The usage of different types of control in the lesson of Foreign Language
The
usage of different types of control in the lesson of Foreign Language
Preface
language foreign control
This paper deals with the different
kinds of controls and the usage in the class (lesson) of foreign languages. The
actuality of the properly organized control of pupils’ achievements gives the
teacher an opportunity to get a clear idea of his pupils’ progress in foreign
language learning. Analyzing the results of controls or testing, the teacher
will see his shortcomings both in methods and techniques applied and in the
progress of each pupil. It allows him to improve his own work. In this
connection P. Olive writes, “A control measures not only the student’s
performance but also the effectiveness of the teacher’s instruction. Control
serves a diagnostic function. They show where students have difficulties. They
provide information which should lead the teacher to modify his instruction”.
Furthermore, control, it is the determination of the level of language
proficiency that achieved by the students for a certain period of learning and
training. So in addition, control is the part of the lesson that during learning
teacher assesses how students have learned the material. The main purposes of
control allows:
) To teachers get information
about:
the result of pupil’s knowledge
separately and as a whole;
the result of their own methods,
techniques and the effectiveness on the process of teaching;
) To pupils:
To enhance the motivation
on the process of learning, so as controls help to determine their success and
failure;
To study more diligently,
make correction in the learning process.object of the control might be: a) a
knowledge that formulated on the basis of language skills (language
competence); b) the ability to use acquired knowledge and skills in different
communicative situation (communicative competence); c) to learn the country of
that language and their cultures, traditions and nations (socio-cultural
competence). Not only to learn the abilities to speak on the way of language
learning, but also the acquisition of language system is considered as a
main object of the control.
The problem of the control:
Deficiency of usage different kinds of controls on the process of foreign
language teaching.features of control: Control in the classroom should reflect
the specific nature of a foreign language as a school subject. In the study of
academic disciplines that introduce the fundamentals of science, the purpose of
determining the level of control is the knowledge acquired in the field of a
science in a low degree - formed skills. Assimilation of a foreign language, is
referred to the group of practical disciplines provide
primarily seizing the means using language in a variety of activities and areas
of communication. Therefore, control of knowledge of the language system does
not provide information on the practical language possession as the level of communicative
competence.
1. The importance of control
is an important part of every
teaching and learning experience. How control helps students learning English
can help students in at least two ways. First of all, such controls help create
positive attitudes toward your class. In the interest of motivation and
efficient instruction, teachers almost universally aim at providing positive
classroom experiences for their students. There are some important ways that
testing (as a one types of controls) can contribute to this aim. One that
applies in nearly every class is a sense of accomplishment. In the early 1970s
students in an intensive ESL program were being taught from an unstructured
conversation-based text. These students complained that while they had ample
opportunity to converse in English, they were “not learning anything”. Soon
afterwards, however, periodic evaluation provided them with a sense of
accomplishment that ended their dissatisfaction. Controls of appropriate
difficulty announced well in advance and covering skills scheduled to be
evaluated, can also contribute to a positive tone by demonstrating your spirit
of fair play and consistency with course objectives. second way that English
controls can benefit students is by helping them master the language. They are
helped, of course, when they study for exams and again when exams are returned
and discussed. Where several control tasks are given, learning can also be
enhanced by student’s growing awareness of your objectives and the areas of
emphasis in the course. Control tasks con foster learning, too, by their diagnostic
characteristics: They confirm what each person has mastered, and they point
up those language items needing further attention. Naturally, a better
awareness of course objectives and personal language needs can help your
students adjust their personal goals. For example, one person might note your
strong control emphasis on oral comprehension, and he might also find that he
had missed several vocabulary items on a recent test. One logical step would be
for him to concentrate on the meaning of troublesome words, especially in a
spoken context. Learning to spell them or recognize them in a printed context
would become a second priority. So good English control tasks help students
learn the language by requiring them to study hard, emphasizing course
objectives, and showing them where they need to improve. Teachers who teach
English as a Second or Foreign Language are generally expected to be
accountable for the results of our instruction. The control tasks can help them
answer the important question “Have I been effective in my teaching?” In other
words, they can use them to diagnose efforts as well as those of for their
students. Even As they record the test scores, they might well ask themselves
the following questions: “Are my lessons on the right level? Or am I aiming my
instruction too low or high?” “What areas do we need more work on? Which points
need reviewing?” In addition, control tasks can provide insights into ways that
we can improve the evaluation process itself: “Were the test instructions
clear?” “Was everyone able to finish in the allotted time?” “Did the test
results reflect accurately how my students have been responding in class and in
their assigned work?” Controls, then, benefit students, teachers, and even
administrators by confirming progress that has been made and showing how we can
best redirect their future efforts. In addition, good tests can sustain or
enhance class morale and aid learning.
