Assessment – definitely for learning!
Dr. Mario López Barrios, Facultad de Lenguas, UNC
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A case: Juan’s story
Juan is 15 and he’s a 3rd year student at an
urban middle class private school. He’s not doing
as good as he could because he invests very
little time in homework and studying. His last
maths test was on September 4th, his next one is
tomorrow. Since yesterday he’s been cramming
for it. He realizes he can’t cope with it on his own
and takes a two-hour private class. With luck on
his side he’ll get a passing mark – which is not
enough to save him from sitting for the final exam
in December. What happened to Juan between
September 4th and today?
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A case: Juan’s story
September
4th Test
October 3th
Test
Test results:
Sept. 9th
Test
announced
Sept. 30th
Class activities: introduction of new
topics, some review, an “oral lesson”
• How can the teacher check the knowledge learners
construct?
• How can the learning effort be extended evenly
throughout time (and not the day before the test)?
• How does Juan ‘get the message’ that his performance
is being monitored in between tests?
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Assessment – definitely for learning!
• Formative Assessment: Assessment for
Learning (AfL)
• Research evidence
• Issues in classroom-based formative
assessment
• Implementing AfL in one’s own teaching
practice
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Assessment
• Assessment should inform learning and
teaching
• “Assessment should be for leaning in
classrooms and elsewhere, not just of
learning, as in formal, standardized tests”
(Cumming & Laurier, 2008)
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Types and functions of assessment
•
•
•
•
Formative assessment 
Summative assessment 
Diagnostic assessment 
Evaluative assessment 
assessment for
learning
assessment of
learning
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Assessment for learning (AfL)
“Assessment for learning is any
assessment for which the first priority in its
design and practice is to serve the purpose
of promoting pupils' learning. It thus differs
from assessment designed primarily to
serve the purposes of accountability or of
ranking or certifying competence.” (Black &
Jones, 2006)
 Assessment Reform Group (King’s College,
London)
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Assessment for learning (AfL)
• Starting point: the determination of the
pupils’ existing understanding of a topic
 Constructivism
• Then the teacher uses the feedback to
modify the teaching plan  learning
cannot be done for learners, it has to be
done by them, albeit with the teacher
supporting any new input
(Black & Jones, 2006)
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Assessment for learning (AfL)
“Feedback is only formative if it brings
about a change of some kind for the
learner. This implies a change in the level
of awareness of a learner about language,
or a change in an individual’s language
development or language use in some
way” (Rea-Dickins 2006)
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Crucial features of AfL
• The provision of effective feedback
• The active involvement of pupils in their own
learning
• Adjusting teaching to take account of the
results of assessment
• A recognition of the influence of assessment
on motivation and self-esteem
• The need form pupils to be able to assess
themselves to to understand how to improve
(Neil Jones 2007, ALTE Conference Vilnius)
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Formative and summative assessment
• Functions of assessment:
– Scriven (1967)  summative and formative
program evaluation
– Bloom, Hastings & Madaus (1971)  extend
the differentiation to various forms of
assessment
(Stiggins 2005)
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Formative and summative assessment
• Formative assessment
evaluates students in the process of “forming” their competencies and
skills with the goal of helping them to continue the growth process.
The key to such formation is the delivery (by the teacher) and
internalization (by the student) of appropriate feedback on
performance, with an eye toward the future continuation (or
formation) of learning.
• Summative assessment
aims to measure, or summarize, what a student has grapsed, and
typically occurs at the end of a course or unit of instruction. A
summation of what a student has learned implies looking back and
taking stock of how weel that student has accomplished objectives,
but does not necessarily point the way to future progress. Final
exams in a course and general proficiency exams are examples of
summative assessment.
(Brown 2004)
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Research findings of AfL
• Black & William (1998): FA can raise standards
of pupil achievement
• Rea-Dickins & Gardner (2000): what do teachers
understand under formative assessment?
