
Other Reference Sources:
My favourite grammar and usage reference is still Michael Swan, Practical English Usage
– it seems to provide answers to a lot of questions and because of the alphabetical order
and the index it can be accessed easily (see also p.14).
H. Zotter, Häufige Fehler in Englischarbeiten (1973ff) in “Moderne Sprachen” offers
useful grammar/ usage information too – see copy in folder on EA+A reference shelf in
the library.
Another quite valuable source is “Spotlight” (available in the library), which especially in
the “LANGUAGE Perfectionist only!” section offers answers to FAQs, and you can email “Spotlight” with queries (see p. 38).
Native speakers:
Sometimes it seems that it is only a native speaker who can provide the answer – and there
is nothing wrong with asking, but never forget that in the end it is the teacher who takes
the responsibility and consider the issues raised by the “native speaker fallacy” debate.
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Course objectives (expectations and promises)
“There has to be more than a grade!” (E. Pölzleitner)
teacher
learner
The autonomous learner
*)
correcting
what is a mistake?
teaching
why/when/how to correct?
assessing
how to assess?
*) “Cogwheel” from M. Reitbauer /R. Vaupetitsch, Die E-Rolle und die K-Rolle: Lehrerrollen zwischen Emotion und
Kognition, in: Hochschule und Fremdsprachen, Bochum: AKS Verlag 242-263, 2003.
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WHAT IS ERROR ANALYSIS?
Terms and a bit of history:
Methodological movements are always linked with models of language description, on the
one hand, and with learning theories, on the other hand.
Contrastive Analysis:
The CA hypothesis was a linguistic approach popular in the
1950s and 1960s, based on the behaviourist learning theory.
According to this theory language learning is mainly achieved
through habit formation. CA claimed to be able to predict errors
by comparing the learners’ native language with the target
language. The catalogues of differences between two languages,
however, proved much less useful to foreign-language teaching
than had been expected.
Error Analysis:
The EA approach was, to a certain extent, a reaction to
Contrastive Analysis; its proponents claimed that a description
of a learner’s version of the target language (sometimes called
interlanguage) in its own right without referring to the learner’s
native language was more useful because it did not focus on the
learner’s mother tongue and emphasised achievement rather
than failure.
The learning theory that informed this movement was
based on a mentalist theory of first language acquisition that
emerged in the 1960s and 1970s. In the US holistic approaches
to language learning became important, in Europe the
communicative approach towards foreign language teaching and
functional /notional syllabuses evolved.
error analysis:
error analysis, as it is practised today, is based on interactionist
theories of L2 acquisition, which acknowledge the importance
of both input and internal language processing. In error
analysis the learner’s mother tongue, the target language and
the learner’s version of the target language are analysed. The
function of the analysis, however, is diagnostic rather than
predictive, it is a tool for the foreign-language teacher rather
than a theoretical approach.
Currently research, mainly based on cognitive learning
theories, seems to be focused on the role of explicit instruction
and thus negative feedback and how this affects L2 acquisition;
opinions are clearly divided and there seems to be no single
theory that can incorporate the range of hypotheses that have
been put up.
Reference : Ellis, Rod (1997).
James, Carl (1998).
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WHAT IS AN ERROR / A MISTAKE?
Task 1)
Below you see the clipart-picture for mistake. What do YOU associate with the word mistake?
Please write the first three words that you associate with the word mistake into the speech
bubbles below (you can also draw):
Task 2)
Fill in the missing words:
(a) If you make a mistake, you do something which you did not ______________ to do or
which produces a result you do not ______________. (Collins Cobuild English
Dictionary)
(b) The student who never made a mistake never ______________ anything.(M.Lewis)
(c) Let’s provisionally define an error as an ______________ bit of language. (C. James)
(d) An error is a linquistic form which, in the same context, would in all likelihood not be
produced by the learner’s ______________ speaker counterparts. (P.Lennon, qu.
C.James)
From Ellis,Rod (1997):
errors.
mistakes.
Deviations in usage which result from gaps in learners’ knowledge of the target
language.
Deviations in usage that reflect the learners’ inability to use what they actually
know of the target language.
ate
Task 3)
eated
Mistakes or learning steps?
ate
eat
(a)
(b)
(c)
(d)
Dog eat biscuit.
Dog ate the biscuit.
The dog eated the biscuit.
The dog ate the biscuit.
Reference : Bartram M., Walton R. (2002), Edge J.(1989), James C. (1998), Lewis M.(1993).
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EIL: English as an International Language
How should I speak English? Americanly? Japanesely? Or Internationally?*
*Title of an article by J. Baxter in a language teaching journal, 1980.
The “Englishes“: What kind of users of English are you?
Inner
Circle
Outer
Circle
Expanding
Circle
What English?
“Inner circle” users =“ABC English”( see Pölzl, 2003); 320 – 380 million users.
“Outer circle” users = English as a second language; 150 – 300 million users.
“Expanding circle” users = English as a foreign language; 100 – 1,000 million users.
Why English?
Post-colonial repercussions
World-power position of the USA
Convenient communication tool (“International English”)
For use of these terms and more detailed information on EIL see: Crystal (1997), Graddol
(2006), McKay (2002), Seidlhofer(2003).
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ACCEPTABILITY
Task 1)
Anything not acceptable?
(a)
(b)
(c)
(d)
(e)
(f)
Will everybody take their seats please? ( see OED online, p. 30)
I went to London last summer to study the English.
She suggested that he leave. ( see SW§ 545)
You gotta be joking.
The football player wore a green dress.
I have the honour to invite a reference to your letter.
Task 2)
What are important factors that we need to consider when we have to determine what is
acceptable and what is not acceptable?
Look at Task 1) again to answer this question:

____________________________________________________

____________________________________________________
MISTAKE-NOTICING : the role of cotext
Task 1a)
Three of the following collocations are not acceptable; can you find them?
strong influence
a high wall
strong coffee
a high building
a heavy mistake
a clear conscience
a heavy heart
a clear attitude
Task 1b)
Combine MAKE with as many of the following nouns as possible:
~ a mistake
~ the dishes
~ a difference
~ holidays
~ homework
~ an effort
~ money
~ a decision
Task 2)
What to do when you don’t know ? Who / what will tell you when you are not sure?
Please list your favourite resources:
 _____________________________________________________________________
 _____________________________________________________________________
A useful source of information for collocates is, of course, the Corpus (see Addition,
pp.36/37). There are also collocation dictionaries that can help, but it is a good idea to start
putting together your own notes for future reference.
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MISTAKE-NOTICING : the role of context
The Dictionary of Common Errors (1996). Longman: Harlow (= DCErr) offers a wealth of
mainly lexical information, not only on collocation but also on how to distinguish between
words with overlapping meaning, the right word in the right context, near synonyms, etc.
Ex.1 Anything wrong with the use of YOUTH? (see DCErr, p.365)
1) The man was attacked and robbed by a gang of youths.
2) Life in a city is interesting for the youth because there are more things to do than in
the country.
3) These holidays are designed for youths like yourself.
4) The youth of industrialized nations need to be made aware of global problems.
Ex.2 Anything not acceptable about the use of KILL? (see DCErr,p.189)
1)
2)
3)
4)
The key witness was killed before he could testify.
King Charles I was killed on 30th January 1639.
President Lincoln was killed by John Wilkes Booth.
The cat had developed cancer and had to be killed.
Ex.3 JOURNEY / TRAVEL / VOYAGE / TRIP / TOUR – any difference? (see DCErr,
p.338)
1) How was your ______________ to San Francisco?
2) I enjoy air ______________ immensely.
3) If the roads are flooded we’ll have to make the ______________ by boat.
Ex.4 JOB / OCCUPATION / POST / CAREER / PROFESSION “Arbeit” /”Arbeitsplatz”
/”Beruf” / “Karriere”? (see DCErr, p.239)
1) I am very happy in my present job.
2) He decided it was time to change his job.
3) We would like to find out more about careers in publishing.
4) She entered the teaching profession in 1990.
Acceptability and collocation can be very difficult issues, especially for non-native speaker
teachers, but J. Edge has a word of comfort for us:
[Non-native speaker] teachers could base their status on the fact that they are successful
examples of what their students aim to be: people from a shared background who have
achieved an ability to communicate in English.
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MISTAKE-NOTICING: usage
Usage problems are recurrent in learner writing, and it is a good idea to set up your own file
to record the most frequent ones. Below you find a random collection from my correction
notes. However, I have not included ‘grammar points’ such as tenses, adverb/adjective use,
relative pronouns, etc .
Often Michael Swan’s Practical English Usage provides information on usage points.
Use the items below to get your own resource file started:
 Check Michael Swan (New Edition 2005), Practical English Usage (OUP) for a solution;
 Add your own examples;
 Find the answers, order and enter into your Teacher Resource Portfolio.
* With fifteen I really didn’t know what career I would embark on one day.
*The injured girl was brought to nearest hospital, …
*I have ever wanted to become a doctor.
*Nobody can imagine how it is like to be on your own …
*I think people don’t believe what politicians say…
*I would like to study at a British university once.
*I did not have the possibility to go to England…
*Many young people would like an own car …
*Some persons never shop in a supermarket…
*The biggest problem are people who…
*Many children lost their life in the floods.
*She spoke a very good English.
*I was used to get up early.
*When I became President of the USA, I would ….
*I couldn’t finish the paper until Tuesday.
*I have a bad cough, I must stop to smoke.
*He has much money.
*Some people are interested but the majority doesn’t care.
*Prices are surely rising fast.
*According to him, it’s a fascinating book.
…
For your PRF :
Continue!
 Check Swan (2005) pages xxvi – xxiv,
 Add from other courses and your own experience).
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TO CORRECT OR NOT TO CORRECT
Do you agree /disagree ?
(a) You never correct a mistake, you always correct a person.
(b) It is the teacher’s job to help the learners to improve their English, and sometimes this is
best done by not correcting.
(c) Correction hinders fluency.
(d) You can’t learn without being corrected.
MISTAKES and LEARNER AUTONOMY:
”My experience is that the teacher’s attitude towards and handling of mistakes plays an
important role in leading students to realise they need not be as dependent on teacher correction
as they had once believed and allows them space in which to become more autonomous.“
(Leslie Bobb Wolff )
Reference : Bobb Wolff L. (2000). Dulay, Burt, Krashen (1982). Edge J. (1989). Ellis, R. (1997)
.
TEACHER ROLES + WRITING
Ch. Tribble, in Writing, claims that teachers take on different roles when they respond to
student writing and suggests that there are four basic roles available for teachers:
 audience
 assistant
 evaluator
 examiner
Which of Tribble’s teacher roles did your teachers take on when they responded to your
writing?
___________________________________________________________________________
Task 1)
In some of the teacher roles, the teacher sees
the learner text as a finished product:
in some as an ongoing process:
text
text text text text
audience:__________ assistant: __________ evaluator: _________ examiner: __________
Task 2)
Read the full text of the learner story “The Lost Country” p. 12, then make notes of your
impressions as an audience (what you would tell the writer after reading her story):
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
Now take on the role of the assistant – would you add anything to your notes, would you
change anything? _________________________________________________________
Reference: Tribble Ch. (1996).
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RESPONDING TO LEARNER WRITING : FEEDBACK
Correction : focus on form 
Feedback: focus on content (communicative purpose)
Teacher correction - options:
1) No correction / selective correction* / full correction*
2) *Correction:
Indication in the margin
Underlining
Colour-marking
Providing cues ( error code or signs : ! , ?,
,
 ...in the text or in the
margin)
Providing a correct version in the text, in the margin, in footnotes
...
3) Oral correction of written work ( in class/ individually/ taped)
4) Re-active correction : ONLY in response to learner questions (orally or written, e.g. by
using e-mail)
5) Reformulation (orally / taped or in writing)
Controlled,econo
-mical, satisfies
learners’ need
for reliable input
learners dependent on teacher,
can be discouraging /
embarrassing / a barrier to
expressing themselves
Self correction - options:
1)
2)
3)
4)
5)
“Proof-reading“ (with or without teacher prompts)
Comparing with keys / model versions
Re-active teaching followed by self-correction
Teacher- and / or peer-assisted self-correction
Guided self-correction (reference to textbooks, grammar cards, ...)
promotes learner
independence; enhances
lang. awareness = prerequisite for „defossilising“
disappoints learner expectations;
difficult to decide how much
guidance is needed;
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FEEDBACK (“Scaffolding”)
“The supportive dialogue which directs the attention of the learner to key features of
the environment and which prompts them through successive steps of a problem, has
come to be known as scaffolding.” (Mitchell/Myles 1998, p.145)
Constructive feedback should

express some spontaneous reader reaction but not create wrong expectations (a grade
should not come as a nasty surprise!).

describe (not judge);

not lose sight of the whole in pursuit of single errors;

make definite suggestions for improvements (no
vague statements like “well
done”,“your tenses don’t work”) : often “foot-noting”* is a good idea (see discussion and
examples below);

allow the learner to participate actively in the problem-solving (learner-teacher dialogue!);

