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Master Universitario en Profesorado de Educación Secundaria Obligatoria, Bachillerato, Formación Profesional y Enseñanza de Idiomas, Artísticas y Deportivas. Curso 2011/12 TFM Modalidad B EFFECTIVE ASSESSMENT OF EFL ORAL PERFORMANCE IN SPANISH SECONDARY SCHOOLS: A PROPOSAL Master Universitario en Profesorado de Educación Secundaria Obligatoria, Bachillerato, Formación Profesional y enseñanza de Idiomas, Artísticas y Deportivas - Curso 2011/12 ALEXANDRA TRELL HERNÁNDEZ Tutora: Pilar Mur Dueñas Master Universitario en Profesorado de Educación Secundaria Obligatoria, Bachillerato, Formación Profesional y Enseñanza de Idiomas, Artísticas y Deportivas. Curso 2011/12 INDEX Page FOREWORD...............................................................................................................1 1. INTRODUCTION......................................................................................................4 1.1 Overview of oral skill and interaction methods..............................................7 1.2 Linguistic competence vs. Communicative competence................................8 1.3 Principles of oral assessment and the nature of speaking............................10 1.4 Informal assessment and formal assessment...............................................11 2. LEARNING UNIT OVERVIEW AT SCHOOL PLACEMENT...........................................13 2.1 Learning unit: competences, objectives, contents and assessment.............14 2.2 School placement methodology procedures................................................17 3. LEARNING UNIT ORAL ASSESSMENT INNOVATIVE PROPOSAL...............................19 3.1 Reviewing and changing student assessment concept.................................20 3.2 Motivating students......................................................................................20 3.3 Assessment plan – Mad About Mobiles (3 rd year ESO).................................21 3.4 Summary of the main differences between school placement....................31 assessment tools and dissertation assessment procedures. 4. CONCLUSION........................................................................................................33 APPENDIX (LESSON PLANS)......................................................................................35 BIBLIOGRAPHY.........................................................................................................40 Master Universitario en Profesorado de Educación Secundaria Obligatoria, Bachillerato, Formación Profesional y Enseñanza de Idiomas, Artísticas y Deportivas. Curso 2011/12 Alexandra Trell Hernández 1 FOREWORD During my Practicum III, I observed several 3 rd year ESO classes in order to formally observe how teacher, peer and selfassessment were conducted and whether or not it complied with the ideas specified in the official Aragonese foreign languages curriculum. First of all, I will provide a brief explanation of how oral assessment worked inside this classroom in particular, in order to better understand the way I approached the process of my research. In my secondary school placement the teacher practiced all the skills (listening, speaking, reading, writing and oral interaction) on a daily basis and was able to assess the students´ performance and products throughout the entire lesson, mainly through oral interaction with them and in the form of immediate feedback. I did not observe an end of unit test; instead, the teacher completed the end of unit grammar and revision exercises with the students during a session. Their participation was monitored. Those who were not actively involved were encouraged to do so. Making them aware of how much they participate orally was one of the main tasks the teacher performed regularly. At the end of each lesson, students had to answer three self-assessment questions on their notebooks that the teacher would compare those answers to his own perceptions and to final assessment at the end of the term and at the end of the course. The students knew how the process worked so they were made aware of their own strenghts and weaknesses. Assessment was practical as it did not take up too much time and it was a fairly important part of the lesson. It seemed that both the teacher and the students did not find too many difficulties in the process. I would have liked to conduct formal interviews with the students and to administer brief questionnaires to them in order to get an idea of how they really perceived the whole process of evaluation. I was advised not to do so for two reasons; a question of time and a question of student maturity. Nevertheless I did speak to some students Master Universitario en Profesorado de Educación Secundaria Obligatoria, Bachillerato, Formación Profesional y Enseñanza de Idiomas, Artísticas y Deportivas. Curso 2011/12 Alexandra Trell Hernández 2 informally and got the impression that in general terms, assessment (in any shape or form) is not appreciated, which is understandable given their age. Oral assessment seems to be perceived as a punishing tool by many students. However, I asked them how we, as teachers, could improve the process and they were not able to provide an alternative solution to it. They practice speaking by orally interacting with the teacher and even though they do this everyday, they do not seem to feel entirely comfortable about performing more demanding oral tasks. I also got the impression that experienced teachers believe that most innovation proposals stay away from what they consider to be the reality of the classroom and the reality of both students´and parents´ expectations. Nevertheless they admit to the fact that technology is becoming such a powerful tool that things will soon have to change. An issue dealing with resources normally arises at this point, making things sometimes difficult for teachers. Interactive boards are