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18THEORETICAL ASSUMPTIONS OF ASSESSMENT AND TESTING
IN TEACHING EFL Rakhmatova D.P.
Rakhmatova Dilnoza Pardabaevna — English language Teacher, SCHOOL № 291, TASHKENT, REPUBLIC OF UZBEKISTAN
Abstract: this article discusses assessment and evaluation of English as a foreign language learning (EFL). Assessment and testing are two different things, although you might hear them used interchangeably in a classroom setting. Understanding the differences allows teachers to be able to get the most out of both. Assessment and testing allow teachers to see how well they are doing and how well their students are doing, but they also function in different ways. Typically tests are done at the end of a unit, at the end of a semester or at the end of a year.
Keywords: assessment, evaluation, foreign language learning, teaching, curriculum.
Assessment and evaluation are essential components of teaching and learning in English language arts. The quality of the assessment and evaluation in the educational process has a profound and well-established link to student performance. Research consistently shows that regular monitoring and feedback are essential to improving student learning [1]. Every term that a person comes across carries meaning but also a connotation that stands, so to say, outside the word and represents how the word is perceived. The connotation of the word assessment is, without a doubt, not a positive one. Regardless of the emotions associated with the term assessment, it is a crucial and inseparable part of any kind of teaching / learning as it provides necessary feedback on the students' strengths and/or weaknesses not only to the teacher, but also to the students themselves (and sometimes to other students as well) [4]:
o Use vocabulary that will be widely accessible to students. Avoid colloquial and idiomatic expressions, words with multiple meanings, and unduly challenging words that are not part of the construct.
o Keep sentence structures as simple as possible to express the intended meaning. For ELLs, a number of simple sentences are often more accessible than a single more complex sentence.
o When a fictional context is necessary (e.g., for a mathematics word problem), use a simple context that will be familiar to as wide a range of students as possible.
Teachers of language are sometimes hostile to the idea of large-scale or formal testing on the grounds that it diminishes the subject and ignores the significance of context. This view needs to be considered.
Basic Principles of Assessment/Evaluation
o The primary purpose of assessment and evaluation is to inform teaching and to promote and encourage learning—to promote optimal individual growth. In order to provide information vital to the teachers, assessment and evaluation must be an ongoing and integral part of the teaching/learning process. It is one continuous cycle consisting of collecting data, interpreting data, reporting information, and making application to teaching.
o Assessment and evaluation must be consistent with beliefs about curriculum and classroom practices, and clearly reflect the various outcomes of the Kindergarten-3 English language arts curriculum, including those areas that cannot easily be assessed with pencil and paper (e.g., processes, attitudes, and values).
Assessment and testing are two different things, although you might hear them used interchangeably in a classroom setting. Understanding the differences allows teachers to be able to get the most out of both. Assessment and testing allow teachers to see how well they are doing and how well their students are doing, but they also function in different ways. Typically tests are done at the end of a unit, at the end of a semester or at the end of a year. Yearly and bi-yearly tests are done in public schools to ensure that all students around the country are learning the same information at the same rate. Assessments, on the other hand, can be done at any time. Teachers do assessments after a lesson, after they teach a specific skill or at the same time tests are done.
The needs assessment and evaluation process focuses and builds on learners' accomplishments and abilities rather than deficits, allowing learners to articulate and display what they already know [2]. It is a continual process and takes place throughout the instructional program. The process can influence student placement, materials selection, curriculum design, and instructional practice [5].
Needs assessment and evaluation might be used to determine course content, while during the program, it assures that learner goals and program goals are being met and allows for necessary program changes. At the end of the program, needs assessment and evaluation can be used for planning future directions for the learners and the program [3].
References
1. EllisR. (1998). The evaluation of communicative tasks. In B. Tomlinson (Ed.): Materials Development in Language Teaching (pp. 217-238). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
2. Holt D. & Van Duzer C. (2000). Assessing success in family literacy and adult ESL. Washington, DC: Center for Applied Linguistics.
3. Marshall B. (2002). Preparing for success: A guide for teaching adult ESL learners. [Electronic Resource]. URL: http://calstore.cal.org/store/ (date of access: 02.02.2021).
4. Martyniuk Waldemar, Fleming Mike, Noijons and José. (2007). Evaluation and assessment within the domain of Language(s) of Education. Strasbourg: Language Policy Division, Council of Europe.
5. Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages. Inc. (2003). Standards for adult education ESL programs. [Electronic Resource]. URL: http://www.tesol.org/ (date of access: 02.02.2021).
THE ROLE OF DIAGNOSTIC AND APTITUDE TESTS Rakhmatova D.P.
Rakhmatova Dilnoza Pardabaevna — English language Teacher, SCHOOL № 291, TASHKENT, REPUBLIC OF UZBEKISTAN
Abstract: it is wise to start our discussion with that type of testing, for it is typically the first step each teacher, even non-language teacher, takes at the beginning of a new school year. In the establishment the author of the paper was working it was one of the main rules to start a new study year giving the students a diagnostic test. Every year the administration of the school had stemmed a special plan where every teacher was supposed to write when and how they were going to test their students. Moreover, the teachers were supposed to analyse the diagnostic tests, complete special documents and provide diagrams with the results of each class or group if a class was divided. Then, at the end of the study year the teachers were demanded to compare the results of them with the final, achievement test. The author of the paper has used this type of testfor several times, but had never gone deep into details how it is constructed, why and what for. Therefore, the facts listed below were of great value for her.
Keywords: test, assessment, diagnostic tests, placement tests, aptitude, overgeneralization.
A diagnostic test is a test that is meant to display what the student knows and what s/he does not know. The dictionary gives an example of testing the learners' pronunciation of English sounds. Moreover, the test can check the students' knowledge before starting a particular course. Huba [1] adds that diagnostic tests are supposed to spot the students' weak and strong points. Maki [2] compares such type of test with a diagnosis of a patient, and the teacher with a doctor who states the diagnosis. Suskie [3] adds that a diagnostic test provides the student with a variety of language elements, which will help the teacher to determine what the student knows or does not know. We believe that the teacher will intentionally include the material that either is presumed to be taught by a syllabus or could be a starting point for a course without the knowledge of which the further work is not possible. Thus, we fully agree with the Heaton's comparison where he contrasts the test with a patient's diagnosis. The diagnostic test displays the teacher a situation of the students' current knowledge. This is very essential especially when the students return from their summer holidays (that produces a rather substantial gap in their knowledge) or if the students start a new course and the teacher is completely unfamiliar with the level of the group. Hence, the teacher has to consider carefully about the items s/he is interested in to teach. This consideration reflects Heaton's proposal, which stipulates that the teachers should be systematic to design the tasks that are supposed to illustrate the students' abilities, and they should know what exactly they are testing. Moreover, Huba points out that apart from the above-mentioned the most essential element of the diagnostic test is that the students should not feel depressed when the test is completed. Therefore, very often the teachers do not put any marks for the diagnostic test and sometimes even do not show the test to the learners if the students do not ask the teacher to return it. Nevertheless, regarding our own experience, the learners, especially the young ones, are eager to know their results and even demand marks for their work. Notwithstanding, it is up to the teacher whether to inform his/her students with the results or not; however, the test represents a valuable information mostly for the teacher and his/her plans for designing a syllabus.
Returning to Suskie we can emphasise his belief that this type of test is very useful for individual check. It means that this test could be applicable for checking a definite item; it is not necessary that it will cover broader topics of the language. However, further Maki assumes that this test is rather difficult to design and
