Making Use of Assessment Data for English Language Curriculum Planning February 2006

Revised expectations Improved teaching strategies Improved curriculum plans Reflecting Analyzing Interpreting Assessment Data Useful quality feedback to pupils Effective learning Impetus for learning Assessment for Learning

Some Suggestions on the Way Forward: Use poems, songs and rhymes to help pupils develop sensitivity towards the sounds and rhythm of the English languagepoems, songs and rhymes Expose pupils to more authentic listening materials covering a range of text types (e.g. advertisements, announcements, telephone conversations) to prepare pupils for listening to English in real-life situations Draw pupils’ attention to the use of spoken English in their daily life (e.g. conversations with the NETs, announcements on the MTR) Make use of activities like storytelling, reading aloud and shared reading to develop pupils’ listening skills (let pupils comprehend more meaningful chunks by asking them to listen to or read aloud continuous prose) Listening

Some Suggestions on the Way Forward: Help pupils anticipate the content of the listening text and tune in Develop in pupils the good habit of listening to the whole recording once to get the gist or main ideas the first time they listen. In subsequent listening, guide pupils to locate and understand specific details Teach the skills explicitly rather than just playing the tape/CD and checking answers Review the problems when pupils fail to identify the information required and guide pupils on how to get the answers Increase in complexity the content of the listening materials as pupils progress from KS1 to KS2 (e.g. providing opportunities for pupils to listen to extended texts rather than merely short and discrete items) Help pupils develop their simple note-taking skills Teach pupils to deduce the right answers by eliminating the unreasonable or illogical options in the MC questions (as a useful examination technique) Listening

Some Suggestions on the Way Forward: Use multi-media resources to boost pupils’ interest and confidence in reading Expose pupils to a range of text types Teach pupils different reading skills explicitly with close reference to the text types instead of just explaining the meaning of the vocabulary Guide pupils to read for meaning (i.e. understand the main ideas/gist of the whole text before learning how to locate specific information) Use effective questioning techniques to help pupils develop reading skills as well as critical thinking skills and creativityquestioning Allow ‘wait time’ for pupils to formulate their responses Do not just drill the item types without telling pupils how they can make sense of what they read Reading

Effective Questioning Techniques Ask questions to check knowledge and comprehension Ask more open-ended questions to stimulate thinking  Application  Analysis  Synthesis  Evaluation Please refer to pg of the English Language Curriculum Guide (P1-6)

Some Suggestions on the Way Forward: Learning and teaching Ask open-ended questions  Encouraging pupils to express their personal experiences, ideas and feelings  Helping pupils develop creativity Gradually reduce the support given to pupils  Providing a model  Providing guiding questions  Providing an outline Writing

Some Suggestions on the Way Forward: Learning and teaching Expose pupils to a variety of text types Discuss the topic for the writing task, clarify the purpose and audience, discuss the format, conventions and language features whenever appropriate Use shared writing, process writing to help learners progress from the stage of guided writing to independent writing Provide opportunities for the application of the language items and structures learnt Develop pupils’ capacity to use a variety of language structures and vocabulary Guide pupils on how to organize ideas (e.g. understand the use of a mind map and appropriate cohesive devices rather than just answering guiding questions) Writing

Some Suggestions on the Way Forward: Learning and teaching Help pupils develop the habit of reviewing their own work to avoid careless spelling and grammatical mistakes Give quality feedback to pupils on how they can improve their writing (acknowledging pupils’ efforts and give encouraging remarks) Foster a good learning culture in class by demonstrating examples of good pupil writing and highlighting pupils’ strengths Writing

Some Suggestions on the Way Forward: Provide more practice on reading aloud (application of phonics skills) Provide more practice on giving presentations or rehearsed speech (e.g. show-and-tell) Provide more practice on spontaneous interaction (e.g. more interactive activities for pupils to practise using the language for purposeful communication, not just answering teacher’s questions) Speak with pupils in English both inside and outside the classroom Encourage and guide pupils to give appropriate elaboration (tell them different ways of giving elaboration) Develop pupils’ confidence in speaking up (emphasis on fluency/message before accuracy) Teach the communication strategies explicitly Speaking

Use holistic marking  Identify the focus of the task  Decide on the marking criteria which can cover the different aspects (e.g. content, language and organization for writing)  Acknowledge what pupils can do  Avoid counting every single grammatical/spelling/pronunciation mistake  Practise consensus marking to gain a common understanding of pupils’ performance and facilitate the provision of feedback Marking – Writing / Speaking Some Suggestions on the Way Forward:

Ms Cindy ChanTel. no.: Ms Emilie TongTel. no.: English Language Education Section Curriculum Development Institute

Thank You

Resource Packages Let’s Experience and Appreciate Poetry (LEAP) KS1 & KS2 Let’s Experience and Appreciate Drama (LEAD) Strategies and Activities to Maximize Pleasurable Learning Experiences (SAMPLE) Poems, Songs and Games Songs, Rhymes and Tales for KS1 & KS2

Good Practice in Speech Activities Using IT to Learn, Learning to Use IT Resource Packages Promoting Assessment for Learning in English Language Education at Primary Level Phonics Multimedia Resource Pack Phonics in Action