Principled assessment:

What it is and what it involves.

Neus Figueras of

Eaquals International Conference, Lisbon, 21 – 23 April 2016 www.eaquals.org

 Why is assessment important?

If students learned what they were taught, we would

never need to assess; we could instead just keep
records of what we had taught. (Dylan Wiliam, 2011)

l 2
 Who should know what? Taylor 2013

Eaquals International Conference, 21 – 23 April 2016

Special Issue on Language Assessment Literacy – Language Testing 30 (3)
Takala, S.; Erickson, G; Figueras, N. ; Gustafson, J-E. (2016) Future Prospects and
Erickson,
Challenges G.; International
Eaquals Figueras,N;
in Language Gustafsson,21 J.E.; Takala,
– 23 April
Assessments.
Conference, 2016S.J.; (forthcoming) Future prospects and challenges in language
assessments in Banerjee, J. and Tsagari, D..Contemporary Second Language Assessment. Continuum
Researchers and test makers

Eaquals International Conference, 21 – 23 April 2016 6

Language teachers

Eaquals International Conference, 21 – 23 April 2016

 January 2009

Relating Language
Examinations to the Common
European Framework of
Reference for Languages:
Learning, Teaching,
Assessmnet (CEFR)

Language Policy Division

www.coe.int/lang

Eaquals International Conference, 21 – 23 April 2016

Eaquals International Conference, 21 – 23 April 2016
Eaquals International Conference, 21 – 23 April 2016
• WHY

• WHAT

• HOW

• WHO

• ….and
• WHY

• WHAT

• HOW

• WHO

• ….and
 Why you are assessing: tests?

Diagnostic assessment Formative assessment

Pre-instruction, checking prior skills, On-going, during instruction

knowledge, problems, interests as part of normal teaching

Can help to place learners Provides feedback to teachers

into appropriate groups .> diagnose specific problems

Grades are not Tests? Guides teaching, improves

usually important learning > motivating

To find out whether your

teaching has been effective
Summative assessment
To measure achievement
of the syllabus
To summarise what
students have learned
What do we want to measure?

Linguistic competence Sociolinguistic competence

Communicative
competence

Discourse competence Strategic competence

 The CEFR and communicative competence

The action oriented approach (2001:9)

Language use, embracing language learning, comprises
the actions performed by persons who as individuals and
as social agents develop a range of competences, both
general and in particular communicative language
competences. They draw on the competences at their
disposal in various contexts under various conditions
and under various constraints to engage in language
activities involving language processes to produce
and/or receive texts in relation to themes in specific
domains, activating those strategies which seem most
appropriate for carrying out the tasks to be accomplished.
The monitoring of these actions by the participants leads
to the reinforcement or modification of their competences.
How to…key principles

Validity

Reliability

Practicality

Impact

Authenticity

Fairness
Who is involved?

Learners

Teachers

External Agents
And... Uses and Consequences
Consequences

Decisions

Interpretations

Documentation
Observation

Student performances

Eaquals International Conference, 21 – 23 April 2016

“Knowing about” assessment implies...

• Knowledge (savoir)
+
• Skills (savoir faire)
+
• Principles/Attitudes (savoir être)

Teaching Competence
Eaquals International Conference, 21 – 23 April 2016
 Where are my students?

Where should they get?

How will they get there?

Eaquals International Conference, 21 – 23 April 2016

 Assessment or Teaching?

Formal Informal
Explicit Non explicit
Delayed Immediate
External Teacher
Planned Spontaneous
Summative Formative
Teacher led Student led Instruments
Tests
Eaquals International Conference, 21 – 23 April 2016
Resources
Takala, S.;International
Eaquals Erickson, G; Figueras,
Conference, N. ; Gustafson, J-E. (2016) Future Prospects and
21 – 23 April 2016
Challenges in Language Assessments.
The education trinity: learning, teaching, assessment

Eaquals International Conference, 21 – 23 April 2016

 Coherence
Objectives

Fairness
Cooperation

Thank you for your attention!

Eaquals International Conference, 21 – 23 April 2016
 References
Bachman, L. (2014) Ongoing Challenges in Language Assessment. In Kunnan, A.J. (ed) The
Companion to Language Assessment Wiley

Davies, A. (2014) Fifty Years of Language Assessment. In Kunnan, A.J. (ed) The Companion to
Language Assessment . Wiley

Fulcher, G. (2012) Assessment Literacy for the Language Classroom. In Language

Assessment Quarterly 8 2:113-132

Popham, W.J. (2009) Assessment Literacy for Teachers: Faddish or Fundamental?

In Theory into Practice 48:4-11. Routledge.

Takala, S; .; Erickson, G; Figueras, N. ; Gustafson, J-E. (2016) Future Prospects and

Challenges in Language Assessments. In Tsagari, D. and Banerjee, J. Contemporary Second
Language Assessment. Bloomsbury Publishing. Continuum

Taylor, L. (2013) Communicating the theory, practice and principles of language testing to
test stakeholders: Some reflections in Language Testing 30 3:403-412

EPOSTL – European Portfolio for Student Teachers of Languages - http://epostl2.ecml.at/

EPG – European Profiling Grid - http://www.epg-project.eu/es/grid

Las competencias Clave del profesorado de lenguas segundas y extranjeras -

http://cfp.cervantes.es/imagenes/File/competencias
Eaquals International Conference, 21 – 23 April 2016 25
Surveylang – www.surveylang.com