Testing Young Learners’ English.

1. Testing Young Learners’ English. Anna Voronina, Pearson Longman teacher trainer.

2. Reasons for testing: Why is assessment carried out? • To help you in teaching; • To provide information for administrative purpose; • To provide information to parents; • As part of certification at the end of primary school; • ...

3. Do you always use ready made tests?

4. Points to keep in mind when testing young learners’ English • Take account of children's cognitive and social development • Be consistent with good practice in primary school teaching; • Support language use with clear contexts and accessible tasks

5. Points to keep in mind when testing young learners’ English • Reward children for what they do know, not penalise them for what they don't • Report meaningful results in order to encourage further learning.

6. What do we test

7. How do we test • Quizes • Communicative and meaningful tasks; • Dictations • Language games (grammar and vocab) • Projects • …

8. Making tests relevant • Speaking and listening • Topics • Language should be used in an everyday context • Any writing activity is probably best limited to the word / phrase level in context, task will be based on listening or reading.

9. Task-based testing • projects

10. Making tests motivating • Using colour; • Games • Computer-based tasks

11. Dictations should: • Be short; • Be made up of sentences which can be said in one breath; • Have a purpose, and be connected to work which has gone before or comes after; • Be read or said in a normal speed

12. Grammar and vocabulary check

13. Grammar and vocabulary check

14. Grammar and vocabulary check

15. Grammar and vocabulary check

16. Types of dictations: • Picture dictation; • Word dictations (spelling check); • Word – definition dictation (meaning)- later in the secondary classroom; • Text dictation with multi-level task; • Gap-fill; • Multiple choice; • Your ideas…

17. Picture dictation“Draw a monster” • Make pairs; • Each member of a pair draws a picture of a monster in his/her paper secretly. In turns they describe /dictate their pictures (not showing) to each other and then compare pictures they both have • “It’s got a big body, it’s got six legs and two arms, it’s got one head, it’s got three eyes, two noses, one mouth and four ears…”

18. Multi-level task dictation • 3 groups (red, violet, purple), sit separately, have different tasks; • A teacher reads the text 3 times; • Agree about marking when students write this dictation type for the second time.

21. Did you enjoy your visit to the game park / museum, Komo? Yes I did. / No I didn’t. How did you walk/travel? Did you walk/travelaround the park/forest? No, we didn’t. / Yes, we did. We travelled around the park in a jeep with a guide / my dad. How long did you stay / travel? We stayed for the weekend/week. The park was huge /small, withelephants / lions, zebras / hipposandgiraffes / crocodiles. Did the animals attack / followthe jeep? No, they didn’t attack us, but one day / eveningsome cheetahs / lionsjumped on the jeep. And some elephants / lionslooked at us through the windows.

22. Communicative language teaching and communicative language testing

23. Receptive skills testing: Bella George

24. Writing task is based on listening

25. Reading task

26. Reading task

27. Checking comprehension

28. Writing task with speaking

29. Using projects to check speaking

31. Revision

32. After the test • A teacher provides feedback to the children to ensure all of them have something to feel good about, • Children need praise and recognition. However, positive feedback should be for genuine accomplishment. • encourage positive self-evaluation

33. After the test • Use tools that are learner-friendly and mirror class activity • Reward children in public, but deal with individual difficulties in private to protect learners’ self-image.

34. Your pupils’ English language skills will soar with

35. Vocabulary test

36. Kites rise highest against the wind - not with it. - Sir Winston Churchill