UNIT 18                ASSESSMENT TYPES AND TAKS

Assessment tasks take many forms including written, oral, demonstrations or performances. They may be short tasks; or long assignments that students are given weeks to finalize. They may be delivered face-to-face or online and require hard copy or online submission. They may require individual or group assessment and be assessed by academic staff or via peer and self-assessment.

Foremost in your thinking when choosing an assessment task is its appropriateness in assessing what it is that students need to learn (learning objectives).

There are many types of assessment tasks to choose from. Assessment Matters! Provides a short list only of the more typical assessment tasks used.

Testing, especially any sort of standardized testing tends to get a bad rap. Teachers complain that they spend too much time teaching to a test. But assessments do have value, and an important place in our learning structure. By measuring what students are learning, we as teachers can look at how we are approaching different subjects, materials, and even different students.

There are many types of assessments: diagnostic, formative, summative, norm-referenced, criterion-referenced, and interim/benchmarked are the types overviewed here.

There are five main question types: multiple choices, constructed response, extended constructed response, technology enhanced, and performance task.

Three main delivery methods of assessment: paper and pencil, online, or computer adaptive testing (which uses an algorithm to adapt to a user’s responses).

Scoring can be done by hand, by computer, or distributed scoring.

REFERENCES:

http://www.edudemic.com/the-6-types-of-assessments-and-how-theyre-changing/

UNIT 17       PRACTICE ACTIVITIES AND TASKS FOR LANGUAGE AND SKIILS DEVELOPMENT

While studying this course we learned that there are more than one way to teach through different activities and tasks, such as:

-          new vocabulary

-          functional structures

-          grammatical structures

-          subskills

But, in this unit we focused on three different types of activities:

Controlled activities

Free activities

Freer activities

Is there any difference between the two last ones? you will look for the answer in the Hot potatoes‘ exercise.

However, we should know that is not always possible try to categorize each activity into only one among the three ones below.

References:

http://quizlet.com/52452045/tkt-unit-17-practice-activities-and-tasks-for-language-and-skills-development-flash-cards/

Unit 16                  PRESENTATION TECHNIQUES AND INTRODUCTORY ACTIVITIES

Presentation techniques are ways used by the teacher to present (introduce to learners for the first time) new language such as vocabulary, grammatical structures and pronunciation. Introductory activities are those used by teacher to introduce a lesson or teaching topic.

PPP: Presentation, Practice and Production

It is possible to present new language after learners have met it in a reading or listening text which is first used for comprehension.

TBL: Task-based Learning

PPP and TBL are not the only ways of presenting new language:

It is possible to present new language after learners have met it in a reading or listening text which is first used for comprehension.

EXAMPLES:

-          Another possibility is to hold a discussion on a topic and introduce new language in the context of the discussion.

-          Another one is to give learners a task that requires them to use new language, then after the task, present the new language to them and then give them another task to practice the new language (Test-teach-test).

-           

In both PPP and TBL new language items are presented in a meaningful context.

A PPP approach to presenting new language gives students an opportunity to practice language in a safe learning environment where it is difficult to make mistakes. It can therefore be a confidence-building approach for students. Students may be learning items they are not interested in or ready to learn and gives them few opportunities to use the language for communication.

We also have to consider WARM-UP activities and LEAD-IN activities.

Warmers make the students feel comfortable and ready for the lesson.

The TBL approach allows students to find new language when they want to or when they need it and to use language experimentally and creatively for real communication. This approach puts students in a situation which is quite similar to the one in which children learn their first language.

Some may find this approach exciting and challenging, others may seek for more guidance and structure.

Lead-ins introduce the topic of the lesson and main language points needed by the learners to complete the main tasks of the lesson.

REFERENCES:

http://ebooks.cambridge.org/ebook.jsf?bid=CBO9780511667305

UNIT 15                                        APPROACHES TO LANGUAGE TEACHING

The learning-teaching process of the English language is really deep. Students needs to develop fluency and accuracy in the language. An approach is a way of looking at teaching and learning. Underlying any language teaching approach is a theoretical view of what language is, and of how it can be learnt. An approach gives rise to methods, the way of teaching something, which use classroom activities or techniques to help learners learn.

Example

-          The communicative approach is the best-known current approach to language teaching. Task-based teaching is a methodology associated with it. Other approaches include the cognitive-code approach, and the aural-oral approach (audio-lingual method).

-          Learners in the modern language classroom often learn through techniques drawn from a variety of methods/approaches in what has been labeled an ‘eclectic approach'. Teachers select techniques from various approaches according to the different needs of their learners. Most course books mix methods and techniques in this way.

REFERENCES:

http://takeielts.britishcouncil.org/prepare-test/british-council-online-resources

UNIT 14                                             LEARNER NEEDS3

Learning a new language could be really difficult for some people and the teacher has to be aware about their student´s needs. It has to be according to the age and the level of English students has. Teachers can do that by an observation process, questionaries and also talking directly with them. There are also students that have personal needs it means that some of them are lacking of motivation; here the teacher can help them by stating goals nad personal expectations.

Examples:

• -          Personally I would like to do personal interviews with students in order to know what their needs are according the language.
• -          One of the things that students need to develop is autonomy, so I would like to implement in my classes the use of graphic organizer so that they will understand better the language and it could make easier the learning of the langue and they will study by themselves.  

References:

https://www.google.com.ec/webhp?sourceid=chrome-instant&ion=1&espv=2&ie=UTF-8#q=PRACTICE+ACTIVITIES

UNIT 13      LEARNER CHARACTERISTICS

The learner´s characteristics are really important in order to have good learning-teaching process since he/she needs to have motivation, learning style, learning strategies, maturity and past language learning experience. All of those things are going to help the learner to achieve the final which to acquire the language. There are many factors that influence a learner to achieve the knowledge, and one thing that I consider as important is the interaction with other people since the learner has the opportunity to have real contact with the language. Learning styles and learning strategies are also important since the learner has to learn the language according to his /her learning style and in this part the teacher play an important role he/she has to be aware of his/her student´s learning style because there visual students, auditory students, kina esthetic students, and according to this they need special activities in order to develop their cognitive skills.

Examples:

• -          As a future teacher I think I will develop my student´s learning styles by doing with them some activities in which they can acquire the knowledge in a good way.
• -          In this part I would like to talk about my French teacher Fanny she used to teach us the language by using many strategies activities in which she incorporated the different learning styles of their students.

References:

http://ebooks.cambridge.org/chapter.jsf?bid=CBO9781139062398&cid=CBO9781139062398A029