. The requirements and forms of the
control
goes without saying that control
will be effective when it appropriates with requirements of didactic and
methods of learning foreign languages. The main requirements in control, it
might be objectivity, regularity, differentiated character and clarity and
precision in the formulation of control tasks. So, objectivity in control,
it means compliance monitoring of the results of training a certain standard
contained in the list of requirements to the level of proficiency for different
stages of learning profiles. Knowledge assumes of the criteria for assessing
students for various activities, compliance with these criteria, minimize
subjectivity in the evaluation of students. Objectivity in control provided by:
· Quantitative
evaluation of performance. Here, the greatest objectivity achieved by taking
into account the number of errors in the speech, estimate the rate of speech
and a number of other performance indicators;
· Qualitative
assessment of performance (completeness of disclosure topics compliance
statements job skill adequately express their thoughts in a given speech
situation and etc.). It is possible in the assessment activities of
subjectivity of students and the teacher must be prepared to assess formulated
choice in terms of the existing criteria.in control indicates that it has a
systematic character. It is known that the intensity and duration of the
students to memorize the acquired material depend on many frequency and
regularity of control.character in control suggests requirements that followed
below:
Forms of control should be
appropriate with those aspects of language or type of that performance which is
getting to be checked. Thus, the assessments of language knowledge, especially
in speaking part will be checked by differentiated features, but source of
controls are its own oral part. For dialogic objects of control might be to
understand partner’s speech and definite his/her communicative intention,
furthermore adequately influence on partner’s replication, ability to initiate
a dialog (to ask questions, make offers, desires, wish and so on). So, for
monologue speech the objects of control will be ability to create constrained
text from various communicative directions (affirmative, e-mail, essay,
composition, discussion). Mainly, it consists of that control from speech will
be correctly checked in the process of oral communication.
Forms of control should be
chosen depending on stage of teaching and student’s individual-psychological
peculiarities. This kind requirement reflects presence different levels of development.and
precision formulation in control tasks usually define success in the process of
control. Sometimes control tasks might be formulated in learners’ native
language and installation for carrying out given tasks will assist to have well
understanding about tasks.
. Forms of control will be different
are individual, frontage, group and
pair. Each of these forms of control accomplished in oral and written forms. In
order to determine the level of knowledge’s monologue speech suits individual
control: it means learners introduced with text and carry out tasks for test
during certain time. Successfulness in carrying out tasks assess with such
criteria:
) Accordance transmitting the
information of text content and tasks;
) Connection and logicality
in transmission;
) Fullness and clarity of
transmitted text;
) Movement information with
norms (lexicon -grammatically and phonetic-intonation).forms of control means
an effective way of objective control, thus through this kind control
determines each learner’s success. That’s why mostly it suits to check
learner’s knowledge at the end of the course as a final control. But this kind
of control is not so suitable for kid learners, because they are not able to
have attention separately. Secondly it is no so effective because while teacher
explains one by one for kids, others get noisy. In the auditory individual
control will be in oral form, but written form will be at the end of the each
new theme.control means that teacher fully has conversation and explanation with
all learners at the same time they should give answer one by one just sitting
on their chair. So effectiveness of this control are ability fully scope while
checked; high activities of learners; high rate of execution of tasks. The
limitation of front control is that teacher cannot give explanation about task
one by one, here if student is not fully pay attention on teacher, they are not
able to answer. That’s why front control mostly suits to current
control.control will be got at the same time for all learners as a group work
such as discussion for problem question, make role play for read texts, so
teacher should prepare all tasks and their attendance in advance.
language foreign control
4. Several kinds of control in the
lesson of Foreign Language
kinds of controls are outlined in
the books of Shuckin A.N, that he gave preliminary, current, mid-term and total
controls.of the preliminary control contains that while checking
learners’ knowledge from language and their individual abilities (mind, attention,
interests to learning language, inclination, and common development). So this
kind of control helps to determine not only learner’s knowledge, also their
individually- psychological qualities, which assists success in the process of
Foreign Language Learning.
Current
control affords to check learner’s language successes in the process of
development and installation speech skills and abilities. This control should
be regularly and directed to checking captured certain kinds of educational
materials.
Mid-term
control is conducted to a finished unit. It affords to check about
effectiveness of divided program materials.
The final control directed
to installation level of language knowledge that achieved certain kinds of
volume of materials as a result in certain period of time (at the end of
curriculum). The peculiarities of this kind of control concluded in the
direction of determine level of language as communicative competence. That’s
why for the final control is used special kinds of tests, which allowed
learners to be checked fully.
4. Test is one of the types of
control and their characteristics
(from English it means “trial”
and “investigation”) - this is the system of tasks, which carried out
and afford characterize the level of knowledge of English language with the
help of special scale results. Furthermore, tests are used for determination of
learners’ ability, mental development and other kinds of personal
characteristics. There are four main reasons for testing which give to rise to
four categories of test. Placement test: placing new students in the
right class in a school facilitated with the use of placement tests. Usually
based on syllabuses and materials the students will follow and use their level
has been decided on, these test grammar and vocabulary knowlrdge and assess
students’s productive and receptive skills. Some schools ask students to assess
themselves as part of placement process adding this self analysis into the
finalplacing decision. Diagnostic test: while placement tests are designed
to show how good a student’s English is in relation to a previouslyagreed
system of levels, diagnostic tests can be used to expose learner difficulties,
gaps in their knowledge, and skills deficiencies during a course. Thus, when we
know what the problems are, we can do something about them. Progress and
achievement tests: these tests are designed to measure learners’ language
and skill progress in relation to the syllabus they have been following.
