Proficiency-Oriented Language Instruction and Assessment

POLIA : S t anda rd s , Ph i l o s oph i e s , and Con s i d e ra t i on s f o r A s s e s s smen t p . �

“Theessenceofsecondlanguageeducationisembodiedinitsattempttojoinindividualstogethersothattheymightcommunicateacrosslinguisticandculturalboundaries”(Tedicketal.,1993,p.44).Neverbeforehastheneedforsuchcommunicationbeengreater.ForstudentsintheU.S.,theneedtofunctioncompetentlyinmorethanonelanguagehasbecomeincreasinglyimportantinthisrapidlyshrinking,interdependentworldofthe21stcentury.Ithasbecomecrucialtopreparestudentswithsecondlanguagecompetence—beingabletotalkaboutlanguage,todescribeitsgrammar,andtoconjugateverbswillsimplynotsuffice.Inthisnewcentury,studentsmustbeabletocommunicateorallyandinwritingandtocomprehendbothoralandwrittenlanguage.Theymustbeabletoparticipateinculturallyappropriatewaysinface-to-faceinteractionwithmembersofothercultures,andtheymustalsobeabletointerprettheconcepts,ideas,andopinionsexpressedbymembersoftheseculturesthroughtheirmediaandliteratures(NationalStandardsinForeignLanguageEducationProject,1996,p.35). Itisindeedanexcitingtimetobeinvolvedinlanguageeducation.ThenationalstandardsforForeignLanguageLearning,unveiledinearly1996,describeachallengingyetstimulatingvisionforlanguageeducationinthe21stcentury,avisionthatrecognizestheneedforlanguageinstructiontofacilitategenuineinteractionbetweenandamongindividualswhorepresentdifferentculturalandlinguisticcommunities(NationalStandardsforForeignLanguageEducationProject,1996).ThisisavisionthattheArticulationProjectshares,soforthisreason,wemadethedecisiontoadoptthenationalstandardsfortheCurriculumHandbook.AsynopsisofthestandardsappearsintheKeyMaterialssection.1Moststateshavecreatedstatestandardsforworldlanguagesthatparallelorincorporatethenationalstandards.Themessageacrossthenationisclear.Itcallsforlanguageeducationtofocusonwhatstudentsshouldknowandbeabletodo;theemphasisisonlanguageuseandcultureisseenascentraltoacquiringlanguageforrealcommunicativepurposes.Thenationalstandardsrepresentbroad,long-termgoalsforlanguageinstruction.Theyareintendedtobeinterpretedbroadly,andwehavedonesowithinthecontextofthetasksandunitsinthisHandbook. Despiteemphasisthroughthe1980’sand90’sonproficiency-orientedlanguageinstructionforforeignlanguageclassroomsand,inthelate90’sthenationalstandards,grammarhasmaintaineditsroleasthekeyorganizingprincipleoflanguageinstructioninthevastmajorityoflanguageclassrooms.Inmostlanguageclassrooms,languageisviewedas“object”—somethingthatisactedupon,anentitytobescrutinized,analyzed,andbrokendownintoitssmallestcomponents(Tedicketal.,1993;Tedick&Walker,1994).ThisviewhasemergedinpartduetothehistoricalinfluencethatthefieldoflinguisticshashadinthefieldoflanguageeducationandalsoinpartbecauseofthelongroadlanguageteachershavehadtotravelinordertolegitimizetheirplaceinthearenaofU.S.schools.The“content”oflanguagecurriculumhasbeendefinedasthelexicon,syntax,morphology,andphonologyoflanguage,orasthenotionsandfunctions.Inordertoemphasizethecommunicativenatureoflanguageandtoacknowledgethatlanguagehasmeaningwhenitisembeddedwithinasocialcontext,itisnecessarytoviewlanguageas

Proficiency-Oriented LanguageInstruction and Assessment:

Standards, Philosophies, and Considerations for Assessment

Written by Diane J. Tedick

© 2006, Regents of the University of Minnesota. See final page for full copyright information.

NOTES

p .10 POL IA : S t anda rd s , Ph i l o s oph i e s , and Con s i d e ra t i on s f o r A s s e s s smen t

“subject”(somethingthatacts)(Tedicketal.,1993;Tedick&Walker,1994)andtostriveforabalancebetweenlanguage-as-objectandlanguage-as-subjectincurriculumandinstruction.Balancingthetwoperspectivesmeansthatstudentsareengagedinlearningaboutlanguage—itsvocabulary,itsgrammarandmorphology,itsphonology(thatis,engagingwithlanguageasobject),yetalwayswithinthecontextofusinglanguagetocommunicatemeaning(thatis,engagingwithlanguageassubject).Inotherwords,it’simportantforateachertoteachlanguagerules(e.g.,verbconjugations),butit’salsoimportantalwaystofollowthatinstructionwithapplicationoftherules.Howwellcanstudentsuseconjugateverbscorrectlytowritealetter?Inanutshell,notonlydostudentsneedtoknowhowlanguageworks,theyalsoneedtoknowhowtouselanguageformeaningfulpurposesandtheopportunitiestopracticetheseapplications. Inordertostriveforabalancebetweenlanguage-as-objectandlanguage-as-subjectandtoemphasizelanguageusewithcultureascoreinthelanguageclassroom,arethinkingofcurriculumandinstructionneedstooccur.Traditionally,mostforeignlanguageclassroomshaveconcentratedonhow (grammar)tosay what (vocabulary),buthaveleftthe why, whom, where, andwhen outoftheequation(NationalStandardsforForeignLanguageEducationProject,1996;Tedick&Walker,1994).Whilegrammarandvocabularyremainimportantcomponents,theothers,whichhighlightthesociolinguisticandculturalaspectsoflanguage,areessentialforcommunication.“Inotherwords,grammarandstructurearenotthegoalofinstruction,butratheressentialtoolstowardachievingother,moreimportantgoals—languageuseinsocialcontextsandinterculturalcommunication”(Tedick&Walker,1994,p.306).Onewaytoachievethesemoreimportantgoalsistomakecontentandculturalthemestheorganizingprincipleforlanguagecurriculumandinstruction.Thisrethinkingofthecurriculum,towardcontent-based,task-basedlanguageinstructionandanemphasisonmeaningfullanguageuseisthefocusofthenationalstandardsandeffortsoftheCurriculumTeamoftheArticulationProject. Thefocusonmeaningandlanguageusedoesnotarguethatteachersshouldbeneglectingform.Onthecontrary,what’snecessaryisabalancebetweenmeaningandforminthecontextofcommunication.Inaway,thislanguageinstructionissueissimilartoanissuethathasdominatedthefieldofliteracyinstructionforsometime.Fordecadestherehasbeenadebateaboutliteracyinstructionthathascenteredonwholelanguagevs.phonicsinstruction.Thequestionhastoooftenbeen:Shouldteachersfocusonthewholeortheparts?Theansweris“neither,”becausethequestioniswrong—itissimplynotan“either/or”issue.Goodteachersknowthateffectiveliteracyinstructionprovidesabalancebetweenthewholeandtheparts.Childrenwhoarelearninghowtoreadneedtobesurroundedbyarichliteracyenvironmentthatinvolvesfrequentinteractionwithstimulatingtexts;atthesametime,theyneedtoknowhowlanguage“works.”Inother


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POLIA : S t anda rd s , Ph i l o s oph i e s , and Con s i d e ra t i on s f o r A s s e s s smen t p .11

words,theyneedtounderstandthelanguagesystem—howthepartsworktogethertomakeupthewhole.Themorecontextualizedtheinstructionoftheparts,thebetterstudentsunderstandtheirrelationshiptothewhole.Acompletetreatmentofthewholelanguagevs.phonicsdebateisfarbeyondthescopeofthisintroduction.Weincludetheanalogyheretohelplanguageteachersunderstandthat in order for students to achieve high levels of proficiency in a language, there needs to be a balance between language and language use. Inordertounderstandfurtherhowtostrivetowardsuchabalanceinthelanguageclassroom,itisimportantforteacherstoconsiderthekeyphilosophicalprinciplesthathavedriventhedevelopmentofthe Handbook.

The Philosophical Principles: POLIA and CAPRII

ThephilosophicalprinciplesthatguidedtheArticulationProjectwereestablishedearlyonasworkontheProjectbegan.Astatementdescribingprinciplesofproficiency-orientedlanguageinstructionandassessment(POLIA)wasdevelopedbyAronsetal.(1994)andcontributedtothecurriculumteam’sphilosophicalprinciples(seePOLIAstatementandprinciplesintheKeyMaterialssection). ThephilosophicalprinciplesdescribedinthePOLIAstatementarefurthersupportedbysixkeyconceptsthatwebelieveshouldguidelanguageeducation:(1) Contextualizationoflanguageinstruction,(2)Authenticity oftaskandtext,(3)anemphasison Process,(4)thevalueofReflection forbothlanguagelearnersandlanguageteachers,(5)anemphasison Interaction withinandbeyondtheclassroom,and(6) Integration ofthefourmodalitiesandoflanguageandcontent,beitrelatedtootheracademicdisciplinesorculturalthemes.Whilethesesixconcepts—referredtobytheacronymCAPRII—areandindeedshouldbeunderstoodasinterrelatedandinseparableineffectivelanguageteaching,theycaneachbeconsideredinturn(Tedick,1996;Tedick&Tischer,1996).2Figure1providesabriefsummaryoftheconceptsthatmakeupCAPRII.



F igure 1 : CAPRI IContextualizationinvolvesmeaningfullanguageuseforrealcommunicativepurposes;lessons

thatarepresentedincontextenhancemeaning;contextualizedteachingrecognizesthatmeaning

changesdependinguponthecontextinwhichitoccurs.

AuthenticityofTextandTask—authentictextsandtasksreflecttheintentionofareal

communicativepurposeforarealaudience.

Process—languageacquisition(beitfirst,second,orthird...)isanongoingprocessthatrequires

agreatdealoftime,patience,thought,effort,andencouragement.Recognitionofthenatureof

thisprocessneedstoguideinstructionandassessment.

Reflection—bothteachersandstudentsneedtimefordeliberatethought,orreflection.

Interaction—learnersmustuselanguageinmeaningfulinteractioninordertolearnit.

Integration—anintegrativeapproachtolanguageteachingseestheconnectionoflanguagesand

culturestowhatwedo,howwethink,andwhoweare.

ofthefourmodalities—creatingclassroomactivitiesthatrequirestudentstouselanguagewithintwoormoreofthefourmodalities,withattentiontohowthosemodalitiesworkwithintheframeworkofcommunicativemodes,helpstoreinforcetheconceptsbeingemphasized.

oflanguageandcontent—languagemustbeintegratedwithcontent,beitotheracademicsubjectmattersorculturalthemes.Acontent-basedapproachtolanguageteachingemphasizeslanguageuse;languagestructuresareemphasizedinthecontextofthatuse.LanguageclassroomsmustbecomeplaceswherestudentsandteachersunderstandthemselvesasculturalbeingsandbegintodiscoverthecomplexityoftheconceptofcultureastheyviewculturesbothwithinandoutsideoftheU.S.fromanumberofperspectives.

Contextualization


NOTES


AccordingtoShrumandGlisan(1994):

Languagethatisintroducedandtaughtincontextpresentsrealsituationsthatencompassthephysicalsetting,thepurposeoftheexchange,therolesoftheparticipants,andthesociallyacceptablenormsofinteraction,inadditiontothemedium,topic,tone,andregisteroftheexchange(Hymes,1974).Grammaticalstructuresthatmightotherwisebedevoidofcontextbecomeanintegralpartofthecommunicativeactsthatoccurincontexts(p.23).

