TECHNIQUES FOR

ASSESSING READING
SKILLS AND
VOCABULARY
BY

THILAGESWARI THIRUMALAI
NALINI BALAN
YASOTHAI NATHAN

Cycle Of

ASSESSMEN
T
AND
INSTRUCTIO
N

Assessment is a critical part of the

instructional cycle; it is not a separate
activity.
Its relationship with curriculum planning
and instruction is reciprocal
(Cobb, 2003).
ASSESSMENT

INSTRUCTION

Once information from assessment is gathered, analyzed,

and used to design further instruction, teaching is adjusted,
fueled by the new information.
This return to assessment allows the teacher to determine
whether teaching has made a difference and then make
instructional decisions

Careful examination, documentation, and analysis of

each students reading performance throughout
the year will enable teachers to modify
instructional practices when appropriate.

Establishing a data-driven instruction cycle creates a structure to

monitor student progress in a systematic way, thus ensuring that
instructional time is not lost throughout the school year (Cobb, 2003)

When teachers use assessment to guide their instruction.

The primary goal is to gather information about what students

are doing as they read.
The teacher looks for patterns in the students work sees
strengths and challenges, and then uses this information
to design instruction.
Results from reliable and valid assessments allow the
teacher to base instruction on multiple data to meet the
specific needs of each student.
Informed instruction is the hallmark of effective teaching and
learning.

Just Take A Look On This.

Discrete Feature Test

Discrete
Test

Discrete tests focus explicitly

studied knowledge of separate
segments of language.
Sometimes the learner is even
asked to reproduce that explicit
knowledge (of grammar rules,
etc.)
Units of language (discrete
points); phonology, graphology,

For example:
PUT THE VERBS IN THE SIMPLE PAST
OR THE PRESENT PERFECT AND
MOTIVATE YOUR CHOICE

1) SHE (BREAK) ____________ HER LEG

IN AN ACCIDENT LAST YEAR.
2) SO FAR, THIS TEACHER
_____________ (NOT TEACH) US
ANYTHING NEW.

Holistic Test
Tests that go straight to the heart of general
proficiency tend to consist of holistic tasks.
These are tasks in which mastery of various
language elements is required and different
skills are intertwined.
This holistic approach to language testing is
based on the notion that language proficiency
constitutes much more than the sum of
grammatical and lexical knowledge. The way
in which different linguistic skills are
integrated in authentic language use makes
up the essence of language proficiency.

Typical examples of holistic language tasks are essays

(for self-monitored proficiency in writing) and
interviews (for real-time oral proficiency).

While such holistic tests are obviously more valid than

discrete-point tests to estimate a learners general
proficiency, giving a score to the learners performance
on a holistic task is a much more complicated issue.

As a result, one and the same essay may be awarded

different marks by different assessors and an interviewee
may be given different scores by different interviewers.

ASSESSING VOCABULARY
IN READING
COMPREHENSION

Reading assessment techniques are

used to help determine where a child
is in his or her reading development.
Comprehension is the most common
type of reading test available.
Comprehension assessment involves
asking a child to read a passage of
text that is matched appropriately for
the child, and then asking some
explicit, detailed questions about the
content of the text.

Other
variations
of
comprehension
assessment include asking the child to
answer likely questions about information
which was implied by the text, or
evaluating the childs ability to re-tell the
story in his own words, or summarize the
main idea or the moral of the story.
A reading comprehension assessment is
most accurate if the child is not reading
for an audience.

Another
common
reading
comprehension assessment is called a
"cloze" task words are omitted from
the passage, and the child is asked to fill
in the blanks with appropriate words.
Also,
young
childrens
reading
comprehension can be assessed by
asking them to read and follow simple
instructions, such as, "Stand up" or, "Go
look out the window."

What teachers can do to help at

school?
Help build language skills in class by playing
oral and written word exercises and games.
Read to your class each day. When the book
contains a new or interesting word, pause
and define the word for your student.
Engage your students in conversations every
day. If possible, include new and interesting
words in your conversation.
Help students learn to use context clues to
determine the meanings of words.