Achievement tests only work if they contain item types which the studentsare
familiar with. This doesn’t mean that in a reading test, for example, we give
them texts they have seen before, but it does mean providing them with similar
texts and familiar text types. If students faced with completely new material,
the test will not measure the learning that has been taking place, even though
it can still measure general language proficiency. Achievement tests at the end
of a term (like progress testsat the end of a unit, a fortnight, etc.) should
progress, not failure. They should reinforce the learning that has taken place,
not go out of their way to expose weaknesses. They can also help us to decide
on change to future teaching programmes where students do significantly worse
in (parts of) the test than we might have expected. Proficiency tests:
proficiency tests give a general picture of a students’ knowledge and ability
(rather than measure progress). They re frequently used as stages people have
to reach if they want to be admitted to a foreign university, get a job, or
obtain some kind of certificate. Proficiency tests have a profound backwash
effect since, where they are external exams, students obviously want to pass
them, and teacher’s reputations sometimes depend (probably unfairly) upon how
many of them succeed. order to judge the effectiveness of any test it is
sensible to law down criteria against which the test can be measured, as
follows: Validity: a testis valid if it tests what it is supposed to
test. Thus it is not valid, for example, to test writing ability with an essay
question that requires specialist knowledge of history or biology - unless it
is known that all students share this knowledge before they do the test. A
particular kind of validity that concerns most test designers is face validity.
This means that the test should look, on the face of it, as if it is valid. A
test which consisted of only three multiple choice items would not convince
students of its face validity however reliable or practical teachers thought it
to be. Reliability: a good test should give consistent results. For
example, if the same group of students took the same test twice within two days
- without reflecting on the first test before they sat it again- they should
get the same results on each occasion. If they took another similar test, the
result should be consistent. If two groups who were demonstrably alike took the
test, the marking range would be the same.
5. The usage of various controls in
several skills
we will be introduced below some
kind of tests or controls in grammar, vocabulary and so on four skills such as
speaking, writing, reading, listening and reading skills. Here my purpose is to
show each items separately and at the same time to figure out theirs’
advantages and disadvantages. In this way every teachers can choose appropriate
kinds of test according to his/her learners’ language level. So first one is
for vocabulary and grammar.and Grammar testspurpose of vocabulary test is to
measure the comprehension and production of words used in speaking or writing.
Four general kinds of vocabulary tests are presented. The first, limited
response is for beginners. These test items require either a simple physical
action like pointing at something or a very simple verbal answer such as “yes”
or “no”. The second, multiple-choice completion, is a test in which sentence
with a missing word is presented; students choose one of four vocabulary items
given to complete the sentence. A third type, multiple- choice paraphrase, is a
test in which a sentence with one word underlined is given. Students choose
which of four words is the closet in meaning to the underlined item. A fourth
kind of test, simple completion (words), has students write in the missing part
of words that appear in sentences. Deciding how to test vocabulary is related
to how we teach it. Most ESL teachers today do not recommend having students
simply memorize lists of words. Instead, they teach students to find the
meaning of words through of context of the sentence, and they help increase
comprehension by teaching important affixes (happy: unhappy/beauty: beautiful).
In testing vocabulary, we also need to avoid presenting words in isolation.
Checking vocabulary mastery can be adjusted to match your emphasis on oral or
written skills. Suppose improving conversation skills is your primary
objective: You can test vocabulary by using oral clues (“What time is it?”) and
by requiring spoken answers (“It is nine o’clock”). On the other hand, suppose
you are stressing reading: You can offer a written multiple- choice format (“He
bought a cake at the (A) bank, (B) bakery, (C) hardware store, (D)
bookstore”).: A. LIMITED RESPONSE.
. Write out five commands
that a student can perform (individually) by moving about the room, and five
commands that he can perform while sitting down.
. Write out five commands or
questions that a student can respond to (individually) by pointing to a picture
that you have found. Include the picture.
. Using the picture from
activity 2, prepare five requests five requests that require students to follow
instructions by drawing.
. Using original line drawings
or pictures (from your students’ text) showing activities, prepare five
vocabulary questions that require short answers. Supply sample answers.of
Limited Response:
Ø It causes less
stress or nervousness than other types of tests.
Ø It avoids skills such
as reading and writing that have not yet been developed.
Ø It can be scored
easily and objectively.of Limited Response:
Ø It requires
individual testing, which takes longer than group testing.
Ø It is usually
difficult to test abstract words with this technique.
Ø Sketches are
sometimes ambiguous (e.g., an orange may look like a ball; running may look
like dancing or jumping).. MULTIPLE-CHOICE COMPLETION.
. The following sentences contain
examples of distractor difficulties. Identify the weakness in each item. Then
correct it.
2. Prepare five test items from
words in your students’ text, or use the following vocabulary words:
truth/weekend/secret/perfume.) For each word write a sentence context that
reflects the meaning of word as clearly as possible.) Prepare three good
distractors for each test item.) Write simple, clear instructions, and
include an example.of Multiple- Choice Completion:
ü It helps students
see the full meaning of words by providing natural contexts. Also, it is a good
influence on instruction: It discourages word-list memorization.
ü Scoring is easy and
consistent.
ü It is a sensitive
measure of achievement.of Multiple -Choice Completion:
ü It is rather
difficult to prepare good sentence contexts that clearly show the meaning of
the word being tested.
ü It is easy for
students to cheat by copying what others have circled.tests are designed to
measure student proficiency in matters ranging from inflections
(bottle-bottles, bake-baked) to syntax. Syntax involves the relationship of
words in a sentence, including matters such as word order, use of negative,
question forms, and connectives. RESPONSE: The grammar of students with very
little ability in English can be checked without having them speak or write
anything. This can be done by means of directed physical responses and visuals.
So here was presented two basic ways to measure grammar skills of these
beginning level students: (1) testing them one at a time, and (2) testing them
in groups.testing: You can test students individually by using oral requests.