Contextualized teaching recognizes that meaning changes depending upon the context in which it occurs.Whenwebegintothinkaboutteachinglanguageforcommunicationratherthanasasystemofgrammaticalforms,weseethatgrammaticalcategoriesdonotnecessarilycorrespondtocommunicativefunctionsandthatgrammaralonecannotdeterminemeaning.Inotherwords,context(thetopicandsituation)playsamajorroleinestablishingmeaning.Forexample,onemightassumethattheimperativemoodasagrammaticalcategoryalwaysindicatestheactofcommanding.Widdowson(1978,inLyster,1990,p.162)providesexamplesillustratinghowcontext,notgrammaticalfunction,determinesmeaning:

“Bakethepieinaslowoven”isaninstruction,notacommand.

“Comefordinnertomorrow”isaninvitation,notacommand.

“Forgiveusourtrespasses”isaprayer,notacommand.

Contextreferstothetopicandsituationofacommunicativeactthatarenecessaryforunderstanding(Walz,1989).Walz(1989)pointsoutthatanumberoflanguagetextbooksprovidecontextualizedgrammarexercises.Theseexercisesprovidethematicallyrelatedsentencesrequiringmechanicalmanipulationofagrammaticalform,butoftendonotforcestudentstounderstand.Therefore,contextualizationofmechanicaldrillsinthissenseiscertainlynotthesamethingascreatingacontext(Walz,1989,p.162).ContextualizationasitisinterpretedinthisHandbookinvolvesmeaningfullanguageuseforrealcommunicativepurposesandhelpsstudentstounderstandhowmeaningisconstructedbylanguageusers(betheywriting,speaking,reading,orlistening)dependinguponcontext.

ManyofthetasksfoundintheHandbook arecontextualizedinthattheyprovideatopicandsituationinwhichstudentsneedtouselanguagewithoneanotherforsomemeaningfulpurpose.Forexample,inthetaskentitled“SenegalbyNumbers,”studentslearnaboutSenegalesedemographicsthroughaninformation-gapactivity.Thetaskgivesstudents


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anopportunitytopracticeunderstandingandcommunicatingcomplexnumbersinthecontextofSenegalesedemographics.Inotherwords,thetopic(Senegalesedemographics) contextualizestheuseofnumbers.

Contextualizinglanguageinstructionmaybestbeaccomplishedbyorganizingthecontentofthelanguagecurriculumaccordingtothemesortopicsthatlendthemselvestore-entrythroughoutthecourseofstudy(assuggestedbywhatisknownasaspiralcurriculum).Ourtheme-basedcurriculumframework(seetheKeyMaterialssection)providesonesuchexampleofcurriculumorganizationthatwouldlenditselftocontextualizinglanguageinstruction.

Authenticity of Text and Task

Relatedtotheconceptofcontextualizationisthenotionofauthenticity.AuthentictextsormaterialshavebeendefinedbyVillegasRogersandMedley(1988)as“...languagesamples—bothoralandwritten—thatreflectanaturalnessofform,andanappropriatenessofculturalandsituationalcontextthatwouldbefoundinthelanguageasusedbynativespeakers”(p.468).Textsthatarepreparedfornativespeakersby nativespeakersreflectthecultureandsocietalvaluesofeverydaylife.“NotextbookculturenoteontheHispanicfamily,forexample,canreplacethestudyofauthenticbirthorchristening,weddinganddeathannouncements,where,undertheobservablelinguisticconventions,lietheritualsofevents,theconnotationsofritesofpassage,themeaningof‘family,’andthedynamicnatureofculture”(Galloway&Labarca,1990,p.139). Forourpurposes,anytextthatis purposeful, meaningful,andhasarealcommunicative intent forarealaudiencecanbeconsideredtobeauthentic.Inotherwords,itisauthenticinthesensethatitwasnotoriginallyproducedforlanguage-teachingpurposesbutratherforthepurposeofcommunicatingmeaning(Brintonetal.,1989,p.17).Thismeansthatane-mailmessagesentviatheInternetbyastudentofGermantoanotherstudentofGermanis“authentic”aslongasthemessageismeaningful(eventhoughthemessagewasnotwrittenbyanativespeakerforanothernativespeaker).Furthermore,authenticityinadeepersensedoesnotresideinthetextitselfbutratherisdeterminedbyhowthattextisused(Hutchinson&Waters,1987),i.e.,theauthenticityofthetask.Forexample,ifateacherusesanarticlefromatargetculturemagazineforthesolepurposeofhavingthestudentsunderlinealloftheinstancesinwhichthesubjunctiveappears,theauthenticityofthetaskdisappears. Let’sexamineataskandconsiderwaysinwhichitcanbeslightlyalteredtobecomemoreauthentic.3ImaginethatstudentsareengagedinaunitonCostaRica(oranyothertargetcountry).Asaculminatingactivityattheendoftheunit,theteacherdecidestohavestudentscreatetravelbrochuresinthetargetlanguagetodemonstratetheirknowledgeofwhattheyhavelearned.Suchataskasksthatthestudentspretendtoactas


NOTES


nativespeakers,whichtheyclearlyarenot.Kramsch(1993)wouldarguethatauthenticityinvolveshavingstudentsbewhotheyare—learnersofthetargetlanguage.Torevisethetasksomewhatwithaneyetowardgreaterauthenticity,theteachercanhavestudentscreatetravelitinerariesforagroupofstudentswhowillbetravelingtoCostaRica,theintentbeingtodemonstratetheirknowledgeofwhattheyhavelearnedbycommunicatingittootherstudents. Anotherexamplewouldinvolvehavingstudentsatthebeginningoftheunitwritelettersinthetargetlanguagetovarioustravelagencies,touristbureaus,and“ChamberofCommerce”equivalentstoindicatethatthey(1)arestudentsofSpanish,(2)arestudyingaboutCostaRica,and(3)areinterestedinreceivingtravelinformationinSpanish.Suchataskhasarealpurposeandarealaudience.Theaddedbenefitisthatitwillalsoleadtoadditionalauthenticmaterialsforclassroomuse!(Thistask,titled“Let’sGotoCostaRica,”isdescribedindetailintheHandbookandappearsinthe“FromPresentationtoCreation”section.) AfinalexampleofanauthentictaskforthisinstructionalsettingistohavestudentswritetoCostaRicanstudentsaboutMinnesota(i.e.,theirhomestate),givenwhattheyhavelearnedaboutCostaRica.Aletterwrittenforthistaskmightinclude,forexample,acomparisonbetweenMinnesota’sBoundaryWatersandCostaRica’sTortugueroNationalParkintermsoftheirenvironmentalrestrictions. SomeofthetasksintheHandbook areauthenticinthattheyareintendedforarealaudience(beyondtheclassroom).Othersarenotauthenticinthissense.Forexample,in“MyFavoriteRecipe,”studentsworkwithpartnerstowriteafavoriterecipeinthesecondlanguage(notfromthetargetculture).Theysharetheserecipesinclass.Whileavaluableactivityforelicitingcommunicationintheclassroom,thetaskcannotbeconsideredauthenticbecauseit’snotdesignedforarealaudienceorpurpose—nativeEnglishspeakersdon’tneedtoreadarecipeformacaroniandcheese,forexample,writteninFrench.However,thetaskcanbeadaptedquiteeasilytoincreaseitsauthenticity.OneclassroomteacherhadstudentscompiletheirrecipesintoabooklettosendhomewithanAmityAidefromtheIvoryCoast,whohadbeenworkingintheirclassroomthatyear.Inthisway,thetasktookonarealpurposeandaudience,andthestudentswereveryexcitedtobeexplaining(inFrench)howtopreparetheirfavoritefoods,knowingtheAmityAidewouldsharetherecipeswithfriendsandfamilyuponherreturntohernativecountry. Thesesuggestionshighlighttheimportanceofcreatingtasksthatinvolvestudentsinusinglanguageforrealcommunicativepurposesandforrealaudiences.Manyofthetasksinthe Handbook areauthenticinthissense.Forexample,thetaskentitled“CreatingChildren’sLiterature”involveshavingstudentswritechildren’sbookstosharewithyoungstudentsinimmersionorFLESprograms.Itisimportanttonote,however,thatitisnotpossibletomakeeverytaskortextauthenticinthelanguage


NOTES


classroom.Sometimesstudentsneedtopretendtobenativespeakersforaroleplay;sometimestheyneedtowriteforahypotheticalaudience;sometimestheyneedtoreadatextthathasbeenadaptedfornonnativespeakersofthelanguage.Suchactivitiesarevaluableandcertainlyhaveaplaceinthelanguagecurriculum.Whatisimportant(andpossible!),however,isforteacherstofindagoodbalanceintheircurriculumbetweentasksandtextsthatarelessauthenticandthosethatrepresenttheprinciplesofauthenticityasdescribedabove.Teachersshouldalsomakesurethatsomeofthetextstheyuseinthecurriculumcontainlanguageasusedbynativespeakerssoastoincorporateculturalandlinguisticauthenticity.Anumberofauthentictexts(i.e.,writtenbynativespeakersfornativespeakersofthetargetlanguage)areusedintheHandbookinconjunctionwithtasksandunits.See,forexample,thesamplerecipesin“ReadingRecipes,”themagazinearticlein“DeSolaSolSinDescanso,”andthegradereportintheunitcalled“LeBaccalauréatFrançais.”

ProcessLanguageacquisition(beitfirst,second,orthird...)isanongoing

processthatrequiresagreatdealoftime,patience,thought,effort,andencouragement.Ateacherwhorecognizestheimportanceofprocessinlanguagelearningunderstands,forexample,thatalthoughastudentisintroducedtoagrammaticalstructure(orfunctionortopic)earlyon,s/hewillneedtimetointernalizethatconceptbeforebeingabletoproducelanguageinspontaneousinteractionthatshowsanaccuraterepresentationofthatconcept.Forexample,studentsofFrench,German,andSpanisharetaughttheconceptofgenderandnumberagreementrelativelyearlyoninlanguageclassrooms.Whilethestudentsmaybeabletoproducelanguagewithaccurateagreementonquizzesandtests,theyoftencannotwhenaskedtoproducelanguagespontaneouslyforameaningfulcommunicativepurpose.Theyneedtimetobeabletosee,hear,produce,andexperiencenumberandgenderagreementinmanymeaningfulcontextsforavarietyofpurposesbeforetheydevelopa“feel”fortheconcept—beforeitbecomespartoftheirinternalizedlanguagerepertoire.Thisprocesstakesyears. HeilenmanandKaplan(1985)provideausefuldistinctionamongvariousdegreesofcontroloffunction,topic(orcontext),andformasstudentsdevelopproficiency.Theyarguethatatdifferentlevelsofproficiency,certaingrammaticalstructures,functions,andtopicsorcontextsneedtobetaughtforfull control,othersforpartial control,andstillothersfor conceptual control (authors’emphasis,p.63).Conceptsthataretaughtforpartialorconceptualcontrolatonelevelofproficiencyarerecycledatsubsequentlevelswherefullorpartialcontrolisthegoal(Heilenman&Kaplan,1985).ThesedegreesofcontrolinHeilenmanandKaplan’sframeworkcorrelatewithlevelsofproficiencyasdefinedbytheACTFLguidelines.Inotherwords,ifstudents’proficiencyisinthe


NOTES


Novicerange,theyshouldbeexpectedtodemonstratefullcontrolofcertainfunctions(e.g.,makinglists),topics(e.g.,dates,numbers,etc.),andaccurateproductionofcertainforms(e.g.,questionwords).TheycanbeexpectedtohavepartialcontrolofvariousconceptsthatcorrespondtotheIntermediate-Low/MidrangeandconceptualcontrolofconceptsthatarerepresentativeoftheIntermediate-HighandAdvancedrange.Thepointhereisthatacquisitionofthefunctions,topics,andformsoflanguageisatime-consumingprocessthatrequiresteacherstorecyclethosefunctions,topics,andformssystematicallyandpurposefullythroughouttheircurriculumsothatstudentscanachievehigherdegreesofcontrolastheyadvanceaslanguagelearners.Ourpreliminarymodelforathematiccurriculumframeworkisonewayofenvisioningthiscyclicalviewoflanguageinstruction.Thecurricularthemes(seeKeyMaterialssection)suggestsometopicsthatcanbeconsideredfororganizingthelanguagecurriculum;thecommunicativefunctionsandlanguagestructuresarestipulatedwithinthecontextofthetasksandunitsthatcorrespondtothevariousthemes. Processisalsorelatedtoclassroominstruction.Inthissense,processinvolvesseveralinstructionalphases—e.g.,preparingstudentsforanactivity,carryingouttheactivity,andprovidingafollow-upthatrequiresstudentstoapplywhattheylearned.ThetasksandunitsintheHandbook breaklessonsdownintopre-,during-,andpost-activitystagestoemphasizetheneedforanawarenessofprocessintheclassroom.Inaddition,othertasksorunitsillustrateprocessapproachestoinstruction:“Let’sgotoCostaRica”isataskthatdetailstheprocessapproachtowriting;the“GenderRoles”unittakesstudentsthroughaprocessofcross-culturalexploration.

