| TOM BELLO | Setting Since 1988, I have been a full-time contract teacher for Fairfax County Public Schools, certified to teach Adult ESL, ESL and History. In the winter of 1996-1997, I was assigned to teach an advanced level (Student Performance Level VII) adult English as a Second Language (ESL) class at Langley High School for the Fairfax County Adult ESL program. Although the program is part of Fairfax County Public Schools, this particular class is self-supporting: each student paid $795 for tuition, $25 for testing, plus approximately $54 for text books. The 12 adult students, aged from their twenties to their forties, came mostly from South America and Asia: Venezuela, Bolivia, Brazil, and Ecuador; China, Korea, Taiwan, and Thailand. The class met 20 hours a week for 10 weeks (December 2, 1996 to February 26, 1997), Monday to Friday, 9 am to 1 pm. Students received, if they wished, an I-20 student visa, allowing them to stay in the country. Students could enter or exit class at any time; a reduction in tuition payments was made for late entries. Assessment for Placement What actually happened: On a pre-scheduled testing date, six students
came to be tested and placed for the I-20 program. We have two levels,
intermediate and advanced, and students are placed on the basis of their
results on three different instruments: an oral interview using the Basic
English Skills Test (BEST); a grammar test (Structured Tests of English
Language, STEL); and a writing sample. |
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Perhaps no assessment I did for this class was more important than this Needs Assessment. All subsequent assessments came from and referred back to this one. |
I really do try to make my curriculum learner-centered. Based
on their own tabulations and on follow-up thinking and interviewing, I
spent the rest of the winter quarter trying to provide these students with
what they said they wanted. For example, the class was pretty evenly divided
between students who wanted skills for their lives and for employment (five)
and students who wanted skills for further education (six). For life, students
generally need good communicative skills (speaking and listening); for
college, students need good grammar, vocabulary, reading, and writing skills.
Thus this class, as a whole, seemed to be requesting a balance of skills—although
by far the most requested language skill was speaking. Students wanted
to talk to American friends, write letters, and read stories in English.
They wanted to listen to the teacher, didn't want to use class time to
work alone, wanted to do homework, work with computers, and take the occasional
test and field trip. I told them I would try to do these things. As a result of the needs assessment, this class focused on speaking activities; used the computer for writing and wrote letters to me; took tests and field trips. Our reading book, Arrivals (Addison-Wesley), was a series of stories written by second language learners like themselves. As an example, Fern, a student from Thailand, wanted to improve her speaking skills, particularly with American people. We did a series of speaking practices and presentations in class, and I interviewed Fern and tried to speak to her often during the breaks. I also supplied her with a list of volunteer opportunities where she could contact Americans outside of class. In brief, I always want to know my students and give them what they and I think they need. It is a shared enterprise and an ongoing discussion. Perhaps no assessment I did for this class was more important than this one, and all subsequent assessments came from and referred back to this one. Assessment of Oral Skills What actually happened: Because students expressed during needs assessment that they wanted more speaking practice, we did a round of interviews. Each day one student would be interviewed, one question per student, by the other students. That way they could get to know each other better and practice their speaking. When this initial round finished, I presented the students with another form of speaking practice. Students could choose whether simply to speak about their first day in, and impressions of, the United States, or I could ask them questions. Only this time I would listen to their grammar mistakes and correct the most salient ones with the whole class after the interview was finished. Since our grammar concentration for the winter was verbs, I focused on their verb mistakes in the context of their speaking. For example, the Thai language does not use the "to be" verb in most contexts, so Fern often speaks without it: "My neighbor very very kind"; "I shy to say Hi"; "First time I afraid with American people." Verbs in Thai, as in Chinese, do not change to show a change of tense. So, when speaking of a past event, Fern would say: "First day when Joe starts his car, the battery dies." Or, again, speaking of the past, "She helps us." I stressed to her and to all the students that English sentences always need a verb, and English verbs change to show a change of time. Time spent: 20 minutes for the interview and note taking; 20 minutes for analyzing and sharing with the students. (Both activities times 12 students on 12 different days). Reflection: The needs assessment revealed that students were trying to improve all the major language skills, especially speaking. The students voted to practice speaking through an initial round, then voted to have another round, using the past tenses that we were studying in class, speaking about a topic that they all knew: coming to the United States. I made corrections and provided instruction in a positive, friendly manner, reminding all the students that we make many more grammar mistakes when speaking than when writing because we don't have time while speaking to correct ourselves. Assessment of Listening Skills What actually happened: The whole class was notified the day before that they would take a listening test to help them practice their listening and grammar skills. They had previously taken a similar test that they had corrected in class together. This one I would correct. Listening to the tape played for the whole class, students heard