being used in the classrooms and so are interactive books; however, the number of laptops available is still limited which causes certain classroom management issues. The teachers have to share computers and normally find themselves having to move them and set them up in different classrooms. This is time consuming and fails to fulfill its purpose. Each teacher may have a different concept of how his/her students should be orally assessed. This might be due to the specific characteristics of each of the subjects, the teacher’s personality and the needs of each class and age group. My ideas on oral assessment revolve around the fact that assessment should become an integrated activity within our lesson plans and should not be made formally explicit. Teaching with textbooks should start giving way to teaching via technology and other authentic material sources. However, another problem arises here. Schools have a very close relationship with publishing houses and teachers firmly believe that changing this relationship will take many years and a considerable amount of effort. Many teachers are satisfied with the interactive materials provided by publishers as in Master Universitario en Profesorado de Educación Secundaria Obligatoria, Bachillerato, Formación Profesional y Enseñanza de Idiomas, Artísticas y Deportivas. Curso 2011/12 Alexandra Trell Hernández 3 their own words “they make their lives easier” and contain excellent assessment tools. From my point of view, this is not always true. I managed to observe the assessment process of a full learning unit, in which I also participated. The times in which I was responsible for the group I noticed that my own assessment ideas where difficult to put into practice because of the restrictions imposed by the text book. According to Harris and McCann (1984), making assessment constructive, reliable, valid, practical and accountable is one of the key issues if we want to make it effective. If we really want it to become a useful tool for both the teacher and the students. To sum up the main ideas discussed here, it is true that even though oral assessment is performed on a regular basis in some EFL contexts, there is still room for improvement. Teachers tend to use assessment tasks provided by course books. These tasks are not always fitted to what the students know or have learnt. Text books have a great presence in the classroom and students’ perception of assessment still differs from teacher´s assumptions. Classroom observation, discussions and theoretical knowledge have helped me understand the way in which I will expect the assessment of oral skills to move forward. Not only do we have to make sure our students participate orally in class, but also that they are able to use the language independently in a variety of contexts and that they know how to go about it. I have gained some extended knowledge on how to use and integrate technological tools into the classroom and I firmly believe these tools should be used to assess students. Edublogs, webpages and Wikis will change teaching, learning and assessing processes in the secondary school. Our students handle ICTs constantly and will be expected to live their lives through them. Making them the main facilitators of learning seems to be the only natural way forward. Master Universitario en Profesorado de Educación Secundaria Obligatoria, Bachillerato, Formación Profesional y Enseñanza de Idiomas, Artísticas y Deportivas. Curso 2011/12 Alexandra Trell Hernández 4 1. INTRODUCTION Evaluation and assessment for learning are two very different concepts which are often misunderstood. According to the Department of Education and Early Childhood Development in Victoria, Australia, assessment can be defined as the ongoing process of gathering, analysing and reflecting on evidence to make informed and consistent judgements to improve future student learning (Timperley, 2011). It is therefore related to performance, feedback and progress. It is an integral part of the learning process. Evaluation, however, is the process by which a value is assigned to a given situation (Harris and McCann, 1994). It is a method of measuring a person’s ability or knowledge in a given domain (Brown, 2001). In this case, no information is provided about the environment in which that situation is or was taking place, although it could help to introduce changes or propose innovations. The concept of assessment has often been misunderstood by teachers who have used it as a punishing tool instead of as a learning tool. We as teachers need to understand the importance of assessing speaking skills instead of just testing language forms. EFL oral assessment has not often been undertaken in secondary schools , mainly because too many factors have to be taken into account, most of which are considered to be great challenges. The nature of speaking has to be fully and well understood so that speaking and interaction are rightly assessed in this context. It is also important to mention the difference between testing speaking skills and assessing speaking skills. Testing refers to punctually measuring the skills whereas assessing involves a continuous process of students ‘oral production monitoring over a period of time in which feedback is a key element. According to the Australian Department of Education, the planning of assessment for learning and assessment as learning tasks (Timperley, 2011), should lead the design of lesson plans and learning units in EFL contexts. These types of activities take the Master Universitario en Profesorado de Educación Secundaria Obligatoria, Bachillerato, Formación Profesional y Enseñanza de Idiomas, Artísticas y Deportivas. Curso 2011/12 Alexandra Trell Hernández 5 learning processes a step forward for students and they constitute a valuable source of information for teachers. In the context of Spanish secondary schools assessment is necessarily influenced by 1 