These requests can ask for easy spoken replies or simply for nonverbal actions.
When teaching students who know almost no English, you can permit answers in
their native language.
Example: (students hear in
English)
“How many books are on the
table?”
(students answer in their
language)
“There are six.”can be used to
test students individually or in a groups. To test preposition recognition, we
can ask , “Is the lady on the house?” Or we can say, “Point to the child behind
the car.”testing: You can also test students in groups by using directed
physical responses. The following “drawing” activity can test prepositions of
place: First, explain and illustrate any new vocabulary words. Then have
students make a drawing according to your spoken instructions: “Draw an
airplane in the middle of the paper.[pause while students draw.] Now
draw a house below the airplane. [Pause] Next draw a cloud in front of
the airplane.” Using a picture like the first one, you can test your student’s
understanding of prepositions. For example, we can say, “Draw a circle around
the person on the house” or “Draw an ‘X’ on the boy behind the car”. Sets of
three or four related pictures can evaluate mastery of a number of grammar
points. Here is a set that tests the comparative:
(nonverbal) “Circle the
picture that illustrates this sentence: ‘The boy is as big as the girl.’”
(yes-no) “Look at picture
‘B.’ Is the boy as big as the girl?”
(true-false) “Look at picture
‘C’ The girl is taller than the boy”of Limited Response:
v It puts students at
ease and avoids unnecessary stress.
v It avoids skills
such as reading and writing that have not yet been developed.
v It can be scored
easily and objectively.of Limited Response:
v Individual testing
takes longer than group testing.
v It is difficult to
find suitable pictures (although the teacher can make needed sketches).
v Only a limited
number of grammatical structures can be tested.
СLOZE
PROCEDURE.tests are prose passages, usually a paragraph or more in length, from
which words have been deleted. The student relies on the context in order to
supply the missing words. At the present time, no single test format is more
popular than the cloze procedure. It is easy to prepare and rather easy to
score. Teachers like it too because it is integrative - that is, it requires
students to process the components of language simultaneously, much like what
happens when people communicate. Moreover, studies have shown that it relates
well to various language measures- from listening comprehension to overall
performance on a battery of language tests. In brief, it is a good measure of
overall proficiency.
) Write out the major problem
that you see in the following cloze test. Disregard its short length.
There was much conflict in
early Vermont. It remained an unbroken wilderness until_____ , when a French
officer established Fort ____ on Isle La Motte. In 1924 Massachusetts ____
fearing attacks by the French and _____ , built Fort Dummer near the present
____ of Brattleboro. The French forts at ____ and Crown Point were used as ___
for attacks.
Key: (1666, St. Anne, colonists,
Indians, site, Chimney Point, bases).
) Prepare a full-length cloze
test. It should test grammar, and it should be on the right level for your
students. Write out the instructions and the passage (with numbered blanks).
Include a key at the end. Optional activity: Administer the test and choose
equivalent correct answers. Tell what they are and how you chose them.of Cloze:
· It is easy to
prepare and quite easy to score.
· It is a good
measure of integrative English skills.
· Standard cloze is a
good measure of overall ability in English.of Cloze:
· It is not a
sensitive measure of short-term gains.
· It is difficult for
teachers who are non-native English speakers to choose acceptable equivalent
words.and Writing testsof reading come in a wide variety of forms and evaluates
a broad spectrum of reading activities. These range from pre-reading concerns
(learning the Roman alphabet, for example, or word- attack skills) to reading
comprehension, reading speed, and skimming techniques. Advanced and more
specialized applications include translations, reading aloud, and reading
literature. Reading speed is especially important for students with lots of
out-of-class reading to do. Skimming is handy for people who need to hunt for
information in print: This includes reading a newspaper as well as doing
research in a library. The advanced applications are helpful for translators as
well as radio and television announcers. Many students at the advanced level
can use skills of literary analysis for school and leisure. . LIMITED
RESPONSE.
) Prepare a list of five
pairs of letters that students might confuse. (Example: “b” and “d”)
) Prepare a set of ten same-
different phrase items. Select them from your student’s ESL text, or use
these phrases and choose five more: at the fountain/ has been paid/ an ill
man/ shall we go/ that’s quite petty.
3) Prepare a set of ten
odd-item triplets. Use words from ESL text.
4) Prepare a set of ten
key-word items, each with three distractors, plus the word that matches the
key. Select them from your student’s ESL text. Or you may use these words and
then choose five more: slips, matted, stacks, paper, fright.
Advantages of Limited- Response
items:
These are
quite easy to construct and score.
Only
the recognition of letters is required, making this a simple task for beginning
students.of Limited- Response Items:
This
is not an integrative skill involving actual reading.
Overemphasis
on this technique could reduce reading speed.
B. SENTENCES COMPREHENSION.
) Prepare or select a set of
three related sketches. Prepare a statement on one of them. Make sure it
involves reading comprehension.
) Find a picture- preferably
one with various activities in it. Prepare three true -false items related to
it. These should be written on a level that your students can understand. Then
prepare two yes-no items on the picture. These should be on your student’s
level.
) Prepare a list of twenty
signs. If these are available in your student text, use them. If not, use signs
that your students could encounter in English. Write these out. Then choose
five of these to test the meaning of. Prepare five three- option multiple-
choice questions that test meaning through paraphrase.
