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Publisher description: In this book the author builds a comprehensive framework for the assessment of young language learners in both foreign language and second language learning situations. She begins by considering why we need a special book on young learner assessment, and describes the nature of young learner language learning. The assessment approach is task-based and is centred around tasks and techniques suitable for young learners, with particular emphasis on classroom assessment. Oral language assessment, and reading and writing assessment are addressed in separate chapters, as is the large-scale testing of young learners. Underpinned by sound theory, the book is full of practical guidelines, and draws on examples of assessment contexts, issues and practices from around the world.
This volume documents international, national, and small-scale testing and assessment projects of English language education for young learners, across a range of educational contexts. It covers three main areas: age-appropriate ‘can do statements’ and task types for teaching and testing learners between the ages of 6 to 13; innovative approaches to self-assessment, diagnostic testing, self- perception, and computer-based testing; and findings on how young learners perform on vocabulary, listening, speaking, pronunciation, and reading comprehension tests in European and Asian contexts. Early language learning has become a major trend in English language education around the globe. As a result of the spread of teaching English to a growing number of young children, assessment of and for learning have emerged as key issues. In line with this development, there is a clear and emerging need to make early language programs accountable and to assess both the progress children make over time and to quantify their achievement at various stages of development. This volume informs stakeholders about the realistic goals of early language learning, their efficiency, and how much progress children make over time.
An account of how children learn L2s in formal contexts and how that knowledge impacts on the design, development, and evaluation of their language assessment products.
The volume unites research and practice on integrating language learning, teaching and assessment at preschool and early school age. It includes chapters written by experts in the field who have studied some of the very youngest (pre-primary) children through to those up to the age of 12, in a variety of private and state contexts across Europe. The collection makes a much-needed contribution to the subject of appropriate assessment for children with the focus of many chapters being classroom-based assessment, particularly formative assessment, or the case for developing assessment skills in relation to even the youngest children. As a whole, the book provides useful case study insights for policymakers, teacher educators, researchers and postgraduate students with interest in or responsibility for how children are assessed in their language learning. It also provides practical ideas for practitioners who wish to implement greater integration of assessment and learning in their own contexts.
This volume provides a detailed account of the practical use of Assessment for Learning (AfL) in primary language classrooms. It gives an in-depth account of the ways in which eight experienced primary language teachers incorporated this type of assessment into their practice and discusses the possible impact of AfL on primary language learning. Key themes discussed in the volume include the relationship between AfL and language learning in childhood, which assessment methods are appropriate for primary-aged language learners, which methods support learner agency and engagement in the learning processes, and possible paths for future action, with a focus on implementation and researching AfL in primary language contexts. The findings of this book are relevant to global contexts and it will be of interest to postgraduate students and researchers in the fields of language education, language assessment and teacher education, as well as to primary and language teachers and school leaders.
English Language Proficiency Assessments for Young Learners provides both theoretical and empirical information about assessing the English language proficiency of young learners. Using large-scale standardized English language proficiency assessments developed for international or U.S. contexts as concrete examples, this volume illustrates rigorous processes of developing and validating assessments with considerations of young learners’ unique characteristics. In this volume, young learners are defined as school-age children from approximately 5 to 13 years old, learning English as a foreign language (EFL) or a second language (ESL). This volume also discusses innovative ways to assess young learners’ English language abilities based on empirical studies, with each chapter offering stimulating ideas for future research and development work to improve English language assessment practices with young learners. English Language Proficiency Assessments for Young Learners is a useful resource for students, test developers, educators, and researchers in the area of language testing and assessment.
Seminar paper from the year 2005 in the subject English - Pedagogy, Didactics, Literature Studies, grade: 2,0, University of Wuppertal, course: Teaching English to very young children, 10 entries in the bibliography, language: English, abstract: In 1999, Rea-Dickens and Rixon conducted a survey about the relationship between assessment and learning. 120 European teachers and teacher trainers were asked if the main purpose of their assessment was to help their teaching, and 97% answered in the affirmative. Rea-Dickens and Rixon examined afterwards what the teachers really assessed and how they did so. They found a strong "mismatch between curricular aims, pedagogy and test content" (Cameron, Lynne.Teaching languages to very young learners. Cambridge University press.2001. page 217). The assessment focused mainly on the children's achievements but neglected on other curricular aims such as language and social awareness. The assessment of young learners should serve teaching by providing feedback on the children's learning progress, so that the content and the difficulty of subsequent teaching units can be effectively adjusted to the learners' needs. This paper offers the reader an overview about the theoretical ideas and principles which should be kept in mind when implementing an assessment. Furthermore the guidelines of lower Saxony are introduced. They illustrate the expectations of the German school system towards assessment in class. Afterwards the paper gives an overview about psycholinguistic tests such as "Blitztest" and "F-Test". Additionally, the paper answers the question of origin and purpose of the Cambridge Young Learners Test. Finally, material which should support the teacher in the efficiency assessment of the pupils is represented, considering the example of "Ginger".