the foreign languages National Curriculum, which establishes clear methodological requirements, specified for each region of the country. These requirements are mainly based on the development of students’ basic competences through the implementation of a communicative approach, the promotion and use of authentic language and materials and the encouragement of active participation and practice of real communicative situations in a variety of contexts and using a wide range of registers inside the classroom. These specifications constitute an answer to the reality young learners will face in the future. The abstract knowledge of a set of grammatical rules has now become secondary in favour of a much more practical way of understanding learning processes. Basic competences such as learning to learn, social and civic competence, digital competence besides linguistic competence, among others, are also outcomes teachers aim for. EFL teachers must prepare their students to be competent in society, to be updated and to be able to perform tasks using a foreign language in an efficient way. However, this does not mean that production has to be 100 % accurate. As long as communication takes place, errors are tolerated. Being able to express an idea, a feeling or using transactional language effectively are to be given the greatest relevance. For all these reasons, continuous assessment is the way of ensuring that this type of learning takes place, that students are becoming communicatively competent. It is therefore very important to have a clear idea of how the students are going to be assessed and to share these ideas with them. In this respect, our types of assessment 1 ...Learners should be able to express themselves and orally interact in daily communicative situations in an intelligible and approrpiate way and with some autonomy. ...Learnes should be able to correctly and appropriately use basic phonological, lexical grammatical, functional, discursive, sociolinguistic and strategic features in real communication contexts... Master Universitario en Profesorado de Educación Secundaria Obligatoria, Bachillerato, Formación Profesional y Enseñanza de Idiomas, Artísticas y Deportivas. Curso 2011/12 Alexandra Trell Hernández 6 are of relevance: student self-assessment, teacher self-assessment, peer assessment and teacher assessment. Student self-assessment involves the students’ reflection over their own learning process and it is a great source of information for the teacher. Teacher self-assessment is also an excellent tool for teachers to become self-critical and improve their teaching methods by adapting their teaching style to students’ needs. Peer assessment provides an opportunity for students to participate in the process of assessment and helps them develop analytical skills. Finally, teacher assessment comes at the end of the process once a great deal of information has been gathered, feedback has been provided and adjustments have taken place. The aim of this dissertation is to design and propose an educational blog in which the communication between the student and the teacher leads to effective assessment of EFL oral performance which could be used in Spanish secondary schools. I propose making use of ICTs to assess students and make them responsible of their own learning by integrating technology. In this respect, I would not conduct grammatical tests at the end of term or at the end of year. I believe students must be taught new assessment and evaluation processes. Teachers have to explain that not having a final test does not mean that expectations or class demands are going to be lower. Teachers must also motivate their students, provide constant feedback and design personalised assessment plans. This should be done from 1 st year ESO regardless of how difficult some experienced teachers think this could be. To understand how assessment is conducted inside the secondary school classroom, I have observed and interviewed secondary school teachers in order to see how they cater for students’ needs and what techniques they use to plan and design assessment and evaluation activities. I intend to combine theoretical principles and practical reality in order to produce an innovative assessment tool. A learning unit I designed for 3 er year ESO will be used as an example of how these ideas could be put into practice. However, the ultimate purpose will revolve around how to use and adapt this blog to all age groups and abilities. Master Universitario en Profesorado de Educación Secundaria Obligatoria, Bachillerato, Formación Profesional y Enseñanza de Idiomas, Artísticas y Deportivas. Curso 2011/12 Alexandra Trell Hernández 7 In order to do so, and taking into account the requirements of the Spanish National Curriculum for foreign languages, I will, first of all, review the history of oral skill and interaction methods, the concepts of linguistic and communicative competence and the main principles on which effective assessment of oral skills is based. Once these ideas have been clarified, I will discuss the main problems oral discourse presents to finally make my proposal. 