• Gattullo (2000): recurrent FA processes in an
Italian EFL class for YLs
• Rea-Dickins (2001): stages in teacher
assessment cycle, FA strategies employed by
teachers of EAL
• Rea-Dickins (2006): ways in which learners
engage in formative assessment (instructionembedded assessment)
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Specific L2 issues in formative assessment
Leung & Lewkowicz (2006) point out three
main issues:
• The interpretation of assessment criteria
on the part of teachers
• Compatibility of formative assessment
with local educational requirements
• In theory, teachers [and learners] readily
adopt AfL, in practice, they may resist its
implementation
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Possible implementations of AfL
•
•
•
•
•
Questioning and dialogue 
Feedback on written work
Self- and peer-assessment
Formative use of summative tests
Learning together – learning from others
(Black and Jones 2006)
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Questioning and dialogue
Rationale:
• ongoing multi-phase process that is
carried out on a daily basis through
teacher-pupil interaction
• provides feedback for immediate action
• aims at modifying teaching activities in
order to improve learning processes and
results
(Gattullo 2000, 279)
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17
Recurrent categories of assessment
processes
A.
B.
C.
D.
E.
F.
G.
H.
I.
Questioning / eliciting Input, Response
and Feedback
Correcting
cycle (IRF)
Judging
Rewarding
Observing process
Examining product
Clarifying
Task criteria
Metacognitive questioning
(Gattullo 2000, 281)
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Examples of questioning and dialogue
• Concept questions
• Consciousness raising (CR)
• Checking results of activities
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Concept questions
• Questions asked to check if learners
understand the meaning of a (newly
introduced) language item
• Example
To test understanding of the use of 'used to'
in the example 'I used to swim in the
summer', a teacher might ask 'Do I still
swim now?' and 'Did I only swim once?' to
test understanding of 'used to' as a finished
and repeated action in the past.
(teachenglish knowledge wiki)
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Students will
become familiar with ‘there is’ and ‘there are’ to express existence
Concept
questions
T: Where are we? At home? Is this the
canteen?
T: (pointing to the window) What’s
this? (pointing to the chairs) And what
are these?
T: Look. In the classroom there’s a
window, there’s a blackboard and
there’s a table. There are 40 chairs,
there are 3 maps (etc. etc.)
T: There’s a blackboard, there are 40
chairs. What’s the meaning of there’s,
there’s a blackboard in the classroom,
there’s a map in the classroom, there
are 40 chairs?
T: Yes, excellent! Now listen to me and
repeat: there’s a blackboard …
Rewarding
T: Look at me: /ðerzə ‘blækbɔ:d/, you
see me? (pointing at the tip of the
tongue). Repeat /ðerzə ‘blækbɔ:d/
SS: No, we are at school. No, it’s the
classroom.
SS: It’s a window. These are chairs.
SS listen to the description.
SS: ¿Que hay un pizarrón? / ¿Haber?,
etc.
hypothesis
Questioning / eliciting
SS repeat
SS: /ðerzə ‘blækbɔ:d/
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Concept questions
T: (after having compared a Fiat 600 and a
Ferrari using bigger/smaller, cheaper,
faster/slower, older/newer). What is the
meaning of ‘smaller’, ‘The Fiat 600 is
smaller than the Ferrari’?
SSS: Más chico, que es más chico que la
Ferrari.
T: Right! And cheaper? Listen: The Fiat 600 is
cheaper than the Ferrari.
SSS: ¿Que es más barato? ¿Qué cuesta
menos que la Ferrari?
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Concept questions
T: (after having presented a dialogue between
Patito and Antonella talking about their holiday
plans). Patito says: I’m going to La Cumbre
with my family and my dog Matías next month.
¿Se va ahora a La Cumbre? Listen: (T repeats
the sentence).
SSS: No, en las vacaciones de invierno / el mes
que viene.
T: Yes, very good! And Antonella?
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Concept questions
• What aspects are related to concept
checking?
• When will the aspects of form be
clarified? (for example, the fact that
English has two forms (there’s, there are)
and Spanish only one (hay).
• Is a distinction between different
meanings relevant for this structure?
• Is a distinction of use relevant for this
structure?
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Consciousness raising
• Guided discovery:
“An alternative to giving explanations would
be to create activities that allow learners to
generate their own discoveries and
explanations. Tasks at just the right level will
draw attention to interesting language issues.
