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Tina’s Assessment Portfolio
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FL 396
Spring 2018

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Dr. Christopher Luke

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 Table of Contents
Introduction……………………………………………………………………………………..2-4
Summative Assessment
Essay…………………………………………………………………………………….5-6
Example 1……………………………………………………………………………...6-11
Rationale……………………………………………………………………...12-13
Example 2…………………………………………………………………………….14-16
Rationale……………………………………………………………………...16-18
Formative Assessment
Essay………………………………………………………………………………….19-20
Example 1…………………………………………………………………………….21-22
Rationale……………………………………………………………………...23-24
Example 2…………………………………………………………………………….25-27
Rationale…………………………………………………………………………28
Example 3………………………………………………………………………………..29
Rationale…………………………………………………………………………30
Performance-based Assessment……………………………………………………………...31-32
Language Skills
Listening 1 w/ Rationale……………………………………………………………...33-35
Listening 2 w/ Rationale……………………………………………………………...36-37
Speaking 1 w/ Rationale……………………………………………………………...38-39
Speaking 2 w/ Rationale……………………………………………………………...40-41
Reading 1 w/ Rationale……………………………………………………………….42-43
Reading 2 w/ Rationale……………………………………………………………….44-45
Writing 1 w/ Rationale……………………………………………………………….46-47
Writing 2 w/ Rationale……………………………………………………………….48-49
Culture Assessment
Example 1 w/ Rationale………………………………………………………………50-51
Example 2 w/ Rationale………………………………………………………………52-53
Traditional Assessment………………………………………………………………………54-56
Non-traditional Assessment…………………………………………………………………..57-58
Reflection on Assessment…………………………………………………………………….59-60
Online Assessment Resources…………………………………………………………………...61
Assessment Resources…………………………………………………………………………...62
Glossary………………………………………………………………………………………63-65
 2

Introduction

Although “assessment” and “testing” might seem like synonyms, I have learned that they

don’t mean the same thing. To me, assessment is evaluating your students’ performance to see if

you as a teacher met the standards you set out to teach. Under the umbrella of assessment is

testing. However, testing is not the only form of assessment. It might be one of the formats more

widely-used by teachers and recognized by students, but there are other forms of assessment that

teachers can use to evaluate their students, including projects and portfolios.

Along with the different methods of assessment, there are also different types: formative

and summative. Formative assessment occurs throughout the course of instruction and is

comparable to “coaching” your students while they learn through the lessons you create for

them. An example of formative assessment might be comments on the margins of an essay or

providing oral feedback to your students. A teacher never stops assessing their students in this

way. Although formative assessments don’t usually come with letter grades or consequences,

whether they be positive or negative, formative assessments are constantly done by the teacher in

order to help their students improve and learn.

On the other hand, summative assessments come at the end of a unit, lesson, or course of

study. The summative assessment that first comes to mind is the final exam. These types of

assessment do have a certain amount of weight placed on them, as they do have consequences

attached to them. Based on the student’s results, a percentile or letter grade for example, the

student might have to retake the course, or by passing the assessment, they might have

completed all the necessary requirements to earn a certain degree. In these ways, the summative

assessment differs from the formative assessment.

 3

With these different categories of assessment and forms of assessing students altogether,

what is the role of assessment in a foreign language classroom? There are benefits for both

students and teachers, as well as negative aspects of assessment.

First, assessment allows students and teachers to see what concepts the students have

mastered and what they still have to work on, which in turn means what the teacher must work

on as well. For example, if a student does well on an entire assessment except for one part, and

that trend holds true for the entire class, then the teacher can see that their instruction has been

successful on all topics, but that there is one topic the teacher should modify the lessons for.

Also, the students can also see that there is one area they need to work on mastering more than

the other areas.

However, even though assessment can serve as a tool for both students and teachers to

take stock of what the students know and what they have to work on, as well as what the teacher

can work on improving in their instruction, there are downfalls to assessment. One is that

students don’t typically see assessments as opportunities for learning. More often than not,

students associate assessment with testing and get anxious or nervous about taking tests. They

want to get the test over with as soon as possible, and then many times students will forget

everything that was tested over while they move on to the next topic they’re being taught in

class.

This mentality tends to happen for a few reasons. One, teachers don’t tend to emphasize

assessments as learning opportunities, which is a trend that is due for a change. Second, students

tend to associate assessment with testing, but if we as teachers can take advantage of other

assessment formats, we can reclaim the assessment as a learning opportunity, more than just

filling bubbles or blanks on a sheet of paper. Breaking this use of arbitrary testing and
 4

establishing assessment as an opportunity for growth is important for our students because it will

make them lifelong learners, and especially in a language class, it’s important to build on prior

knowledge, which isn’t promoted with the use of traditional paper tests. Furthermore, traditional

paper tests aren’t realistic. No one will ever ask our students to conjugate a verb or fill in the

correct direct object pronoun in the real world. If we as teachers remodel the typical assessment

and associated emotions and outcomes that our students experience, then we will be able to

foster a mentality surrounding assessments that feels more relaxed and meaningful for the

students, while helping them learn at the same time.

 5

Summative Assessment

A summative assessment is designed to measure what a student has gained throughout a

course of instruction and is usually administered at the end of a class or unit. To measure what a

student has learned means to assess how well that student has accomplished the course’s

objectives. A common summative assessment we as college students are most familiar with is

the final exam. Like some exams we’ve taken over the course of our educations, summative

assessments can involve consequences in the form of decision making regarding the future

education of the student, but that aspect of summative assessment does not always hold true.

When comparing summative and formative assessment, research mentioned in Chapter 1

of the textbook “Language Assessment: Principles and Classroom Practices” holds that

“formative assessment was superior to summative assessment in providing crucial information to

classroom teachers.” What is implied by this statement is that summative assessment doesn’t

help teachers identify areas where they could modify their lessons to help student learning as

much as formative assessment does.

Because of this aspect of summative assessment, teachers are challenged to make their

summative assessments incorporate formative qualities. We’ve all as students taken final exams

that we’ve never gotten feedback about or even seen after turning in. Many of us have probably

walked away after taking a final exam without ever thinking about it again. But if teachers can

build-in to summative exams qualities that we as students can identify as helping to further our

learning, then students would benefit more from summative assessments.

One part of increasing the benefit of summative assessments for students has to do with

changing student attitudes about this type of assessment. Teachers can start creating an
 6

environment where summative assessments are viewed as learning tools meant to further

learning rather than measures that mark the end of learning.