1.1 Overview of oral skill and interaction methods In order to fully understand the current situation, it is important to see how teaching oral skills and interaction has evolved throughout different historical methods. Celce- Murcia et al (1996) provided a very clear summary of the variations and different approaches in teaching pronunciation, communication and oral skills in general. The Grammar-Translation method paid little attention to communication and oral skills. This method placed the teacher as a lecturer. Then we found a shift towards accuracy in the oral production under the Direct Method. The teacher became a model for the students. They had to repeat what they heard in order not to make any pronunciation mistakes. Still with the same focus, within Audiolingual Method, the language lab is the place for the students to practice their drills and also the place for the teacher to correct them so that good pronunciation habits and speaking are formed. In the Silent Way method, repetition of accurate utterances is the main focus, there is no tolerance to errors at all. Achieving a native-like status is the objective, therefore, repetition and teacher correction are very important. There is an introduction of gestures and facial expressions for the first time and also the idea that working on accuracy is very important; becoming fluent should follow. We find another shift in Community Language Learning. In this method, fluency comes before accuracy, something which currently remains. The students decide on the level of accuracy they want to reach so the treatment of error is somewhat relevant. Teacher correction is still done through repetition. Master Universitario en Profesorado de Educación Secundaria Obligatoria, Bachillerato, Formación Profesional y Enseñanza de Idiomas, Artísticas y Deportivas. Curso 2011/12 Alexandra Trell Hernández 14 Some of the students attending the school come from an area in which economical, familiar, social and academic deficiencies are present. There are also students who come from middle-class backgrounds due to the fact that most of families who have come to live in the new residential areas have a much higher level of education. This learning unit has been divided into seven integrated 50-minute sessions. The criteria used to organise them revolves around the five skills (listening, speaking, reading, writing and oral interaction). Possible difficulties have also been foreseen and therefore differentiated versions of some of the activities proposed have been provided throughout the unit. Taking into account the needs of this group in particular, objectives have been established and communicative activities have been emphasized. The use of ICT, selfassessment, peer assessment and teacher assessment are a very important part of the learning process. (See pages 24, 25, 26, 28 and 30 for assessment sheets) 2.1 Learning Unit: competences, objectives, contents and assessment This learning unit mainly contributes to the development of the following competences: • Foreign language linguistic and communicative competence: the students will be expected to expand their communicative ability in general, consolidating previous language structures and incorporating new knowledge by putting it into practice. We will work on the five basic skills for the learning of a foreign language. Special emphasis will be placed on some forms: modal verbs and vocabulary related to the unit. • Digital competence: the students will have to express their ideas about mobile phone good use and design and present a project using Power Point. They will therefore need to analyse, select and present information appropriately and attractively to the rest of the students. Master Universitario en Profesorado de Educación Secundaria Obligatoria, Bachillerato, Formación Profesional y Enseñanza de Idiomas, Artísticas y Deportivas. Curso 2011/12 Alexandra Trell Hernández 15 • Social and civic competences: communicative situations will be practiced throughout the unit. The students will have to learn how to interact adequately, respect their peers, listen to different opinions and develop a critical sense. • Learning to learn: this competence will be addressed and made explicit to the students throughout the unit. There is a mind map which the students have to work on individually and present at the end; they have to learn how to work cooperatively and learn from their peers, they have to work on an ICT project in pairs, and they have to assess themselves and their peers. • Sense of initiative and entrepreneurship: the students will have to show the ability to work both individually and cooperatively for the development of this unit. This will promote their initiative sense as well as the development of an appropriate role within the group in relation to problem solving. The following are the learning objectives to be met taking the official Aragonese EFL Curriculum into account: • To understand general and specific oral information in varied situations, showing an attitude of respect and cooperation. • To use the language and interact orally in habitual communicative situations comprehensibly, appropriately and with a certain degree of autonomy using modal verbs and vocabulary related to mobile phones. • To read and understand different types of texts, suitable to our students’ capacities and interests, to get general and specific information and to use the reading texts as a source of pleasure and personal enrichment. • To write easy texts with different purposes about different topics by using cohesive and coherent resources. • To develop autonomy in learning to reflect on their own learning processes and to transfer the knowledge and strategies acquired in other languages to the foreign language. Master Universitario en Profesorado de Educación Secundaria Obligatoria, Bachillerato, Formación Profesional y Enseñanza de Idiomas, Artísticas y Deportivas. Curso 2011/12 Alexandra Trell Hernández 16 • To use learning strategies and ICTs to get, select and convey oral and written information. • To show a receptive attitude towards others and to be self-confident in the use of the foreign language. • To assess themselves and their peers with the help of an assessment rubric. Contents • Instructions: first of all, second (of all)l, finally, listen carefully, write it down on your note pads, analyse and select information, present it neatly and express yourself clearly. • Modal verbs: can, can´t, must, mustn´t, have to, don´t have to, should and shouldn´t • Mobile phone vocabulary: touch screen, display, voicemail, ringtone, keypad, alarm clock, calendar, caller ID, video calling, mobile phone charger, digital camera, headset, to click