use sensitive, suggestive language (no commanding): I messages rather than you addresses
(I would revise instead of You should; What about …? rather than imperatives);
*FOOTNOTING:
Objectives of footnoting:
a) awareness raising
b) helping the learners test the hypotheses they are building up about the system of the target
language
c) ‘de-fossilising’: making the learners realize that some features that have become part of
their concept of the target language are at variance with the accepted standard
d) helping the learners say what they want to say (‘re-fomulation ‘)
There are various strategies that can be used, e.g.
1) pinpointing the source of error
2) re-activating latent knowledge by reminding the learners of language features that have
been taught (language files and succinct codes can be helpful)
3) remedial explanation
4) re-formulatio
Which strategy when depends on the purpose of the footnote.
EA+A
Script a):
The Lost country
In the year of 1951 Bianca and Mark flow with the plane to their aunt in Japan.
It was a long flit to Japan, and so they slept a long time. When they were over Tibet,
the stewardess said that they have a motor-problem, and that they couldn’t stopp it!
And so everyone must jump out of the plane, with a parachute. Everyone was crying,
and it was real chaos! Mark and Bianca took a parachute together, and they jumped
out. When they were flying in the air, the plane explodet! They fall into the snow, and
they were saved!
The little boy was five years and he had broken his leg. So the girl, who was
twelve years old, had to carry him! They walked and walked on ice and snow. After
five hours, the girl found a bag! She opened the bag, and found a piece of bread, and a
big blanket! After three more hours they both were very tired, and so the girl took the
blanket under a big bush, were where no snow, than she layed her brother on the
blanket and put her hair band around his leg. Then they ate a piece of bread and fall
asleep! So they walked two monthes and three days on the ice and snow! They lived
from fishes, bread, some bearrys they found!
On the 59th day, they saw a hidden veally! They walked into the veally and then
they collapse together! When they woke up, they were in a little house, and they layed
in a bed! A lott of strange people stand around them! They all spoke low. When the
girl and the boy wake up, they stopped. An old woman asked the girl where she come?
The girl didn’t understand! And so the old woman showed the girl, what she mean!
And the girl showed her what hat happened! And soon they all were friends! The girl
and the boy learned easy the language of the people. And the boy and the girl were
very happy in this village. The girl thoght the kids things, and the boy helped other
boys to bild things, and he played with the boys. They lived at the family, who had
found them! And all loved the boy and the girl! Soon they forgot their old home, there
were no modern things in the village, but the girl and the boy loved this country and
these people, and they never wanted to go away!
Level: 4th form (AHS), (approx. 30 minutes, learners can look up 4 words in the
dictionary).
Task : use the words in the box to write a short story entitled The Lost Country :
1951 – plane – crash – mountains of Tibet – snow –ice – girl – boy – alive – deep
down – hidden valley – strange people – friendly – secret country – no cars – no
modern things
18
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Script b):
Argumentative essay, AHS, 7th form.
Living in a big city is not worthwhile! Discuss.
I lived1 in a city all my life and I cannot imagine to live in the country. Life in a city is
never dull. There is always something to do. There are theatres, museums, shopping centres,
sports facilities – I cannot say2 them all. For young people there are many discos. There are
discos in the country too, but you have to go there with an own3 car and on the way home a
lot of heavy4 accidents happen. Then you are brought5 to a hospital in the city, because there
are not enough hospitals on the country.
There are even more reasons for families with children to prefer living in a city. The
children don’t have to walk a long way to the next kindergarten, and later there are many
different types of schools they can chose from.
The most important reason, moreover, why many people want to live in a city is that
they can find a job easier. People living in the country often have to commute. They take a
long time to get to work, which is why many want to move to a city.
The fact that cities grow steadily shows that many people have my opinion.
Nevertheless it is high time we do something about some of the disadvantages, as pollution,
the raising crime rate, traffic jams, and so on. Another big problem is finding suitable
accommodations in a city. Only very rich people can afford to buy a town house; even a flat is
to expensive for many, the rents are high.
Still, I have got so used to live in a city that I were not willing to move to the country
even if I were offered a big house with a garden.
Example of individualised feedback + footnotes (for the 1st paragraph):
I enjoyed reading your text because it argues the case for living in a city very well. It
does not ignore the arguments against living in a big city, yet explains convincingly why you
prefer life in an urban environment, and the arguments are presented in clearly organised
paragraphs.
There are, however, mistakes that get in the way, e.g. some verbs only take gerund
(imagine / get used to); some words are uncountable (accommodation, information, etc);
sometimes you remember an idiomatic phrase but don’t use it appropriately (e.g. 3rd
paragraph: “it takes a long time to do”, so here: “it takes them a long time to get…”) and
sometimes tense use does not make sense - see footnotes for detailed comments.
T (You are still living there, aren’t you? – duration up to now!)
W: “say“ does not make sense here (“name” or “mention” or “list” could be used)
3
Adj. “own“ only + possessive pronoun; and check preposition.
4
W+W: There are “heavy” suitcases and “heavy” smokers but accidents are “serious” or “bad”.
5
W: There is an important difference between “take“ and „bring“ – check!
1
2
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Script c)
Task: short story based on a poem*; Teacher : Dr. E. Pölzleitner
Tough News
I am sitting here in front of my house because I have decided to welcome the day very early. A
wonderful summer day in Mississippi is dawning. Birds start cheeping on the roofs nearby, a
soft breeze is playing with the weathercocks and the streets are slowly coming to life again. The
shades are raised from each window and people suddenly appear in front of their doors.
A black paper boy suddenly comes cycling down the lain delivering the morning news. Today
he is twenty minutes late and all people who noticed him make sure he will never be late again.
Swear words and discriminating paroles are thrown after him nearly every other house. I guess
he was new because I have never seen him before and I know every single paper boy in our road
for the last thirty years. He is slowly approaching my house. His face is crapped of fear and his
body is shivering all over. He is not daring to look neither to the left nor to the right, just staring
at the next crossroads where he could leave this hostile area immediately.
The soft breeze has changed meanwhile into a stronger wind. Clouds have appeared behind the
houses like a dark curtain covering the sun. The air is full of tension and uneasiness. I feel cold
now sitting here in my rocking chair observing the surrounding. Some people look up in the sky
waiting for the first raindrops to fall.
The boy is still cycling to his fixed target. Stubbornly ignoring the things around him. Therefore he
oversees(1) a beagle rushing out behind a hedge and dashing, loudly barking, after his bike(2). The
already threatened cyclist tumbles and falls off his bike. A big muscular man in his working suit
approaches the bleeding boy.
There he is waiting for his judgement in a way of dependence to the coming white man(3). The
bodybuilder starts quarrelling with the helpless teen and begins to attack him because the paper
boy should be guilty(3) of scaring his dog. The bully hits the defense-less black body that is
doubled up with pain without scruples about his reasons for violence.
Sirens enter my ear. A police car is rushing around the corner and drives down to the scene of the
event. The car stops, the door swings open and out comes an officer. His black uniform and his black
skin make a horrifying impression on the astonished audience surrounding the concerned people. Here
I loose the overview due to the crowd that blocked my view(4). I just hear the clicking sound of
handcuffs through the heated discussion about the provocation done to them. Then the police car left
leaving a horde of railing whites.
*Mari Evans: Status Symbol (see Add.)
Level: GIBS (“Graz International Bilingual School”), 8th form, homework
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Example of individualised feedback to Tough News:
Although the text is only vaguely related to the poem, it is really an intriguing story. I enjoyed
reading it although the point of view is not always clear (e.g. “There he is waiting ...”).
Paragraphs are indented in English and clear paragraphing makes reading a text more fun.
Footnotes:
(1) “oversees” is a ”false friend” and means something different than its apparent translation!
(2) I’d change word order to make things clearer: ” ... hedge, dashing after his bike barking loudly”.
(3) This paragraph needs a little work to make it more effective: “The paperboy cowers in fear as the
beefy white man lumbers nearer ... accuses the boy of scaring his dog.”
(4) A bit confusing for me, what about: “lose sight of ... my view being blocked by the crowd”?
Some of the words used don’t work (I’d check “cheeping”, “paroles”) and the mechanical errors get
in the way, yet I enjoyed the variety of verbs that you employed; it is evident that you have put a great
deal of effort into the tone of your story.
[based on comments by E. Pölzleitner and Sh. Wardell]
The CODE below is used in first-year university courses together with the MESSAGE TO
THE LEARNER (over-leaf) – you can use it as a classification code in your term paper.
Marking code
Language
Wrong grammar
Verb
Noun
Wrong word
Wrong word form
Syn: overall sentence construction
WO: word order
Agr: agreement in number, e.g. *many people lost their life,
T:
tense
Mod: modal structure
VC: complementation, e.g. * he suggested to see a doctor
Art.: use of articles
Count: countability, eg. *informations, *an advice
Adv: adverb / adjective use
Prep: preposition,
W:
wrong word
W+W: wrong word-partnership, e.g.*heavy mistake
WF: *eated, * to loose, *to destruct
Text (organisation and reference)
Log logic of arguments
Quote unnecessary quotes from source texts
Reg register / style not appropriate
Ref
reference not clear
Con wrong connective or connective needed
Mechanics
Sp
spelling
P
punctuation
Par
paragraph divisions not indicated clearly enough
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MESSAGE TO THE LEARNER