Summative Exam Example 1

Summative exam for upper-level English class abroad

Section 1 – Past tense (All forms)

Directions: Look at each of the underlined verbs. Determine whether the verb is grammatically

correct and spelled correctly. If so, write correct. If not, write the correct form next to the corresponding

number.

I 1) paintted my room yesterday. It 2) were a pretty easy job. The hardest part 3) was choosing the right

color. After I 4) find the perfect color, I 5) started to paint. My room is big, so it 6) tooked me a while,

but once I got done, it 7) looks great.

1)

2)

3)

4)

5)

6)

7)

Directions: Write the indicated verb in the blank using the correct form of the past tense.

8) Two girls _____________ across the street. [to walk]

9) There _____________ no one missing from class today. [to be]

10) My family _____________ on vacation last summer. [to go]

11) I _____________ on a Lego this morning. [to step]

12) We _____________ going to the grocery store earlier today. [to be]
 7

Directions: In the space provided, write a short paragraph about the most memorable summer

vacation you’ve had in the past using the past tense in varying forms (ex: past simple, irregulars, past

progressive).

13)

_____________________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________________

Section 2 – Syntax

Directions: Write the words in an order that forms a logical and grammatically correct sentence

on the lines below. There might be more than one way to form a logical and grammatically correct

sentence, but you only need to write one sentence for each.
 8

14) going to the store today are you?

_____________________________________________________________________________________

15) not feed the did I dog today

_____________________________________________________________________________________

16) you the bed you made didn’t?

_____________________________________________________________________________________

17) I pasta like to eat, they but don’t

_____________________________________________________________________________________

18) the train here comes

_____________________________________________________________________________________

19) late for will you be work?

_____________________________________________________________________________________

20) the dog small furry was

_____________________________________________________________________________________

Section 3 – Semantics (Word meaning)

Directions: Circle the best option to fill in the blank.

21) I _____________ a lot of mistakes on my math assignments.

 9

a) do

b) make

22) She _____________ her name is Blanca.

a) says

b) tells

23) Can you _____________ the birds chirping outside?

a) hear

b) listen

24) I have _____________ him before.

a) known

b) met

25) _____________ me to wash the dishes today.

a) Remind

b) Remember

Section 4 – Pragmatics

Directions: Circle the option that best fits each situation.

26) Asking your professor to leave class early

a) Is it all right if I leave a bit early today?

b) I’m leaving early today, ok?

 10

27) Asking your best friend about plans for tonight

a) Shall we go out tonight?

b) You wanna go out tonight?

28) Telling the kids you’re babysitting to sit down

a) I would like you to sit down.

b) Sit down.

29) Talking to a customer at your job

a) How can I help you?

b) What do you need?

30) Asking your sick grandmother if she needs something

a) What else do you need?

b) Is there anything else I can do, Grandmother?

Section 5 – Forming questions

Directions: Make each sentence into a question using a negative.

Example: I fed the dog today. Didn’t I feed the dog today?

31) We have to go to work.

_____________________________________________________________________________________

32) They should go to class.

 11

_____________________________________________________________________________________

33) It is cold outside.

_____________________________________________________________________________________

34) Danny and Lisa are short.

_____________________________________________________________________________________

35) You like pizza.

_____________________________________________________________________________________

Section 6 – Tag questions

Directions: Write the tag question at the end of each sentence.

36) You like pizza, _____________ ?

37) Melissa is 22 years old, _____________ ?

38) That tree has grown a lot, _____________ ?

39) It’s not snowing outside, _____________ ?

40) You’ve been to the new mall, _____________ ?

 12

Rationale

I started off the exam with all the past tense questions because I wanted to group all of

the items regarding past tense together. Past tense is the only grammar content I have on this

exam. The reason for that is because I made this test with upper-level English learners whose L1

is Spanish in mind, so I didn’t see a need to test another tense such as present tense. The other

items have to do with more linguistic topics because I felt that those would test the native-like

abilities of my students. In other words, in the class I would be teaching how to reach a more

native-like level of English, which I would have done by covering the topics of syntax, semantics

and pragmatics that I included on the exam. For example, the last question in the syntax section

has to do with adjective placement, which for native Spanish speakers can get confused because

of how adjectives are placed after the noun in their native language. So for the remainder of the

items on the test, I tried to focus on testing linguistic elements that impact how native-like a

speaker sounds, with the basis of my class being focused on the same topic: native-like speech.

This goal also applies to the semantics and pragmatics part of the test, because I know as

someone who is learning another language that it can be hard to discern the difference between

words like “oír” and “escuchar” in Spanish. So I included those items in my exam on the basis

that I would have covered the difference between similar pairs of words in English in my class.

Also, I covered the pragmatics items on the test because again, it can be difficult as a nonnative

speaker to tell how to change registers based on who you’re speaking to. I wanted to cover that

in my class, so that’s why I included those items on the test. Regarding the section with the items

about questions, it seems like something simple, but I think it’s important to be able to ask

questions in different forms to achieve native-like speech. For students who are already at high
 13

levels of English, I think being able to form questions in native-like ways can really help them

reach an even higher level of native-like production.

 14

Summative Exam Example 2

Restaurants, food, and the table

Directions: Empareja las palabras en inglés a sus definiciones correctas.

a. Table Taza

b. Fork Bebida

c. Knife Mesa de banco corrido

d. Spoon Cuchara

e. Plate Aperitivo

f. Bowl Cuenta

g. Cup/Glass Plato principal

h. Mug Mesa

i. Appetizer Plato

j. Entrée Vaso

k. Dessert Cóctel

l. Drink Tenedor

m. Napkin Bol

n. Bill/Check Postre

o. Booth Restaurante

p. Restaurant Cuchillo

q. Cocktail Menú

r. Menu Servilleta
 15

Directions: Escribe el nombre del plato debajo de cada imagen.

________________ ________________ ________________

________________ ________________ ________________

_______________ ________________ ________________

________________ ________________ ________________

 16

________________ ________________ ________________

Directions: Estás en un restaurante. Quieres pedir algo para comer. Llena el diálogo con respuestas a lo
que el camarero te pregunta con frases lógicas según el contexto.

Waiter: Here’s our menu. What can I get you today?

You:
_____________________________________________________________________________________

Waiter: All right. What side do you want with that?

You:

_____________________________________________________________________________________

Waiter: I’m sorry, we’re out.

You:

_____________________________________________________________________________________

Waiter: Yes, we have that today.

You:

_____________________________________________________________________________________

Waiter: Ok, good choice. I’ll bring that right out for you.

Rationale
 17

I designed this exam with lower-level English students whose native language is Spanish

in mind. I would use the exam at the end of a unit about this content area. For students who are at

a lower level, I think that building vocabulary is really important, so that’s why I started off the

test with matching vocabulary words to their definitions in Spanish. I think that using this

strategy is a way to test if the students have mastered the vocabulary associated with this content

area.

The next part of the test has the students write the name of a specific food underneath its

corresponding picture. The reason I designed this part of the test this way is because I think that

it would be useful in the real world for the students to be able to identify what certain foods are

called when they see them or when they try to order something from a restaurant. Also, to learn

the names of the foods, we would have probably used pictures in class, so I wanted my test to

reflect activities that we would have been doing in class. I initially included a word bank in this

section, but I opted not to use it because I felt it would have been too easy, even for students just

beginning to learn English.

The last part of the test is a dialogue with a waiter that the students can fill in with any

response they come up with that makes sense in the context. This is the hardest section of the

test, but I think that in my lessons in class about this content, we would have practiced dialogues

and scenarios that could happen in a restaurant when ordering food. So I feel that this section

would also reflect activities we would have done in class and is a useful way to assess if the

students have grasped that part of the lesson.

Finally, I decided to have the instructions of the test in Spanish because I wanted to focus

on assessing the content, so I didn’t want the students to get hung up on reading directions in

English. If my students are beginner English learners, I feel that I as a teacher can transition them
 18

into reading instructions in English, but that if the food/restaurant lesson comes at an early time

in the schedule of the lessons we would do over the course of the class, then it would be

appropriate for the instructions to be in English at that point.

 19

Formative Assessment

Of the two categories of assessment, formative assessment is the one that is most useful

for teachers and students. Formative assessment includes an umbrella of ongoing strategies that a

teacher can use to tell whether or not their students are grasping the content the teacher has

provided instruction over. Some examples of formative assessment are exit tickets,

comprehension questions during a lesson, and even a simple thumbs-up/thumbs-down reaction

from the students.

The reason why formative assessment is so helpful for students and teachers is because

from a teaching standpoint, it allows you to see if the students understand the content during the

course of their learning process. If they don’t, you as a teacher have the chance to modify or

change aspects about your lesson to help them grasp the content better. That’s huge because

being able to help your students more means the students will be better prepared when a high

stakes or other type of exam comes around.

From the perspective of the students, formative assessment is what helps them grow.

There is a lot of beneficial washback from formative assessment, which is ideal for the students.

Washback means that the students actually take something away from the assessment, as

opposed to taking a final exam and never thinking about it again. With formative assessment

(which isn’t “assessment” in the sense of tests or graded activities), the students get information

from the teacher that they can use to shape their language further and improve their skills. It’s

not like a graded test that the students show their knowledge on at the end of a unit that the

teacher then grades. Formative assessment is more like feedback that the teacher gives the

students to help form their knowledge in preparation for an exam. That’s not to say teachers

should only focus on getting their students to pass exams, but formative assessment should help
 20

students do well on exams as well as improve their language skills as they move on to the next

levels of their language classes.

 21

Formative Assessment Example 1

22
 23

Rationale

These slides are from a presentation about English slang geared toward high school

students. Each slide has a specific word on it, along with examples of the word used in a realistic

context. Also, each slide included here has a task for the students to complete during the lesson.

So if I were doing the lesson about slang, I would first introduce the topic and have my students

discuss slang usage in their native language: if it’s used a lot, when, what connotation it has, etc.

Then, I would start going over each slide in the presentation by pronouncing each word, the way

it’s used and explaining the examples themselves. Then, for the slides with tasks, I would stop

and ask the students to complete the task.

The reason for this part of the lesson is to determine if the students are able to actually

use the vocabulary word, whether it be in speech or writing. This type of activity is formative

because I as a teacher can offer feedback to the students while they’re working on the task. For

example, if I walk around the classroom and look at what the students are writing, I can make

corrections where needed in real-time, before I give a homework assignment or assessment over

the material. If I’m seeing that my students are confused and making a lot of mistakes, I can

explain the word differently or give more examples to help them correctly use the word.

Regardless of if I need to modify my lesson or not, my students can take my feedback to then

change or improve their language use, which is the goal of formative assessment.

Even though it seems like a simple concept to have the students do little tasks to check if

they understand what I’m teaching, these activities are actually formative assessments. Although

I’m not grading the work my students would do during this lesson or even explicitly keeping

track of the fact that they’re doing it, I’m assessing mentally if the goal of the lesson is being met
 24

based off of the work I see my students do, and then I’m giving feedback and potentially

adjusting my lesson if needed.

 25

Formative Assessment Example 2

26
27
 28

Rationale

The slides above are from a lesson about the simple past for middle or high school

students. The lesson deals with how to form the simple past with regular verbs, and then it

focuses on spelling changes. If I were to go through the content of the lesson with the students, I

would stop to give them time to complete the task on the slides.

This again is a form of formative assessment because it lets me see what my students can

do based on how I just presented the content, and it lets me give feedback to my students and

correct them when necessary. While my students complete the tasks, I can go around the

classroom and answer questions, and I can also offer suggestions to make what my students write

better. If I notice that my students are all making a similar error, then I can adjust my instruction.

That is the purpose of formative assessment. It’s meant to allow me as a teacher to determine if

my lesson is meeting its goals, and if not, I can adjust accordingly.

The last slide of the presentation is intended to bring together the information from the

previous slides and have the students use all the new information from the lesson to produce one

thing, in this case, a short paragraph. Again, by having my students do this activity, I can

determine one last time whether the lesson is meeting its objectives and change my instructional

strategies if it’s not, as well as have another opportunity to give feedback to my students, which

helps them improve their writing skills.

Also, the formative assessments can help me determine if I need to spend more time on

this topic, or if my students are ready to move on to the next topic in the course. If I notice that

they are struggling with the tasks during the lesson, I can take that as a signal that I need to

dedicate more time to the topic, as well as find new ways to present the information. On the other

hand, if my students are doing well with the tasks, then I can feel good about moving on to the

next topic.
 29

Formative Assessment Example 3

 30

Rationale

I found this exit ticket and I thought it was really cute. One reason why I like it is

because I think that a lot of kids relate to using technology, more than the kids of my generation

did. The kids I will be teaching know about emojis and probably feel comfortable using them.

Even if my students have never seen an emoji before, they are pretty self-explanatory because

each one expresses a different emotion very clearly.

In a classroom setting, I can see myself passing out this exit ticket to each student after

a lesson about a new topic. Once I get the exit ticket back from each student, I can later compare

them and see if I notice any trends. For example, if I see that a lot of my students chose an emoji

that represents a negative emotion, then I can read at the bottom why my students feel that way. I

can also potentially notice a trend with their responses, for example, maybe my students say that

I went too fast when explaining something, or that I didn’t give enough examples. If I notice a

trend like one of those, then the next day I can re-explain the material or give more examples.

That way, I have a chance to help my students understand the lesson and feel confident about the

material based on their feedback to me, which in turn helps me help them.

One of the aspects of the exit ticket I might want to change is the language of the

directions. Like we discussed before in class, a way to assess reading skills is to have students

answer comprehension questions in their native language so that there’s not a “barrier” getting in

the student’s way of showing that they understood the content of the text. Similarly, I think that

it could be a good idea to have the students complete the exit ticket in their native language as

well. That way, they can tell me exactly what they’re feeling without much difficulty. Since I

could potentially be an English teacher in a Spanish-speaking country and I also read Spanish, I

think it is feasible to make this change to the exit ticket.

 31

Performance-based Assessment

Performance-based assessment involves oral production, written performance, open-

ended responses, integrated performance across all skill areas, group performance, and other

interactive tasks. Having students perform these types of tasks results in more accurate testing

because they are being assessed on how they carry out actual or simulated real-world tasks.

Performance-based assessment also involves students performing tasks that are as authentic as

possible, which usually means that students will perform more than one language skill at once,

since that is what will be required of them in the real world. Also, the tasks that make up a

performance-based assessment should be directly correlated with tasks the students do in the

classroom, which gives students more motivation to perform them as opposed to traditional tests.

Examples

 Presentation – Students can work on their own or in groups to meet the goal of the

presentation, which can be to provide information, persuade, etc. This activity would

involve speaking, but also reading because presentations often involve notes that the

presenter refers to while giving the presentation. Also, it can involve listening if there is a

Q&A session at the end.

 Performance – Students can get into groups and act out a text, and the students watching

can formulate responses that they can tell to the performers. Although it’s not very

common to have to act in everyday life, as students advance in their academic careers, it

is common to have to get up in front of an audience and speak.

 32

 Exhibit – Students can display their work and explain what they did to attendees of the

exhibit. This task is relatable to the real-world because there will be many instances when

students will have to explain their thinking or the process they used to do something.

 Mock trial – Different students in the class can be assigned the roles of attorney, witness,

judge, and jury. This activity can involve multiple skills, which is what performance-

based assessment is all about, and which will also be most beneficial for preparing

students to be able to use language in real-world situations.

 Debate – This activity can be done by splitting the class into two groups or in another

configuration as well. Even though a structured debate doesn’t happen often outside of

school, students will need to know how to defend their positions and opinions outside of

the classroom.
 33

Language Skills

Listening #1

Directions: Fill in the blanks with the words you hear.

“Cheerleader” by Omi

When I need ________________

My one ________________ is my queen

'Cause she' stay strong yeah yeah

She is always in my ________________

Right there when I want her

All these other ________________ are tempting

But I'm empty when you're gone

And they say

Do you need me

Do you think I'm pretty

Do I make you feel like cheating

And I'm like no, not really 'cause

Oh I think that I found myself a ________________

She is always right there when I need her

Oh I think that I found myself a cheerleader

She is always right there when I need her

She walks like a ________________

She grants my wishes like a ________________ in a ________________ yeah yeah

'Cause I'm the ________________ of ________________

And I got the magic ________________

 34

All these other girls are tempting

But I'm empty when you're gone

And they say

Do you need me

Do you think I'm pretty

Do I make you feel like cheating

And I'm like no, not really cause'

Oh I think that I found myself a ________________

She is always right there when I need her

Oh I think that I found myself a cheerleader

She is always right there when I need her

She gives me ________________ and ________________

Baby did I mention, you're the only girl for me

No I don't need the next one

________________ loves you too, she thinks I made the right selection

Now all that's left to do

Is just for me to pop the ________________

Oh I think that I found myself a cheerleader

She is always right there when I need her

Oh I think that I found myself a cheerleader

She is always right there when I need her

 35

Rationale

This activity is a fill-in-the-blank task for the song “Cheerleader” by Omi. I chose this

song because it was popular not too long ago, and at one point it was my little cousin’s favorite

song. I wanted to choose something that my students could potentially hear here in the United

States. The idea behind this activity is to play the song for my students, then have them fill in

what they hear while it’s playing.

The words I deleted from the song are all nouns. The reason behind this is because I

imagined using this activity with a class that was in the earlier levels of English learning. During

those stages of language learning, I know there is a lot of vocabulary building, so I wanted to do

an activity that would reflect what we would be learning in class, which is vocabulary. I think

that this activity is reasonable for students at a beginner level to do, and something I think could

help them a bit more would be to have a word bank for them to choose the words from instead of

relying solely on their ears, because at a beginner level, they might not be able to distinguish

what word the song says, no matter how many times I replay the song, just out of sheer not

knowing the word itself.

But I think if I include a word bank, then the students could match what they hear with

what they see as the song plays. So for example, when the deleted word “cheerleader” comes up,

they might be following along and be able to distinguish “ch,” but not the entire word. At that

point, they could look at the word bank and see that the word has to be “cheerleader.” I think that

for beginner students, this is a fair way to assess their listening skills. Since they don’t

necessarily have a wide vocabulary yet, I think giving them some help by including a word bank

still accomplishes the goal of assessing listening while also giving them support to be able to

complete the task.

 36

Listening #2

Directions: Write down what you hear as I read this passage. Be sure to pay attention to spelling, as

some words have multiple spellings depending on the context.

As a boy, there was nothing I liked more than to spend my time on the beach. There

was a good selection of bays as my home was on a peninsula and so it was always possible to

find a place sheltered from the wind while enjoying the best of the weather. Each day was full of

swimming until I was exhausted followed by lying on the hot sand until my body was warmed

by the sun, and then it was back to the sea again.

Toward the end of the day, as the waters rose over the warm sands, I would build a

large dam to defy the waves. But in spite of all my efforts, I almost never won this unequal

contest. There was a time when, whether by design or chance, I had placed my castle at the turn

of the tide, and so it survived the waves only to be beaten down by the feet of vacationers as

they returned home at the end of the day.

 37

Rationale

This is a dictation activity I modified from online. I think I would use this activity with

upper-level students. The goal of this activity is to assess the students on their ability to

distinguish between English homophones, words that sound the same but are spelled differently.

In the passage, I bolded the words that are homophones. Obviously I wouldn’t stop and

tell the students that the word is a homophone, but I bolded the words for myself to keep track of

how many words are homophones and to be aware of those words while grading. However,

when I read the directions, I do plan to tell students to pay attention to spelling. I don’t want to

trick them, so I want to warn them that certain words in the passage can be spelled multiple

ways. Also, we would have been working on homophones prior to doing this activity, so they

would know that the task focuses on assessing their ability to distinguish those as well.

The way I would administer this assessment is by reading a chunk of words and then

pausing to give students time to write what they hear, then to keep doing this procedure until the

end of the passage. After I do that, I would read the passage once more, but at a normal pace

without pauses.

I think that doing this activity is a good way to assess listening. If I read this passage

and look at what the students write, I will be able to tell pretty quickly if they are able to

distinguish the different words I say and where one sentence starts and another ends.

Additionally, I will be able to tell if they can listen and apply their language knowledge in a

specific context, which is what the homophone aspect of the activity will tell me. If the students

write the incorrect homophone, I will know that the students were able to distinguish what the

word was, meaning they were able to listen effectively. However, I will know that the students

were not able to “translate” what they heard to fit the specific context of the sentence.
 38

Speaking #1

Picture-cued task

Ask student questions to elicit farm vocabulary and numbers. Ex: How many chickens
are there? (Pointing to tractor) What is this? How many barns are there? (Pointing to dog) What
is this animal called? How many cows are there?
 39

Rationale

This picture-cued activity I made is something I could use with young learners to assess

their oral ability to produce farm vocabulary and numbers. The reason I think it could be a good

speaking assessment for younger learners is because I am prompting them to tell me certain

information using specific language that I would have been giving the students instruction over

in the classroom.

Even though I’m assessing the students’ ability to speak by having them tell me the

names of certain animals or things and also the number of things they see, I also know that this

activity is dependent on their listening abilities as well. If my student doesn’t understand the

question I ask them or what I’m saying when I ask them to point to something, then this activity

would not be a good way to measure their speaking abilities. But, I think if I also build into my

lesson about the subject area the way that questions can be directed toward them, for example

having the students do activities with each other that get them to ask each other to identify things

in pictures and also modeling question formation myself, then the students will be prepared to do

this assessment with me.

Also, another factor that this assessment depends on is my students being able to count. I

want my students to be able to say the numbers of animals I ask them about, but that is

predicated on the students being able to count in the first place. So before we do this assessment,

I will have already instructed my students on how to count in English.

If I account for these two factors, then I think that this picture-cued task is a good way to

measure if my students are able to orally produce farm vocabulary and numbers in English.
 40

Speaking #2

Oral Interview

Conduct a short interview with each student to elicit production of past and future tenses.

Warm-up: Small talk, how are you, tell student purpose of interview

Level check:

 Ask student to tell me what they did last summer and yesterday.
 Ask student what they will do when they get done with school today and over the
weekend.

Probe:

 Ask student if they could live anywhere in the world, where would they live and
why.

Wind-down:

 Reassure student they did well.

 41

Rationale

I created the questions for this interview with intermediate-level students in mind,

probably around high-school age. I would use this interview as an assessment after teaching the

students the past and future tenses, so I would consider this a formative assessment. I could give

feedback to my students so that when we have a final course assessment or when they have to

take the TOEFL test, they will be more prepared because of the feedback I offer them to help

improve their speech.

As far as the format goes, I included the parts of an oral interview that are typically

present. For the level-check, I thought of some questions I could ask my students that should get

them to produce the features I’m assessing them on. For the probe section, I thought of a form

that might be a bit more advanced in terms of linguistic production, so I asked a question in the

conditional so that my students would be forced to answer in that way, if they are able to. If not,

it’s ok because it’s just the probe question, not the question that will show me they are able to

produce the feature I’m assessing them on.

One of the drawbacks of interviews is that they are time consuming, which I do

recognize. But I think that to assess only the two specific features I’m asking my students to

produce by doing this interview, it shouldn’t take as long as a summative interview at the end of

a course that asks students to produce all the features they’ve learned throughout a whole class. I

think it’s worth it to check if my students are able to produce these two grammatical features so

that I can offer feedback before moving on to topics that could be a bit more complex. For those

reasons, I think doing an interview such as this is a feasible way to assess and help my students

improve their speaking skills.

 42

Reading #1

Directions: Read the story, then circle the answer to each question.

Ted went to the park today. He played on the slide, the swing set, and the jungle gym. Then, Ted

saw a brown dog in the park. It was small and furry. He pet the dog. After that, Ted sat in the grass to

have a snack.

1. ¿A dónde se fue Ted?

a. al supermercado
4. ¿Cómo se vio el animal?
b. al colegio
a. pequeño y peludo
c. al parque
b. grande y sucio

c. pequeño y sucio

2. ¿Cuándo se fue Ted a éste lugar?

a. hoy

b. ayer

c. hace una semana

5. ¿Qué hizo Ted en el césped?

a. leer

b. jugar

c. comer
3. ¿Qué vio Ted?

a. un pájaro

b. un perro

c. un gato
 43

Rationale

This is an activity I designed to assess reading comprehension for students who are in the

beginner to intermediate stages of learning English. I wrote this short story using words I think

students in that category would be able to read, and also vocabulary I think I would teach them in

my class. The story is all in past tense, which is a grammatical feature I would have been

teaching in my class.

I decided to make the questions that go with this paragraph in Spanish because I’m

imagining that the students’ native language is Spanish. To zero-in on only assessing English

reading skills, I made that choice because I didn’t want the factor of having to read the questions

in English act as a barrier to the students being able to show me they understood what they read

in English. With having the questions in Spanish, it’s like I’m limiting the assessment to testing

only one variable instead of two.

In reality, having the questions in Spanish is also me assuming that my students can read

Spanish, which may or may not be true. But I think that if I get to know my students’ level of

language proficiency in their native language, then having the questions in Spanish is a viable

option to pinpoint the one variable I’m trying to assess: English reading skills.

As for the content of the questions themselves, I think that number five is the most

interesting because it involves interpretation of a colloquial phrase: “to have a snack.” I didn’t

translate “have a snack” into Spanish as the correct option for that question, but I instead made

the correct option “comer” because that is what “having a snack” actually means. I think if I have

gone over this colloquial phrase or had a lesson about colloquial phrases in English, then it

would be fair to include this type of question on the assessment.

 44

Reading #2

Directions: Circle the word that best fills in the blank.

My friend Amy just bought a new coat. __________ (It, It’s) looks really good on

__________ (her, them, she). __________ (They, it, she) is black with gold buttons. Amy told

__________ (I, me) that __________ (it’s, it, its) was on sale. __________ (Her, she, they) said

that it was only 20 dollars. I told __________ (her, she, it) she got __________ (her, it) for a

great deal!
 45

Rationale

I made this short narrative to assess my students’ reading knowledge of pronoun usage.

This task is meant to assess their selective reading skills, which have to do with grammar in the

context of reading abilities.

The reason why I made a little paragraph instead of having individual sentences that

aren’t related as separate items in an exam format is because I think that having a paragraph

gives students more context to be able to choose the correct pronoun. I also think it’s more

realistic because students won’t ever have to choose the correct pronoun in a series of

disconnected sentences in real life. However, they will have to read short bits of information that

will surely contain pronouns, so I think that it’s more realistic to structure the task in this way.

With regard to the actual content of the paragraph, I think in my own classroom, I would

have already taught the vocabulary and phrases associated with this topic. I wouldn’t want to

give this assessment to students who aren’t familiar with what a “coat” or a “great deal” is, so

that’s why I would only give this specific assessment to students who are at a level where they

could understand the topic of the paragraph.

The choices I gave the students for each blank are other pronouns that they would have

already learned, as well as words that can easily get confused, such as “it/it’s/its.” I chose these

options because I didn’t want the task to be too easy, so I tried to make the options realistic to

make the students have to think about which one is the correct one.

Also, I did leave a few pronouns instead of deleting all of them because I didn’t want to

make the paragraph too confusing to where the students aren’t able to distinguish which one is

the correct one. I think that some of the pronouns that I left give the students a sense of which

ones are correct for the blanks that I put in the task.
 46

Writing #1

Directions: Write a paragraph about what each person likes to do and why.

Peter

Isabel

Lisa Jeff
 47

Rationale

This writing activity has students use the pictures to write a paragraph that has to do with

each one. I think I would use this assessment after teaching the students about how to talk about

different hobbies in English, as well as personality and character traits. The reason for this

decision is because those are the two areas that the students need to be comfortable with in order

to be able to write about what I specify in the directions for this activity.

One thing about this task is that it can be very hard to grade because each student will

have a bit of a different perspective on the reason why each person in the pictures likes to do

what they do. With the way I have this activity structured at this point, I’m nudging my students

to produce certain vocabulary, but I’m not explicitly saying which words they have to use. I

think if I included a word bank with words that have to be included in the paragraph, it might be

a bit easier to grade each student’s paragraph based on if they used the words appropriately or

not. However, I do want my students to be able to recall those words on their own and put them

to use, so that’s why I did not include them in the activity.

One positive about this activity is that it separates reading from writing. I think that

traditionally, a lot of tasks that assess writing might have students respond to a passage or other

written prompt, which obviously involves reading. However, with this activity, I think that I’m

exclusively assessing writing because there is no need for the students to interpret any text in

order to perform the task I outline in the directions. They just have to interpret pictures. All in

all, I think that this activity could be a good way to assess the writing skills of my students with

regard to this topic.

 48

Writing #2

Directions: Write a word (or words) in each blank that can complete the phrase.

To take… a)____________

b)____________

c)____________

To make… a)____________

b)____________

To meet… a)____________

b)____________

To break… a)____________

b)____________

To put… a)____________

b)____________
 49

Rationale

This is an activity I think I would use with more proficient English students. What I had

in mind was that I would teach in my class some common phrases that we use in English, such as

different phrases we can use with “take,” like “take a test” or “take a bath.” I think that knowing

what combinations we have in English and being able to put those together in a native way is

what can really help students who are at a higher proficiency level reach a more native-like level

of language use. So for this assessment, I would administer it after doing the lesson or unit about

this topic.

The way that it assesses writing is actually through vocabulary assessment. I think that as

a teacher, it might be a bit difficult to grade an activity like this because there are so many

possibilities. Some students might write responses that are a bit of a stretch as far as natural use

in English goes, but that still have communicative value. I think that for that reason, it will be

important for me before administering this activity to have a clear scoring procedure.

Also, I think it would be important to share my expectations for this activity with my

students. I think it would be a good idea to actually show them examples of different phrase

combinations that aren’t on this assessment so that they get an idea of what the task is asking

them to do. I know that this is kind of an abstract task to have students do, but to me it’s really

fun to think about things we can “put” in English, for example “put on clothes” or “put on a

show.” That’s why I think it’s also important to teach these to my students and then assess their

grasp of the topic so that I can offer feedback, which will help them with their language

development.
 50

Culture Assessment

Culture #1

Directions: You have travelled to the United States to visit your American friend. You two agree

to meet for dinner at 7 p.m. Write about how your friend would feel if you came to dinner at 7:15 p.m.

and why, as well as how your friend’s reaction compares to the reaction of a friend from your home

country in the same situation.

_____________________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________________

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_____________________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________________
 51

Rationale

I thought of this question when I was thinking about things that differ across cultures.

Time is a concept that not all cultures view the same way, so I thought that having my students

write a short essay about this topic would be a good way to tell if they understand that time in

their home culture and time in the culture they’re learning about (assuming the class is focusing

on American English and culture) might not be viewed in the same way.

I think that this assessment can be used with students who have more developed English

skills. I don’t think that students who are just beginning to develop English reading and writing

skills would be able to fully answer the prompt. However, if this assessment were to be modified

and the directions were changed to Spanish assuming I’m teaching in Spain, then I think it could

be used with students who don’t have upper-level English skills, but who are in a class about

American English and culture.

Another way that I could assess this topic is by asking my students individually to

explain their answers to this prompt orally to me in an interview style. Also, I could have

students get with a partner and act this situation out with each other: once as a situation

happening in their home country, and another time as the situation happening in the United

States. There would be different scoring procedures for each of these options, but I think they are

alternative ways to assess whether the students have grasped this aspect of the culture with

focuses on different language skills.

Either way, I think that the topic of time between American culture and others is an

interesting topic of discussion that I could teach in my class and make sure my students

understand.
 52

Culture #2

Directions: Write a short essay about living arrangements in the United States compared to your

home country. Think about ideas like when people move away from home, who typically lives together

in a home, what homes usually look like, etc.

_____________________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________________

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_____________________________________________________________________________________

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_____________________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________________
 53

Rationale

With this activity, I was thinking about the differences in living arrangements and styles

of homes between countries. I think that there are a lot of explanations as to why certain cultures

have the living arrangements they do, so that would be a topic I would want to cover in my class.

Like the activity I have before this one, the way I have it designed right now, it’s geared

toward students at a higher level of English proficiency. But just like with the other activity, I

think this one could be modified for use with a class that’s at a lower level of English proficiency

by having the directions in the students’ native language and allowing them to write their

responses in their native language as well.

This activity could also be done as an interview with me as the teacher, but I don’t think

this specific topic lends itself to a partner activity like the topic of the other culture activity I

made.

As far as grading, I think that as a writing prompt, it could be difficult for me as a teacher

to score each student’s response. On one hand, I have to take into consideration the use of the

language, and on the other hand, I also have to think about the content the student includes in the

essay to explain why they have the opinion they have about the topic. For those reasons, I think it

would be a good idea to have a rubric for this assessment and share it with the students so that

they know how I’m going to grade their essays.

I think the rubric should include both grammatical and content areas that I will assess the

students on. Even though I’m using the task to assess cultural knowledge, I think that the fact

that the class is a language class should still be taken into account. But if I adapt the activity

according to the students’ proficiency level and administer it accordingly, I think the activity will

serve its purpose.

 54

Traditional Assessment

Types & Purposes

 Achievement Test

o Used to measure learners’ ability; limited to particular material addressed

in a course within a certain timeframe and is administered after a course

has focused on the objectives in question

 Diagnostic Test

o Meant to diagnose aspects of a language that a student should develop;

offers a checklist for teachers to use in identifying difficulties

 Placement Test

o Used to place a student into a particular level or section of a language

curriculum; includes a sampling of material to be covered in the various

courses so that the results of the test indicate the point at which the student

will find the course’s material appropriately challenging

 Proficiency Test

o Aims to test global competence in a language; tests overall ability; can

play a gate-keeping role in a student’s education

 Aptitude Test

o Designed to measure general ability to learn a foreign language before

taking a course; seldom used today because the typical tasks present on

these tests don’t unequivocally predict success in a language; now,

language aptitude tests provide learners with information about their

preferred learning styles and potential strengths and weaknesses

 55

Strengths & Weaknesses of Testing

As a student, I think that traditional classroom tests can be stressful. A typical classroom

is one where a teacher presents material to students, there are activities in class that help students

learn the material as well as homework for students to complete that also helps them learn the

new topic, and then there is some type of in-class test over this material.

One reason students might get nervous about taking tests is because they might not know

what to expect on the test itself. Even though most students probably expect the test, many times

they might feel pressure because of the “unknown” aspect of a test. Also, some students are

simply not good test-takers, which can give them anxiety on test day. Another factor that can

cause stress for students is the weight a test holds with regard to their futures. If a student knows

that their performance on a certain test will have consequences that impact their educational

advancement, then some students might really take the potential outcomes to heart and work

themselves into a state of anxiety, which doesn’t help their performance.

As a teacher, I want to make sure that my students don’t get too worked up about taking

any type of test, whether it be one in my classroom or some type of standardized test. One way I

think I can help my students is by assessing them not only with tests, but with other methods as

well.

Despite the stress that gets associated with testing, there are positives to this type of

assessment. One is that tests can be easier for me to grade, depending on the format. For

example, multiple choice tests are very easy to grade with respect to time, and multiple choice is

more objective as well since there is only one correct response.

 56

On the other hand, along with the stress that tests can induce, another negative aspect is

that they don’t provide students with a high level of beneficial washback, unless I as a teacher

build it into the test.

 57

“Non-traditional” Assessment

Types

 Portfolio
o Collection of students’ work that shows their progress in specific areas of
language; can include materials such as essays, artwork, journals, tests and scores,
notes, etc.
 Journal
o In the language classroom, known as dialogue journals; imply interaction between
the teacher and student through the teacher’s response to the student’s writing;
objective is to carry on a conversation with the teacher
 Conferences & Interviews
o Conference topics
 Reviewing portfolios, responding to journals, giving feedback, focusing
on oral production, etc.
o Interview
 4 stages: warm-up, level check, probe, wind-down
 Observation
o To carry out a successful observation:
 Determine objectives
 Decide how many students will be observed at once
 Set up logistics of making unnoticed observations
 Design a system of recording what you see
 Keep number of elements to be observed limited
 Plan how many observations to do
 Decide how to use the results
 Self & Peer Assessments
o Guidelines
 Tell students the purpose
 Define the tasks clearly
 Encourage unbiased evaluation
 Use follow-up tasks to facilitate washback
 58

Strengths & Weaknesses of “Non-traditional” Assessment

One thing that is a strength of alternative assessment is that the methods have higher

authenticity than traditional tests do. Portfolios, journals, conferences, observation and self and

peer evaluation all have high levels of authenticity, according to “Language Assessment:

Principles and Classroom Practices.” Interviews are listed as having moderate levels of

authenticity. The authenticity principle is very important when it comes to assessment, and with

these alternatives in assessment, I as a teacher can assess my students in more authentic ways.

Using methods of assessment that are authentic means that I can see my students perform in

realistic situations instead of on arbitrary items on a written test that might not come up in real

life.

Another principle that is critical is washback, and all of the methods mentioned above

have high to medium levels of washback. I think that’s really important because compared to

traditional test, these methods will leave students with having improved their language skills,

whereas a traditional test leaves students with nothing, unless the teacher facilitates some type of

opportunity for washback.

However, alternative assessments do have some downfalls. For one, their levels of

practicality are low to medium, compared to traditional tests, which are pretty easy to administer

and grade. Alternatives in assessment are more difficult to grade because there will not be one

correct answer like on a test, and each student will produce something very different from one

another for each type of alternative assessment mentioned here. That is one downfall, because I

as a teacher will have to work harder to grade equally between all students. Also, the logistics of

alternative assessments aren’t as simple as passing out a paper like with traditional tests, which

adds another consideration in this category.

 59

Reflection on Assessment

Over the course of the semester, I think I have been able to better understand what goes

into developing various types of assessments. Before we started learning about assessment in this

course, I thought that assessment just meant test, but now I know that’s not true. I am now

familiar with the other ways that teachers can see if the students have grasped the content taught

in class. Also, I have realized that teachers are really assessing their students all the time after we

learned about formative and summative assessment.

One of the most important things I’ve learned is that with any type of assessment that a

teacher makes for their students, whether it be a test or an alternative assessment, there are

always multiple factors that must be considered. A common theme between the creation of any

of these assessments is that the objective always has to be clearly defined. That’s usually the first

step in developing any assessment, regardless if it’s a paper test or something else.

In my future classroom, I think I will use the assessment knowledge I’ve gained in this

class to think beyond the traditional paper-and-pencil test. Even though it’s clear that the other

methods of assessment take a bit more brain power to construct (although tests have to be

carefully planned out as well), I think that I will put those to use.

I really like the idea of doing interviews, portfolios, and journals because I think that they

are more beneficial for students. It’s true that they take more time for both myself and the

students in terms of time to complete and grade, but in the long run, I think it’s worth it to do

activities that will bring about the most growth for my students, because those types of

assessment have more beneficial washback than traditional tests do.

 60

Overall, I think this class has shown me that creating good assessments for students is a

deliberate process that takes planning and is not just a matter of throwing questions together on a

piece of paper.
 61

Online Assessment Resources

1. Rubistar, http://rubistar.4teachers.org/index.php

a. Useful for rubrics that I can modify and improve for my own classroom

2. Socrative, https://www.socrative.com/

a. Can use to make quizzes and group quizzes where students can work together

3. Edutopia, https://www.edutopia.org/authentic-assessment

a. Article about authenticity in assessment; website has many other articles about

assessment as well

4. Kahoot, https://kahoot.com/

a. Can use this site to make quizzes in the form of games; great for formative

assessment

5. Padlet, https://padlet.com/

a. Tool that can be used for assessment to create exit tickets

6. 7 Mindful Assessment Tools and Best Practices You Can Use Right Now,

https://globaldigitalcitizen.org/7-powerful-assessment-tools

a. Article that gives ideas for assessment activities that aren’t tests

7. Teachhub.com, http://www.teachhub.com/classroom-management-6-authentic-

assessment-tools

a. Article on website that gives ideas for assessment in classroom

 62

Assessment Resources

1. Language Assessment: Principles and Classroom Practices by H. Douglas Brown and

Priyanvada Abeywickrama

2. Looking backward and forward at classroom-based language assessment by Stephen

Stoynoff

3. Assessment Literacy for the Language Classroom by G. Fulcher

4. Rethinking the Uses of Assessment in the Second Language Classroom by Ana Muñoz-

Restrepo

5. Classroom assessment practices of English language instructors by Meryem

Ozdemir-Yilmazer

6. Formative assessment in the foreign language classroom by Matheus de Almeida

Barbosa and Larissa Santos Beserra

7. Classroom and Formative Assessment in Second/Foreign Language Teaching and

Learning by Somaye Ketabi and Saeed Ketabi

8. Review of Assessment in the language classroom: Teachers supporting student learning

by Jarosław Krajka

9. A framework for portfolio assessment in the foreign language classroom by JS Delett, S

Barnhardt, and JA Kevorkian

10. Fostering Language Diversity through Classroom-Based Writing Assessment Practices

by Amanda Gail Athon

 63

Glossary

Achievement test – used to determine whether course objectives have been met (and appropriate
knowledge and skills acquired) by the end of a given period of instruction

Alternative assessment – various instruments that are less traditional and more authentic in their
elicitation of meaningful communication

Aptitude test – designed to measure capacity or general ability before taking a foreign language
course to predict success in that undertaking

Assessment – ongoing process of collecting information about a given feature according to

procedures that are systematic and substantively grounded

Authenticity – degree of correspondence of the characteristics of a given language test task to the
features of a target language task

Competence – one’s hypothesized underlying ability to perform language

Diagnostic test – designed to diagnose specified aspects of a language

Dialogue journal – self-writing exercise in which a student records thoughts, feelings, and
reactions that a teacher reads and responds to

Dictation – method of assessment in which test-takers listen to a text and write down what they
hear

Formative assessment – evaluating students in the process of “forming” their competencies and
skills with the goal of helping them continue their growth process

Gate-keeping – playing the role of allowing or denying someone passage into the next stage of
an educational process

Interview – context in which a teacher engages in a face-to-face question-and-answer dialogue

with a student for a designated assessment purpose

Performance – one’s actual “doing” of language in the form of speaking and writing (production)
and listening and reading (comprehension)
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Performance-based assessment – typically involves oral production, written production, open-

ended responses, integrated performance (across skill areas), group performance, and other
interactive tasks

Picture-cued items – test questions in which a visual stimulus serves to prompt a response or in
which the test-taker chooses, among visuals, a response that correctly matches a spoken or
written prompt

Placement test – meant to place a student into a particular level or section of a language
curriculum or school
Practicality – extent to which resources and time available to design, develop, and administer a
test are manageable and feasible

Proficiency test – not limited to any one course, curriculum, or single skill in the language;
rather, it tests overall global ability

Reliability – extent to which a test yields consistent and dependable results

Rubrics – statements that describe what a student can perform at a particular point on a rating
scale

Specifications – planned objectives, features, methods, and structure of a test

Standardized tests – presuppose certain standard objectives or performance levels

Standards – specifications of curricular objectives, criterion levels, and/or cut-off points against
which a student’s test performance is evaluated; also known as benchmarks and performance
levels

Standards-based assessment – measures that are used to evaluate student academic achievement
and to show that students have reached certain standards

Summative test – aims to measure, or summarize, what a student has grasped and typically
occurs at the end of a course or unit of instruction

Test – method or procedure for measuring a person’s ability, knowledge, or performance in a

given domain

Validity – extent to which inferences made from assessment results are appropriate, meaningful,
and useful in terms of the purpose of the assessment
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Washback – effect of assessments on classroom teaching and learning