on, icons, applications, to leave voice messages, to charge a battery, to take photos, to listen to music, miss calls, what´s App, to check e-mails, to upload/download, to text and short text messaging abbreviation language (IDK, FYI, 2nite, L8R, etc). The methodology proposed is based on a communicative approach devoted to the development of the key competences mentioned above. The activities have been designed for the students to develop their communicative abilities and critical sense. Learning how to interact with their peers adequately and taking responsibility for their own learning are also key factors. The students will be aware of the evaluation criteria before starting the unit, which will also contribute to the learning to learn competence. The importance of working cooperatively, help and learn from their peers and at the same time being able to assess their own effort and their class mates effort, will help the students experience and achieve a sense of accomplishment. Master Universitario en Profesorado de Educación Secundaria Obligatoria, Bachillerato, Formación Profesional y Enseñanza de Idiomas, Artísticas y Deportivas. Curso 2011/12 Alexandra Trell Hernández 17 This methodology requires the teacher to be a learning guide. Being able to provide clear instructions and motivating students are the most important factors for the learning process to be effective. Thorough planning is necessary as well as to provide constant feedback and support to the students. Once the assessment activities are completed, the teacher will have to study them carefully and, if necessary, in the light of them, evaluate the learning unit in order to achieve better results in the future. The students should always be made aware of their strengths and weaknesses, therefore, the teacher should always provide solutions to move learning forward and improve the process in general. These are the assessment tasks proposed for the learning unit: • Class participation 20% • Mind map 10% • Cooperative activity - reading 20% • Short text message writing 10% • PPT on mobile phones 20% • End of unit Formal test 20% 2.2 School placement methodology procedures This unit was designed to comply with the class routines set by my mentor at my school placement. The school´s yearly program for English states that a communicative methodology must be implemented in order to develop the students’ intra and interpersonal skills. In this respect communicative subcompetences (pragmatic, morphosyntactic, procedural and intercultural) are referred to as well and given great importance. The school program has been conceived to develop autonomy and promote students’ self-regulation during learning processes. Students have to both learn and acquire the English language, therefore, they need to be exposed to as many “authentic” Master Universitario en Profesorado de Educación Secundaria Obligatoria, Bachillerato, Formación Profesional y Enseñanza de Idiomas, Artísticas y Deportivas. Curso 2011/12 Alexandra Trell Hernández 18 situations and contexts as possible in a variety of situations. The activities proposed by the teacher aim towards both individual and collaborative work in which students play the most important role in the teaching and learning process. The use of teacher blogs, interactive text books and technology is also very important. Having observed 3 rd year ESO lessons and participated in the process following these directions, I can conclude that teacher-student interaction in class was excellent, fluent and successful. Students completed a wide variety of tasks and were asked to reflect on their own learning. However, the interactive text book was the main source of most of the activities completed in the classroom. A very traditional approach was followed, i.e. workbook used for homework. The teacher was able to motivate his students and manage the classroom successfully. This made me reflect on how assessment could be conducted, not only in terms of linguistic competence at the end of term, but also in terms of oral skills. Daily classroom interaction is a great source of information for the teacher and I think it should be translated into a systematic way of assessing students’ communicative competence. Master Universitario en Profesorado de Educación Secundaria Obligatoria, Bachillerato, Formación Profesional y Enseñanza de Idiomas, Artísticas y Deportivas. Curso 2011/12 Alexandra Trell Hernández 19 3. LEARNING UNIT ORAL ASSESSMENT INNOVATIVE PROPOSAL My dissertation deals with the idea of making students responsible for their own learning by integrating technology. In this respect, I would not conduct grammatical tests at the end of term or at the end of year. I believe students have to be reeducated in terms of assessment and evaluation processes. This should be done from 1 st year ESO regardless of how difficult some experienced teachers think this could be. If 12 year-old students can sit exams in which abstract knowledge of grammar and vocabulary is tested, I strongly believe that a shift towards assessing communication in the EFL context is not only possible but also necessary. It would be very beneficial for students once they are used to it. This pyramid illustrates this idea. EDUCATING YOUR STUDENTS – EXPLAINING THAT NOT HAVING A FINAL TEST DOES NOT MEAN THAT EXPECTATIONS OR CLASS DEMANDS ARE GOING TO BE LOWER MOTIVATING STU DENTS, PROVIDING CONSTANT FEEDBACK AND MAKING THEM RESPONSIBLE FOR THEIR OWN LEARNING INTEGRATING TECHNOLOGY AND DESIGNING YOUR OWN ASSESSMENT PLAN LEARNING Master Universitario en Profesorado de Educación Secundaria Obligatoria, Bachillerato, Formación Profesional y Enseñanza de Idiomas, Artísticas y Deportivas. Curso 2011/12 Alexandra Trell Hernández 20 3.1 Reviewing and changing student assessment concept Assessment is a tool to assist learning and to help students progress (Harris and MacCann, 1994). In this respect end of term and/or end of year