Oral Communications Assessment 2011Oral Communications Assessment 2011

Mrs Laura NgHwa Chong Institution (High School)Principal Consultant/English Literaturelaura@hci.edu.sg

Mrs Laura NgHwa Chong Institution (High School)Principal Consultant/English Literaturelaura@hci.edu.sg

Aims

• Foster analytical skills applicable in future working world

• Enable students to read extensively & be knowledgeable about pertinent issues today

• Encourage confident expression of views

Aims

• Groom confident citizens aware of global issues & ready to engage salient world affairs with active debate

• Cultivate confident oral communication with articulate voicing of opinions and authentic conversations between students & stakeholders

Assessment Structure 2011 (Sec 1-2)

Oral Communication

Assessment Structure 2011 (Sec 3)

Oral Communication

Assessment Format 2011

Current Affairs Assessment for 2011Level Term 1 & 2 Term 3 & 4

Sec 1 Term 1 Weeks 2

-6:Briefing & Mock Session

s

EL Oral

Interviews

CLOral Voice-recordings

(Newspaper Stimulus)

Sec 2CL

DebatesEL

Panel Discussions

Sec 3EL

‘In the Line of Fire’

CLImpromptu Public Speaking 即席演讲

Sec 4EL & CL Panel Discussion

(Credit Points awarded)

Coverage

• Sec 1: Local / Social news – E.g. local economic growth, public transport woes

• Sec 2: Local / Regional news – E.g. ASEAN, North Korea

• Sec 3 & 4: International news– E.g. American invasion of Afghanistan, Israel-

Palestine conflict

• Resources available on Current Affairs Wikispaces http://hscurrentaffairs.wiki.hci.edu.sg/

Coverage

Oral Participation (OP)

AAP & AAT Objectives

• Art & Acts of Persuasion (AAP)– Develop linguistic intelligence through enhancing

students’ power of communication– (For Sec 1 students only)

• Art & Acts of Thinking (AAT)– Encourage students to think critically– Develop strategies for thinking about issues– (For Sec 2 students only)

Art & Acts of Persuasion (AAP)

• Taught concurrently with Language Arts programme in Sec 1

• Aims to develop skills of Speaking, Critical Thinking & Viewing– Speaking: verbal & non-verbal skills– Critical thinking: process & analyze information in

different contexts– Viewing: sensitivity to interpreting the value,

truth & elements of information

• Contributes 20% of Oral Communications score

Art & Acts of Thinking (AAT)

• Thinking skills can and should be learnt

• Through application of models, students can improve quality of thinking– E.g. Paul’s Wheel of Reasoning, Socratic Questioning,

Habits of Mind

• Eventually students become more mature thinkers mastering life skills useful for survival

• Contributes 20% of Oral Communications score

Sec 1 Oral Interviews

• English Language assessment for Sec 1 in Semester 1, contributes 20% of Oral Communications score

• Face-to-face interviews based on reading materials & recent news– E.g. "Tell me a significant news event you have

read over the past two weeks that you feel strongly about.”

• Assessment topics are not dictated by teacher

Sec 1 Oral Interviews

Format for Oral Interviews

T

SS

Sec 1 Oral Voice-recordings

• Chinese Language assessment for Sec 1 in Semester 2, contributes 20% of Oral Communications score

• Students create voice-clip of 3-5 minutes using stimulus from recent news articles

• Several trial sessions to be conducted during June holidays and Term 3 Week 3, before actual assessment in Term 3 Weeks 6-8

Sec 2 Panel Discussion

• English Language assessment for Sec 2 in Semester 2, contributes 20% of Oral Communications score

• Students role-play stakeholders in issue being discussed and discuss issues in a moderated setting, with whole discussion filmed on video for documentation purposes

• Teacher assessor will be assisted by 4 student assessors

Sec 2 Debates

• Chinese Language assessment for Sec 2 in Semester 1, contributes 20% of Oral Communications score

• Students take sides for / against motion and conduct debate in a moderated setting, with whole discussion filmed on video for documentation purposes

• Teacher assessor will be assisted by 4 student assessors

Sec 2 Panel Discussion & Debate

4

4S1

S2

S3

S4

T1

AudienceC

Format for Panel Discussion & Debate

Sec 3 ‘In the Line of Fire’ & 即席演讲

• English & Chinese Language assessment for Sec 3, contributes 30% of Oral Communications score for each language

• Modelled after YMCA’s Plain English Speaking Award (PESA)

• Student given topic relating to current affairs on actual day, prepare on the spot and present

• Teacher assessor will be assisted by 3 student assessors

Sec 3 ‘In the Line of Fire’ & 即席演讲

S1 S2 S3T1

Audience

S

Format for ‘In the Line of Fire’ & 即席演讲

Sec 4 Panel Discussion

• Sec 4s not involved in new Current Affairs assessment

• During Friday’s Current Affairs period, continue with Panel Discussion for both English & Chinese Language, facilitated and assessed by student-observers based on rubrics given by teachers– Credit Points (CPs) to be issued instead– Follows format used in 2009 / 2010

Reading Programme (RP)

• Reading Programme is aligned with Current Affairs syllabus, through reading of prescribed publications during Reading Period daily from 0740-0800 hours to provide opportunities to keep up-to-date with news– E.g. The Straits Times, Lianhe Zaobao, Newsweek,

Time & Yazhou Zhoukan

• Language teachers select relevant articles for discussion during English / Chinese Language lessons

Thank youThank youQueries? laura@hci.edu.sg (Mrs Laura Ng, PC/English Literature)

woonws@hci.edu.sg (Mr Woon WS, Research Assistant/HP & CA)