) Prepare four three-option
multiple-choice questions to test the most advanced grammar items that you have
recently taught to your students. Or you may use the items below. Use paraphrase.
a) I’d live in a dorm if I
didn’t have an uncle in town.) If she hadn’t answered the telephone, she
wouldn’t have heard the good news.) He said I wouldn’t graduate unless I
studied harder.) She’ll invite him whether or not he finishes the painting.
5) Prepare
sentence-comprehension items.
a) Write five true-false
sentences on your student’s level.) Write directions for these items and
include an example.
Advantages of Sentence-
Comprehension Items
It is
rather easy to write true-false items on pictures.
These
are good for testing the skills of near beginning students.
This
is a rapid way to test reading comprehension.of Sentence- Comprehension Items
Finding
good pictures can be rather time consuming.
Not all reading skills are
covered in sentence-+ comprehension questions.
C. PASSAGE COMPREHENSION.
. Prepare a multiple-choice cloze
test form the following passage. Get three distractors for each word in bold
face. If possible, get your distractors by administering the passage to your
ESL students or students in other class.
The miller had a hut in a
little town in a land across the sea. The beautiful castle where the king lived
was in the same town. But the miller had not met the king. One day the miller
had to take a sack of corn to the king’s castle. As he was going into the
castle, he met the king. The miller bowed to the king and the king stopped to
talk to him. They talked and talked. The miller told the king that he lived in
the town. And from this time on, they became the best of friends.
Advantages of Passage Comprehension
This is the most
integrative type of reading test.
It
is objective and easy to score.
It can
evaluate students at every level of reading development.of Passage
Comprehension
Passage
comprehension is more time consuming to take than other kinds of tests.
One pitfall
in preparing this kind of test is utilizing questions that deal with trivial
details.
Passage-
comprehension tests which use questions on trivial details encourage word-by-word
reading.
Writing
tests: There are many kinds of writing tests. The reason for this is fairly
simple: A wide variety of writing tests is needed to test the many kinds of
writing tasks that we engage in. For one thing, there are usually distinct
stages of instruction in writing such as pre-writing, guided writing, and free
writing. Each stage tends to require different types of evaluation. Test
variety also stems from the various applications of writing. These range from
school uses such as note taking and class reports to common personal needs such
as letter writing and filling out forms. Beside these, there specialized
advanced applications: the attorney’s legal brief or summary, translation,
secretarial uses, advertising, research reports, journalism, and literature.
Such different writing applications also often call for different test
applications. Another reason for the variety of writing tests in use is the
great number of factors that can be evaluated: mechanics (including spelling
and punctuation), vocabulary, grammar, appropriate content, diction (or word
selection), rhetorical matters of various kinds (organization, cohesion, unity;
appropriateness to the audience, topic, and occasion); as well as sophisticated
concerns such as logic and style.
A. LIMITED RESPONSE.
. Prepare ten
sentence-combining items that are suitable for your students. Use sentence
connectors (not subordinators). Beginning and lower intermediate students may
need a list of connectors to choose from it.
. Prepare a ten-item expansion
task. Use sentences from your student’s ESL text. Or you may use the following
four sentences and then compose six of your own. Indicate where the additions
should be placed. Write out suggested answers.) One reason is that he had not
finished school.) The scenery is beautiful.) Mary’s friend injured her
foot.) The strike inconvenienced everyone.
. Prepare a ten-item
sentence- reduction task. Underline the part of the sentence to be replaced.
Add necessary clue words. Then indicate what the revision should be.
. Select a 100-to-150-word
passage, and prepare an oral cloze. Write out a set of instructions.of
Limited-Response Items:
· These are generally quite easy to
construct.
· These are suitable for students with
limited ability in English.
· Except for the open-ended variety,
these are rather objective for a writing-related task.of Limited- Response
Items:
· These do not measure actual writing
skill.
· These can be rather slow to
correct-especially the open-ended variety.. GUIDED WRITING.
. Write a paragraph to check
organization (or find one in your student’s text). Use clear transition words
(such as “a second reason…..” or “just before noon……”). Scramble the sentences,
and prepare instructions for the student.
. Find a dialog in one of the
texts that you are using in your English class. Copy it out, and write
instructions for your students to write a narrative from it, not using any
quotation marks. Give a short example. Then prepare model of what you think the
students should write.
. Now provide a different
kind of guided- writing test. After writing out a set of instructions, prepare
six or eight questions on a specific topic (such as a sport, a vocation, a
city). Then prepare a model of what you think the students should write.of
Guided-Writing Tests:
Guided
writing tests are rather quick and easy to construct.
Because
they require an active rather than a passive response, guided testing
techniques give the appearance of being an effective measure of writing.
Guided-writing tests provide
appropriate control for those students who not ready to write on their own.
Limitations of Guided-Writing Tests:
Guided-writing
tests do not measure ingredients such as organization found in extended
writing.
Guided-writing of the
paragraph -outline variety is often rather time consuming and difficult to
grade.
Guided-writing
of the paragraph -outline variety is difficult to score with real consistency.. FREE
WRITING.
. Find or draw a picture
sequence that tells a story. Write instructions for your students so they can
write a narrative based on the pictures.
. Find a chart or table or
diagram for your students to interpret in a free-writing task. Include this
with your set of instructions to the students.
. Provide a very specific
situation to serve as a guideline for your student writing.