grammar and vocabulary tests alone should become secondary within the EFL context. If students’ ability to communicate is the key, assessing communication and helping it develop are clearly the goal to aim for. I believe that the most difficult challenges teachers face in this respect are, on the one hand, the assumption that if there is no exam, students will automatically believe that the course demands are going to be low and that passing will not involve much effort. On the other hand, parents, and possibly the entire school community, will react negatively. Breaking away from traditional methods is time-consuming, requires the provision of supporting evidence and most importantly, demands results. Spending several sessions at the beginning of the course with your students would be essential in order to set goals, explain the assessment process that you intend to carry out and its components (i.e. blogs, rubrics, self-assessment and peer-assessment forms, portfolios, etc.), the class routines you are going to follow, your expectations and most importantly your plan to support, help and guide your students´ learning. Just as important would be to hold a meeting with parents in order to go through the same information. Providing a written plan and establishing goals and expectations would help the process run smoothly and would give the school community a reference as to what they can expect as well as the outcomes to be achieved. 3.2 Motivating students The ability to motivate students in doing their best and in learning to take responsibility means gaining the necessary commitment to carrying out this type of assessment. Applying a new assessment methodology without the right amount of Master Universitario en Profesorado de Educación Secundaria Obligatoria, Bachillerato, Formación Profesional y Enseñanza de Idiomas, Artísticas y Deportivas. Curso 2011/12 Alexandra Trell Hernández 21 support at the beginning would prove to be useless and would most certainly end in failure. Assessment should be meaningful to students and integrated in their daily life, it should use a wide variety of methods and should have a clear purpose. The most important idea is that students’ involvement is required and that knowledge should be constructed by them with the help of the teacher. 3.3 Assessment plan – Mad about Mobiles (3 rd year ESO) Having taught the learning unit and having revised it afterwards, I consider it necessary to develop an overall different assessment plan. School placement assessment percentages for the learning unit: 1) Class participation 20% 2) Mind map 10% 3) Cooperative activity - reading 20% 4) Short text message writing 10% 5) PPT on mobile phones 20% 6) End of unit Formal test 20% New percentages and assessment tasks as part of the innovation proposal: 1) Student involvement and participation in the blog 35% 2) Classroom interaction 10% 3) Presentation on mobile phones 15% 4) Class discussion 15% 5) Oral competition quiz 10% 6) Portfolio 15% As we can see, there are only two tasks which remain in both designs: student involvement in the process and the Power Point presentation. However, these tasks are given different percentages and are presented in different ways. Master Universitario en Profesorado de Educación Secundaria Obligatoria, Bachillerato, Formación Profesional y Enseñanza de Idiomas, Artísticas y Deportivas. Curso 2011/12 Alexandra Trell Hernández 22 As student involvement in the blog is key for the teaching-learning process to take place, a 35% is allocated. Students’ daily effort is clearly rewarded. The rest of the tasks in both proposals share an almost equal amount of importance although the choice of tasks is completely different. The first design is much more traditional, even though it tries to integrate technology to a certain extent; whereas the second design is much more practical and methodologically communicative. The assessment tools, teaching style, sources and methodological approach used and proposed throughout the innovation proposal learning unit design constitute the main source of differences between the two, as we will see. There is a wide variety of assessment tools which teachers can use in the classroom but in this particular case I will be concentrating on the following: observation sheets, (to systematically observe and assess classroom participation), student involvement and participation in the blog, classroom interaction, a presentation on mobile phones, a class discussion, an oral competition grammar quiz at the end of the unit and a portfolio. The original weight given to the different tasks provided by the unit was: class participation 20%, a mind map 10%, a cooperative reading activity 20%, a short text message writing 10%, a PPT 20% and an end of unit grammar and vocabulary test 20%. As we can see, all the skills are specifically tested in this approach. My new proposal will revolve around assessing oral skills in a way in which listening, reading, writing and oral interaction are integrated within it but are not explicitly tested. The tools needed to assess each task are varied and should be explained and justified taking into account the ideas I have stated so far. Commonly employed rating scales present problems of reliability and validity (Fulcher, 2003) specially in second language courses. This is why I will use a wide variety of tools to make the process as fair and reliable as possible. Integrating technology in the assessment process of this unit in particular and of any teaching-learning process in general is at the centre of my proposal. The idea would be Master Universitario en Profesorado de Educación Secundaria Obligatoria, Bachillerato, Formación Profesional y Enseñanza de Idiomas, Artísticas y Deportivas. Curso 2011/12 Alexandra Trell Hernández 23 to set and design a blog for each age group (from 1 st to 4 th year ESO). This blog would not be used to give general course