The correction of your written work is supposed to be constructive feedback for you. This
code will be used in the corrections of your written work in order to help you make sense
of them.
This should make it easier for you to correct and edit your written work.
When mistakes are code-marked, the idea is that you might be able to correct the
unacceptable piece of language yourself – perhaps with the help of reference books.
If you want to profit from your written work, you should check corrections carefully and
make sure you understand what went wrong.
Then you will have to decide about whether it would be a good idea to deal with the
problem in your resource file.
Don’t hesitate to ask your teacher whenever you need help.
TEXT (organisation and reference)
How to analyse coherence and cohesion – guidelines for learner self-analysis:
TEXT BUILDING : What makes texts effective?
Signpost your texts
clearly ! (A clear sense
of direction is
important.)
Advice from a press stylebook:






Invite your readers in:
Do not go with the first “lead” (= first paragraph) revise!
Make sure you don’t lose your readers on the way  signpost!
Build clear paragraphs.*
Avoid redundancies.
Use vivid verbs.
Use colourful words
*PARAGRAPH WRITING
Well-formed paragraphs that are indicated clearly make reading easier. In English the first
lines of paragraphs are indented (not the last ones).
An English paragraph is a group of related sentences on one subject. Sentences are related to
each other so that the paragraph contains clear thoughts on one subject.
The main idea / broadest concept is expressed in the topic sentence.
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ASSESSING LEARNER WORK: TEACHERS as EXAMINERS
In the preface to Empfehlungen für Leistungsbeurteilungen, an official brochure on
assessment published by the Landeschulrat für Steiermark, Horst Lattinger insists that
teachers, first and foremost, should be “trainers coaching their students” but admits that
teachers also have to be examiners, and that these conflicting roles can cause problems:
Im Gegensatz zu Sport, ... ist der Lehrer für
seine Schüler Coach und Punkterichter
in einer Person. Dass dies dem
Vertrauensverhältnis zwischen Schülern und
Lehrern nicht gerade zuträglich ist ..., ist
nahe liegend.
.
See Empfehlungen für Leistungsbeurteilung, Landesschulrat für Steiermark, www.lsr-stmk.gv.at.
This brochure, also available on the internet, contains a lot of useful suggestions for
alternative assessment methods, such as
Assessment charts and pies
Reading journals
“Zwei-Phasen Schularbeit”, etc.
The main aims of all these methods are:
transparency
learner autonomy (self-directed learners)

