Acknowledgments
I am grateful to many people without whom this book would not have been possible. Heartfelt thanks to my daughter Jayun, my biggest fan and harshest critic, who had to share two years of her mother’s attention with this book. I would also like to thank Maryam Wagner, who was there for every step of the journey. I want to thank my series editors, Nina Spada and Patsy Lightbown for inviting me to contribute to this OUP series for teacher development. I appreciate their timely feedback and encouragement throughout the book project. Finally, I thank the many teachers and students who shared their experiences, beliefs, and visions about assessments by participating in various research activities presented in this book.
Series Editors’ Preface
The Oxford Key Concepts for the Language Classroom series is designed to provide accessible information about research on topics that are important to second language teachers. Each volume focuses on a particular area of second/foreign-language learning and teaching, covering both background research and classroom-based studies. The emphasis is on how knowing about this research can guide teachers in their instructional planning, pedagogical activities, and assessment of learners’ progress.
The idea for the series was inspired by the book How Languages are Learned. Many colleagues have told us that they appreciate the way that book can be used either as part of a university teacher education program or in a professional development course for experienced teachers. They have commented on the value of publications that show teachers and future teachers how knowing about research on language learning and teaching can help them think about their own teaching principles and practices.
This series is oriented to the educational needs and abilities of school-aged children (5–18 years old) with distinct chapters focusing on research that is specific to primary- and secondary-level learners. The volumes are written for second language teachers, whether their students are minority language speakers learning the majority language or students learning a foreign language in a classroom far from the communities where the language is spoken. Some of the volumes will be useful to ‘mainstream’ teachers who have second language learners among their students, but have limited training in second/foreign language teaching. Some of the volumes will also be primarily for teachers of English, whereas others will be of interest to teachers of other languages as well.
The series includes volumes on topics that are key for second language teachers of school-age children and each volume is written by authors whose research and teaching experience have focused on learners and teachers in this age group. While much has been written about some of these topics, most publications are either ‘how to’ methodology texts with no explicit link to research, or academic works that are designed for researchers and postgraduate students who require a thorough scholarly treatment of the research, rather than an overview and interpretation for classroom practice. Instructors in programs for teachers often find that the methodology texts lack the academic background appropriate for a university course and that the scholarly works are too long, too difficult, or not sufficiently classroom oriented for the needs of teachers and future teachers. The volumes in this series are intended to bridge that gap.
The books are enriched by the inclusion of Spotlight Studies that represent important research and Classroom Snapshots that provide concrete examples of teaching/learning events in the second language classroom. In addition, through a variety of activities, readers will be able to integrate this information with their own experiences of learning and teaching.
Introduction
This book centers on teachers’ use of language assessment to guide students’ language proficiency development and academic achievement. It takes a use-focused approach to assessment in order to engage teachers in discussions about the positive benefits of assessment for guiding teaching and learning; the conflicting roles of teachers in the use of assessments that serve different purposes; and the practical challenges teachers experience when designing, using, and evaluating specific assessments.
Through these discussions, I hope that the book will help teachers to develop the competence and confidence required to make informed judgments about their assessment practices and to justify their decision-making processes. When we take this use-focused approach, teachers and students become ‘major league players’ in assessment, and their experience with and actual use of assessment in a particular context become key evidence for judging the quality of assessment.
Assessment practices are more important than ever in today’s Kindergarten to Grade 12 (K–12) classrooms given the unprecedented diversity of students, in terms of their linguistic, socio-economic, and cultural backgrounds. For these students, the instructional language is neither what they hear and speak at home nor the language with which they feel most competent and comfortable. These school-aged learners must catch up to ‘a moving target’ (Coelho, 2003). They are expected to develop social and academic language proficiency to meet language demands in schoolwork, while simultaneously learning academic content. Assessing their language learning needs and providing the necessary support have become not just second or foreign language teachers’, but every teacher’s responsibility. Most teachers and language educators have some knowledge and experience with educating language learners in classrooms. However, their assessment competence is relatively less developed partly because little attention is given to assessment issues and approaches concerning language learners in professional development for pre- and in-service teachers.
In some contexts, students learn a foreign language as part of curricular requirements or because they seek admission to higher education programs. Taken together, these students are referred to as language learners in this book. Because education systems vary widely across countries, I will consider children whose age ranges from 6–9 as young language learners. Early adolescent language learners will refer to students whose age ranges from 10–13, while adolescent language learners will refer to secondary school students aged 14–18 (14–17 in the UK and certain other countries).
This book has five chapters. Chapter 1 lays the groundwork for the readers by introducing language learners, identifying multiple roles that teachers play in assessments that serve various purposes, and introducing some key concepts of assessment. Subsequently, we look into the use of assessment in the form of feedback in classrooms and survey other uses of assessments in large-scale settings around the world.
Chapter 2 discusses the key features of academic language proficiency that school-aged students are expected to develop and examines research evidence to explore assessments of their language development in content-based instruction.
In Chapter 3, we will take into account some of the principles for assessing young language learners and discuss various assessment approaches and issues associated with them according to the purpose and degree of standardization of assessment.
In Chapter 4, we will continue to discuss assessment principles for adolescent language learners based on an ecological assessment systems framework.
Chapter 5 invites you to reflect on your views about the key issues discussed in the book and provides a summary of the main points raised in the earlier chapters.
Each chapter engages the reader through the use of Classroom Snapshots, Activities, and Spotlight Studies. Classroom Snapshots take you through authentic classroom situations and illustrate interactions between teachers and students or between students and their peers, as they engage in learning and assessment activities. Each chapter also contains a number of Activities to facilitate your inquiry-based reflection and discussion about specific issues arising from assessing language learners. Spotlight Studies will further inform your critical reflection and discussion, offering not only empirical evidence which will help answer questions but also an