information, provide a list of contents, news, links or grammar exercises. It would be used as a learning tool. The intention for this group in particular and especifically for this unit would be to upload several tasks for the students to complete before the unit begins. These tasks would be directed to reflect on learning more than to provide “correct answers”. First of all, each student would be invited to participate on the blog at the very beginning of the course. In this way, the teacher could track student participation in order to evaluate it over a period of time. Secondly, the teacher will upload the unit outline, the weight of each of the activities to be assessed so that the students know exactly what would be expected from them and the rubrics, checklist or any other form of assessment to be used. Thirdly, and for the unit Mad about Mobiles, I would also upload a short questionnaire in English in which the students will have to think about the main characteristics of a good power point presentation and choose a, b or c (4 questions only). I would then create a forum for them to comment on the following statement “living without your mobile for a week” (for the class discussion) and finally I would upload a sample of oral grammar quiz in which we will be playing in teams. The aim is to make students aware of the unit demands and to also make them feel active towards their learning. These on-line tasks are a very good diagnostic tool for the teacher since he/she can foresee problems and adjust classroom tasks better. Another advantage is that they are practical as they would only take 20 minutes of the students. Having a problems/questions section is also very important especially for the issues concerning the assessment tasks i.e. understanding a checklist or rubric, etc. Once this type of routine has been set up, the teacher can implement the unit and monitor classroom interaction. The next step would then be the design of selfassessment, peer-assessment and teacher assessment forms and templates to keep record of the development of students´ communicative ability, provide feedback, inform parents and assess both the students and the teacher´s performance. Master Universitario en Profesorado de Educación Secundaria Obligatoria, Bachillerato, Formación Profesional y Enseñanza de Idiomas, Artísticas y Deportivas. Curso 2011/12 Alexandra Trell Hernández 30 on a regular basis. They could be written in Spanish in order to inform parents of students´ progress and at the same time make students feel more comfortable. Using a portfolio as a final assessment tool is a great source of information, not only for students and parents but also for future teachers. It could very well serve as a prediagnostic tool for student needs. Portfolio checklist (English version) Portfolio is well-structured and organised YES NO RECOMMENDATIONS: Portfolio is updated on a regular basis YES NO Students reflects on his/her own learning adequately YES NO Student is aware of his/her strengths YES NO Student is aware of his/her weaknesses YES NO Teacher´s feedback is taken into account YES NO Weakness are overcome YES NO RECOMMENDATIONS: Master Universitario en Profesorado de Educación Secundaria Obligatoria, Bachillerato, Formación Profesional y Enseñanza de Idiomas, Artísticas y Deportivas. Curso 2011/12 Alexandra Trell Hernández 31 Through all these assessment tasks, oral skills and communicative competence are given the greatest importance in the classroom. The rest of the skills are also practiced on a daily basis in different ways since being linguistically competent is a clear requirement for the students to perform their oral tasks correctly. Students have to read information on the blog, they also have to listen to their peers in order to, on the one hand understand them, and on the other hand, assess them. Writing is also a clear part of the learning process since it becomes the final product of most of the oral activities. 4 Technology is integrated as well, so student motivation should be higher. 3.4 Summary of the main differences between school placement assessment tools and dissertation assessment procedures In my proposal, assessment tools such as self-assessment, peer-assessment and teacher assessment have been designed in a clear and simple way in order to make them practical, useful and reader-friendly so that they are easily integrated in the lesson plans. Assessment is performed once the students have worked on the tasks before coming to class. Failure to do so would clearly affect results. The teaching style required in both proposals is also very different. The first one is much more teacher fronted whereas the second one places the student at the centre of his/her own learning and makes the teacher become a guide. 4 Besides the blog, other Internet and computer resources, such as wikis, will be used not only for assessment purposes but also as learning tools. In particular, the use of wikis can be especially useful to focus on use of the language. A wiki is a website which allows its users to add, modify, or delete its content via a web browser. Most are created collaboratively. I would use this tool to ask students to create a personalised “grammar in use” for our classroom. In the case of the learning unit I have already discussed, this tool would be an excellent asset in order to make students take responsibility for their own learning. Since grammar points would not be made explicit in the classroom, it would be the students’ job to find information, provide examples and construct a grammar reference collaboratively, monitored by the teacher. This reference would not be something given to them but a piece of their own cooperative effort. Ex: Modal verbs are used to express ideas such as possibility, intention, obligation and necessity. CAN, COULD, WILL, WOULD, SHALL, SHOULD, OUGHT TO, DARE and NEED are some examples.Ex: Yes, I can do that. Internet