Alternative (informal) techniques of assessment for young learners

-Non-verbal response (for silent period)

-Oral interview (using visual clues)

-Role-play

-Written narratives (writing sample)

-Presentations

-Student-teacher conference: structured- interviews.

-Self-assessment: A pupil who learns to assess his or her own work moves from being “other -regulated” to “self-regulated” or autonomous.

-K-W-L Charts (Know, Wonder, Learn)

-Learning Logs

-Dialogue Journals

-Peer and group assessment

-Student portfolios

-On-line quiz

Nonverbal response

At the early stages of learning, before the emergence of speech, children should be instructed and assessed largely through the use of physical performance responses and pictorial products. These tasks require simple directions to carry out. At a later stage, students may perform hands-on tasks. They may be asked to produce and manipulate drawings, models, charts. This technique fits very well within the Total Physical response methodology for early language development

Oral Interview

Teachers can do a one on one interview with each of their students to get a good idea of their listening and speaking abilities. They can schedule these types of interviews during class (perhaps take each student into the hall to have a private discussion while the rest of the class does seat work) or schedule with students individually. Asking questions that use grammatical structures and vocabulary that the class has studied will help teachers know exactly what each student has grasped.

Role Play

By giving students a situation and roles to play, teachers can see how creatively the students are able to use language with one another. Teachers listen for content and grammar as with any oral assessment, but they should also pay attention to how the students are making creative use of their language to communicate with one another.

Class Presentation

A presentation in class assesses a different aspect of spoken language. When teachers ask a student to speak in front of the class, he is able to prepare and practice what he wants to say. He can also research information on his topic. In this case, the grade teachers give to the student should be based on both content and presentation.

Student –teacher conferences

Conferences and interviews provide opportunities for one-to-one interactions where the teacher can learn about a student’s communicative abilities, emotional and social well-being, attention span, attitudes, pace of learning, strengths and weaknesses.

Writing Sample

Having the students give the teacher a writing sample is another good way to assess their proficiency with grammar. Teacher gives them an adequate amount of time to write about a definite subject.

Portfolio

A portfolio is a collection of work samples that cover several aspects of the assignments the students have completed. Teacher asks each student to compile a collection of ten works for him to grade. Teacher can include specific assignments on the list, but he can also give a category and ask his students to present their best work. He may ask for a grammar homework assignment, a writing sample and a vocabulary exercise, for example. The students can then choose the work that they are most proud of. They may feel more encouraged to be graded on their strengths rather than their weaknesses.

Self-assessment

Self-assessment could be done using one of the following two techniques:

K-W-L charts: With this type of chart, individual students provide examples of what they know, what they wonder, what they have learnt. These charts are especially effective when used at the beginning and at the end of a period of study. At the start of a course, the completed charts can help the teacher learn about students’ background knowledge and interests. At the end of a course, the charts can help the students reflect on what they have learnt as well as gain awareness of their improvements.

Learning logs

A learning log is a record of the students’ experiences with the use of the English language outside the classroom, including the when and the where of language use and why certain experiences were successful and others were not. Students may also use logs to comment on what they have studied in class and to record what they have understood and what they haven’t.

Dialogue journals

Journals are informal and provide a means of fee, uncensored expression; enabling students to write without worrying about being corrected. As an assessment technique, dialogue journals can help the teacher assess students’ writing ability and improvement over time.