In your “teacher interview” (see p.5), the question of how aware teachers are of the
conflict between the examiner role and the assistant role and what they try to do to
resolve it should be a central question.
To make the evaluation as transparent as possible is a top priority when the aim is to close the
gap between between the teacher who assists his/her learners to improve and the teacher who
has to grade.
Assessment scales
 can help to make the grading of written work more transparent;
 can be adapted by the teacher;
 have been approved by the “Landeschulrat für Steiermark”.
There are examples of assessment scales for written work on the following pages.
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ASSESSMENT SCALE FOR WRITTEN WORK (general)
E. Fleischmann, R. Huber, E. Pölzleitner, R. Vaupetitsch, K. Weißenböck
[Adapted from: Jacobs L. et al., Testing ESL Composition: A Practical Approach,
Newbury House, Rowley 1981]
CONTENT
20 - 18
17 - 14
13 - 10
9 -6
ORGANIZATION 20 - 18
17 - 14
13 - 10
9 -6
VOCABULARY
25 - 23
22 - 18
17 - 13
12 - 8
LANGUAGE
30 - 27
26 - 21
20 - 15
14 - 10
MECHANICS
5
4
3-2
Excellent to very good: Excellent to very good knowledge of subject; considerable
variety of ideas or arguments; independent and thorough treatment of topic; accurate
detail.
Good to average: Adequate knowledge of subject; variety of ideas / arguments
above average; adequate treatment of topic; some detail, mostly relevant to topic.
Fair to poor: Knowledge of subject is hardly adequate; limited variety of ideas /
arguments; sufficient treatment of topic; lacking detail or extraneous material
included.
Very poor: Knowledge of subject Knowledge of subject too little; hardly any
variety of ideas / arguments; insufficient treatment of topic, or not enough to
evaluate.
Excellent to very good: Fluent expression: ideas clearly stated and supported; well
organized; logically sequenced (coherent); connectives appropriately used
(cohesive).
Good to average: Somewhat choppy but main ideas stand out; logically sequenced;
connectives sometimes used inappropriately (cohesive).
Fair to poor: Choppy; loosely organised; main ideas are not always clear;
connectives often used inappropriately.
Very poor: Non-fluent; ideas often confused or disconnected; lacks logical
sequencing or development.
Excellent to very good: Wide range of vocabulary; accurate word / idiom choice
and usage; appropriate register.
Good to average: Adequate range of vocab; occasional errors of word /idiom form,
choice and usage, but meaning never obscured; register not always appropriate.
Fair to poor: Limited range of vocab; frequent errors of word/ idiom form, choice
and usage, meaning confused or obscured; inappropriate register.
Very poor: Range of vocab too limited; essentially translation; meaning confused or
obscured ; or not enough too evaluate..
Excellent to very good: Confident handling of appropriate constructions; hardly
any errors of agreement, tense, number, word order, articles, pronouns, prepositions;
Meaning never obscured.
Good to average: Well-formed sentences but constructions not always appropriate;
some errors of agreement, tense, number, word order, articles, pronouns,
prepositions; meaning sometimes slightly obscured..
Fair to poor: Not sufficient variety of constructions available; problems mainly
with complex constructions several errors of negation, agreement, tense, number,
word order, articles, pronouns, prepositions; meaning sometimes obscured.
Very poor: Major problems with sentence construction; frequent errors of negation,
agreement, tense, number, word order, articles, pronouns, prepositions, meaning
often obscured.
Excellent to very good: Demonstrates mastery of conventions; hardly any errors of
spelling, punctuation; capitalization, paragraphing.
Good to average: Occasional errors of spelling, punctuation; capitalization,
paragraphing
Fair to poor: Frequent errors of spelling, punctuation capitalization, paragraphing;
poor handwriting.
Grading: „sehr gut“ > 90%, „gut“ > 80%, „befriedigend“ > 70%, „genügend“ > 60%
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ASSESSMENT SCALE FOR WRITTEN WORK [story]
CONTENT
20 - 18
17 - 14
13 - 10
9-6
ORGANISATION
20 - 18
17 - 14
13 - 10
9-6
VOCABULARY
25 - 23
22 - 18
17 - 13
12 - 8
GRAMMAR
30 - 27
26 - 21
20 - 15
14 - 9
MECHANICS
5
4
3-2
Excellent to very good: creative treatment of topic; considerable variety
of ideas; illustrative detail supporting the story; clear audience focus
Good to average: satisfactory treatment of topic; some variety of ideas /
some detail supporting the story; some audience focus
Fair to poor: sufficient treatment of topic; limited variety of ideas ;
lacking detail; hardly any audience focus
Very poor: insufficient treatment of topic; hardly any variety of ideas ;
or not enough to evaluate; no audience focus
Excellent to very good: well organized; clear plot development; clear
paragraphing; connectives appropriately used (cohesive)
Good to average: somewhat choppy but main events stand out;
comprehensible plot development; sufficient paragraphing; most
connectives appropriately used
Fair to poor: choppy; loosely organized; plot development sometimes
confusing; paragraphing not always clear; connectives sometimes
lacking or wrongly used
Very poor: ideas confused or disconnected ; plot development not clear;
insufficient paragraphing or none at all; connectives lacking or wrongly
used
Excellent to very good: wide range of vocab; accurate word choice and
usage; idiomatic word partnerships; appropriate register
Good to average: adequate range of vocab; occasional errors of woord
choice and usage, but meaning never obscured; some idiomatic word
partnerships; register not always appropriate
Fair to poor: limited range of vocab; frequent errors of word choice and
usage, meaning sometimes obscured; few or no idiomatic word
partnerships; register often not appropriate
Very poor: range of vocab too limited; often „L1-translation“; meaning
often obscured ; or not enough to evaluate
Excellent to very good: confident handling of appropriate
constructions; full awareness of tense notions; hardly any errors
Good to average: well-formed sentences but constructions not always
appropriate; awareness of most tense notions; some errors
Fair to poor: problems mainly with complex constructions, or suitable
constr. not available; insufficient awareness of tense notions; several
errors; meaning sometimes obscured
Very poor: major problems with sentence construction; frequent errors,
some basic; little awareness of tense notions; meaning often obscured
Excellent to very good: hardly any errors of spelling, punctuation;
paragraphs clearly indicated
Good to average: occasional errors of spelling, punctuation; paragraphs
indicated
Fair to poor: frequent errors of spelling, punctuation; paragraphs not
clearly indicated
„sehr gut“ > 90%, „gut“ > 80%, „befriedigend“ > 70%, „genügend“ > 60%
[based on ESL profile published in Jacobs, H. L. et al., (1981) and adapted for use in Austrian schools by
E.Fleischmann,R.Huber, E. Pölzleitner, R.Vaupetitsch, K.Weißenböck]
See next page guidelines for teacher as to how to handle assessment scales provided by Dr. E.
Pölzleitner.
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Anmerkungen zur Assessment Scale for Written Work
Die vorliegende Assessment Scale for Written Work ist das Ergebnis einer mehrjährigen
Zusammenarbeit einer Arbeitsgruppe von AHS- und BHS Lehrern sowie
Universitätslektoren, die im Anschluß an ein Seminar des BMUK in Zusammenarbeit mit
dem British Council (Monitoring Communicative Competence) gebildet wurde. Unser Ziel
war es, die auf diesem Seminar vorgestellten Testmethoden auf ihre Anwendbarkeit in der
österreichischen Schule zu überprüfen, bzw. prinzipiell geeignete Methoden an unsere
Gegebenheiten anzupassen.
Die Vorlage für unsere Assessment Scale fanden wir in Jacobs, Holly L. et al., Testing ESL
Composition: A Practical Approach, Newbury House, 1981. Das Prinzip einer Rating Scale
erschien uns zur Bewertung freier schriftlicher Arbeiten besonders gut geeignet und wir
entschlossen uns, eine Rating Scale zu erstellen, die genau auf die Gegebenheiten der
österreichischen Schule abgestimmt ist. Wir hoffen, daß uns dies mit der vorliegenden Scale
gelungen ist.
Vorteile der Rating Scale:
Ausgewogenheit von Inhalt und Sprache: Die Assessment Scale zergliedert eine schriftliche
Arbeit in fünf Kategorien: Content, Organization, Vocabulary, Language und Mechanics
und ermöglicht so eine differenzierte Beurteilung einer schriftlichen Arbeit, die sowohl
inhaltliche als auch sprachliche Komponenten berücksichtigt. Damit wird auch der Forderung
der Arbeitsgemeinschaft nach Einbindung des Inhalts (Beurteilungsrichtlinien der ARGE)
Rechnung getragen.
Transparenz für die Schüler: Durch die Gliederung der Beurteilung in fünf Einzelaspekte wird
eine größere Transparenz für den Schüler erreicht. Erfahrung mit der Assessment Scale hat
gezeigt, daß Schüler, die wissen wo Ihre Schwächen liegen, viel stärker motiviert sind, genau
in diesem Gebiet zu arbeiten.
Backwash Effect: Da bei der Beurteilung mit der Assessment Scale genau ausgewiesen wird,
in welcher Kategorie eine Arbeit Schwächen aufweist, und diese Schwächen für den Schüler
durch eine geringe Punktezahl in dieser Kategorie stark spürbar werden, steigt das Interesse
des Schülers für eben diesen Aspekt der Arbeit. Vor allem in den Kategorien Content und
Organization ist durch das Bewußtwerden der Schwächen oft schon ein großer Schritt in
Richtung Verbesserung getan.
Anwendung der Scale: Für viele Kollegen, die ein gewohntes Schema zur Bewertung von
schriftlichen Arbeiten haben, und im Umgang mit diesem Schema sehr geübt sind, ist der
Einstieg in die Arbeit mit der Assessment Scale etwas abschreckend und mühsam. Mit etwas
Übung (wie auch in jedem anderen Beurteilungssystem) ist die Bewertung mit der
Assessment Scale aber sehr einfach und zeitsparend. In der Folge finden Sie einige Tips für
die Anwendung der Scale.
1. Lesen Sie die Arbeit einmal ganz durch, ohne Fehler zu markieren. Anschließend
lesen Sie die verbale Beurteilung in den Kategorien Content und Organization.
Suchen Sie nach Formulierungen, die Ihren subjektiven Eindruck von Inhalt
und Aufbau beschreiben. Meist finden Sie mehrere passende Formulierungen
innerhalb eines Absatzes und einige wenige "Ausreißer" in höheren oder
tieferen Absätzen. Jetzt müssen Sie diese verbale Beurteilung in Punkte
umsetzen. Haben Sie beispielsweise zwei Formulierungen in der Gruppe good
to average und eine Formulierung in der Gruppe fair to poor gefunden, so
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würden Sie etwa an das untere Ende der Punkte in Gruppe good to average gehen
und z.B. 14 Punkte für Content vergeben.
Ebenso verfahren Sie mit der Kategorie Organization.
2. Erst jetzt greifen Sie zu Ihrem Korrekturstift und markieren die Fehler in der Arbeit.
Bei diesem zweiten Lesedurchgang konzentrieren Sie sich auf die Kategorien
Vocabulary (Ausdruck) und Language(Grammatik). Die Kategorie Vocabulary
ist eine relativ große Kategorie, die Idiomatik, Flüssigkeit, Register und Stil
wie auch einzelne Vokabelfehler umfaßt. In der Kategorie Language beurteilen
Sie die Sicherheit in der Verwendung geeigneter (auch komplizierter)
Strukturen. Auch hier wird eher der Gesamteindruck beurteilt, als einzelne
Fehler. Dieser Gesamteindruck verschlechtert sich selbstverständlich mit
steigender Fehlerzahl.
3. Ein nochmaliger Blick auf ihre Korrektur hilft Ihnen bei der Einschätzung der
Kategorie Mechanics. Wie aus der geringen Punktezahl hervorgeht, ist diese
Kategorie von relativ geringer Bedeutung.
4. Addieren Sie nun die Punkte und vergeben Sie die Note: 100 - 91 = sehr gut, 90 - 81 = gut,
80 - 71 = befriedigend, 70 - 60 genügend, unter 60 nicht genügend.
Die Schüler sollten vor der ersten Verwendung der Assessment Scale in die Beurteilung mit
der Scale eingeführt werden und eine Kopie des Schemas bekommen. Mit Hilfe dieser Kopie
kann der Schüler dann immer seine Punktbewertung interpretieren. Es hat sich bewährt unter
die beurteilte Arbeit die erreichten Punkte für jede Kategorie zu schreiben. z.B:
C: 17
O: 15
V: 22
L: 15
M: 4
Sum:
73 = Befriedigend
Die Assessment Scale hat sich auch zur Bewertung von schriftlichen Hausübungen bewährt.
Mit etwas Übung sinkt der zeitliche Aufwand beträchtlich. Der washback effect verstärkt sich
für die Schüler.
Die Scale wurde auch schon erfolgreich bei der Beurteilung von Maturaarbeiten (sowohl in
AHS als auch BHS) eingesetzt. Hier hat sich die verbale Beurteilung der Scale sehr gut als
Basis für die geforderte verbale Beurteilung der Maturaarbeit bewährt.
Wir hoffen, daß die Assessment Scale auch Ihren Wünschen gerecht wird und sind jederzeit
offen für Anregungen und Verbesserungsvorschläge .
die "Error Group"
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RESPONDING TO SPEAKING
Task 1)
Setting = language courses in Britain:
School A:
T: How did you come to England?
S: I flied.
T: That’s wrong. ‘fly‘ is an irregular verb. Who knows the past tense of ‘fly’?
School B:
T: How did you come to England?
S: I flied.
T: No, you have to say ‘I flew’. Repeat!
School C:
T: How did you come to England?
S: I flied.
T: Oh, you flew, did you?
Which school would you recommend? Why?
Task 2)
How did your teachers respond to mistakes in speaking? Did they correct you immediately /
afterwards / reformulate / ... ? Which of the responses were constructive, which destructive?
Task 3)
In Language Two (Dulay, Burt, Krashen) teachers are told:
“Create an atmosphere where students are not embarrassed by their errors.”
You will probably agree that this is good advice; but how can we make sure that our students
are not embarrassed by their errors, especially in speaking?
What would you do if you heard the following in a discussion about what kind of family your
students would like to have one day?
StA: I want to get two children.
StB: No, I want only one.
StC: I want that my husband takes care of our
children as well.
Task 4)
Which of the following feedback strategies are you familiar with? Can you explain what you
do when you use these strategies?
finger correction
reformulation
peer correction
___________________________________________________________________________
Reference:
Dulay, Burt, Krashen (1982).
Edge J. (1989).
Lewis M. (1993).
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ASSESSING SPOKEN LANGUAGE AND ORAL SKILLS
Council of Europe Self-Assessment Grid
SKILL
A1
I can understand familiar words and
very basic phrases concerning
myself, my family and immediate
concrete surroundings when people
speak slowly and clearly.
A2
I can understand phrases and the
highest frequency vocabulary
related to areas of most immediate
personal relevance (e.g. very basic
personal and family information,
shopping, local area, employment). I
can catch the main point in short,
simple messages and
announcements.
Reading
I can understand familiar names,
words and very simple sentences,
for example on notices and posters
or in catalogues.
I can read very short, simple texts. I
can
find
specific,
predictable
information in simple everyday
material such as advertisements,
prospectuses,
menus
and
timetables and I can understand
short simple personal letters
Spoken Interaction
I can interact in a simple way
provided the other person is
prepared to repeat or rephrase
things at a slower rate of speech
and help me formulate what I’m
trying to say.
I can ask and answer simple
questions in areas of immediate
need or on very familiar topics
I can communicate in simple and
routine tasks requiring a simple and
direct exchange of information on
familiar topics and activities. I can
handle very short social exchanges,
even though I can’t usually
understand enough to keep the
conversation going myself.
Spoken Production
I can use simple phrases and
sentences to describe where I live
and people I know.
I can use a series of phrases and
sentences to describe in simple
terms my family and other people,
living conditions, my educational
background and my present or most
recent job.
Understanding/Listening
The Council of Europe grid shows roughly what is involved when assessing oral skills.
For pronunciation see the assessment scale provided by Sarah Mercer (will be handed out in
class).
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ASSESSMENT AND LEARNER AUTONOMY
Self-assessment [...] plays a crucial role both in language education and in terms of learner
empowerment. [...] if learners are to be in a position to operate self-directively, they must have
the ability to assess:
- the communicative and linguistic demands of their target situation of use;
- their current abilities with respect to these demands;
- the practical learning options that are available to them as means of attaining their goals
and their subjective interaction with these options. (Tudor 1996: 162)
Self-Assessment with the help of interactive electronic tools:
 European Language Portfolio ( see course site),
 DIALANG
ANALYSIS TOOLS - Enabling learners to assess their own and their peers‘ writing
Checklist for evaluating your own writing
 What is the topic ? What are you trying to tell your readers ?
 What is the focus / the viewpoint ? Why write about it ?
 Why should your readers read this piece of writing ?
 How do you „invite“ your readers „in“ ?
 Is there a clear structure ? Is there a strong sense of direction – where are you
taking your readers ?
 Is your text cohesive (clearly connected) ? (If not, what could be done ?)
 Is there a good range of language ? Is it effective ?
 Is the style / register appropriate ?
 Is there an effective „round-off“ ?
Peer Comment Form
After reading your classmates‘ texts, you could tell them your responses to the following
points:
 My immediate response to your text :________________________________________
 I find the headline (/subtitle ) _______________________________________________
 I find the content __________________________________________________________
 After the first paragraph I felt / did not feel like reading on because _________________
___________________________________________________________________________
 I especially liked the part on_________________________________________________
 The part on ________________________________________could be further developed.
 I’m not too sure about _____________________________________________________
 You tend to _____________________________________________________________
 I liked / did not like the „round-off“ because ____________________________________
 The language errors that I have noticed are _____________________________________
 It might be a good idea to ... (suggestions for improvement)________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
Reference: Tudor I. (1996)
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TERM PAPER
T A S K S:


To analyse (‘error analysis’) and
To assess an authentic piece of writing done by a student in an Austrian school (‘upper
school’) /at an Austrian university (‘first year’) and
To give feedback to the learner in writing.

‘error analysis’:
Method:
(a) number lines of the learner script,
(b) decide what is acceptable / not acceptable (‘noticing’), regardless of
pedagogic considerations (see p.7 for useful resources),
(c) provide an acceptable version,
(d) ‘code-mark’ (you can use the code provided1) or devise your own code),
(d) quote sources of reference2), incl. ‘native speaker’. (DO NOT consult
university teachers!).
Example: [see “My Dream Job”, p. 32]
line
spotting
acceptable version
code
1
1
4
making ...homework
boring
introduce to you my ...
W+W1) DCE2)
W1)
CoCo2)
1)
WO
SW 5832)
6
had met
doing ... h~
bored
introduce my dream j~ to
you
met
1)
2)
T
reference
SW 4212)
: see code on p.21, handout
: provide a list of reference books used + of abbreviations
assessment:
1) Assess the script by means of the assessment scales provided by highlighting / quoting
relevant descriptors (see pp. 24 - 27, handout: you can adapt them).
2) Suggest an alternative way of assessing the learner script (based on suggestions in the
handout and in the presentations) – compare the pros and cons of at least two methods
(e.g. scoring with assessment scales / impressionistic marking etc); you can also draw on
your own experience as a learner who has been assessed.
feedback to the learner:
1) Try to give what you would consider effective and sensitive feedback to the learner in
writing (see pp. 17 - 21, handout, for strategies and feedback principles to be observed).
2) Use “footnoting” to make definite suggestions for improvement that would allow the
learner to participate in the problem solving.