Anawarenessofprocessinlanguagelearningcanalsobereflectedinassessmentpractices.Toooftenassessmentpracticesfocusontheproduct—thatis,whateverthestudentsproduce,beitapaper,anoralpresentation,avideotape,etc.Butitisequallyimportanttoassessstudents’workintheprocessofworkingtowardthefinalproduct.Forexample,ifstudentsareaskedtoworkinsmallgroupstoco-createaproject(e.g.,askit),theteachermaywanttoassessthestudents’abilitytocollaborateandworkcooperatively.Suchanassessmentgetsatprocess.Ifawritingassignmentrequiresdrafts,feedback,andrevision,theteachermaydecidetoassesshowwellstudentsattendtofeedbackintheirrevisions.Thisassessment,too,getsatprocess.

Theteacherwhorecognizestheimportanceofprocesscreatesaclassroomenvironmentwhereprocessisreflectedininstructionaswellasassessment,whererisk-takingisencouraged,andwheremeaningfulcommunicationisemphasizedoveraccuracyforthesake of accuracy.

Reflection

Closelyrelatedtotheconceptofprocessisreflection.Reflectioninvolves deliberate thought.Inessence,itengagesanindividualina


NOTES


“conversation”withasituation,beitproblematic,confusing,orilluminating.Ourviewsofourselvesandourculturesandoftheviewsofothersandtheirculturesareneveruniformorstatic.AsClaireKramsch(1991)explains,“…alargepartofwhatwecallcultureisasocialconstruct,theproductofselfandother[s’]perceptions.”Indeed,languageuse,orcommunication,isembeddedalwayswithinculture,andthereforeislargelydependentuponpeoples’perceptionsofmeaning,whichmayormaynotmatchtheintendedmeaning.Itisthisverysocial,dynamicnatureoflanguageandculturethatmakessecondlanguagesdifferentfromandmorespecialthanotheracademicdisciplines,and,hence,makesreflectionsoimportantforbothstudentsandteachers. Students’reflectionshouldbebothculturallyandlinguisticallybased,aswellasfocusedonself-as-learner,self-as-human-being,andself-in-relationship-with-other.Studentswillnotbeabletoengageinprofoundreflectiononanyofthesetopicsovernight;reflectionrepresentsyetanotherprocessrelatedtolanguagelearningwhichneedstooccurgraduallyandcarefullyinanatmospherewherethestudentscanaskquestionsfreelyandwhererisk-takingisencouraged(Tedick,1992).Someactivitiesthatrepresentattentiontostudentreflectionincludelearningstrategies,self-assessment,peerreview,and“debriefing”exercises.ManyofthetasksintheHandbookinvolveactivitiesthatencouragestudentreflection.Forexample,“StrategicInteraction”includesadebriefingstagewherestudentsareaskedtoreflectbackonthelanguageusedduringtheroleplayandmakesuggestionsforimprovingit.“MyFavoriteRecipe”engageslearnersinapeerassessmentactivity,encouragingthemtoreflecteitheronthepresenter’slanguageuseorthelistener’sabilitytounderstand.Inthe“GenderRoles”unit,studentsareaskedtoreflectontheirownperceptionsofgenderrolesthroughouttheunitastheylearnabouttheperceptionsoftheirGermancounterparts.Reflectionshouldbeencouragedatalllevelsoflanguagelearning—eventhebeginninglevels.Seethe“MagazineScanning”activity,whichwasdesignedforstudentsatNoviceproficiencylevels. Teachersmustalsobeengagedinreflectionastheyplanforandcarryoutinstructionalactivities.Mostteachersdothisnaturally,askingthemselveshowalessoncouldhavebeenimproved,forexample.TheHandbookisdesignedtoencourageteacherstoreflectastheyusethetasksandunitsintheirclassrooms.Materialshavebeendesignedwithlargemarginsforwritingnotesandmakingchanges,andeachlessonisfollowedbyaspacefor“reflections”wheretheteachercanjotdownadditionalnotes,resources,andideasforfuturereference.

Interaction

Learnersmustuselanguageinmeaningfulinteractioninorderto


NOTES

POLIA : S t anda rd s , Ph i l o s oph i e s , and Con s i d e ra t i on s f o r A s s e s s smen t p .1�

learnit.Inordertoacquirelanguage,learnerscannotsimplylistentoorread“input;”theymustinteractwithandnegotiatethetypeofinputtheyreceive(Long,1981).Theterm“interaction”impliesface-to-facecommunicationthatinvolvesnegotiationofmeaning,butitalsomeansactiveinvolvementwithalltypesoflanguageuse.Ofgreatvalueinthisdiscussionisthe“FrameworkofCommunicativeModes”usedinthenationalstandardsdocument(Brecht&Walton,1994,inStandardsforForeignLanguageLearning,1996).Inthisframework,therearethreecommunicativemodes—interpersonal,interpretive,andpresentational.Theinterpersonal modeinvolvesactivenegotiationofmeaningbetweenindividualswhoareinpersonalcontact,forexample,directoralcommunicationthatisface-to-faceorviatelephone.Itmayalsoinvolvedirectwrittencommunication,suchastheexchangeofpersonalletters,notes,ore-mailmessages.Therefore,thismodeincludesallfourlanguagemodalities—speaking,listening,reading,andwriting.Theinterpretive mode,whichfocusesonreceptiveabilities(listening,reading,viewing),involvesthecomprehensionorinterpretationoforalorwrittenmessages.Examplesincludereadingatext,listeningtotheradio,orwatchingamovie.Attimesthesereceptiveabilitiesaremistakenaspassiveratherthanactiveactivities.Yetresearchhasshownthatreadersandlistenersmustfunctionasactiveparticipantsintheactofcomprehending.Theymustco-construct meaning astheyworktointerprettheinputprovided.Thisactofco-constructionimpliesinteractionbetweentextandreader/listener/viewereventhoughtheopportunityfornegotiationofmeaningmaynotbepresent.Thepresentational mode,involvingtheproductiveskillsofwritingandspeaking,referstothecreationofspokenorwrittencommunicationforanaudiencewithwhomthereisnoimmediatepersonalcontact.Extendedoralpresentationsandwrittenessaysareexamplesoflanguageuseinthismode.Aswritersorspeakersworktoconstructmeaning,theymustconsidertheirpurposeandimagineinteractionwithanaudience.Thatis,theymustrelyonunderstandingofthepurposeforthecommunicationandknowledgeofaudienceastheychoosethewordsandputtogetherphrasestocommunicatemeaning.Thesethreecommunicativemodescorrespondtothethreenationalcommunicationstandards.Interaction,then,asit’sinterpretedintheHandbookandinCAPRII,involveslanguageusewithinthesethreecommunicativemodes.

Ateacherwhounderstandstheimportanceofinteractionorganizesthelanguageclassroomtominimizeteachertalkandmaximizestudentdiscourse.Thisinvolvesorganizingclassroomactivitiessothatstudentswillhavereasonstorespondtoandinteractwithoneanotheraswellasothersoutsideoftheclassroom.Atthesametime,itisnotenoughtohavestudentsinteractwithoutfeedbackorattentiontoform.Inotherwords,qualityofinteractioniskey.Teachersmustcreateabalancebetweenmeaning(functionandcontent)andaccuracy.Toachievethisbalance,itisimportanttoincorporatedifferentkindsofinteractiveactivitiesfordifferent


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purposes.Attimes,spontaneousinteractionshouldoccur,wherethefocusisentirelyoncommunicatingmeaning,regardlessoftheaccuracy.Othertimes,studentsshouldbeexpectednotonlytocommunicatemeaning,butalsotodosoaccurately.Suchinstanceswillbecharacterizedbytasksthatarereflectiveofthepresentationalmodeofcommunication.Theyinvolvetimeforplanningand,whenappropriate,rehearsal.Mostimportantly,accuracymustalwaysbeaddressedinameaningfulcontext.Drawingstudents’attentiontoaccurateformsandprovidingthemwithconstructivefeedbackthatencouragesthemtoreflectonthelinguisticaccuracyoftheiroutputiscritical,yetneedstooccurinwaysthatencouragelanguageproduction,notinhibitit.Lyster’s(1998)recentworkontypesofcorrectivefeedbackinadvancedimmersionclassroomshasshownthatwhenteachersprovidefeedbackthatrequiresstudentstothinkaboutandrespondtothefeedbackinsomeway,thestudentsaremorelikelytorepairtheirerrorsandimprovetheirlinguisticaccuracy.

It’simportanttorememberthatthehigherthelevelofproficiency,thegreaterone’sexpectationsforlinguisticaccuracyshouldbe.HeilenmanandKaplan(1985)emphasizethatproficiency-orientedcurriculumandinstructionmuststriveforabalanceamongfunction,context(ortopic/content),andaccuracy,“whileatthesametimeallowingfortheimbalancefrequentlyseenattheNoviceorIntermediatelevelswhereonecomponentmaycompensateforanother”(p.60). VirtuallyalloftheclassroomtasksandunitsintheHandbookencourageinteractioninoneormorecommunicativemodes,becausethisHandbookisaboutlanguageuse.Thosetasksthatfocusonface-to-faceinteraction,characteristicoftheinterpersonalmode,arefoundinthe“NegotiatedInteraction”section.Thosethatfocusontheinterpretivemodearefoundinthesecondsectionoftasks,“FromComprehensiontoInterpretation.”Andthosethatemphasizethepresentationalmodecanbefoundinthesectionentitled“FromPresentationtoCreation.”ManyofthetasksthroughouttheHandbookalsosuggestwaysoffocusingonformandintegratingfeedbackinthecontextofinteractiveactivities.

