Many teachers have some general knowledge on how to assess vocabulary and grammar when it comes to testing and also vocabulary and grammar is the form of testing that it is most used by teachers. There is more to just applying a test, as a language teacher you need to be aware of diverse factors that are considered when testing. The following summary was based on a webinar titled “Understanding grammar and vocabulary assessment: what every teacher should know” where many key points and tips of assessing grammar and vocabulary were developed. In the following summary you will be able to read about these main questions related to assessing grammar and vocabulary: Why is assessment of vocabulary and grammar one of the …show more content…
There are different ways of testing that focus on different aspects the first two ways of testing mentioned were directly and indirectly these forms of testing are used to test students ability to use language in context. Directly testing is focusing on specific forms of grammar and vocabulary and example of this type of task could be gap filling with multiple-choice although these types of tasks are not communicate tasks its purpose is to focus on specific areas such as producing or selecting words to fit within a text. Grammar and vocabulary could also be tested indirectly; this is done by a writing task, where students demonstrate their ability to use the language. These types of activities are considered productive because as same as speaking writing is considered a productive skill where students express their …show more content…
The first part gives tips in general about all question making which can help the test maker throughout the elaboration of the whole test. Some general tips are the following: 1. No tricky questions. Everything should be according to the test taker’s level; tests are about guiding students to the answer not confusing them. 2. Short stems only. This will help test takers go easily through the test without having to reread the questions over and over because they are too long. 3. Do not test language based on prescriptive grammar. This means to elaborate the test with the simplest forms and structures of grammar that there are. 4. Provide an example of correctly answered item. Instructions should be clear and it would be even better the tests provides examples on what the test taker has to do
The second part of tips refers to key and distractors aspects where they advise the
This article, reporting on the research done by Margo Glew and Charlene Polio of Michigan State University, examines writing assessment in a different way than most research on the topic. The goal of this research was to look into how an ESL student chooses prompts for a writing exam when offered a choice. Polio and Glew not only investigate how they choose, but how long it takes each student to choose and if they should even be given a choice at all.
Theories, instruction, scaffolding, and research are used to help meet the goals set forth by the English Language Development Standards. They are also helpful in meeting academic achievements need to meet the Common Core Standards, If these fall to help children other standards-based interventions/activities will help.
The two assessments that I chose to measure early literacy skills in young children in K-2, is the KTEA, and a spelling test. The Kaufman Test of Education Achievement (KTEA), is an assessments that measure early literacy for young children, The Kaufman Test of Educational Achievement (K-TEA) was designed to measure school achievement of children enrolled in Grades K-2. The K-TEA comes in two different forms: The Comprehensive form requires from 20 to 75 minutes to administer and the brief requires 10 to 25 minutes to administer, depending on the child’s grade. The test is individually administered, norm – referenced, by the teacher or a staff support member. The assessments are intended for use in programing planning, placement, and measurement
The assessment process begins at the school in several ways. Usually at the time of enrollment it is noted that the child is an English language learner. If in some way this is not caught at enrollment, the general educator can usually spot this right away. The first step in the process is to assess the student to see where the student’s performance level is at. There are four performance levels where students can be placed. These performance levels are beginning, intermediate, advanced, or proficient. The performance level will indicate the...
Morphology and syntax: one of the most common tests for testing grammar is called the wug test. It was created by a psycholinguist named Jean Berko Gleason. The test consisted of a made up creature that she named a ‘wug’ and she has 2 more wugs next to it. She asked the children what two wugs are called and they came up with the word WUGZ.
Knowing effective strategies for teaching ELL students grammar is important. Research shows that instructional strategies for ELL students consist of SIOP, learning through listening, and learning through speaking. There are many students in classrooms that are ELL learners and that number will likely continue to grow. These effective instructional techniques will improve the learning of grammar for ELL students. It is important that we reach each and every student in our classroom, so being aware of the student needs and how to help them develop in the future is imperative. Not only are these strategies beneficial to English language learners it is also helpful for the regular classroom students.
The problem to be investigated is whether the students are increasing their vocabulary through the current methods used in the classroom. Students’ vocabulary knowledge will be assessed through expressive knowledge of current vocabulary words. Those results will be compared to standardized vocabulary measures to determine the relationship to overall vocabulary ability. The following questions will be explored:
...Grammar Alive (2003) discuss the use of sentence diagrams to provide students with visual displays of the material. According to the authors of Grammar Alive, “many students do indeed find the diagrams helpful in seeing the relationships among sentence elements” (75). The use of questioning strategies in this process can ensure that students learn the content and can encourage critical thinking. Teachers should provide interesting and challenging questions designed to engage students thinking. Creating a classroom environment in which thinking and analyzing are valued is important to the success of all students. This process is definitely a process I would use in my classroom to improve the students’ understanding of grammar and writing. With improvement of grammar and writing, the students’ written work will improve and evolve to a more professional level.