reference: http://www.usingenglish.com/glossary/modal-verb.html A Wiki could also be used to construct the list of irregular verbs, to establish vocabulary groups or categories, write a story collaboratively, etc. Master Universitario en Profesorado de Educación Secundaria Obligatoria, Bachillerato, Formación Profesional y Enseñanza de Idiomas, Artísticas y Deportivas. Curso 2011/12 Alexandra Trell Hernández 32 The sources where the materials to be worked in class come from also belong to completely different sources. The first learning unit relies mainly on something as static as a text book, regardless of how interactive it may be. The second one is based on a much more dynamic sources including the Internet and computer tools. Finally, the approach towards instructing students and parents is also new. As I mentioned, in order to make these innovations become a reality, students and school communities would have to be carefully instructed. Changing their mind-set, assessment concepts and expectations is a vital stage in the process and would have to be tackled from the very beginning so that it could become a success. Master Universitario en Profesorado de Educación Secundaria Obligatoria, Bachillerato, Formación Profesional y Enseñanza de Idiomas, Artísticas y Deportivas. Curso 2011/12 Alexandra Trell Hernández 33 4. CONCLUSION The idea of assessment AS learning (i.e. assessment as an integrated part of a lesson plan) is a type of assessment I never experienced myself as a student. I have tried to refer to possible different strategies to conduct it in my dissertation and I connected it to technology and the challenging issue of oral assessment in secondary schools. We have been given a wide range of strategies to apply in the classroom in order to comply with both the law and the reality and necessities of our students. Therefore, developing an on-line practical assessment tool in order to achieve communicative goals seems to be the right thing to do. I have justified my goals by providing an account of my own experiences during this course. Parts of the research I have conducted, together with class observations and theory on linguistic and communicative approaches and strategies to help teachinglearning processes have constituted the main sources of my innovation proposal. My new acquired knowledge of technologies has also proved to be the stepping stone onto which I have constructed my approach of oral assessment in the EFL context of Spanish secondary schools. Having understood the main principles of the communicative approach to language teaching as well as the official requirements of the Aragonese Foreign Language curriculum have shaped the design of the assessment tools proposed. The teacherstudent blog leads the way in which learning takes place and not only does it make students responsible for constructing their own knowledge, it also places the teacher as the learning guide he/she should be. The need for short, practical and reliable self-assessment, peer-assessment and teacher assessment sheets conceived as lesson tasks, could very well replace formal grammar and vocabulary tests. Designing a whole new oral assessment process provides the teacher with enough information to evaluate students and the teachinglearning process effectively. Master Universitario en Profesorado de Educación Secundaria Obligatoria, Bachillerato, Formación Profesional y Enseñanza de Idiomas, Artísticas y Deportivas. Curso 2011/12 Alexandra Trell Hernández 34 The assessment proposal provided by my dissertation contains appropriate tools to effectively assess students and make them communicatively competent, not only inside the classroom but also outside it. I have designed an assessment plan that revolves around developing students´ linguistic, sociolinguistic, discursive and strategic competences integrating the use of technology. The students work on their linguistic competence via the construction of the Wiki “grammar in use”, classroom interaction and participation. Students are asked to apply this knowledge to different contexts and situations throughout the unit in order to develop their sociolinguistic competence. Discursive and strategic competences are addressed by means of oral presentations and class discussions where feedback is provided and recommendations for improvement are made to inform both students and parents. The use of clear and well-structured sheets for self-assessment, peer assessment and teacher assessment have also been designed and presented to comply with the idea that assessment should be constructive, reliable, valid, practical and accountable (Harris and McCann, 1994). Informing students on how they are going to be assessed, when and why is a key factor for this plan to work effectively. Motivation and the integration of technology inside the classroom allow teachers to stop using final grammar and vocabulary tests and start encouraging a much more practical way of measuring performance of oral skills in the EFL context. Master Universitario en Profesorado de Educación Secundaria Obligatoria, Bachillerato, Formación Profesional y Enseñanza de Idiomas, Artísticas y Deportivas. Curso 2011/12 35 APPENDIX LESSON PLANS – SCHOOL PLACEMENT LEARNING UNIT Master Universitario en Profesorado de Educación Secundaria Obligatoria, Bachillerato, Formación Profesional y Enseñanza de Idiomas, Artísticas y Deportivas. Curso 2011/12 36 Master Universitario en Profesorado de Educación Secundaria Obligatoria, Bachillerato, Formación Profesional y Enseñanza de Idiomas, Artísticas y Deportivas. Curso 2011/12 37 Master Universitario en Profesorado de Educación Secundaria Obligatoria, Bachillerato, Formación Profesional y Enseñanza de Idiomas, Artísticas y Deportivas. Curso 2011/12 38 Master Universitario en Profesorado de Educación Secundaria Obligatoria, Bachillerato, Formación Profesional y Enseñanza de Idiomas, Artísticas y Deportivas. Curso 2011/12 39