Integration

ThefinalCAPRIIconceptreferstotheintegrationofavarietyoffactors.Itrepresentstheintegrationofcontentandlanguage,includingbothlanguageandcultureandalsolanguagewithotherdisciplines.Italsoreferstotheintegrationofthefourmodalities(reading,listening,writing,speaking). Integrationofthefourmodalitiesisimportant.Creatingclassroomactivitiesthatrequirestudentstouselanguagewithintwoormoreofthefourmodalitieshelpstoreinforcetheconceptsbeingemphasized.Thisapproachalsolendsitselfwelltoavarietyoflearningstyles.Forexample,writinghelpssomestudentsimprovetheirlisteningskills.Ithasalso


NOTES


beenshownthatreadinghelpsstudentsdevelopcompetenceinwriting.Practiceinonemodalityoftenresultsinimprovedcompetenceinothermodalities.Inaddition,byintegratingallmodalitiesincurriculumandinstruction,theteacherconsidershowstudentscanbeusinglanguageforavarietyofpurposes.ManyofthetasksandalloftheunitsintheHandbook integratethefourmodalities.Sometasksemphasizeonemodalityovertheothers,butincludeideasforextendingthetaskstoincorporateadditionalmodalities.Withtheincreasedfocusonthenationalstandards,itisalsoimportantforteacherstobegintounderstandhowthefourmodalitiesworktogetherintheframeworkofthecommunicativemodesdiscussedintheprevioussection. Integratingcontentandlanguagesuggestsfollowingacontent-basedapproachtolanguageteachingwhereinthelinguisticelementsthatmakeuplanguage(i.e.,grammaticalstructures,vocabulary,etc.)emergenaturallyfromthecontentandareunderstoodwithinthecontextofthatcontent.Acontent-basedapproachtolanguageteachingemphasizeslanguageuseandlendsitselfwelltointerdisciplinarycurriculumdesign.Incontent-basedinstruction,thepurposeistoteachorreinforcecontentviathetargetlanguage.Content,notlanguage,istheorganizingprincipleforthetaskorunit.Languageisthevehiclethatallowsaccesstothecontentareasandrelatedtasks.Contentmayberelatedtootheracademicdisciplinesinthecurriculum(science,anthropology)ormayberelatedtoculturalthemes. Languagesneedtobeintegratedwithotherdisciplinesintheschoolcurriculum.Infact,theimportanceofconnectinglanguageandotherdisciplinesishighlightedinthenationalstandards(NationalStandardsinForeignLanguageEducationProject,1996,seestandard3.1).Itistimeforlanguagestobeunderstoodascentral toawell-definedschoolcurriculumratherthanperipheral.“Learningtodayisnolongerrestrictedtoaspecificdiscipline;ithasbecomeinterdisciplinary”(NationalStandardsinForeignLanguageEducationProject,1996,p.50).Toapproachlanguageteachingfromacontent-basedorthematicperspectiveallowsonetoseehowavarietyofsubjectmatterareascanbemeaningfullyandpurposefullyintegrated.Forexample,aunitontheMayacaneasilyincorporateattentiontohistory,anthropology,mathematics,science,andart.SeveralofthetasksandunitsintheHandbook attendtotheconnectionbetweenlanguageandotherdisciplines,forexample,“CampaignGraffiti”and“LosMayayElNorte.” Anintegrationoflanguageandcontentalsooccurswhenthecontentisbasedonculturalthemes.Integratinglanguageandcultureiskeyineffectivelanguageteachingandlearning.Iflanguageisseenassocialpractice,thenculturemustbecomethecoreoflanguageteaching(Kramsch,1993).Aswearebecomingasmaller,moreinterdependentglobalcommunitythaneverbefore,culturemusttakecenterstageinthelanguageclassroom.Itcannolongerbelimitedtoasingleperspectiveonsurface


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elementsandcultural“facts”foundinmosttextbooks.Instead,languageclassroomsmustbecomeplaceswherestudentsandteachersunderstandthemselvesasculturalbeingsandbegintodiscoverthecomplexityoftheconceptofcultureastheyviewculturesbothwithinandoutsideoftheU.S.fromanumberofdifferentperspectives(Kramsch,1993;NationalStandardsinForeignLanguageEducationProject,1996;Tedicketal.,1993).Culturalaspectshavebeenconsideredforallofthetasksandunitsinthe Handbook,andarehighlightedonthefirstpageofeach.Someofthetasksplaceanemphasisonculturalissues,suchas“SoulofSenegal”and“CelebratingtheDayoftheDead.”Others,like“MarketaMovie”and“WeddingCelebration”don’temphasizeculturalissuesbutincorporatesomeattentiontoculturalaspectsnevertheless.

AlloftheunitsandsomeofthetasksintheHandbookprovidegoodexamplesofcontent-basedcurriculumandinstruction.Forexample,“SenegalbyNumbers”iscontent-basedbecauseitfocusesonhavingstudentsunderstandSenegalesedemographicsinrelationshiptoU.S.demographics.Thecontentinthiscasemightbesimilartocontentstudentsmightencounterinanotheracademicdiscipline,suchasgeography,andalsothroughculturalstudyinalanguageclassroom.Throughtheactivities,studentsgaingreaterinsightintothedifferencesbetweentheSenegalandtheU.S.andthereasonsthatunderliethosedifferences.Withinthecontextofthiscontent,studentspracticecomplexnumbers,comparativeconstructions,thepresenttense,andquestionformation.

MostofthetasksintheHandbookarenotcontent-based,however,becausethepurposebehindthedevelopmentofthe Handbook wastoprovideteacherswithprinciplesandarangeofexamplesthatwouldhelpthemtoincreaselanguageuseintheclassroom,keytoincreasingtheirstudents’languageproficiency.Thetasksareexcellentproficiency-orientedactivitiesthatengagestudentsinlanguageuseformeaningfulpurposes,butaren’tnecessarilydrivenbyparticularcontent.Forinstance,“StrategicInteraction”isawonderfulactivitythatcombinesroleplayandcooperativelearning.But“StrategicInteraction”inandofitselfisnotacontent-basedactivityorlesson.The“generic”strategicinteractionactivity(foundintheNegotiatedInteractionsectionoftheHandbook)canbecontrastedwithanapplicationofstrategicinteractionwithinacontent-basedactivity,“LasJóvenesMaquiladoras.”Inthisactivity,thefocusisonhavingstudentsunderstandthevariousperspectivesaroundtheissueofsweatshopsandexploitationofyoungworkerswhilecommunicatinginthetargetlanguagewithpeers.Thesameroleplayactivityisused,butthecontentinthiscaseisthekeyfactor.

Theintegrationoflanguageandcontent(beitrelatedtoacademicsubjectmattersorculturalthemes)willlikelyreceivemuchmoreattentioninthefieldoflanguageeducationinyearstocome,particularlywiththe


NOTES


focusinthenationalstandardsonculturalunderstandingandthecalltoconnectlanguageswithotheracademicdisciplines.Integratinglanguageandcontentexpectsthatteachersattendtobothcontentcurriculumandlanguagecurriculumandfindwaystobalancethetwoininstruction.Anumberofexcellentresourcesareavailabletoassistlanguageteacherswhoareinterestedincontent-basedapproaches4.See,forexample,SnowandBrinton(1997),Genesee(1994),Met(1991),andSnow,Met&Genesee(1989).

Conclusion

Insummary,CAPRIIdescribesanumberofimportantpedagogicalprinciplesthatlanguageteachersshouldimplementintheirteachingpractices.TheseprinciplesarereflectedthroughoutthetasksandunitsinthisHandbook,thoughitisimportanttorememberthatnotalltasksincorporatealloftheprinciplessimultaneously.ItishopedthattheexamplesprovidedthroughouttheHandbookwillhelpteacherstoconsiderhowtheprinciplesofCAPRIIcanenhancetheirownteachingand,ultimately,studentlearning.

Performance Assessment5

Rethinking Assessment: Focus on Language Use

ThenationalstandardsandtheMinnesotaArticulationProjectemphasize what students should know and be able to do.Thetasksprovidedinthis Handbook requirethatstudentsuselanguageforavarietyofcommunicativepurposes.Itfollowsthatassessmentmustfocusonwhatstudentscandowithlanguageinadditiontowhattheyknowaboutlanguage.

Inthefieldoflanguageeducationagradualchangetowardmoreofafocusonperformancemeasureshasindeedbeenobserved.Certainly,large-scalelanguagetestshavemovedtowardmeasuresoflanguageperformancebeginningwiththeproficiencymovementthatcharacterizedthe1980’sintheU.S.(Bachman,1990).TheproficiencytestsdevelopedaspartoftheMinnesotaArticulationProject(forwhichthisHandbook wascreated)certainlyofferexcellentexamplesofcontextualized,performance-basedmeasures.TheCenterforAppliedLinguisticshasbeencompilingdescriptionsofassessmentinstrumentsforK-8foreignlanguagesettings,manyofwhichareperformance-based(Thompson,1997).Recentadditionstothecollectionshowanincreasinguseofalternative,performance-basedmeasures(Thompson,2000-2001).TheForeignLanguageTestDatabase,6containinginformationaboutsecondaryandcollege-levelforeignlanguagetests,showsasimilarpatternofmovement


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towardalternative,performance-basedmeasures.Andanumberofstateshaveledlocalinitiatives(throughgrant-funding)demonstratingtheprevalenceofalternativemeasuresandperformance-basedassessment(e.g.,Assessment, Articulation and Accountability,1999).

Theemphasisonstandardsandlanguageuseinthe90’shasalsoledtomoreofafocusonperformancemeasures.Asafollow-uptothenationalstandards,ACTFL’sperformanceguidelineswerepublishedin1998(ACTFL,1998;Swender&Duncan,1998).Theseguidelinesredefineproficiencyrelatedtothethreecommunicativemodesincorporatedinthestandards(interpersonal,interpretive,andpresentational)anddescribelanguageperformanceatarangeoflevels.ThePerformanceAssessmentUnits(PAUs)beingdevelopedforclassroom-basedassessmentrelatedtothecommunicationstandards(NationalStandardsinForeignLanguageEducationProject,1996)arealsoperformance-based(“Stepthree,thePAUproject,”2000;Thompson,2000-2001).Atthesametime,what’sunclearisthedegreetowhichteachersareusingsuchassessmentsintheirclassrooms.Ithasbeenourexperiencethatitishappeninglessthanwewouldlike.

Inmanylanguageclassrooms,teachershaveincorporatedcommunicativeactivitiesthatemphasizelanguageuse,yetoftenassessmentremainsfocusedongrammaticalstructuresandvocabulary.Thisleadstoasignificantmismatchbetweeninstructionandassessmentandalsosendsstudentsthemessagethatonlygrammarandvocabularyareimportant.Thereareveryrealreasonswhyassessmenttendstobebasedondiscrete-pointtestsofgrammarandvocabulary—it’srelativelystraightforwardtoassessstudents’knowledgeofgrammarandvocabulary,it’stime-efficient,andteachersandstudents(nottomentionparentsandadministrators)arecomfortablewiththesetypesofassessments.Itishumannaturetobecomfortablewithwhatweknowwellandtobeskepticalofanduncomfortablewiththeneworunknown. Assessinggrammaticalandvocabularyknowledgeisrelativelystraightforward,becausetestitemsusuallyhavejustonerightanswerandthereforecreatetheillusionofbeing“objective.”Inmostschools,studentsaretaughtfromthetimetheyenterkindergartenthatwhat’simportantisknowingtheonerightanswer.Yetintherealworld,fewifanyquestionsorproblemshaveonlyonerightanswer.Andintheworldoflanguagelearning,thesameapplies.There’sneveronerightwaytocommunicatemeaning—languageisbyitsverynaturesubjectiveandcreative.Tocommunicateotherwisetostudentsistodothemadisservice.Moreover,researchonlanguageacquisitioninpastdecadeshasrepeatedlydemonstratedthatknowledge about languagedoesnotreflectone’sability to use languagetocommunicateeffectively.HeilenmanandKaplan(1985)describethedilemmaasfollows:

Learningacertainnumberofadjectivesalongwiththeirmorphologicalchangesdoesnottranslatedirectlyintobeing


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abletodescribe,justaslearningthevarioususesandformsofthesubjunctiveisnotthesamethingasbeingabletodefendone’sopinionsandstateone’sfeelings.Thisisthegapthatthetraditional,structurallybasedlanguageprogramhasnotbeenabletobridge....Thestatedgoalofsuchprograms,languageuse,[is]notmetbecausetherealgoal,in terms of what students [are] expected to do, pertain[s]primarilytoformratherthantofunctionand[is]moreconcernedwithcompletesentencesthanwithdiscourse-levelcompetence(p.58,emphasisadded).

Nowhereisthisgapmorepronouncedthaninthearenaofclassroomassessment. Discrete-pointtestsofgrammarandvocabularyalsodominateclassroomassessmentbecausetheyaretime-efficient.Intoomanydistricts,teachersareexpectedtogivefinalexamsandtosubmitfinalgradestotheadministrationwithin24hoursaftertheexam.Suchpoliciesforceteachersintorelyingondiscrete-pointmeasures.Withtheadventofstandards-basedcurriculumandinstructionthesepolicieswillneedtochangebecausetheemphasisison what students can do.Forteacherswhoneedtoassesswhatstudentscandowithlanguage,theonlyoptionisamovetowardsperformancemeasures. Thismovetowardsperformanceassessmentisdifficult,becausebothteachersandstudentsarecomfortableandfamiliarwithdiscrete-pointassessmentsofgrammarandvocabulary.Manylanguageteachershadtheseexperiencesaslanguagelearnersyearsago,anditisdifficultforthemtochangewhattheyperceiveworkedforthem.Performancemeasuresthatinvolvequalityjudgmentsofstudents’abilitytouselanguageareadmittedlydifficult,subjective,andtime-consuming.Teachersandstudents(andparentsandadministrators!)needtolearntobecomfortablewiththesubjectivenatureofperformanceassessments.Teachersshouldspeakopenlyaboutthesemeasureswithstudentsandparentsandhelpthemtobecomemoretolerantoftheambiguitythataccompaniesthem.Itmayhelptopointouthowperformancemeasuresarecommonlyusedinourculture.Thesportsworldoffersanumberofexamples.Whileobjectivemeasuresofminutesandsecondsormetersandcentimeterscanbeusedtojudgeperformanceinthe100-meterrace,orthehighjump,subjectivemeasures(usuallyonascaleof1-10)mustbeusedtojudgeperformanceineventslikeice-skatinganddiving.Similarly,intheworkworld,performanceismeasuredsubjectivelyonthebasisofqualityjudgments—consider,forexample,howateacher’sabilitytoteachisassessed!Ifwearecomfortablewiththesetypesofperformanceassessments,sotoomustwelearntobecomfortablewithanemphasisonperformanceassessmentinthelanguageclassroomwherethefocusisonstudents’abilitytouselanguage.Justaswithanysignificant,meaningfulchange,teachersandstudentswill


NOTES


needtoproceedgraduallyandtolearntobecomfortabletakingrisksbytryingnewwaysofdemonstratingandassessinglanguageuse. Itisimperativetonotethatanemphasisonlanguageuseandperformanceassessmentisnotintendedtoencourageteacherstoneglectattentiontoformoraccuracy.Instead,itshouldcontextualizeattentiontoformandaccuracy.ThetasksandunitsinthisHandbook haveallbeendesignedtoemphasizelanguageuseandprovidedetaileddescriptionsofhowtoassessstudents’performance,oftenwithaccompanyingchecklistsorrubrics.Attentiontoformandaccuracyisembeddedintherubricsandmustnotbeoverlooked.WehopethatthemanycontextualizedexamplesofperformanceassessmentthroughouttheHandbookwillhelpeasethetransitionforlanguageteacherstoperformance-basedinstructionandassessment.

Moving Towards Performance Assessment:

The Changing Role of the Student in the Process

Intheclassroom,performanceassessment[alsoreferredtoas“authenticassessment”and“alternativeassessment”intheliterature(e.g.,Hart,1994)]ischaracterizedbytasksthatareworthwhile,significant,meaningful,andformpartofthecurriculum.Itprovidesinformationonwhatstudentscanactually dowithlanguageandtheirreflectiononthatprocess.Itiscongruentwithalearner-centered,communicativeapproachtolanguageteaching.Performanceassessmentsarenotonlydesignedandstructureddifferentlyfromtraditionaltests,butarealsogradedorscoreddifferently.Studentperformanceisevaluatedonthebasisofclearlydefinedperformanceindicators,criteria,orstandardsthatemphasizestudents’strengthsinsteadofhighlightingtheirweaknesses. Inadditiontotraditionalmeasuresoflanguagecompetence,performanceassessmentshavebeendevelopedinresponsetocurrentinterestinlearner-centeredpedagogy.Proponentsoflearner-centeredpedagogybelievethatteachersandlearnersshouldsharepowerandthatlearnersshouldhavemorecontrolovertheireducationalprocess(c.f.,Nunan,1988).Inthissense,theprimarygoaloflearner-centeredinstructionistoincreasestudents’participationinthelearningprocessbyassistingtheminestablishinglearningandself-improvementgoals,choosingeffectivelearningmethodsandstrategies,andbecominginvolvedinevaluatingtheirownworkandthatoftheirpeers. Learner-centeredinstructionimpliesthatteachersmustdedicatesomeclasstimetoactivitiesnotnormallyobservedintraditionallanguageclasses,suchasteachinglearnershowtolearnalanguage,howtomakeuseofavailabletoolsandresources,howtouselanguagelearningstrategies,andhowtoreflectontheirownlearning.Languagelearnersassumeresponsibilitiestraditionallytakenonsolelybytheinstructor,includingthe


NOTES


evaluationoftheirownlearning,aswellastheprovisionoffeedbacktotheirclassmates. Assessmentproceduresinanyeducationalprocessshouldbecongruentwithteachingprocedures.Inotherwords,assessmentpracticesshouldalignwithclassroomobjectivesandinstruction.TheassessmentproceduresthatweemphasizeintheHandbook arebasedontheideathatstudentscanlearntoevaluatetheirownlearningand,inturn,learnfromthatprocess.Theyreflectthebeliefthatlearnersshouldbeinvolvedindeterminingcriteriaforsuccessfulcompletionofcommunicativetasksandshouldhavetheopportunitytoassesstheirownperformanceandthatoftheirpeers.Inaddition,justaslearner-centeredpedagogyemphasizesboththelearning processandtheproduct,variousformsofalternativeassessmentgivelearnersopportunitiestoreflectnotonlyontheirlinguisticdevelopment,butalsoontheirlearningprocesses(i.e.,whathelpsthemlearnandwhatmighthelpthemlearnbetter).Assessmentthusbecomesmoreformativeratherthansummative.Learnerscanprovideoneanotherwithfeedbackontheirperformance,forexamplereflectingonhowwelltheyperformedacommunicativetaskthroughgroupprocessing(Johnson,Johnson,&Holubec,1993). Timespentonteachingstudentshowtoevaluatetheirownworkthroughself-reflectionandhowtoevaluatetheworkoftheirpeersisnottimelostforinstruction.Onthecontrary,byunderstandingthetraitsofeffectivewritersandspeakers,studentsinternalizethetraitsandbecomemoreeffectivecommunicators.AsBaron(1991)states:“Whenstudentsinternalizeadefinitionofwhatqualitymeansandcanlearntorecognizeit,theyhavedevelopedaveryvaluablecriticalability.Theycantalkwith[...]theirteacheraboutthequalityoftheirworkandtakestepstoacquiretheknowledgeandskillsrequiredtoimproveit”(p.190).

What are the challenges that come with this process?

Aswithanychangefromanaccustomedapproach,theuseofperformanceassessmentscancreatespecialchallenges.Firstandforemost,teacherswillneedtoreadaboutandpracticeextensivelywithvariousformsoftheseassessmentssothattheybecomecomfortablewiththem.Atthesametime,teacherswillneedtopreparetheirstudentsfortheuseoftheseassessments.Learnerswhoareusedtotraditional,teacher-centeredclassroomsmaybereluctanttoassumenewrolesandresponsibilities.Theymayalsobeskepticalthatpeerscanprovidethemwithfeedbackthatwillenhancetheirlearning.Teachersmustbesuretoexplaintherationaleforperformanceassessmentfullytolearners.Theywillalsoneedtoprovidestudentswithguidanceandinstructiononhowtoreflectontheirperformanceandevaluateitandhowtoevaluatetheirpeers’performance.Concretesuggestionsonhowtogoaboutthisareofferedthroughoutthe Handbook.


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Itisalsoimportanttoemphasizetheneedtocreateacooperativelearningenvironmentbeforeattemptingtouseperformanceassessments.Studentsmustbeinasupportiveenvironmentiftheyareexpectedtoreflectthoughtfullyontheirlearningprocesses.Theymustalsofeelcomfortablewithoneanothertoprovideconstructiveandhonestfeedbackontheirpeers’work.Otherwise,theywillprovideperfunctorycommentsonotherstudents’worktoavoidhurtfeelings.

Forthesereasons,itisimportanttointroducetheuseofperformanceassessmentsgradually.Notonlydoteachersneedtotaketimetobecomeaccustomedtotheseassessments;learnersalsoneedtounderstandhowtheywillbenefitfromthemandhowtheycanusethemeffectively.Theseassessmentscaneasilybeusedalongsidethemoretraditionalmeansofassessmentcommontoforeignlanguageclassrooms.Acombinationofalternativemeasuresandmoretraditionalformsofassessmentmakesitpossiblefortheteachertocomparetheresultsofthevariousapproaches,leadingtoamorecomprehensivepictureofstudents’languageperformancethaneitheralternativeortraditionalmeasuresalonewouldprovide.Toallowstudentstobecomeaccustomedtothem,theteachershouldbeginusingchecklists,scales,andrubrics(describedinasubsequentsection)toevaluatestudents’performance.Thisenablesstudentstoseetheirusemodeledandbecomeaccustomedtothem.Infact,ateachermaywishtobeginwithjustonerubric(eitherholisticoranalyticsincethesetypeslendthemselvestousewithavarietyoftasks)anduseitconsistentlyforaperiodoftimesothatstudentsbecomecomfortablewithit;otherrubriccanthenbeintroducedgradually.Oncestudentsarefamiliarwiththeuseofchecklists,scales,andrubricsforevaluation,theycanbegintoassesstheirownlearningandprovidefeedbacktotheirpeers.Alternativeassessmentsaregenerallydesignedtobeanintegralpartoranaturalculminationofasequenceoflearningactivities,buttheirusebybothteachersandstudentsrequirescarefulpreparationandshouldbeimplementedgradually.