Teacher questions (and use of other
techniques) will ‘nudge’ learners towards key
points. In this way, long explanations can be
avoided and learners take a more active role
in their own progress”. (Scrivener 2005, 268)
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EO: Students will discriminate between gerunds and infinitives
T: (after she listens to SS’s answers, T
draws SS’s attention to the first SS answer the questions
sentence and asks SS) What is the
main verb in this question? What SS: ‘an infinitive’ Response
comes after the verb? An –ing form or Questioning / eliciting
an infinitive?
T: ‘right, an infinitive. Remember after
verbs such as need, want and try we Reward
use the ‘to infinitive’.
Clarifying
…
Learning?
T then explains that ‘ing forms’ are Clarifying
formally called ‘gerunds’. In order to
make it clear, T recapitulates the main
points by saying: ‘then we use
Clarifying
gerunds after verbs such as like, enjoy,
etc.; we use them also after
prepositions such as from, at, etc. and
as the subject of a phrase or sentence’
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Guided discovery
Look at the verbs in the questions and
Teacher observes the process, examines
match:
Verbs
the product, corrects, clarifies, uses
metacognitive questioning
What kinds of verbs follow In these
cases?
a) gerund
b) ‘to infinitive’
• after need, want, try
• after like, hate, love
• after an adjective (for example it is
difficult, I find it good, etc.)
• to express purpose or reason
• subject of a phrase or sentence
Learners observe, classify, verify or correct
hypotheses, engage actively in the learning
process, get feedback and opportunities for
clarification
After this, learners
may verify their
findings using the
grammar reference
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Checking results of activities
When checking the answers to an exercise
or activity teachers often revert to a more
traditional role, whereby from the front of
the room they ask students for their
answers and tell them whether they are
right. However, in the student-centred
classroom this important stage in the
learning process could be better exploited
so as to be more engaging, interactive and
empowering for our learners.
www.teachingenglish.org.uk
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Checking results of activities
Metacognitive
questioning
Learners verify or correct choices, engage
actively in the learning process, get
feedback and opportunities for clarification
New English File Elementary
EO: Students read a
text for general
information
… Now T SS read
tells SS to the text
read the and
two texts decide
silently
the
and to
women’s
decide
nationawhere
lity.
the
women
come
from (Rio,
Beijing or
Moscow).
SS say the
T points
answers
to
individual and
SS to say justify
their
their
answers choice
(ex. I
and to
think
justify
Sabina
their
lives in
choice.
Rio
because
…)
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Epilogue: Recapping Juan’s story
• Changing Juan’s learning habits
• What does this imply for him?
– Maximizing his learning through FA
– Active involvement in his own learning
– Raising his self-esteem
• What does this imply for his teachers?
– Implementing FA in class
– Switching to more interactive forms of
teaching
– Support of learning outside class
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References
Rea-Dickins, Pauline (2006) Currents and eddies in the discourse of assessment: a
learning-focused interpretation. International Journal of Applied Linguistics 16/2,163-188
Black, P. and J. Jones (2006) Formative assessment and the learning and teaching of MFL:
sharing the language learning road map with the learners. Language Learning Journal
34, 4-9.
Cumming, A. and M. Laurier (2007) 'Introduction to the Special Issue'. Canadian Modern
Language Review 64/1: 1-4.
Jones, N. (2007) Linking learning and assessment: a can-do framework. ALTE Conference
Vilnius. http://www.alte.org/further_info/vilnius/nj091107.pdf
Stiggins, Rick (2005) From Formative Assessment to Assessment FOR Learning: A Path to
Success in Standards-Based Schools, Phi Delta Kappan, Vol. 87, No. 04, December
2005, pp. 324-328. http://www.assessmentinst.com/forms/FromFormat_k0512sti.pdf
Brown, H. D. (2004) Language assessment. White Plains, NY: Longman.
Rea-Dickins, P. and S. Gardner (2000): Snares and silver bullets: disentangling the
construct of formative. Language Testing 17; 215-243
Gattullo, F. (2000) 'Formative assessment in ELT primary (elementary) classrooms: an
Italian case study'. Language Testing 17; 278-288.
Rea-Dickins, P. (2001)'Mirror, mirror on the wall: identifying processes of classroom
assessment'. Language Testing 18; 429-462.
Leung, C. and J. Lewkowicz (2006) Expanding horizons and unresolved conundrums:
language testing and assessment. TESOL Quarterly 40, 211-234.
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