. Using a holistic approach,
team up with another teacher and grade a set of compositions, if possible at
least 10 to 20 of them. Determine your criteria in advance. Report the results
of your grading.of Free-Writing Approaches
Despite its limitations, this
is an important, sound measure of overall writing ability.
This can have
a good effect on instruction: Students will be more motivated to write in and
out of class, knowing that their test will be an actual writing task.
There is virtually no chance
of getting a passing grade on a free-writing test by cheating. (Like other
examinations, it would be conducted in the classroom under supervision.)
Limitations of Free-Writing
Approaches
Grading of
free- writing tends to lack objectivity and consistency.
Free-writing
is time consuming to grade.
Native-Language Responses:
There is an interesting little quiz that can be used with beginners during
their first days of instruction. Suppose you were teaching Spanish speakers,
and suppose also that you had friends who spoke German, French and Arabic. You
could tape random sentences or two-line dialogs of English, intermingled with
utterance in these three other languages. After each number on their paper,
students could indicate in their native language “English” or “other”. For those
just slightly more advanced, you could use true-false questions with the
true-false options printed in the native language. Classes with mixed language
background could simply circle “T” for true and “F” for false. Depending on how
much vocabulary they had acquired, students would respond to questions such as
the following:can fly. T : Fare bigger than people. T : F
Picture clues: Visual
of various kinds have long been used to test listening comprehension. Although
the technique is not limited to beginning students, it is especially useful
with beginners: Students do not need to be literate in their second language in
order to be tested. When using a set of three or four related pictures, keep
these ideas in mind: There does not have to be a story line relating the
pictures to each other. The same set can be used for several questions. You
could duplicate them so each student has his own, or you could make a
transparency and use an overhead projector to display them to the class.
Another possibility is to sketch them on the chalkboard. If students have own,
they can circle objects referred to, or you can have them identify pictures by
number. The sample set on page 130 can be followed by this listening
comprehension question:
“Although their bikes are clean, the
two boys are dirty” (Students would select picture number two).a map showing
local streets and businesses. Next, in colored ink or colored pencil, trace a
route on that map. Then prepare instructions which tell your students how to
trace that same route on their maps.of Limited Response
· This is suitable
for persons not able to read and write in the target language.
· This involves
flexible techniques: Some are interesting to children, and several techniques
are useful for young people and adults with intermediate to advanced skills.
· The questions are
generally quite easy to prepare.
· Limited-response
items are generally rather objective as well as quick and easy to score.of
Limited Response
· Native-language
responses are limited to classes with bilingual teachers and students with the
same language background.
· Suitable pictures
for picture clue items are not always easy to find.
· Equipment (such as
a Xerox or other copy machine) is usually needed to reproduce drawings for
certain task-response and picture-clue items.choice appropriate responseare
three guidelines to keep in mind when preparing multiple-choice appropriate-response
items to test listening comprehension: Focus on meaning; keep the options
simple; and learn to adjust the difficulty of the items.
. Focus on meaning. When
writing multiple-choice appropriate-response items, use vocabulary and grammar
that your students already know. The object is to measure only the students’
understanding of a particular sentence or short dialog. Look at the following
example (the part in parentheses is heard but not read; the three options are
read only):
(When Jack leaves, they will hire
you, won’t they?). Yes, you will. B. Yes, he is leaving. C. Yes , they
will.
. Keep the options simple.
Look at the sample that mentioned above again. Notice how simple and brief the
three options are. Each one is only about three words long. Students have to
keep the stem in their memory; they won’t hear it a second time. Therefore, you
use only three options , and you keep these brief so the students won’t become
confused. Notice, too, that the options are simpler than the stem. In addition,
you can see that the distractors are all grammatically correct; they are simply
not suitable for this particular context.
. Learn to adjust the
difficulty of the items. We can take items like those illustrated above, and
you can make them easier or more difficult. In other words, we can adjust them
to match what we have taught our students. Suppose we needed easier questions.
We could simplify the stem, and you could make the distractors seem less
correct. The result is a much easier question:
(Will they help you?). Yes, you
will. B. I did. C. Yes, they will.of Multiple- Choice Appropriate
Response
ü It is fast and easy
to correct.
ü It can be scored
consistently and reliably.
ü It is an
integrative, communicative measure of listening.of Multiple- Choice Appropriate
Response
ü It is more
difficult to prepare than tests for beginners.
ü Cheating is fairly
easy, unless alternate forms are used.
ü Since the reading
of multiple-choice options is required, students need to be literate in English.Tests:
The testing of speaking is widely regarded as the most challenging of all
language exams to prepare, administer, and score. For this reason, many people
don’t even try to measure the speaking skill. They simply don’t know where to
begin the task of evaluating spoken language. The most purpose is to present
the most effective classroom approaches available for measuring oral
proficiency. The nature of speaking skill itself is not usually well defined.
Understandably then, there is some disagreements on just what criteria to
choose in evaluating oral communication. Grammar, vocabulary, and pronunciation
are often named as ingredients. But matters such as fluency and appropriateness
of expression are usually regarded as equally important. There are given
several kinds samples in order to measure and make control on speaking skill.
Response .
. Directed Response items.. Write
instructions and directed response items that require your students to produce
the following sentences.
. She likes you.
. The music is too loud.
. Thanks very much for
showing me the way here.
. I wouldn’t do that if I
were you.
. It’s quite warm outside
today, isn’t it?. Prepare five directed-request items that require stidents
to produce the sentences below.