The benefits that accompany the challenges

Changingthewaywethinkaboutassessmentsimultaneouslychangesthewaywethinkaboutteachingandthewaystudentsthinkaboutlearning(Hart,1994).Thisisperhapsoneofthegreatestbenefitstoimplementingperformanceassessment—itfocusesteachers’andstudents’attentiononlanguageuse.Studentsbecomeactiveparticipantsinassessmentactivitiesthataredesignedtorevealwhattheycandowithlanguageratherthanemphasizingtheirweaknesses.Teachersfindtheseassessmenttechniquesvaluableinhelpingthemtoaligninstructionandassessmentandemphasizingforstudentscommunicationformeaningfulpurposes. AsBaron(1991)states,“manyeducatorsbelievethatperformance-


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POLIA : S t anda rd s , Ph i l o s oph i e s , and Con s i d e ra t i on s f o r A s s e s s smen t p .2�

basedassessmentsmorecloselyrepresentthekindsofactivitiesthatwewantourstudentstobeabletoundertakeasmembersofsocietyandthatpracticingfortheassessmentimprovesthesevaluedskillsandunderstandings”(p.187).Certainlythisistrueinthecaseoflanguageclassroomswherestudentsarelearningtocommunicateinsituationssimilartothosetheywillencounterinthe“realworld.”Baron(1991)alsopointsoutthat“thereisagrowingnumberofeducatorsaroundtheworldwhobelievethatthereislittledifferencebetweenaneffectiveperformanceassessmenttaskandaneffectivecurriculumorlearningtask”(p.191).Thismeansthatmanyoftheactivitiesthatstudentsdoinacommunicative,proficiency-orientedclassroomcanbeusedasassessmenttasks,althoughyoushouldmakesuretoincludeawidevarietyoftasktypesthatreflectreallanguageuse.Alloftheactivitiesdescribedinthe Handbooklendthemselvestoperformanceassessmentbecausetheyemphasizewhatstudentscandowiththelanguage.Moreover,thetasksareaccompaniedbyadetaileddescriptionoftheassessmentproceduresandbysamplerubricsorcheckliststhatcanbeusedtoevaluatestudentperformanceonthetasks.

Thedetaileddescriptionsintherubricshelpteachersfirsttoarticulateandsecondlytointernalizeasenseofwhatconstitutesqualityofperformanceandmakesiteasierforteacherstojudgestudents’performanceconsistently.Theyalsohelpto“sell”thenotionofsubjectivityintheassessmentprocess.Themoreexplicitlyagradeorpointisdefined,themorecomfortablestudents(andteachers)willbewiththeuseofperformancetasksandassessmentsinthelanguageclassroom.

Using checklists and rubrics for assessing student performance

on various language tasks

Whereasachecklistsimplyprovidesanindicationofwhetheraspecificcriterion,characteristic,orbehaviorispresent,arubricprovidesameasureofqualityofperformanceonthebasisofestablishedcriteria.Itisimportanttomentionthatstudentsshouldbegivencopiesofthechecklistorrubricthatwillbeusedtoevaluatetheirperformanceonatask prior todoingthetaskorbeginningtheprojectsothatexpectationsaremadeclear.Teachersshouldalsodiscusstherubricswithstudentsand,ifpossible,provideexamplesofstudentworkthatcorrespondstothedifferentpointsorcriteriaonthescale.Itisalwayshelpfulforstudentstoseemodelsofworkthatwouldbe“excellent”vs.“satisfactory”vs.“belowstandard”or“inneedofimprovement.”

Checklists

Checklistsareoftenusedforobservingperformanceorbehaviorinordertokeeptrackofastudent’sprogressorworkovertime.Theycanalso



beusedtodeterminewhetherstudentshavemetestablishedcriteriaonatask.Belowisanexampleofaspeakingtaskandasamplechecklistthatmightbeusedtocheckwhetherstudentsmeetthecriterianeededtocompletethetasksuccessfully. TaskDescription.ForaunitonLatinosintheU.S.,studentsareexploringissuesrelatedtoLatinosinMinnesota.TheyareinstructedtomakecontactwithanativeSpanishspeakerwhohasimmigratedtoMinnesota(teacherprovidesalistofresourcesformakingcontact).Studentsaretoconductashortinterviewwiththisindividualandreportbacktotheclass.Inanoralpresentation,theyareto(1)brieflydescribetheinterviewee(gender,age,placeofbirth,occupation,etc.),(2)explainwhatbroughthim/hertoMinnesota,(3)describeatleastonechallengetheintervieweehasfacedorfacesinMinnesota,(4)describehowthisindividualmaintainsaconnectiontohis/herheritage,and(5)describeoneitemofinterestthatcameoutoftheinterview.Studentsaretoldthattheywillneedtospeakforaminimumofthreeminutesandthattheyarenottoreadtotheclassandcanonlyrefertominimalnoteswhilepresenting.Theyareadvisedtorehearse,butnottomemorize.Achecklistforassessingstudents’completionofthetaskcomponentsmightlookliketheoneinFigure2.

Notethatachecklistlikethissimplyindicateswhetherthestudentaddressedaspecificportionofthetaskintheirperformance;itdoesnotofferajudgmentofthequalityofperformance. BrownandYule(1983)suggestachecklist-typescoringmatrixforusewithinformation-gapactivities.Theintentionistoassessthespeaker’scommunicativeeffectiveness.Thefirststepistoselectorcreateaninformation-gaptaskinwhichaspeakermustdescribeorprovideinstructionstoalistener,whofollowstheinstructionsorcompletessometaskbasedonthedescription.Forexample,aspeakermustexplaintoalistenerhowtoassembleakitchenutensilhavingfivepartsorcomponents.Thelistenerhasthevariouspartsoftheutensilinfrontofhimandisrequiredtoassemblethepartsonthebasisofthespeaker’sinstructions.Thespeakermustbeseatedinsuchawaysothatshecannotseewhatthelistenerisdoing.Thespeakerbeginsbyidentifyingthefirstpart,thenthesecondpartandexplainstheirrelationshiptooneanother,orhowtheyfittogether.Shecontinuesinthismanneruntilallfivepartsareidentifiedandtheirrelationshipwithoneanotherisdescribed.Whilesuchtasksmaynotbeconsidered“authentic”inthepuresenseoftheterm,theydoelicitthekindsoflinguisticstructuresthatstudentsneedtointernalizeduringtheprocessoflanguageacquisition(Brown&Yule,1983).Achecklistforassessingthespeaker’sabilityto


POLIA : S t anda rd s , Ph i l o s oph i e s , and Con s i d e ra t i on s f o r A s s e s s smen t p . 31

communicateeffectivelyissetupasinFigure3.

Theteacherlistenstospeaker“a’s”instructionsandmarksacheckwheneversheidentifiesacomponentanddescribesitsrelationshiptoanothercomponent.Thesameprocedureisfollowedforspeaker“b,”“c,”etc.InthesamplechecklistinFigure3,speaker“b”wasabletocommunicateallinformationeffectively,whereasspeaker“a’s”performancelackedsomeimportantdetails.Inassessingcommunicativeeffectiveness,theteachermustbecarefultolistentowhatthespeakersaysandnotbeinfluencedbywhatalistenerdoesordoesnotdo.Thatis,alistenermayfigureoutataskandcompleteitwithoutnecessarilyhavingexplicitinstructionsfromthespeaker;conversely,thespeakermaydescribealloftherequiredinformationandthelistenermaynotfollowtheinstructionscorrectly.Figure3mayalsobeadaptedtoassesslisteningcomprehension,inwhichcasetheteacherwillpayattentiontowhatalistenerdoesonthebasisofwhataspeakersays.Checklistssuchastheseforassessingbothspeakers’andlisteners’performanceinaninformationgapactivityappearintheHandbookalongwiththe“MyFavoriteRecipe”task. Checklistscanbeusefulforclassroomassessmentbecausetheyareeasytoconstructanduse,andtheyaligncloselywithtasks.Theycanalsobeusedveryeffectivelyforpeerassessmentoflanguageuse.Atthesametime,theyarelimitedinthattheydonotprovideanassessmentoftherelativequalityofastudent’sperformanceonaparticulartask.

Rubrics

Incontrasttochecklists,rubricsorscalesprovideanindicationof quality ofperformanceonaparticulartask.Rubricshavereceivedmuchattentioninrecentyearsduetotheincreased



emphasisonperformance-basedassessment.Theyareprimarilyusedforlanguagetasksthatinvolvesomekindofproductiononthepartofthestudent,beitoralorwritten.Rubricsarecreatedonthebasisoffourdifferentscaletypes—holistic,analytic,primarytrait,andmultitrait—eachofwhichwasdevelopedoriginallyforlargescalewritingassessment.Scoringrubricsareoftenusedwithbenchmarksorexemplars—samplesthatactasstandardsagainstwhichothersamplesarejudged(Hart,1994). Holistic rubrics.Whenteachersuseholisticscalesorrubrics,theyarerespondingtolanguageperformance(writingorspeaking)asawhole.Eachscoreonaholisticscalerepresentsanoverallimpression;oneintegratedscoreisassignedtoaperformance.Theemphasisinholisticscoringisonwhatastudentdoeswellratherthanwhatheorshehasnotdonewell(White,1985).Holisticrubricscommonlyhavefourorsixpoints.Figure4showsasamplefour-pointholisticscalecreatedforthepurposesofassessingwritingperformance.

MoreexamplesofholisticrubricscanbefoundintheHandbook—see,forexample,therubricsdevelopedfor“Tic-Tac-ToeStoryGrids”and“FablesthroughComics.”Thosetwoexamplesshowholisticrubricsthathavebeenwrittentoaligncloselywiththetask.However,holisticrubricsareoftenwrittengenericallysothattheycanbeusedoverandoverwithavarietyoftasks.Holisticrubricshavetheadvantageofleadingtoefficientassessmentofstudents’writtenororalperformance,buttheydonotprovidestudentswithspecificfeedbackonaspectsoftheirperformancethatwerestrongorneedimprovement.

Holisticrubricsareoftenusedinlarge-scaleassessmentbecauseoftheirefficiencyandtheirtendencytoleadtogreaterconsistencyamongmultipleraters.Atthesametime,theycanbeusedveryeffectivelywithclassroom-basedperformancetasks. Analytic rubrics. Analyticscalesaredividedintoseparatecategoriesrepresentingdifferent



aspectsordimensionsofperformance.Eachdimensionisscoredseparately,thendimensionscoresareaddedtodetermineanoverallscore.Commonaspectsforwritingperformanceincludecontent,organization,vocabulary,grammar,andmechanics.Onascalehavingthesedifferentcategories,anessaywouldbeevaluatedbyapplyingadifferentscoretoeachcategory.Thisallowstheteachertoweighcertainaspectsmoreheavilythanothers.Forexample,contentmayhaveatotalpointrangeof30whereasmechanicsmaybeattributedatotalof10or15points. OneofthebestknownanalyticrubricsusedforwritingassessmentinthefieldofEnglishasasecondlanguage(ESL)wasdevelopedbyHugheyetal.(1983,p.140).Thisrubrichasfivecategories—content,organization,vocabulary,languageuse,andmechanics.DrawingheavilyuponcharacteristicsoftheHugheyetal.scale,TedickandKleedevelopedananalyticrubricforuseinscoringessayswrittenforanimmersionquarterforundergraduatesstudyingSpanish(Klee,Tedick,&Cohen1995).ArevisedversionoftherubricappearsinFigure5. NotethatthescaleinFigure5assignsdifferentweightstodifferentfeatures.Thisallowsateachertogivemoreemphasistocontentthantogrammarormechanics,forexample.Theoptiontoweighcharacteristicsonthescalerepresentsanadvantagetoanalyticscoring.Thedecisiontoweighcertaincriteriaornotrestswiththetask,thepurpose,andthelevelofthestudents.

