LOWER SECONDARY TEACHER TRAINING WORKSHOP Assessing receptive skills reading & listening

READING

Discussion Authentic reasons for reading/listening Macro/micro skills for reading/listening Types of reading/listening texts How to select reading/listening texts Reading/listening item types Consideration when designing reading/listening tests

Assessing reading skills Authentic reason for reading Tracy is looking for a number in a telephone directory Rachel is reading the instructions on how to send a mail Paul is writing his university dissertation and is looking for a quote he needs Nicole is reading the directions of how to get her holiday destination Steven is looking through the ads because he wants to buy a car

Macro-skills for Reading Scanning text to locate specific information Skimming text to obtain the gist Identifying stages of an argument Identifying examples in support of an argument

Micro-skills for Reading Identifying referents of pronouns Using context to guess meaning of unfamiliar words Understanding relations between parts of text Understanding grammatical structures & meanings of words

Types of reading texts Academic reading: reference material, textbook, theses Job-related reading: messages, letters/emails, memos Personal reading: magazine, newspaper, letter, emails, cards, invitations, schedule (trains, bus) poem etc.

Selecting texts Try to select a representative sample Choose texts of appropriate length for the required task Avoid texts which are made up of test takers’ general knowledge Do not use texts which students have already read

Reading item types Multiple choice (with or without pictures) Unique answer (only one possible answer: e.g. answer to a question or fill in the blank) Short answer Guided short answers (Ss fill in the blanks) Summary cloze: the reading passage is summarized by the tester with gaps left in the summary for completion by the test taker. Information transfer: test taker shows completion of reading task by (1) supplying simple information in a table, (2) following a route on a map, (3) labeling a picture, etc.

Reading item types Identifying order of events, topics, or arguments Identifying referents Guessing the meaning of unfamiliar words from context

Procedures for writing items Careful reading of text with specified operations in mind Determining what tasks are appropriate Writing draft items Paragraph numbers and line number added if necessary Should be checked by colleagues

Testing Reading Assess the Reading Test for strengths and weaknesses Include different types of reading texts, including charts, maps, schedules Use (adapted) authentic texts where possible Check readability level Include (Grammar) and Vocabulary in context Use the entire text for questions Add items that require the inference/deduction Consider timing for reading fluency/skimming/scanning

LISTENING

Assessing listening skills What are authentic listening situations? Interviews Instructions Loudspeaker announcements Radio news Committee meetings Shopping Theater Telephone Lectures Conversation Television Story-telling jokes

Characteristics of authentic listening situations Informal Spontaneous Short chunks/clusters Reductions (pronunciation) Colloquial language Ungrammatical Unclear/incomprehensible items Rate of delivery Stress, rhythm, and intonation Redundancy (rephrasings, repetitions, elaborations) Performance variables (hesitations, false starts, pauses, corrections) Listener expectation and purpose Visual stimuli Body language Turn-taking/interaction Attention to speaker

Macro-skills for Listening recognize the communicative function of utterances identify main ideas from supporting details make inferences using real-world knowledge predict outcomes and infer connections distinguish between literal and implied meanings use non-verbal clues to assist comprehension use listening strategies (guessing vocabulary, signaling comprehension etc.)

Micro-skills for Listening discriminate among the distinctive sounds of English retain chunks of language in short-term memory recognize English stress patterns, rhythm, intonation recognize reduced forms of words distinguish word boundaries interpret word order patterns process speech at different rates of delivery process speech containing pauses, errors, corrections recognize grammatical word forms, patterns, rules recognize cohesive devices recognize meaning expressed through different grammatical patterns

Listening Assessment Tips Make sure students have enough contextualization to understand the listening text Provide a communicative purpose for the listening Focus on assessing the listening skills, not spelling, grammar etc. Include both detail questions and meaning questions Don’t expect full comprehension Consider integrating skills in the types of questions: discrimination of phonemes, paraphrase recognition, short answers, cloze, dictation, information transfer tasks, note-taking

Considerations for creating listening tests Text types (narrative, descriptive etc.) Speech types (dialogues, monologues) Mode of listening: audio, video, reader Varieties of English Scripted or unscripted Length of listening, number of exchanges in dialogues