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The importance of learning foreign languages
importance of foreign language in the education system
importance of teaching english as a foreign language
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Recommended: The importance of learning foreign languages
Introduction
In an increasingly globalized world the ability to exchange ideas and communicate in a language other than one’s first language has been considered highly important. The necessity of teaching foreign languages to Young Learners (aged 5-12 years old) has been widely recognized and, as a result, recent years have witnessed an explosion in the number of children learning English as a foreign language as part of their primary education. In fact, in many countries worldwide a tendency to lower the age at which school children begin their foreign language learning has been noticed. As young language learners comprise the most rapidly growing segment of the primary school population, there is an extensive interest in their learning. This entails a growth of concern about their appropriate assessment since assessment has always been regarded as an integral part of the everyday teaching practice (Ioannou-Georgiou & Pavlou, 2003; Linn & Miller, 2005; McKay, 2006).
Assessment is included in evaluation which is the umbrella term referring to all the types of activities that require the exercise of judgement. Even though the terms have frequently been used interchangeably in the relative literature, Bachman (1990) argues that their distinctive characteristics render their separate definitions necessary. More particularly, evaluation is a broad concept “primarily about decision making” (Genesee & Upshur, 1996: 4). Although it “is a natural and recurring activity of our daily existence” (Karavas, 2004: 151), when we engage in evaluation in an educational setting, its consequences are serious, powerful and far reaching. Evaluation involves making a wide variety of choices concerning instructional plans, methodological approaches,...
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...age Learning: Vol. 3. Assessing Students without Tests. Patras: Hellenic Open University.
Underhill, N. (1987) Testing Spoken Language: a handbook of oral testing techniques. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Vatantzi, E. (2005) Washback effect of assessment in the English language classroom of greek primary schools. M.Ed dissertation. Patras: Hellenic Open University.
West, R. (2004a) Testing and Assessment in Language Learning: Vol. 1. Principles and Approaches to Language Testing. Patras: Hellenic Open University.
West, R. (2004b) Testing and Assessment in Language Learning: Vol. 2. Assesing the Language and Communication Skills. Patras: Hellenic Open University.
Υπουργείο Παιδείας Δια Βίου Μάθησης και Θρησκευμάτων. (2010) Το Νέο Σχολείο: Πρώτα ο Μαθητής. Retrieved December 2, 2011 from: http://archive.minedu.gov.gr/docs/neo_sxoleio_brochure_100305.pdf
Dillon, Naomi. “LANGUAGE TEST. (cover story).” American School Board Journal 192.8 (2005): 10. MasterFILE Premier. EBSCO. Web. 18 Feb. 2001.
One of the most controversial topics in education today is the use of Provincial Achievement Testing, also know as PAT. PATs’ are used to assess and assist in improving programs, maintain standards and improve student achievement. These tests are standard tests that are at the same academic level for all students and focus on the same curriculum topics. All students write these tests at roughly the same time during the school in the same grade. In most provinces, students write PATs’ in grades three and six in elementary school. These tests feature sections from the core subject areas; math, literacy, science and social studies. Schools with french immersion have tests written in french with a french language sections as well. These tests are used to provide additional information regarding the students’ and school’s achievement. However, some organizations use this to compare schools and districts. Some teachers lack an understanding of these assessments and change their teaching practices to fit this perception. Teachers are focus to much on the basic information being covered by the test, and both all the curriculum that is listed. Teachers need to look at the difference between the assessment of learning over the assessment for learning. The view of assessing of learning has given external testing a lower view by teachers. External testing is used for checking the quality of education. There are three issues regarding assessing student learning with achievement testing, they are: the weak understanding of fair assessment, the perception of external accountability initiatives and the inappropriate assessment of at-risk students.
Gibbs, C. & Holt, R. (2003). The teaching of international languages in New Zealand schools in years 7 and
Before teachers are able to identify the strengths and weaknesses of students, they need to assess them formally and informally. Teachers need to be aware of the tools being used to measure progress. After using an instrument to measure students’ progress and development, teachers need to analyze the data obtained to see of it correlates with the performance they observe in class. In a case study performed with preschoolers by Guiberson and Rodriguez (2011), they observed many difficulties that are present when teachers try to assess language and literacy development in bilingual children. They found out that teachers need to use multiple methods of assessments in order to accurately measure student progress. Teachers need to get to know their students and their performance, so when they analyze data they are able to understand it. They need to analyze the different assessments to find and utilize the ones that more accurately measure the students’
All assessments need to be authentic to assess a student's knowledge successfully. For this analysis I chose the reading comprehension lesson on Aunt Flossie’s Hats which covers the standard: LAFS.3.RI.1.2; determine the main idea of a text; recount the key details and explain how they support the main idea. This is a summative assessment used to register the student’s knowledge of the lesson. For this assessment to be an accurate gauge of the ELL’s ability I modified the verbiage of the worksheet in the English Learner’s native language. Modifying the summative assessment will provide me with a thorough overview of the English Language Learner’s comprehension level without any language barriers.
There is a rising issue in today’s education system to whether or not we need to require and when the education system should start the second language learning in the school system. Some say that education system should wait until the students have reached high school and others say to start it young. Other school officials have said that they should require it in high school because they’ll remember the language better. Experts say that the education system needs to start it young while the child’s brain is like a sponge. The answer to this question is to simply start the foreign language learning young during their childhood which is why all the state education systems should require a foreign language class during the elementary years of schooling.
Swarbrick, A. (2013) Aspects of Teaching Secondary Modern Foreign Languages: Perspectives on Practice. London: Routledge Falmer.
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.
Long, M, H. & Doughty, C, J. ( Eds.).(2009). The Handbook of Language Teaching. Blackwell Publishing Ltd.
The scope of this exercise is limited to teaching English as a second language (TESOL) i.e. teaching programs in English-speaking countries (specifically UK) for students whose first language is other than English. The first thing I noticed, when reading about it, was the paucity of specialised material on the subject. Tricia Hedge refers briefly to “multicultural” classrooms and one reference to “multi-lingual” classrooms and then only to talk about a possible diagnostic method to highlight learner problems (Hedge, 2000 p270). I have therefore tried to glean from various sources, insights and advice where possible. The scarcity of material has another consequence; multi lingual classrooms are often only mentioned as part of a wider discussion of “problems” encountered by teachers and learners. Many of the sources rely on research into monolingual groups (Hedge, Skehan, Lightbown et al.).
In spite of the importance of assessment in education, few teachers receive proper training on how to design or analyze assessments. Due to this, when teachers are not provided with suitable assessments from their textbooks or instructional resources, teachers construct their own in an unsystematic manner. They create questions and essay prompts comparable to the ones that their teachers used, and they treat them as evaluations to administer when instructional activities are completed predominantly for allocating students' grades. In order to use assessments to improve instruction and student learning, teachers need to change their approach to assessments by making sure that they create sound assessments. To ensure that their assessments are sound they need include five basic indicators that can be used as steps to follow when creating assessments. The first of these indicators and the first step a teacher must take when creating a sound assessme...
Assessment is an integral part of any language program. Assessment defines what students regard as important, how they spend their time and how they come to see themselves as students and then as graduates. It is a major concern of those who learn, those who teach and those who are responsible for the development and accreditation of courses. In the area of language learning and teaching, teachers usually correct the learners. However, rarely do these corrections lead to further improvement, especially in productive, skills. Sometimes, the teacher asks the students to correct or, more generally, assess their classmates, but, again, there is no significant development on the part of the learner being assessed in most cases ( Huetra – Marcias
Through assessment students and teachers are able to determine the level of mastery a student has achieved with standards taught. Both formative and summative assessment should be purposeful and targeted to gain the most accurate data to drive further instruction (Ainsworth, 2010). While this syllabus does a good job of identifying the need for both formal and informal assessments, the way in which this is communicated does not provide enough detail for understanding. Simply listing assessment types does not give any insight into how these assessments fit in the learning process of this course. While some of the assessments mentioned could be common assessments chosen by the school or district to gain insight into the effectiveness of instruction, the inclusion of authentic assessments is most beneficial to students and demonstrates learning in a context closer to that of a work environment (Rovai, 2004). Unfortunately, this particular course, according to this syllabus, relies heavily on quizzes and traditional tests and essays to form the bulk of assessment opportunities. While other activities, such as formative assessments, journaling and discussions are mentioned as possible avenues for scoring, they are given a very low percentage of the overall grade. This shows that they are not valued for their ability to show progression and mastery. If this is indeed the case, this puts the students as a
Students can be asked to assess themselves. There are various ways of doing this: most involve forms of checklists and as a part of questionnaires. An important advantage of self assessment, as Jordan (1997) and Richards (2001) state, is that learners are involved and it helps them raise their awareness of language skill and abilities. On the other hand, it may result in impressionistic and imprecision information.
Center for Advanced Research on Language Acquisition. (2010, Jul 15). Process: Creating rubrics. Retrieved from http://www.carla.umn.edu/assessment/vac/Evaluation/p_7.html