Analyticrubricsalsohavetheadvantageofprovidingmoreinformationtostudentsaboutthestrengthsandweaknessesofvariousaspectsoftheirlanguageperformance.Oneofthegreatestcriticismsofanalyticscoring,however,isthatthepartsdonotnecessarilyadduptothewhole,or“thewholeisgreaterthanthesumofitsparts.”Inotherwords,providingseparatescoresfordifferentaspectsofastudent’swritingorspeakingperformancemaybeconsideredartificialinthatitdoesnotgivetheteacher



Figure6providesanexampleofananalyticrubricthatcanbeusedforassessingspeaking.Thisrubricdoesnotemphasizeonefeatureoveranother,butcertainlycanbeadaptedtodoso.Likeholisticrubrics,analyticrubricsareoftendesignedtobeverygenericsothattheycanbeusedwithavarietyoftasks.





(orstudent)agoodassessmentofthe“whole”ofaperformance.Inaddition,analyticrubricsarebytheirverynaturemorecumbersomeandtime-consumingtouse.Yet,someteachersfindtheiradvantagestooutweightheirdisadvantagesbecausetheylikebeingabletoprovidestudentswithmoredetailedfeedback. Primary trait rubrics.Theprimarytraitscoringmethod(Lloyd-Jones,1977)involvespredeterminingthemaincriterionforsuccessfulperformanceonatask.The“primarytrait”isdefinedbytheteacherandvariesdependinguponthetask.Thisapproachthusinvolvesnarrowingthecriteriaforjudgingperformanceonatasktoonemaincategoryordimension.Asanexample,considerataskthatrequiresthatastudentwriteapersuasivelettertoaneditoroftheschoolnewspaper.TheprimarytraitrubricmightlooksomethingliketheoneinFigure7.

Aprimarytraitrubrichastheadvantageofallowingteachers(andstudents)tofocusononeaspectordimensionoflanguageperformance.Itisalsoarelativelyquickandeasywaytoscorewritingorspeakingperformance—especiallywhenateacherwantstoemphasizeonespecificaspectofthatperformance.Primarytraitscalesaccompanysomeofthetasksinthe Handbook,forexample“InterpretingtheMessageofaSong.”Theyarebetterrubricsforformativeassessmentratherthansummativeassessment,becausetheyarelimitedintermsoftheinformationtheyprovideaboutthestudent’sperformance. Multitrait rubrics. Amultitraitapproachtoscoringlanguageperformanceissimilartotheprimarytraitapproachbutallowsforratingperformanceonanumberofdimensions(usuallythreeorfour)ratherthanemphasizingjustone.Althoughsimilartoanalyticrubricsinthatseveralaspectsarescoredindividually,multitraitrubricsaredifferentintermsofthenatureofthedimensions,ortraits,thatmakeuptherubric.Asexplainedabove,ananalyticrubriccomprisesmoretraditionaldimensions,suchascontent,organization,andgrammar.Amultitraitrubric,incontrast,involvesdimensionsthataremorecloselyalignedwithfeaturesofthetaskusedtoelicitlanguageperformance.Forexample,inaninformation-gapspeakingtaskwherestudentsareaskedtodescribeapictureinenoughdetailforalistenertochooseitamongasetofsimilarpictures,amultitraitrubricmightbecreatedthatwouldincludedimensionssuchasqualityofdescription,fluency,andlanguagecontrol(seeFigure8).



Inthismultitraitexample,themaximumtotalscoreis12.Studentsareassignedascoreof1–4foreachofthethreecategories,andtheseareaddedtocreateatotalscore.Thealignmentofthescalewiththetaskisperhapsthegreateststrengthofthemultitraitrubric;atthesametimethisveryalignmentmakesamultitraitrubriclesstransferableforusewithothertasks.Inotherwords,itislikelythateachtimeadifferenttaskisused,adifferentrubric(oratleastoneortwodimensionsofthatrubric)willhavetobedeveloped.ThemajorityofrubricsintheHandbookareofthemultitraittype,becausetheywerecreatedtoaligncloselywiththetask.See,forexample,therubricsthataccompany“GuessWho,”“StrategicInteraction,”“Newscast,”and“MarketaMovie.”

Creating and Using Rubrics

Whilesomerubricsarecreatedinsuchawayastobegenericinscopeforusewithanynumberofwritingorspeakingtasks,itisbesttoconsiderthetaskfirstandmakesurethattherubricrepresentsagoodfitwiththetaskandyourinstructionalobjectives.Justasavarietyoftask-typesshouldbeusedinlanguageclassrooms,soshouldavarietyofrubricsandchecklistsbeusedforassessingperformanceonthosetasks.Recallthatitisimportanttoincorporatetheuseofrubricsgradually,however,soitisappropriatetobeginwithone(moregeneric)rubricandtoaddothersasthereaderandstudentsbecomemorecomfortablewiththeprocess.Creatinggoodrubricsthatlendthemselveswelltoconsistent,accurateassessmentstakespractice.Itisagoodideaforteacherstobegintocollectsamplesofrubricsthattheycanrefertoandborrowfromtodeveloptheirown.TheHandbook containsmultipleexamplesofrubricsandcheckliststoaccompanythetasksandunits.Thesecanbeadaptedtocreatenewones.

Unliketraditionalformsofassessment,whichofteninvolvemoreobjectivemethodsofscoringandgrading,performanceassessmentsandtheiraccompanyinguseofrubricsinvolvesubjectivejudgments,asexplainedabove.Thissubjectivitymakesitmorechallengingtoestablishreliability,orconsistency,inscoringandgrading.Althoughathoroughdiscussionofthenotionofreliabilityasrelatedtotheuseofrubricsusedforperformanceassessmentisbeyondthescopeofthisportionofthe



Handbook,afewpiecesofadvicecanbeoffered.Itisrecommendedthattheychecktheirownreliabilityinsomeway.Forexample,asstudents’writtenessaysaregraded,teacherscankeeptrackofthescoresonaseparatesheetofpaper.Afewdayslater,theteacherrandomlyselectsanumber(e.g.,five)oftheessaysandevaluatesthemagain,beingsurenottolookattheoriginalscoresassigned.Thentheteachercomparesthetwosetsofscorestoensurethats/heassignedthesameornearlythesamescoresbothtimes.Ifthetwoscoresarequitedifferent,youwillneedtoexaminetherubriccarefullyandre-evaluatetheessays.Thissameprocedurecanbefollowedforcheckingreliabilityinevaluatingstudents’oralperformanceaslongasaudioorvideorecordingsoftheperformanceareavailable.Alsokeepinmindthatfatiguecanaffectateacher’sabilitytoscorestudents’workconsistently.Itisagoodidea,therefore,tolimitthenumberofwrittenessaysororalperformancestobegradedatonesitting.Themorepracticeteachersgetwiththerubricsandthemorecomfortabletheybecomewiththeprocess,themorereliablethescoringwillbecome.Foradetaileddiscussiononreliabilityinscoring,see,forexample,Cohen(1994).

Encouraging Reflection through Self-Assessment and Peer Assessment

Ithasbeensuggestedthatgoodlanguagelearnersareawareoflanguagelearningprocesses(e.g.,Carrell,1989;Devine,1993;O’Malley&Chamot,1990;Schmidt&Frota,1986).Theyareawareofandabletoreflectontheirownandothers’languagelearningstrategiesandprogressaslanguagelearners.Reflection,asoneoftheconceptscomprisingCAPRII,hasbeendefinedaboveandhasbeenemphasizedasakeycomponentofeffectivelanguageinstruction. Secondlanguagestudentsshouldbeprovidedwithopportunitiestoengageinsystematicreflectiononaregularbasis.Reflectionrequirescommitment,time,andthewilltobeopen,flexible,andsensitive.Peopleneedtobeginwithsituationsthattheyarecomfortablewithandgraduallybuildtowardothermorerisk-takingventures.Onewaytoencouragereflectioninstudentsistoprovideopportunitiesforthemtoassesstheirownlanguageperformanceandthatofothers.

Self-Assessment

Thebenefitsofhavingstudentsassesstheirownprogresshavebeenestablishedinresearchonfirst-languageliteracyacquisitioninyoungchildren(e.g.,Brown,1988;Glazer,1992;Graves,1983;Routman,1991).Itisbelievedthatopportunitiesforself-assessmenthelpstudentstobecomeindependentlearners.Inaddition,anumberofsecondlanguagestudieshavefoundthatself-assessmentleadstoincreasedmotivationinlearners(Blanche&Merino,1989).However,studentsdonotlearntomonitororassesstheirlearningontheirown.Studentsmustbetaughtstrategiesforself-monitoringandself-assessment.Inthecaseofself-assessments,iftimeisnottakentoinstructstudentsintheiruse,theirvalidityisquestionable.BlancheandMerino(1989),inareviewofsixteenstudiesthatemployedmeasuresofself-assessment,foundthatamongthefactorsthatcanthreatenthevalidityofself-assessmentwas“thelackofcommon,validcriteriathatbothlearnersandinstructorscouldusetomakesoundjudgments”(p.325)andlearners’lackoftraininginhowtoperformthetypesofself-assessmentthathadbeenaskedofthem.Techniquesforteachingstudentsstrategiesforself-assessmentareparalleltothoseusedforteachinglearningstrategies.Detaileddescriptionsofsuchtechniquescanbefound,forexample,inO’MalleyandChamot’sbookonlearningstrategies(1990)orChamotetal.’s(1999)handbookonlearningstrategies. Self-assessmenttoolscanbeusedtoencouragestudents’reflectionontopicstheyhavestudied,vocabularytheyhavelearned,theirstudyhabits,andtheirsenseoftheiroverallstrengthsandweaknesses.BlancheandMerino(1989)furthersuggestthatstudentslatersharetheirself-assessmentswithapeerorinasmallgroup,withinstructionsthattheycomparetheir


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impressionswithothercriteriasuchastestscores,teacherevaluations,andpeers’opinions.Thiskindofpracticeisvaluableinthatithelpsstudentstobeawareoftheirlearning;inaddition,itnotonlyinformstheteacheraboutstudents’thoughtsontheirlearningandprogress,butalsoprovidestheteacherwithfeedbackaboutcoursecontentandinstruction. Self-assessmentscanalsobeusedtoallowstudentstoevaluatebothlanguageprocessesandproductsthatarespecifictothevariousmodalities.Studentscantakepartinassessmentbyevaluatingtheirownperformance(andthatoftheirpeers)onthebasisofchecklistsandrubricsthataredeveloped.Inordertoratetheirownspeakingperformance,studentswouldneedtoaudio-tapeorvideo-tapetheirperformanceandevaluateitusingarubricorchecklist.Writingcaneasilybeevaluatedwithrubrics.Weofferexamplesofself-assessmentsinthecontextofavarietyoftasksintheHandbook.See,forexample,thefinalevaluationinthe“GenderRoles”unit.

