A Resource Site for Teachers and Tutors of English as a Second Language Students
       
   

 

TEACHING ESL - ASSESSMENT

One of the most important aspects of helping our students to learn a second language is to find out first what they know, how much they understand or are able to do in the language they are trying to learn. Most people would agree that this involves just common sense because without knowing this information you can't help address each individual student needs and learn effectively and at an accelerated pace. Moreover, many researchers and educators agree that ideally, we should assess our students literacy in their first language as well, since this will affect the way and how they learn a second language. For instance, someone who already knows how to read and write in Spanish will have a strong foundation for writing and reading in English, and will use for example the same strategies he learned to comprhend text in Spanish wehn reading in English. A student who was never exposed to books or never held a pencil will have to begin at a much more basic level with the help of their teachers and tutors. More information

 

 

 

 

Before assessing your student:

  • Try to find information from other sources such teachers, family, or student records about what your student knows and what he/she has to learn.
    Ex.: colors, numbers, shapes, alphabet, holidays, personal information, body parts, spatial orientation, school vocabulary, classroom words, clothing, safety terms, time, money, everyday directions, home words.
  • Decide in what areas you are going to assess the student: Listening and speaking, reading, writing.
  • Create a stress-free testing situation. Start with an informal conversation to try and make the atmosphere less stressful and to help lower the affective filter.
  • Use a translator if necessary to explain why you need to find out what he knows already. Tell him/her this will help you to plan what to teach them, that way they can learn the English they need faster. Explaining why he needs extra tutoring is very important so they do not feel less "smart" because they need to receive special attention. Let them know that if you were in their country of origin you would like and need lots of extra hours to catch up with the language you need to do what is required in school.
  • Make the testing time at a period when the students are not involved in an exciting or “fun” part of class.
  • When creating the test, try to include at least one item you know the student is capable of doing. If the student is given a list of tasks, none of which he/she can complete, most likely the student will give up and their self-confidence will be hurt as well.
  • Stop testing when the student seems frustrated or tired. At that point the student is not performing to the best of his/her ability and the test should be continued later.

 

 

 

 

 

When testing for listening comprehension:

  • Use real objects rather than pictures whenever possible, but use photographs rather than drawings. Photographs are easier to connect to real life than drawings, which can be fairly abstract as well. Remember that you are testing for the students' understanding in the second language, so the responses do not need to include them producing speech or talk. Show them, prior to testing formally or informally, examples of how you can "point to" (by using gestures) or "nod" to indicate yes or no. In this way, you can ask them "is this a man or a woman" and they can just nod "yes" or "no" to demostrate comprehension.
  • Ask questions that assess one item at a time. For instance, if you ask the student to "point to the door" to test if the student knows the word "door" you need to ensure he/she knows what "point to" means first. Otherwise you will no be sure if he could not do it due to the lack of concept of "point to" to begin with ...
  • Use simple sentences, simple commands, and stories with the student during the the first part of the assessment and gradually increase the difficulty. Click here for a more detailed list of commands and questions to assess the diffrent proficiency levels.

 

 

 

 

 

 

When testing for speaking proficiency:

  • The student tends to give the best representation of his/her language ability in an informal interview. During these formal interviews you can check also for content that is critical for them to understand when living in the USA. For example, how you greet people, what to do in case of emergency, etc. Click here for a list of questions about important basic knowledge they need to have for effective functioning in U.S. communities.
  • Ask simple questions that uses simple vocabulary. Avoid questions that: 1) require specific cultural knowledge or subject matter content such as playing on "monkey bars", going to "barbecues" or using names from television shows. 2) any basic questions that require awareness (or schema) for concepts that are particular to the American or Western cultures such as the idea of a calendar, family, birthays, etc. that only some students will share.
    Click here for a list of basic questions for the different levels of proficiency.
  • Be careful to use too sophisticated vocabulary students may not understand and would prevent them to answer correctly about something they will otherwise know. (e.g. asking "what mode of transportation you use to come to school?" instead of "How do you travel to school?". Paraphrase (ask using different words) to double check that the reason they can't answer is really because they do not have the concept for the word(s).
  • You may use pictures of scenes (e.g. at the park, at school, at home), and questions pertaining to the pictures to help the students describe or retell what is going on. There are "static" pictures, the ones that do not include "happening" things and will not be likely to require the student to produce verbs for example. There are "active" pictures which will be more likely to require not only the use of nouns and adjectives but also the use of verbs and connectors (words that connect the different parts of speech, and more complex grammar for their answers). These pictures can be extremely helpful when there is a limited amount of time to develop assessment or for example tutorstutors have little experience in the area of second language methodology. Click here for the SOLOM test. Click here for questions that can be use with the same pictures to ask students for responses at different language proficiency levels.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

When testing reading proficiency:

  • Find out if the student is literate in the second language … Does he/she read left to right and up and down the page? Does he/she hold the book properly? Does he/she know which way to turn the pages? Click here for a list of scripted questions/activities to assess these basics.
  • Give the student a brief questionnaire asking questions about his/her reading habits. Click here for the list of questions.
  • Always ask the student to read a passage or book silently first if you want to assess reading COMPREHENSION. Students tend to focus on form (e.g. if they are pronouncing the words well) instead of focusing on meaning. Click here for a list of reading comprehension questions you may want to ask.
  • Ask students to read aloud when testing for phonemics or decodification (how well they can read the word and sentences, to identify mistakes they make when reading. Mistakes that can change the meaning of the message(s). Click here for an example of running records which is a way to assess mistakes made when reading aloud.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

When testing writing proficiency:

  • Give a few writing prompts on a subject that if of students' interest, something that is very familiar to them such as their favorite pastime, their lives in the country of origin, or likes and dislikes about school (take advantage to get more information to know them better). Allow the student to decide which prompt to pick.
  • Give a realistic set amount of writing time. If you are a tutor, tou can write about the same topic and then both can share your answers.
  • Concentrate on the student’s ability to communicate his/her ideas rather than grammar mechanics when evaluating beginners. Click here for rubrics or examples of the different writing stages and areas to pinpoint.
  • You can also provide unfinished sentences or comics strips without captions students have to complete. Click here for other specific ideas for assessing writing.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Now, what do I do with the assessment results?

Now that you've found out what the student(s) knows or doesn't know, it is time to use what you have learned to identify levels of proficiency and areas of need, so you can plan APPROPRIATE activities and general instruction.

Since assessment is an ongoing process, be sure to incorporate the above strategies as you continue to work with your student. Assessment is an ONGOING process that will be incorporated in most of the activities you do with your students. You are continually finding out what are the areas your students need special attention and development. Now it's time to:

1)Use the "Individualized Language Instructional Plan" form to help you plan appropriate instruction

2) Access ideas/activities/lessons for the different linguistic needs and levels of your students.

 

 

 

 

 

For more information on assessment you can read Authentic Assessment for English Language Learners, or The More Than Just Surviving Handbook: ESL for Every Classroom Teacher.

Literacy Assessement Second Language Learners (Sandra Rollins, Josefina Villamil)

Law and Eckes, Survival in ESL