Universidad Católica de la Santísima Concepción

Facultad de Educación

Pedagogía en Educación Media en inglés

Workshop 1

Teacher: Katiuska Santibañez

Course: Assessment Methods and Approaches to the TESL

Students: Juan Castro S.

María Lagos L.

Concepcion, 2016

Artifact1: Writing skill

Artifact 2: Listening skill

Artifact 3: Reading skill

Artifact 4: Speaking skill

Based on the analysis of the results of both tables we got to the conclusion that the four artifacts need to be improved. Although the four artifacts successfully achieved some concepts as content validity or practicality to name but two, there were other items that were not taken into consideration at the moment of designing the tests.

It was observed that not all the elements of table 1 were accomplished by the tests. On the one hand, most of the items were found in the artifacts; however, there were elements that were not able to be analyzed as they were not present in the tests. One example of this is the description of the quantity of time spent in each section.

The construction of tests is a complex process, in which several elements must be integrated in order to obtain a suitable test. Regarding the weakest elements of the four tests we found out that the timing, the description of target language, rater reliability and authenticity were the less achievable elements in the tests.

We would like to suggest that modifying the structure of the test a more valid and reliable test could be produced. First of all, although it is difficult to encompass all the requirements listed in the tables it is not impossible. However, tests are designed with the minimum of the necessary requirements for being appropriate.

Taking into account what was previously stated, the tests need to include some aspects that will facilitate the test takers to understand them and probably have a better perform while taking them. For instance, it would be useful to include a clear statement with the general purpose of the test as a way of giving students a guide of what is expected

The tests were also analyzed as an Integrative Assessment Instrument. In order to fit in this category there are 8 elements that should be present in the tests. As the analysis was carried out, we found out the following:

Artifact 1: WritingMost of the items related to integrative assessment were present in the artifact. Notwithstanding, items like learning strategies, and instruction quality need to be improved. Artifact one is focused on assessing writing skill, students are asked to write an itinerary and they are provided with an example; however, the artifact just develops the writing skill.

Artifact 2: ListeningThis artifact is focused on evaluating listening comprehension; nevertheless, students’ understanding of the passages is going to be assessed through filling a chart with information taken from the audio. This is a common manner to evaluate listening responses. Nonetheless, in order to be more reliable the artifact should have had more items, students should have been asked to respond through speaking as well.

Artifact 3: SpeakingStudents are required to ask some questions related to conditionals. The task is considered as a communicative task, and also it is considered as an integrative assessment. Although the main focus of the activity is on speaking, students are also required to write down the answers

Artifact 4: ReadingThis artifact was made with the purpose of evaluating the reading skill. It is mainly focused on assessing reading comprehension and vocabulary. Also, students are provided with some images in order to check vocabulary. In terms of practicality, it is an easy test to check and it should not be problems with rater reliability.

Bearing in mind all the aspects mentioned before, it can be concluded that assessment instruments are being created with not all the requirements to be considered as an integrative assessment instrument. Moreover, it is a well-known fact that the more items a test have the more reliable it is. In order to achieve this purpose, tests should encompass different skills in the evaluation process as well as different types of activities to be performed.