Assessing the four language skills

The four language skills that we assess on day-to-day basis are reading writing listening and speaking.
These skills should be Intergrated during assessment and not tested individually. This allows for language
ability to be assessed authentically and provides more washback.
Grammer vocabulary and phonology are not valid assessments as isolated items. A Grammer or
vocabulary test must be assessed within the realm of skills assessment. Otherwise, the test would be a
practice activity.
These aspects of language are part of integrated skills assessments and should not be treated separately
There are two interacting responses that we must consider when assessing integrated skills n
Performance
Competence
Performance is how a student carries out a certain act or task
Competency is his/her ability to accomplish the objective or goal of the task using the integrated skills.
Sometimes a performance does not demonstrate true competence:
A student may possess the competency to achieve the task or goal at hand, but his/her performance may
not result in the achievement of a given task due to reliability factor such as illness, emotional distraction,
validity of exam site, etc.,.
Multiple measures will always give you a more reliable and valid assessment than a single measure
Therefore, it is important to offer two or more performances and/or contexts in order to draw a
conclusion. Some examples are:
Several tests are combined to form an assessment \a single test with multiple test tasks to account for
learning style and performance variable.
In class and extra class graded work
Alternate form of assessments (e.g. journals, portfolios, conference, observation, self-assessment, peer
assessment)
Additionally, we must rely as must as possible on observable performance in our assessment of students
this means that we can see or hear the performance of the listener.

What’s the meaning of language assessment?

Language assessment is a measure of the proficiency a language user has in any given language. It could
be a first or second language. Tests are one form of language assessment and there are many others. They
fall into two categories: summative and formative.
What are Summative Assessments?
Summative assessments are any method of evaluation performed at the end of a unit or term, allowing
teachers to measure a students' understanding against standardized criteria.
They usually result in the student receiving a determined grade, either being a letter grade or numbered
level that tells the student how well they are performing academically. Teachers can also use these results
to evaluate how successful their teaching methods were and see if they need to be adjusted next time,
they teach that unit.
So, summative assessments are one-off testing, designed to find out what a child knows at the end of a
period of learning - whether that be a unit, term or chapter. They happen at specific times and are not
ongoing. The year 6 SAT's tests are an example of summative assessment, where children's total
knowledge of the curriculum is tested in a series of tests in English reading, English grammar, punctuation,
spelling and math's. Other famous examples of summative assessments include A-levels and GCSEs.

What are Formative Assessments?

Formative assessments are regular, informal assessments that are used by teachers to assess student
understanding and inform teaching strategy. The ultimate goal is to collect detailed information that can
be used to improve instruction and student understanding while it's happening.
Formative assessment in the classroom means that the teacher is monitoring pupils’ learning by providing
regular and timely feedback on what they’ve done well and what they need to improve on.
It can take a variety of forms from informal quizzes to verbal feedback on a piece of work. To be effective,
formative assessment needs to take place on a daily basis during teaching and learning. It's conducted to
help teachers decide how to further develop student understanding.
Formative assessment is sometimes referred to as assessment for learning and usually involves diagnostic
testing of some kind. This allows the teacher and the pupil to identify gaps in the pupils’ learning and then
target those gaps by adjusting their planning sequences of learning to address those gaps. Depending on
the subject and topic, this might involve revising previously taught concepts, practicing particular skills, or
extending existing knowledge.
Formative assessment is what takes place in the run-up to a summative assessment like an end of topic
test, meaning that it is formative in the way the results are used rather than the style of assessment itself.

There are three main concepts in determining meaningful language assessment: validity, reliability, and
feasibility.
Validity means that what is assessed should actually be assessed.
Reliability refers to the accuracy of the decisions made from the assessment.
Feasibility means that the assessment has to be practical.
A language assessment can cover one or more of the following four key skills: reading, writing, speaking,
and listening.
Assessment Tools: Introduction
RUBRICS
For assessing qualitative student work such as essays, projects, reports, or presentations, we recommend
the use of rubrics. They serve well to denote clearly the specific expectations for an assignment and for
student performance. They can be used for grading, for providing feedback to students, and for informing
and encouraging students to think about their own learning.
Rubrics are not the only tool, however, for collecting data for assessment of student learning outcomes.
Depending on the outcomes to be assessed and on resources available (time and goodwill especially),
other methods and tools may serve well:
CURRICULUM MAPPING
While not a tool for data collection, a good curriculum map can serve to focus assessment, and the
improvements that follow, where it will be most useful, informative, or effective.
FOCUS GROUPS
The candid reflections or ideas from a small group of students or participants can provide unanticipated
insights valuable for guiding the direction and methods for assessments.
PORTFOLIOS
Portfolios can provide a window into the process of student learning, whether across a semester-long
project or a four-year tenure at the university, that can be assessed (usually by using a rubric).
STRUCTURED INTERVIEWS
While time-consuming, structured interviews are useful when you want to ask specific questions, but also
want to leave room for unplanned-for topics or ideas to emerge.
SURVEYS
Whether a program-based survey of current majors or recent alumni or an analysis of SERU survey results,
well-crafted survey questions can yield important information about student perceptions and
experiences.
Conducting an assessment takes time, thought, attention, planning, and often collaboration. Each
assessment tool, whether a short survey or detailed rubric, will be useful only insofar as it both addresses
the outcomes well and is feasible to use.

How does language assessment work?

As we’ve seen, meaningful language assessment covers four key areas: reading, writing, speaking, and
listening. So how should each one be assessed, and where can you find resources to help you?
Assessing Reading
Reading takes place in a variety of contexts, not just books. Children read on tablets, computers, and
phone screens. No matter what they're reading, the same simple process applies. They have a goal or
purpose for reading. They use knowledge of words and grammar to make meaning from the words.
So, reading assessment should focus on a range of texts and tasks to fit the reader's purpose. This might
be through reading comprehension activities or putting words into sentences so that they make sense.
Assessing Writing
Writing is a complex process. Children need a topic and the message they want to communicate. They
might also need to consider the audience and there’s also the overall structure and the vocabulary they
need to use.
So, when assessing writing, it’s important to set a range of specific writing tasks to gauge their ability to
write for different purposes and audiences. The tasks should also be about something relevant to them.
Discover a range of writing resources for ESL learners by heading over to our ESL English Writing Practice
and Lessons. And to support younger EAL learners with writing, take a look at our Fine Motor Skills Pack.
This fantastic bundle of teacher-created activity sheets covers pencil grip and control as well as finger
exercise and letter formation.
Assessing Speaking
Speaking happens every day. Like writing, speaking requires children’s brains to find the right words and
put them together in a way that makes sense. Again like writing, how we speak and the words we use
depends on the context: who we are talking to and the purpose of our conversation.
For that reason, there are lots of different way to assess speaking such as interview, presentations, and
group or paired work. Some common speaking activities involve describing a picture or discussing
personal information like hobbies or interests.
Help to get the conversation started by using the amazing activities collected in our ESL Speaking
Resources. For EAL learners, we can recommend our Survival Vocabulary Pack. Inside you’ll find eighteen
separate resources to support children with communicating their needs and feelings. It includes games,
word cards, and more.
Assessing Listening
Hearing is one of our five senses. Listening is the act of making sense of what we’ve heard. It’s a bit like
reading and reading comprehension. A child might be able to pronounce the words but do they
understand the meaning?
Listening is a complex process. Our brains process the sounds reaching our ears to recognize them as
language. They then organize the sounds into phrases and begin to develop our understanding of the gist
of what’s been said. Then they use our existing knowledge to make better sense of the overall message.
For listening assessments, it’s important that they copy real-life situations. In general, listening
assessments involve listening to a recording or live speaker and then giving a response such as:
1. identifying the main ideas.
2. selecting specific information.
3. picking out words from a list.