. When does the game start/
. Where is the nearest
drinking fountain?
. Pardon me, can you speak
Spanish?
. Could you show me the way
to the manager’s office, please?
. I’m very sorry to be late.
(I missed the bus).. Prepare three situational directed-request items,
suitable for your students.
. Picture-clue items.. Find
or draw four pictures. Prepare a separate question for each picture; this
should be on your student’s level. Plan the questions to avoid one-word
responses. Give a sample answer for each question.. Find or draw a set of
pictures that tell a story or incident. Three to five should be enough. Then
prepare a question on each frame, to help your students “tell the story.”
Include the pictures.. Prepare or find a map or chart. Write out two
questions on this visual; they should be on your students’ level. Include the
map or chart with your questions.
. Reading-aloud passage.
Select a reading-aloud passage suitable for your students. Include your
instructions, and indicate what criteria will be used for grading your students’
performance.. Guided Techniques.
1. Paraphrase.
Select a little story for your students to paraphrase. Write out suitable
instructions. (The story is to be read aloud to them.) Provide three or four
simple line drawings that can help students recall details from the story.
2. Explanation.
Write out five explanation items, such as “Tell how Moslems observe Ramadan.”
These should be on your students’ level. After each item, write out a model
explanation.
3. Guided role play.
Prepare two guided role-plays to test your students with. These should be equal
in difficulty. In other words, the same kinds of questions should be asked on
each. Only the subject matter should be different. In parentheses, prepare a
model student response following each line that the teacher speaks.
C. Oral interview.
Prepare a 20- item guided oral interview appropriate for your students. Include
yes/no, wh-, and either/or questions. Also include statements. Include one or
two questions that get the students to offer some kind of correction or
modification. Also include at least one question requiring clarification.
Include at least two or three questions. Make sure that most of the questions
have some logical relationship to adjoining questions.
6. Dictation and its importance as a
control
is one of the guided- writing
controls. Most teachers about this technique, but few handle it properly.
Actually, this is one of the easiest controls to use, and it gives very good
information on the student’s language ability. But this is true only if you
prepare it right, present it right, and score it right. You can get good
results from a dictation if you follow the steps listed below.a Dictation ,
choose a story or article that is not too difficult for your students. You can
pick a selection from the reader that you use in class. Even better would be a
selection from a reader on a slightly lower level. The length of the dictation
depends on whether it is used alone or with other language measures. If it is a
part of a larger test, you can use dictation 75 to 100 words long. If it is
used by itself, you will want a passage about 125 to 200 words long. (These
are, of course, rather general guidelines).careful to choose something that is
unified able to stand alone. In order for your students to do their best, they
must understand the meaning of the whole thing. You may even want to read your
selection ahead of time to a native speaker or to another English teacher to
see if he understands it. One way of helping to provide needed unity for a dictation
from a longer passage is to write an introductory sentence or two. Here you can
summarize what preceded the part that you are using. If necessary, you can also
add a summary sentence or two at the end. Unless you are evaluating
punctuation, it would be best to avoid a passage with much quoted material in
it. Also avoid a passage containing a lot of names and dates and numbers,
unless you need to test the ability of students to write out dates and numbers.
Of course you can edit or take out a few troublesome words if the passage is
suitable otherwise. After you prepare the modified version, the next step is to
decide where the pauses should come. It’s here where we will stop for students
to write down what they have just heard. Aim for about seven or eight words
between pauses, but allow for as few as five and as many as nine or ten words
per group. You would very seldom go below five words. Let the structure of the
ten sentence serve as a guide. Longer
sentences can be divided between clauses and phrase groups. Place a slash (/)
at each point that you plan to pause. Be sure to mark the passage in advance-
not at the time you are administering the dictation. If more than one teacher
is using the same dictation (and you want to compare the classes), marking the
pauses will help make the test more uniform. You should also write out a common
set of instructions for the teachers to read aloud to the classes. These
directions should be worded simply. For beginning classes in which all students
speak the same native language, you can even give the instructions in that
language. You can also help to provide uniformity by taping the dictation and
by having two teachers score each paper. This not essential, however. the
Dictation controlhelp students do their best, be sure they know how to take a
dictation. You can help assure that they do by giving a practice dictation
during the regular class period. When administering dictation as test, make
sure everyone has lined paper and something to write with. Write out on the
blackboard any unusual name or expression from the dictation passage that you
think could be possibly confuse your students. It is also helpful to explain
the scoring procedure, if you have not done this earlier. Then tell them that
the dictation will be read aloud three times. When you read it orally the first
time, do not pause during the passage. Students must not write anything at this
time. They should simply listen carefully so they can understand what the
entire thing is about. The second time, pause after every five to ten words, as
previously marked. During each pause, the students are to write down what they
have just heard. If they have not studied much about punctuation yet, you can
provide punctuation for them. Do not repeat any words and phrases. Be sure to
make your pause long enough so that everyone has time to write down what he has
heard. Nothing is gained by having pauses that are very short. In fact, you
should watch students to make sure that everyone has had an opportunity to
finish writing, before you continue with the next phrase.