Peer Assessment

Oneofthewaysinwhichstudentsinternalizethecharacteristicsofqualityworkisbyevaluatingtheworkoftheirpeers.However,iftheyaretoofferhelpfulfeedback,studentsmusthaveaclearunderstandingofwhattheyaretolookforintheirpeers’work.Forexample,whentheyreadapeer’sessayorlistentoapresentation,shouldtheyfocusonlyongrammaticalaccuracy?content?organization?orsomethingelse?Theinstructormustexplainexpectationsclearlytothembeforetheybegin.Ifstudentsareaskedtogiveoneanotherfeedbackontheiressays,onewaytomakesuretheyunderstandwhattheyaretoevaluateisbyprovidingstudentswithasamplecompositiononanoverheadand,asagroup,determiningwhatshouldbeassessed(i.e.,howdoesonedefinegoodwriting),carryingouttheassessment,andthendetermininghowtoconveyclearlytothefictitiousstudenthowheorshecouldimprovetheessay. Studentsalsobenefitfromtheuseofrubricsorcheckliststoguidetheirassessments;theserubricscanbeprovidedbytheinstructor,oroncethestudentshavemoreexperience,theycandevelopthemthemselves.Inadditiontopeerassessmentofwriting,studentscanalsoevaluatetheirpeers’oralpresentations,roleplays,skits,ordebates.Again,itisimportantthatstudentsreceiveguidanceonwhattoevaluate.Theuseofrubricsorchecklistshelpsstudentsfocusontheaspectsthattheyshouldassess.Forpeerevaluationtoworkeffectively,thelearningenvironmentintheclassroommustbesupportive.Studentsmustfeelcomfortableandtrustoneanothertoprovidehonestandconstructivefeedback.ThetasksintheHandbookprovideavarietyofopportunitiesandsuggestionsforpeerassessment.Thecheckliststhataccompanythe“MyFavoriteRecipe”taskofferstudentstheopportunitytoassesslisteners’andspeakers’performance.Similarly,peerreviewguidelinessuchasthosethataccompany“GuessWho?”and“Let’sgotoCostaRica”askstudentstogivefeedbackoneachother’swriting. Itisabsolutelycriticaltospendtimewithstudentstopreparethemforself-assessmentandpeer-assessmentactivities.Beforeaskingstudentstoratetheirownortheirpeers’performance,teachersneedtobesurethattheyunderstandthecriteriaandhowtoapplythem.Themoreateachermodelsanddiscussestheprocess,themorestudentswillbenefitfromparticipatingintheevaluationoftheirwork.

Assessing Cultural Understanding

Inadditiontoparticipatingintheassessmentoftheirlanguageperformance,studentsneedtobeinvolvedinassessingtheirculturalunderstandingandknowledge.IntheHandbook,wehaveemphasizedthatcultureneedstobeatthecoreoflanguageinstruction.Itfollowsthatwemustalsodevisewaysofassessingstudents’culturalknowledgeandunderstanding.Wiggins(1989)andothershavearguedquiteconvincinglythatifwevaluesomething,wemustassessit,fortoneglectaconceptinassessmentistocommunicatetostudentsthattheconceptisn’t



important. Kramsch(1993)hassuggestedthatstudentsneedtolearnaboutthemultiplicityofperspectivesthatdefineculturalconstructs.Shearguesthatinsteadofhavingstudentssimplystatetheirinterpretationofaculturalconstruct,theyshouldbeengagedintasksthatrequirethemtoreflect an understandingofaconstruct.Forexample,studentshavebeenlearningabouttheeducationalsysteminGermany.TheirtaskistocreateavideotapeabouttheeducationalsystemintheU.S.foragroupofGermanstudentswhowillbeonanexchangeintheU.S.thefollowingyear.TheyareinstructedtocreateadescriptionoftheU.S.systemthatreflectstheirunderstandingofwhattheyhavelearnedabouttheGermansystem.Inthisway,teachersareabletotapintodeeperlevelsofcross-culturalunderstanding. Followingisanexampleofaperformancetaskcreatedforcollege-levelstudentsofFrenchthatincludesareflectionofstudents’understandingoftheFrenchconceptof“home.”Thetaskandassessmentsdescribedbelowareintendedtobeinterpretedasbothteacherandstudentassessments.Inotherwords,thetasksaredesignedinsuchawayastoallowforteacherassessmentandstudents’self-assessment.Thisdescriptionincorporatesmanyofthetechniquesandideasdiscusseduptothispoint. SuzanneCook,formerFrenchinstructorattheU.S.AirForceAcademyandPh.D.studentinSecondLanguagesandCulturesEducationattheUniversityofMinnesota,createdthisassessmentforacourseattheUniversitywhileonleavefromherpositionattheAcademy(Cook,1994).Theperformancetaskofthissummativeassessmentisintegrativeinthatitcombinesreadingcomprehension,writing,andculturalunderstanding.BeforereadingatextinFrench,studentsareinstructedtoreflectontheirbackgroundknowledgeof“theFrenchandtheirhomes”byrespondingtothefollowingquestionsinEnglish.Theyareassuredthattherearenorightorwronganswers.

1. DescribetheimageyouhaveofaFrenchhome.Whatistheimagebasedon(TV,magazines,textbooks,visittoFrance—whereinFrance?,etc.)?Inotherwords,reflectonwhatyoubelievehasledyoutoformthisimage.

2. WouldyoucharacterizetheFrenchashospitabletovisitorsintheirhomeornot?Supportyouranswer.

3. HowwouldyoudescribeAmericansintermsoftheirhospitality?Feelfreetouseyourownexperiencehere.Howdoesyourfamilydealwithguestsinyourhome?

Bybeginningtheassessmentinthisway,Cookcommunicatestostudentsthevalueofusingpre-readingstrategiessuchasactivatingpriorknowledge.Shealsogatherscriticalinformationthatmayhelpherunderstandastudent’sperformanceontheassessment.Next,studentsareinstructedtoreadanexcerptfromthebookEvidences Invisibles(Carroll,1987).Theyarepromptedwiththefollowing:

ThefollowingexcerptcomesfromthebookEvidences Invisibles,byRaymondeCarroll,aFrenchanthropologistwhoismarriedtoanAmericananthropologistandwhohaslivedintheU.S.forsome20years.ShestudiedthecommonmisunderstandingsbetweenFrenchandAmericanpeople,misunderstandingsthatareusuallyduetodifferentassumptionsabouthowoneshouldliveandthatarenotexplicitlyconsideredwhenindividualsareinteracting.Thefollowingpassagerevealssomeofthefundamentalassumptions,which,accordingtoCarroll,theFrenchgenerallyhaveaboutthehome.Readthetextcarefullyforunderstandingandwithaneyefordifferencesfromyourownconceptof“home.”



Forassessingbasiccomprehension,CookasksstudentstorespondinEnglishtosomeliteral-levelquestionsaboutthetext.Shealsoasksthattheyreflectinwriting“ontheauthorofthistextandtheimplicationthismighthaveontheinformationshepresents,inparticularonhowrepresentativeitmightbeofthewholepopulationofFrance.”Byaskingstudentstoconsiderthisinferentialquestion,Cookattemptstotapstudents’understandingthattheauthor’sinterpretationisdirectlyrelatedtoherindividualviewoftheworld,basedonherstatusandeducationallevelandthattheinformationpresentedmaynotrepresentallFrenchpeople.Sheassessesstudents’responsestothisquestionwithachecklist(seeFigure9).

Thebasiccomprehensionquestionsandcriticalthinking/inferentialquestionarefollowedbythisperformancetask:

ImagineyoujustreceivedthefollowingpostcardfromafriendwhorecentlyarrivedinLyontospendthesummerwithaFrenchfamily.Thisfriendishavingsomedifficultyunderstandingthewaysofhis/herhostfamily.Withwhatyou’velearnedfromthereadingpassage,writearesponsetoyourfriendinFrenchtohelphim/heradjust.Whatshoulds/hedodifferently?Includeinformationfromthetext(atleast3mainideas),inyourownwords,andrelateittoyourfriend’sknowledgeofthewayAmericansdothings.

ThefollowingpostcardtextispresentedinFrench,butitsEnglishtranslationisprovidedinFigure10.

Thewritingportionrepresentsanintegrativetask,wherestudentsareaskedtolinkpriorknowledge(ofAmericanhomesandhowAmericanstreatvisitorsintheirhomes)tonewknowledgegainedfromthereadingpassage.Amultitraitrubric(seeFigure11)havingthreecategoriesisusedtoassessthestudents’writingperformance.Totalscoresmayrangefrom3to12. SeveralofthetasksandunitsintheHandbookincorporateattentiontoculturalissuesintheassessmentprocess.Forexample,therubricthataccompaniesthe“Newscast”taskasksthatstudentsincorporatethetargetcultureperspectiveintheirpresentations.



A Final Word on Performance Assessment

Thisratherlengthydiscussiononperformanceassessmentisnotintendedto

communicatetoteachersthateverysingleclassroomactivityneedstobeevaluatedinasystematicwaywithafullydevelopedrubricorchecklist.Toattempttodosowouldbeexhaustingforteachersandstudentsandwouldlimitopportunitiesforspontaneityintheclassroom.Instead,thisdiscussionisintendedtohelpteachersunderstandthecomplexityofassessinglanguageuseandtoofferthemavarietyofalternatives,somemorecomplicatedandextensivethanothers.Moreover,thetime-consumingnatureofperformanceassessmentscanrendertheminaccessible



ifateacherbelievesthats/hemustassesseverystudent’sperformanceoneveryclassroomactivity.Infact,teachersmayfinditusefulattimestoassesstheperformanceofonlyfivestudentsorsoatagiventime—suchanapproachisparticularlyimportantinthecontextoforalassessment.Thepointistodevelopanapproachthatworksforteachersandprovidesconstructivefeedbacktostudents.Theonlystipulationisthattheapproachincorporateassessmentoflanguageuseinadditiontoknowledgeaboutlanguage.WehopethatteachersfindthesamplesintheHandbookhelpfulastheydeveloptheirapproach.

Notes1 Thesynopsisofthenationalstandards(NationalStandardsforForeignLanguageEducation

Project,1996)hasbeenreprintedwithpermissionfromtheAmericanCouncilontheTeachingofForeignLanguages.WeencouragereaderstopurchaseacopyoftheentireStandardsdocumentfromACTFL.Theexpandedversion,publishedin1999,providesthestandardsastheyhavebeenmodifiedforeightmodernlanguagesaswellastheclassicallanguagesandincludeexcitingexamplesofhowtheycanbeputintopractice.AnorderformisincludedalongwiththeHandbook,orcopiescanbeordereddirectlyfromACTFL(seecontactinformationintheTeachersResourcesSection).

2 PortionsofthesectiononCAPRIIhavebeenadaptedorreprintedfromTedick(1996).

3 TheseexamplesofadaptingatasktomakeitmoreauthenticappearinTedickandKlee(1998)andarereprintedherewithpermissionfromtheCenterforAppliedLinguistics.

4 WehavedrawnmuchfromtheworkoftheMinnesotaArticulationProject’sCurriculumTeamtoformthefoundationofanewprojectatCARLAentitledCoBaLTT—Content-BasedLanguageTeachingthroughTechnology.Inthisprogram,teacherslearntheprinciplesofcontent-basedlanguageinstructionandthetechnologytoolsthatcanenhancecontent-basedinstruction.Therearemanylessons,developedbyCoBaLTTparticipants,availableon-lineinadditiontoanextensiveannotatedbibliographyaboutcontent-basedinstructionandotherresources.Pleasevisitat<http://carla.acad.umn.edu/cobaltt>.

5 SignificantportionsofthesectiononPerformanceAssessmenthavebeenreprintedfromTedickandKlee(1998)withpermissionfromtheCenterforAppliedLinguistics.

6 TheForeignLanguageTestDatabase,maintainedbytheNationalCapitalLanguageResourceCenter<http://www.cal.org/nclrc>,containsmorethan140testsin63languages.Itcanbefoundat<http://www.cal.org/db/flt/flt-dir.htm>.

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© 2006, Regents of the University of Minnesota. Originally published in Tedick, D.J. (Ed.). (2002). Proficiency-oriented language instruction and assessment: A curriculum handbook for teachers. CARLA Working Paper Series. Minneapolis, MN: University of Minnesota, The Center for Advanced Research on Language Acquisition.

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Proficiency-Oriented Language Instruction and Assessment