EAP Review – Assessments

Alexander, O., Argent, S. & Spencer, J. (Eds.) (2008). EAP Essentials: A teacher's guide to principle and practice. (ch. 10, 303-338) Garnet Publishing: Reading.

Assessment

Assessment types

• Purposes of assessment
• formative
• aptitude
• diagnostic
• progress
• summative
• achievement
• proficiency
• placement

Assessment at university ~ notes

Ls need:

• formative feedback on their work linked explicitly to the assessment descriptors
• encouragement through model answer exercises
• to engage actively with feedback
• comments only relevant to the purpose of the assignment
• patterns of errors identified.

Quality assurance:

• some universities and their language centres engage in 'blind' marking, wherein markers do not know the identity of the students.

 Validity:

• the university context can be simulated within the classroom
• deadlines for drafts
• timed activities
• peer assignment meetings
• participation in peer discussions
• peer evaluation of work against assessment criteria
• self-evaluation of work against assessment criteria. 

Assessment rubric / descriptor (using A - E grades, + & -):

Task –> classify a concept or process in your field of study in around 300 words.

• Task achievement
• are the main issues discussed? 
• is there a clear focus on the question?
• e.g., A = 'it fully answers all aspects of the task in sufficient depth; the classification is set in an appropriate context, and the purpose explained; the categories are clearly distinguished and explained.'
• e.g., B = 'it answers the task in sufficient depth to cover the main points; the classification is set in context, although the purpose may be unclear; the categories are explained, but it may not be clear that the text is a classification.'
• e.g., C = 'the main points are covered, but there may be some irrelevant ideas; the context and purpose may not be explained clearly; there is some attempt to explain the categories, but it may not be clear that what's written is a classification.'
• e.g., D = 'not all aspects of the task are covered, or not in enough depth; the context and purpose are not explained; the text may be a description rather than a classification and fail to distinguish different categories.'
• 
  
• Structural organisation
• present of introduction and conclusion as well as division and linking of paragraphs.
• Language
• is functional language used and is it accurate?
• is there range in vocabulary and grammar?

Grading process

1. form an overall impression of the text
2. assign a grade to each category in turn, referring to assessment descriptors
3. review the grade incorporating knowledge of L needs.

Portfolios:

• Ls are aware of their progress
• delayed evaluation gives Ls a chance to improve work before summative assessment
• particular assessment descriptors improved on separately throughout portfolio.

Lessons stages

Lead-ins: 

• oral paragraphs prompts Ls to remember information and produce it in their won words.

*T: What did we do last lesson?

S1: We watched a lecture video

S2: We did some reading before we watched the video

S3: Not all of us read, there were two groups

T: Can you remember the names of the two groups?

S4: The control group. They didn’t read but the experimental group read for homework.

T: Why did we do it this way?

S5: To find out how much reading helps before listening.

S6: We compared the groups to test our hypothesis.

• timed draft writing simulating test conditions (arrive and write) using a projected contrast table (+ / - ), or a cause and effect chain or classification map prompts Ls to think and write quickly.

Pre-teach vocabulary:

• Weekly non-cryptic Crosswords
• Academic Word Highlighter
• spot and highlight only these words in a text / Ls create own gap fill
• Retrieval & Matching
• retrieve collocates from a text and match them to their definition

Critical thinking:

• choose an item for example 'bananas': 'which features make this suitable or unsuitable as money?'
• focussed note-taking: take notes from a text to answers an essay question
• subsequent writing: 200-300 words, explain which (bananas) is good form of money and what is wrong with the other two.