The third reading, without pauses and at normal
speed, provides an opportunity for quick proof-reading. But again, no
repetition of words or phrases is permitted.the Dictation controlbest way to
score a dictation control is to deduct one point for each error. We recommend
this even if you are counting off for spelling and punctuation errors. It might
seem fairer to take several points off for less serious errors. But much
practical experience with class dictations has shown this to be time consuming,
frustrating, and unreliable. For accurate, fast, reliable scoring, simply take
off one point for each error. This includes omitted or added words, inverted
word order, grammatical errors- everything. (One exception is to take off one
point for the first time a word is misspelled but not for repeated misspelling
of the same word. Also, unless there is a need to check student mastery of
mechanics, it is all right to ignore errors in punctuation or spelling for
beginning to intermediate students.)easy way to provide a numerical score for a
dictation is simply to give a fixed number of points for it. You can do this
regardless of the number of words in the passage. If the dictation is not part
of larger test, you can use 100 points. Next, add up the number of errors on
each dictation. If no one makes as many as 100 errors, you can just subtract
the number of errors from 100 for each person’s score. I f several students
make more than 100 errors, you can divide the number of errors on every paper
by 2. You would then subtract this from 100 for their score. (Keep in mind that
if many students make numerous errors, you have probably chosen a passage that
is too difficult for them. In such a situation, you will probably want to test
them over again using an easier selection). If you use dictation and one other
measure such as a grammar test or reading comprehension exam, you can allow 50
points for the dictation. Suppose you found papers with the following numbers
of errors: 108,73,28,19, and 12. You could divide each by 2 and subtract from
5. The first person would lose 54 points. But since minus scores are not used,
he would simply receive 0 on the dictation. (If you wanted to avoid a zero
score for the first paper, you could divide the number of errors on all
controls by 3 and subtract each of these from 50).
:
. Here is the number of
errors made by five students on a dictation: 17, 81,50,28,40. Since the
dictation was used with a reading comprehension test and a short essay, allow
only 30 points for the dictation. Convert the error totals to point scores. (A
zero score is permissible, but nearly all should be above zero).
. Using the Norway dictation
as a model, select a passage from your students’ ESL text for a dictation test.
Shorten it and adapt it by composing a suitable introductory sentence or two.
Since it is part of a larger test, this dictation should be 85 to 100 words
long. Place slashes (/) at the places where you intend to pause.
. Identify any problems that
you see in the following dictation:are both advantages /and disadvantages/
in visiting Boston /during your Christmas vacation. / It is pretty cold /and
uncomfortable then,/ and there is some danger/ of catching cold./But there is/
the famous Boston Symphony Orchestra/ to hear, and there are famous/ historical
places everywhere./ There is the Old North Church / and there are / famous
schools and museums./ Also there is Bunker Hill./ It is a famous / battleground
of the American Revolution.
4. Count the number of errors
that you find in the student paper below. Use the Norway dictation as a
correction key.
Have you ever been the West coat of
Norway? Here are mountins with her green … rise out of the sea, nar arms of the
sea reach to back the mountins. We call those nar arms of the sea reach to back
the mountins. We call those nar arms fjords. If you see these fjords from the
sky, they look like arms with long fingers. Some are many miles long. Water …
into a fjords from water falls. There is a… land along the fjords. Here we see
small fish and beaches and sometimes a farm with beach.
Advantages of Dictation Tests
· They can measure
general proficiency in English, including many of the integrative skills used
in writing.
· They are easy to
prepare.
· They can be scored
with good consistency.
· They are much
harder to cheat on than multiple-choice, completion, or cloze tests.of
Dictation Tests
· They are difficult
to use for diagnostic purposes. They combine listening and writing.
· They are not
usually helpful in measuring short-term progress.
· They are not as
easy to correct as multiple-choice, completion, or cloze tests.
Conclusion
To sum up I can say that as a result
of my analysis (research) I arrived at a conclusion that to use different types
of control in the lesson of Foreign Language help teachers to determine
learners’ knowledge fully. I n the way of my research work was created
methodological models of control that formulated communicative competence of
English learners.research work is consisted in preface, first part:
theoretical, second part: practical, conclusion and references. So in the
preface I have mentioned the main purposes, actuality, object, feathers and
problems of given theme. First is theoretical part that gives general
description about control, control’s requirements, forms and their types.
In the second part I have written
their types separately: controls in vocabulary, grammar, reading, writing,
speaking, writing and dictation. Simultaneously, I have showed theirs’ usages
and techniques in English lessons. Thus I could figure out their advantages and
limitations, so by these peculiarities teachers can choose proper kinds of
control for his/her learners’ level of language knowledge, mental ability and
development, their age too. As an experiment some controls, especially
dictation, I have used as a tool for checking pupils’ knowledge in my practice
time. In this way I have noticed that only one type of control cannot help
teachers to determine student’s level, that’s why teacher should demonstrate
several kinds of control, such as tests in reading, speaking, listening, and
writing tasks at English lessons.
Reference (Bibliography)
1) G.V Rogova “Methods of
Teaching English”, 1983 year- 297-312 pages.
2) А.Н
Щукин «Обучение иностранным языкам», 2006 year-
295-314 pages.
3) Penny Ur “A Course in
Language Teaching”, 1991 year- 69,133,164 pages.
) Jeremy Harmer “The
practice of English language teaching”, 2001 years - 321-328 pages.
) Ulla Connor; Robert B.
Kaplan “Writing across languages”, 1987 years-88-105 pages
) Harold S. Madsen
“Techniques in Testing”, 1983 years- 3-8;113-119; 56-84;28-64 pages.
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диссертация: «Контроль и оценка уровня сформированности
межкультурно-коммуникативной компетенции как инструмент управления процессом
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