Assessing the young Learners' Progress: Tests E-Book

Nicole Hahn

• Herausgeber: GRIN Verlag
• Sprache: Englisch
• Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2006

Beschreibung

Seminar paper from the year 2005 in the subject Didactics for the subject English - Pedagogy, Literature Studies, grade: 2,0, University of Wuppertal, course: Teaching English to very young children, language: English, abstract: In 1999, Rea-Dickens and Rixon conducted a survey about the relationship between assessment and learning. 120 European teachers and teacher trainers were asked if the main purpose of their assessment was to help their teaching, and 97% answered in the affirmative. Rea-Dickens and Rixon examined afterwards what the teachers really assessed and how they did so. They found a strong “mismatch between curricular aims, pedagogy and test content” (Cameron, Lynne.Teaching languages to very young learners. Cambridge University press.2001. page 217). The assessment focused mainly on the children’s achievements but neglected on other curricular aims such as language and social awareness. The assessment of young learners should serve teaching by providing feedback on the children’s learning progress, so that the content and the difficulty of subsequent teaching units can be effectively adjusted to the learners’ needs. This paper offers the reader an overview about the theoretical ideas and principles which should be kept in mind when implementing an assessment. Furthermore the guidelines of lower Saxony are introduced. They illustrate the expectations of the German school system towards assessment in class. Afterwards the paper gives an overview about psycholinguistic tests such as “Blitztest” and “F-Test”. Additionally, the paper answers the question of origin and purpose of the Cambridge Young Learners Test. Finally, material which should support the teacher in the efficiency assessment of the pupils is represented, considering the example of “Ginger”.

Leseprobe

Table of Content

1. Introduction. - 2 -

2. Issues in assessing children’s language learning. - 3 -

3. Classroom reality. - 4 -

4. Principles of assessing children’s language learning - 5 -

4.1 Assessment should be seen from a learning centred perspective. - 5 -

4.2 Assessment should support teaching and learning - 6 -

4.3 Assessment should be based on learning. - 7 -

5. Key concepts in assessment - 7 -

5.1 Formative and summative assessment - 7 -

5.2 Criterion-referenced and norm- referenced assessment - 8 -

5.3 Fairness - 8 -

6.2 Assessment during classroom activities. - 10 -

7. Self-assessment and learner autonomy - 10 -

8.1 Principles to assess the learners’ level of ability - 11 -

8.2 Methods of assessment - 13 -

9. Psycholinguistic tests - 15 -

10. Development of communication skills. - 18 -

11. Making the Grade with Ginger. - 19 -

11.1 Facts about Ginger. - 19 -

11.2 Some critical aspects about the book. - 22 -

12. The Cambridge Young Learners Test - 23 -

12.1 What is UCLES? - 23 -

12.2 What is the Cambridge Young Learners English Test? - 24 -

12.3 The three levels. - 26 -

12.4 The aims of the test. - 27 -

12.5 Syllabuses. - 27 -

12.6 Examination report - 28 -

13. Conclusion. - 30 -

14. Bibliography. - 31 -

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learners. This kind of assessment can take place during the lesson and

Page 1

Hauptseminar: “Teaching English in Primary Schools: And after?” 4. Semester

Assessing the young learners’

progress: