PBEY 3101: ASSESSMENT IN THE ESL

PBEY 3101: ASSESSMENT IN THE ESL
PLACE: BSB 306
TIME: 8:00 TO 9:30AM
DAYS: MONDAYS AND WEDNESDAYS
LECTURER: DR. MOHD RASHID BIN MOHD SAAD
CONTACT: 03-79675087
E-MAIL: mrmsaad2008@gmail.com


Week 1- Introduction: Background and Issues of Teaching Young
Learners; How Children Learn
MacKay, P. (2006). Chapter 1
7th and 9th of July, 2008
Activities
1. 7th of July 2008: Read Chapter 1 and in group of 5s please discuss Table 3.4 on page 13. Your discussion should centre on the literacy development of children.
2. 9th of July 2008: Read Chapter 1 and in group of 5s please discuss page 20-25. What do you understand by the purposes of assessment?

Weeks 2 - Priorities of Young Learners
MacKay, P. (2006). Chapter 2
14th and 16th of July, 2008
Activities
1. 14th of July 2008: Read Chapter 2 and in group of 5s please discuss Figure 2.1 on page 32. Your discussion should centre on the range of contextual support and degree of cognitive involvement in communicative activities.
2. 16th of July 2008: Read Chapter 2 and in group of 5s please discuss this: Effective assessment of young learners combines knowledge of children’s growth and their language learning processes. Discuss.

Week 3- Research into Assessment of Young Language Learners
MacKay, P. (2006). Chapter 3
21st and 23rd of July, 2008
Activities
1. 21st of July 2008: Read Chapter 3 and in group of 5s please discuss Rea Dickins’ (2001) different stages in the teacher assessment process on page 69. Your discussion should centre on the working model for the analysis of teacher-decision making in formative assessment.
2. 23rd of July 2008: Read Chapter 3 and in group of 5s please discuss this: There are four (4) main purposes for research to provide a useful way to organise a discussion of the scope of research in young learner assessment. Discuss.

Week 4- Assessing Language through Tasks
MacKay, P. (2006). Chapter 4
28th and 30th of July, 2008
Activities
1. 28th of July 2008: Read Chapter 4 and in group of 5s please discuss Table 4.1 which of William’s (1994) language use tasks on page 103. You should focus on ways to implement these language use tasks in the primary-school classrooms.
2. 30th of July 2008: Read Chapter 4 and in group of 5s please discuss this: Discuss this statement based on Chapter 4: The most effective assessment of language use is through performance in language tasks.

Week 5- Classroom Assessment of Language Use
MacKay, P. (2006). Chapter 5
4th and 6th of August, 2008
Activities
1. 28th of July 2008: Read Chapter 5 and in group of 5s please discuss Figure 5.2 on page 150. You should centre your discussion based on the 4 stages processes and strategies instruction- embedded classroom assessment.
2. 30th of July 2008: Read Chapter 5 and in group of 5s please discuss this: Discuss this statement based on Chapter 5: Classroom assessment can encourage children to participate in the learning processes and can build motivation and confidence in children as they are given on-going support to learn.

Week 6- Assessing Oral Language
MacKay, P. (2006). Chapter 6
11th and 13th of August, 2008
Activities
1. 11th of August 2008: Read Chapter 6 and in group of 5s please discuss Table 6.1 on page 183. You should centre your discussion based on Bachman and Palmer’s (1966) model of language knowledge
2. 13th of August 2008: Read Chapter 6 and in group of 5s please discuss this: Discuss this statement based on Chapter 6: “There are many issues for teachers and assessors to consider in relation to oral language assessment. Assessment of oral language requires knowledge of, amongst other aspects, the quality of classroom interaction…understanding of the issue in task selection including task difficulty; and knowledge of the best ways to assess grammar, vocabulary and pronunciation in oral language” (Kay, 2006, p.215)

Week 7- Assessing Reading and Writing
MacKay, P. (2006). Chapter 7
18th and 20th of August, 2008
Activities
1. 18th of August 2008: Read Chapter 7 and in group of 5s please discuss this in class. “Current theories of literacy help teachers and assessors to see that literacy is a complex social and cultural endeavour; and that assessment of foreign and second language learners’ literacy need to take young learners’ cultural journey into account” (Kay, 2006, p.263)
2. 20th of August 2008: Read Chapter 7 and in group of 5s please discuss this: Do you agree by the ways of assessing reading and writing as discussed in this book?

Week 8- Evaluating Young Learners’ Performance and Progress
MacKay, P. (2006). Chapter 8
25th and 27th of August, 2008
Activities
1. 25th of August 2008: Read Chapter 8 and in group of 5s please discuss this in class. Based on Table 8.1 on page 271, discuss the considerations in the evaluation of scoring rubrics and reporting scales.
2. 27th of August 2008: Read Chapter 8 and in group of 5s please discuss this: Do you agree with this statement: “ Good scoring rubrics reflect the construct (s) to be assessed and are created by teachers and assessors who are familiar with the curriculum, how the curriculum is taught and the characteristics of the young learners in question”

Week 9- Testing Young Language Learners through Large-Scale Tests
MacKay, P. (2006). Chapter 9
1st and 3rd of September, 2008
Activities
1. 1st of September 2008: Read Chapter 9 and in group of 5s please discuss the model of test development which was adapted from Bachman and Palmer (1996) on page 320.
2. 3rd of September 2008: Read Chapter 9and in group of 5s please discuss this: Alternative assessment is advocated by many educators as a replacement for large-scale testing. Discuss some of the advantage and disadvantage of this alternative assessment in the Malaysian context.

Week 10- Tips for Assessing Very Young Learners (4-8 Years Old)
Handouts
8th and 10th of September, 2008
Activities
1. 1st of September 2008: Disciplines and Fun Ideas for Maintaining Disciplines. Discuss this: How do we assess disciplines in the classroom for the very young language learners?
2. 3rd of September 2008: How can you make your classroom pleasant and familiar in order to assess your very young language learners?

Week 11- Tips for Assessing Young Language Learners (9-15 Years Old)
Handouts
15th and 17th of September, 2008
Activities
1. 15th of September 2008: How do you assess topic-based lessons for young language learners?
2. 17th of September 2008: Discuss two ways ( making a class newspaper and making a class magazine) you could assess language use of young language learners.

Week 12- Music and Songs in the Classroom
Handouts
22nd and 24th of September, 2008
Activities
1. 22nd of September 2008: Select 3 out of 28 lists of activities that you could you use to evaluate your language learners. Discuss why the chosen 3 are more appropriate in the Malaysian context.
2. 24th of September 2008: Create an activity to assess young language learners using nursery rhymes or jazz chants or traditional songs.

Week 13- The Role of Fun and Games
Handouts
29th of September and 1st of October, 2008
Activities
1. 29th of September 2008: What roles do fun and games have in assessing language use for young language learners?
2. 1st of October 2008: If fun and games are utilised in the classroom, how do you maintain ‘fairness’ in your assessment? Discuss.

Week 14- Drama as an English Teaching Aid
Handouts
6th and 8th of October, 2008
Activities
1. 6th of October 2008: How do teachers utilise drama to assess young language learners. Discuss.
2. 8th of October 2008: In your opinion, why drama is one of the best technique to assess students’ communicative skills?