PLEASE provide a cover sheet with your name, student number, address, e-mail
address, date when handed in, and script topic and put the paper + the learner script
into a plastic cover – DO NOT hand in loose sheets. Thank you!
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Test samples:
Instructions:
a) Noticing: underline what is not acceptable
b) Correction: provide an acceptable version – if possible, above the line marked
[No explanations, classification or assessment required ]
Sample 1)
My Father’s Job
At school many class-mates envied me because of my father’s job. In the beginning I
could not understand that. I could never skive off or play truant like the others, he’d known
immediately if I’d done that. Can you guess what my father’s job is? Well, yes, he is a
teacher, and now that I’ve almost finished school I’m beginning to understand why people
envied me.
I asked him one day why he’d decided to become teacher and he told that the idea of
becoming teacher happened during his last year at school. He was coaching some pupils in
Latin and Maths, and he was not only quite successfull, he also found out that he enjoyed to
teach children a lot.
Many teachers seem to be disatisfied with their jobs. My father still likes teaching, but
he admits to have been more enthusiastic in the beginning of his career. Tremendous changes
have taken place since he has become a teacher. Being teacher nowadays is tough for many
reasons. One reason is that parents are no longer able or willing to teach their children how to
behave. For another, teachers have difficulties to maintain authority because disciplinary
measures have been prohibited and discipline has been reduced drastically.
I also asked him what qualifications one needed for this job, because I was considering
to take up this profession at that time. This question let my father smile. He explained me that
there was a huge discrepancy between the qualifications that are required officially to make
this job and what you really need. Of course, you have to get a university degree, but you
need a lot of things that are not taught in any courses. He still finds it quite difficult to
estimate his pupils’ performance objective and fair and criticises our school system that forces
him to be coach and judge at the same time.
When I told my father that I wanted to become teacher he warned me that it was not
the easy job that many people thought it was. I know it often is hard work because I remember
my father spending nights and weekends at his desk on marking or preparing. But he’s
teaching for many, many years and he’s still satisfied with his profession.
What a teacher needs most of all is patience, but you should also be sensitive
and flexible. You will often be faced with difficult situations where you have to react quickly
EA+A
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- a sudden breakout of emotions, for example, that could get out of control. Then the right
word at the right time is more valuable than academic knowledge.
I haven’t really decided yet what I will do because I’m not sure that I were a good
teacher but teaching is still a career option for me.
Sample 2)
My Dream Job
Describe the job you would like to have one day, what the job requirements (e.g. education,
skills, qualifications) are and what you think your chances of getting such a job one day are.
Sometimes when I’m sitting at home, making some homework, I feel boring and ask
myself why I’m doing all this. But than I think of my dream and it’s not so hard to get on with
my work.
I’d like to introduce to you my dream job. It’s the position of a town councillor
competent for town planning. A year ago I got a summer job with the town council and there I
had met the man who does this job for our town. Since then I’m dreaming of getting this
position once. Of course, it’s hard to get this job.
First you need a university degree. I wanted to do political science and economics, but
you can only do this subjects in Vienna. As I can’t afford studying in Vienna, I’m thinking
now I could do architecture in Graz. That would give me some training in town planning
which is extreme important for a town councillor.
The next important thing is to know many important people, which have an influence
position in a political party or in the government.
The main reason why I’d like to do this job is that you’re your own boss. You can
change many of your ideas into practice and do something against things that you think need
change. Moreover, you can earn quiet a lot of money.
To get my dream job, I’ll have to work hard in order to finish my study succesfully.
And I need good luck unless my dreams won’t get true.
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Sample 3)
My “mobile phone” story
Tell the story of you and your mobile phone – in particular, deal with the following aspects:




For how long have you had a mobile phone? /
What changed for you when you got your first one?
Imagine having to go without one – what would be the consequences?
Tell the story of one incident when a mobile played an important part in your life (or in
somebody else’s life).
I got my first mobile phone with fourteen. I had wanted one because it already said that
you are “cool” if you had a mobile. Now I can’t imagine to live without my mobile – it has
become very important to me.
I often say my mobile is my brain because it remembers me about special termins and
rings me up in the morning. If I won’t have a mobile, I would always be late.
I think I could not do without my mobile phone. If I left it at home, I would not be
calm for a minute. My friends would not know where I was or what I was doing. It would
also be terrific if I could not call for help if something happened. Mobile phones have saved
persons’ life, for example after an accident. Last winter a skier was caught in an avalanche.
He was found quickly because his mobile phone was switched on.
Sometimes, however, it is better to switch your mobile off because it can get you into
an embarrassing situation. In school, for example, you will get into trouble with your teachers
if you forget switching it off. This is what has happened to me in a maths lesson. I had
forgotten switching off my mobile and suddenly got seven text messages. The whole class
laughed, and the teacher got really angry. He was shouting at me and took my mobile off me.
I had to go without it for a week – that was the most horrible week in my life.
The biggest problem with mobile phones are the costs. Some of my friends got in
money difficulties because they used their mobile phones too much. The mobile phone
companies give you the impression that phoning does not cost very much, what is definitely
not true. There was a time when I spend all my pocket money on phoning. But you have the
possibility to send text messages – this is a lot cheaper than talk to your friends but, of course,
talk is more fun.
Still, text-messaging can cause trouble, too. I once sended a message to the wrong
person. I was planning an evening out with a guy but my mother should not know about it. I
wrote a message to a friend about the evening and then, by mistake, sended it to my mother.
You can imagine, I’m sure, how angry my mother was – I got house arrest for a month.
Nevertheless, I can say that I love my handy phone. As I said, it is my brain, and I
could not do without my brain, could I?
EA+A
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Sample 4)
Task : argumentative essay.
Equal Rights and Opportunities for Men and Women?
Task: Have we achieved equal rights and opportunities for men and women, as is often
claimed? Write an article for the school magazine.
Since the feminist movement started in the 19th century, women are challenging
stereotyped role models: the man is the chef of his family, he has to earn money and look for
his family in financial matters, a woman has to care about the children and to do the
housework.
Women have achieved equal opportunities as far as education is concerned. Until the
19th century only men had the possibility to study at university. This situation changed – now
a lot of female students attend university, but the majority of professors are still men.
It’s true that there are not many women in leading positions anywhere. Women are
often discriminated when they apply for top positions. Men argument that women, when
under stress, tend to react emotional rather than logical, what makes them less suitable for
higher positions than men. This still does not explain why women in general get payed less
than men, even if they do the same work. Many men would object to work for the same
money as the women in their companies. There are also many women who are sexually
harassed at work. Nevertheless, many women are often working because they want to be
independent on their husbands.
In Austria there is a minister who is responsible for gender issues. But not all are
happy with what these ministers do. This is not surprised when the minister is a man – as was
the case shortly – but the female ministers have also not done very much against gender
discrimination. There are some who say that women here shall compare their situation with
the situation of women in developping countries, claiming that the women there were happy if
they had as many rights and opportunities as women here. This is nonsense, of course. It
would not help women in Asia and Africa if women in Europe stopped to fight for equal
opportunities here. On the contrary – only if women in the industrialised countries succeed to
improve their position in a male-dominated society, will they be able to do something for their
counterparts in the Third World as well.
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Sample 5)
It’s My Life
Task:
Describe the way you live – in particular, deal with the following aspects of your life:

home and family

hobbies and interests,

the most unusual experience you have ever had,

the best thing about your life.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------I’m coming from a small town in Upper Styria originally. My family has been living
their since many years, and my parents and my sister still do. They live in a row house and I
liked living there because of the nice, silent surrounding. But since last september I’m having
an own apartment in Graz, and although it’s quite loud there I like being on my own.
As I was young, I was hardly interested in sports but now that I live in Graz I go
trampolining and do judo. I also dance a lot, last year I made an Irish volk-dancing course. I
met a girl there one day who was coming from the same town like me, and after some time we
recognized that we both had a twin sister, and they were even named the same.
It is very important for me to spend as much time as possible with my friends. Most of
them still live in my home town, and therefore I haven’t the possibility to see them during the
week. I spend Saturdays in the studios of a small radio station in Liezen, and I’m moderating
my own show for more than three years now, what I enjoy very much.
One of the most unusual experiences I’ve ever had followed two years after I got an email from a guy in Australia. He’d seen some videos that I’d made for a web-site and asked
me to compose some music for a short film he was making.
Actually my life couldn’t be better as it is right now. I am in good health although I
get too less sleep because I’m involved in so many projects. The best thing about my life is
that I’ve finally found the love of my life and that I still have many really good friends. I
could not imagine not to have them - together with them I can handle with each situation.
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Sample 6)
Level: AHS, 7th form
Task: Imagine an MP advocates the introduction of corporal punishment in our schools. Write a letter
to him either applauding or criticising the idea.
Dear Sir,
I am writing to tell you that I am against corporal punishment in our schools. I am
sixteen years and I am still going to school, what might be a reason why I am against corporal
punishment and why it will be hard for me to write objective.
Young children are still full of idealism when they start school, but if they will get
punished from their teacher they will soon not like going to school any more and they will
only study when they are forced to. Corporal punishment might even effect their behaviour in
future. They might start to play hookey. Very sensible children might fall ill, get depressed or
even kill themself. It is a fact that a third of depressed children commit suicide. Constant fear
is often the cause of illness, either physical or mental. Pupils who have a very strict teacher
could become dependent from someone for life - they will not do things wilfully any longer
since they are used to be told what to do. Therefore they will always need someone to tell
them what they shall do.
Another problem is that a pupil which is often punished might get aggressions. He
might attack a different boy who is weaker and younger. Everybody says that we must
undertake something against the increasing violence in our city. However, I think corporal
punishment in schools will not help to improve the situation. I am sure that there would be a
lot more violence in our schools as there is now if corporal punishment is introduced,
I admit there might be positive aspects, too. Pupils who have discipline learn more.
But there would be too much bad effects – hardly anybody would enjoy to learn anything any
more.
Our children should not be afraid of school, I am sure, that you agree with me as soon
as you have given some thought over the problem.
Yours faithfully,
________________________
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The Bank of English®
(part of the Collins Word Web) is a collection of modern English language held on computer
for analysis of words, meanings, grammar and usage. In linguistics and lexicography such a
collection is called a corpus.
How big is it?
The corpus contains 524 million words and it continues to grow with the constant addition of
new material. Research by Collins Cobuild over the last twenty years has shown that very
large samples of text are necessary for proper linguistic study.
What goes into it? And why?
This huge collection is composed of many different types of writing and speech. It contains
up-to-date English language from thousands of different sources. Written texts come from
newspapers, magazines, fiction and non-fiction books, brochures, reports, and websites.
Spoken material comes from television and radio broadcasts, meetings, interviews,
discussions, and conversations. The Bank of English® provides evidence about the English
which people read, write, speak and hear every day of their lives.
How is it updated and developed?
New data is acquired continuously. Material is downloaded from websites, and daily feeds
are received from many newspapers.
When was it founded?
The Bank of English® was launched in 1991 by Collins and the University of Birmingham.
What is it used for?
Collins lexicographers and linguists have sophisticated software for analysing the corpus.
They can search for patterns of word combination, check word frequencies, see examples of
all the uses of particular words and analyse these results so that the information which is
recorded in dictionaries and other reference works is authoritative and backed up by hard
evidence wherever possible. Academic linguists, language teachers, translators and students
can use the Bank of English® as a basic resource for their studies and professional activity,
through the WordbanksOnline service.
How does the Bank of English® make for better dictionaries?
The information derived from the Bank of English® can improve almost every aspect of
dictionary making. Is it correct to say 'different from' or should it be 'different to'? The corpus
will show which form is most common and further analysis will show whether one form is
used more in writing and the other in speech. Many people will have opinions about these
points, but when it comes to committing language information to print in a dictionary we
believe that we should take account of the wealth of data which the Bank of English®
provides about our language. Many of the innovative features in the latest edition of Collins
COBUILD Advanced Learner's English Dictionary are possible only because of the analysis
that we have carried out of millions of examples of words in use across a range of up-to-date
texts.
Can I use this resource?
If you wish to have access to a large English corpus for research or teaching purposes, then
you can subscribe to our WordbanksOnline service to log in and use the corpus analysis
software we have developed.
EA+A
39
For subscription rates, subscription form, or more information about any aspect of
WordbanksOnline, email word.banks@harpercollins.co.uk.
HarperCollins Publishers Ltd 2004.
OXFORD ENGLISH DICTIONARY: FAQs – OED online
Is it acceptable to use they instead of he or she?
The English language unfortunately lacks a simple singular pronoun which does not specify
gender. Various people have suggested new words to fill this gap, but none of them have
caught on, or (frankly) are ever likely to: it is not practical to try to change such a basic
element of the language by sheer will.
However, children and adults alike naturally find the obvious solution to this conundrum:
rather than using the formal and awkward formula 'he or she', they simply use they, especially
after words such as anyone and no one which are strictly singular but often imply a reference
to more than one person.
This is not a new problem, or a new solution. 'A person can't help their birth', wrote
Thackeray in Vanity Fair (1848), and even Shakespeare produced the line 'Every one to rest
themselves betake' (in Lucrece), which pedants would reject as logically ungrammatical.
If you do not find this usage acceptable, there are alternatives. You could resort to the
awkward 'he or she' formula, or to the practice of writing 'he' when you mean 'he or she'
(which many people find objectionable), or to recasting all your sentences to avoid the
problem!
Reply to e-mail query to “SPOTLIGHT”:
Here is our linguist's answer to your question:
While it might well be possible that "informations" and "advices" are becoming more
common in international communication (since this is such a common mistake made
by non-natives), no native speaker would ever use these nouns in the plural.
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Oral Reports – Peer Assessment
Topic:_______________________________
Assessed by:_____________________________________
Date of presentation:_____________ Team of presenters:____________________________________________
Criteria
PRESENTATION
 Contact to audience
 Use of media (OHT, handouts,
use of board etc.)
 Independence from notes
 Intelligibility (easy to
understand?)
Points
Max. 100
Max. 15
points
ORGANISATION





Max. 15
Co-ordination bw team
members
Clarity of present.
Sequencing
Prioritising
Observing time limit
points
CONTENT





Max. 40
Relevance and practicality
Problem awareness
Information value
Critical assessment of sources
Networking (reference to
previous presentations)
points
HAND-OUT







Layout
Information value
Relevance, practical examples
Connection bw parts
Prioritising (important things
stick out)
Link to previous write-ups
Expression ( clear + concise?)
points
points total (peer ass. for team)
Max. 30
Notes (please provide verbal commentary to each point!)
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