The two main purposes of assessment discussed in this article are for helping learning and for summarizing learning. Assessment has always been a part of the education system and involves various tasks, tests and examinations for the development of the learner and the teacher. Often an assessment measures what has been learned, remembered, understood and applied (Sieborger & Macintosh, 1998). Assessment also provides a platform for evaluation and feedback to take place. The primary purpose of an assessment is not only to measure what the learners have learned but rather as an indication of where they can improve and achieve more. An assessment is also in place to motivate learners to improve.
We don’t teach it. If we read novels in class they have to read it out loud. We don’t teach it or score it.
The ability to test a student’s language skills is essential to have as a teacher. Over the years, classrooms have become much more diverse with a wide variety of impairments being presented on a daily basis. Often, these disabilities contain a language impairment that appears as a side effect of the main disability. Unfortunately, assessing language is not as easy as one may think because it is not clearly defined and understood. Kuder (2008) writes that “…language is not a unitary phenomenon- it is ‘multidimensional, complex, and dynamic; it involves many interrelated processes and abilities; and it changes from situation to situation” (pg. 274). Language also develops at different times for different individuals, thus making language assessment an even harder task for test administrators to grade and evaluate. In order to further understand the language impairment that students present, teachers need to be aware of appropriate language tests that could be administered. In order to assure that the best language test is being issued to a student, several various tests exist to choose from. To test a student’s overall language capability, a comprehensive language test, such as the Comprehensive Assessment of Spoken Language (CASL) or the Oral and Written Language Scales (OWLS), could be administered. If a teacher wanted to test a specific language skill such as pragmatics, phonology, syntax, or semantics, the teacher would need to find the best test for the student’s unique situation.
Experiencing those days where people would laugh at other for the broken English; the grammar and pronunciation are the toughest parts of the language. People with English as a second language always stumble upon difficulties; however, the determination of learning a new language do not decrease easily as the motivation is still surrounding one’s mind. Today, English has become an international communication; even the teaching and learning of the language has already spread throughout the world. English is known as one of the most common use language and has been offering classes everywhere for years especially around Asia; additionally, the world common language has now become the number one language uses in every fields of career that is being offer everywhere. Non-American students should be required to take English class as a second language in school
A large part of an English teacher’s job deals with helping students find their own voices amidst the many teachings of their parents and peers. A student’s voice can be their values, their interests, and their perspectives of the world in which they live. Their voice can be their critical questioning of the many situations they face, whether in a text, the school cafeteria, or a park after school. It is the job of an English teacher to aid in finding this voice through their writing. It is by putting words and thoughts down on paper that a student can sometimes feel comfortable enough to take risks and find their true voices. Although traditional grammar instruction has long been thought to improve this skill, this is no longer the case. Instead, by providing a classroom environment in which students are immersed in classic literature from many genres including poetry, short stories, and novels, students will learn how to harness grammar for their own purposes of finding their voice in their writing.
Growing up learning and speaking English has been something that was difficult for me at first but then came easy, but that was not the case for my mother. She spent her whole life speaking Spanish, so when she decided to take English learning classes it was challenging. However, she had me to help her throughout her struggle. I helped her complete her homework and assignments. We would also go to the library to check out easy level reading books to have her read to me. I would correct her English when it was wrong and do all I could to boost her confidence. It took me a while to understand and figure out what the best way to teach her was, but it was a fun experience for the both of us. Teaching her English was difficult because things that
In most institutions of learning today, the classes are made up of students from different ethnic backgrounds. These have different traditions and also speak different languages. In a typical classroom, the majority of the students will speak the same language. The teacher must then employ strategies which will accommodate all the students in the class. This will ensure that every learner gets the best quality of education. This will enable them to be better prepared for career and expressing themselves. In this paper, strategies to assist learners of the English language in their literal development for third grade learners. In the paper, three strategies that can be used by the teacher will be discussed. New strategies and research that will help the English language learners to gain in depth mastery of the language will also be discussed. Due to the widespread learning of the English language in most schools, addressing issues of the language learners is of vital importance. Teachers should have the understanding that cultures are what give someone identity and therefore no student should leave their culture for another. Instead, there should be the blending of different cultures so that students can appreciate and learn from each other.