sentences repeated three times and wrote each one down. Then they were given a choice of three answers and asked to choose the answer that best completed the sentence just heard. Students marked their answers and gave the tests to me. I took them home, circled all mistakes, and the next day in class we listened one last time as I challenged the students to fix their own mistakes. I also answered any questions. Time spent: 20+ minutes for the test; about 1+ hour for the corrections at home; about 30+ minutes in class the next day going over the corrections and answering any questions. Reflection: Clear listening precedes clear speech. If you can't hear the sounds correctly, how can you make them? In needs assessment, students said they wanted to practice their listening and test taking skills. Perhaps most importantly, almost half of the class wants to go on to college. The Northern Virginia Community College (NOVA), where many of my students go, uses the Michigan Test as a placement test. This standardized test has a listening component that is 1/5 of the total test (20 out of 100 questions). The University of Michigan, which writes the test, also offers an excellent Listening Dictation book that prepares students for this Michigan test and also works to improve listening and grammar skills by choosing sentences focused on different grammar points. Many ESL students have trouble hearing words endings, function words, and auxiliary verbs, generally because these items are unstressed in normal speech. Catching their mistakes during our exercise helps the students concentrate in their own individual problem areas. They also receive good practice for the English placement test at NOVA. Assessment of Writing and Reading What actually happened: For a weekend's homework, students were told to write at least a page essay about their favorite things: food, movies, hobbies. They turned their essays in the next Monday; I took them home and focused my corrections on the main idea and overall organization. I returned the corrected essays the next day, Tuesday. Because students had said in needs assessment that they wanted to work on their computer skills, they then took the essays to the computer lab to type them, using Word Perfect 5.1. Students remained in the lab until they had completed their essays. Students helped one another, and I also helped with the word processing. I looked at the essays a second time, paying more attention to grammar and spelling. On Thursday, the students returned to the lab to make final corrections. Before printing, I re-read each essay again, doing a final edit electronically. I also used this time to discuss pertinent grammar mistakes. The students' essays were printed in a book entitled Our Favorite Things (available upon request). I complimented each student for her or his writing and gave one book to each student on Friday together with a series of questions, one for each story. Students took their books home for the weekend, read everybody's stories and answered the questions. On Monday, we discussed the stories and checked their comprehension of each other's writing. Time spent: Again, there are 12 students. Each essay was critiqued and reviewed three times, first, for clarity and organization; second, for grammar and spelling; and third, for anything missed the first two times. Each review took from 10 to 40 minutes, on average, depending on individual problems and length of essay. Preparing the questions took 20+ minutes. In-class discussion of the stories took 1+ hour. Reflection: Back in December, students requested help with their writing. Writing is perhaps the most difficult of the four major language skills, but one that students will need both in the workplace and at college. So I give my students a lot of time and attention with their writing. Clarity is the paramount focus: can others understand what you are trying to say? Thus, grammar correction is not an end in itself, but a means to greater clarity. Grammar errors that occur with frequency are addressed with the whole class. Writing assessments are directed toward achieving a product the student will be proud to share with others. A further assessment was for reading comprehension. Did the students answer all 13 questions? Did they understand each other's stories? In this case, they did. We enjoyed discussing and sharing each other's "favorite things". The final product and discussion were worth the considerable time commitment. Assessment of Grammar and Vocabulary What actually happened: Students were told a week in advance that they would be tested using the modal verbs and the vocabulary from their stories in the reading book. We did exercises and writing and speaking practice using the modals. We made sentences and tried to use the vocabulary in conversation. On the day of the test, I told the students I would be willing to stay as long as they needed. The first student finished in 55 minutes, the last in 1 and 1/2 hours. I checked the tests at home, returned and discussed them the next day. We reviewed the modals by putting the "best" answers on the board for all to see and discuss and did the same with the difficult vocabulary words. Time spent: 1+ hour writing the test; about 15 to 25 minutes checking each test (times 12); 2 hours going over the results and discussing. |
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The assessment is another process, another step in the journey toward mastering English. |
Reflection: Even with a more academic assessment like this
one, I do not teach to the assessment; rather, the assessment is part of
the teaching. The assessment here is another process, another step in the
journey toward mastering English. Students who had written successful sentences
(like Gaby from Ecuador, who wrote "My sister has an aversion to insects")
wrote them on the board to share with all the class so that they could
learn from each other. If the students themselves model correct usage,
it's better than sentences from a book, dictionary, or a native speaker
like myself. Thus going over the assessment provided another step in the
learning process. No grades were given; only mistakes were noted and explained.
A last follow-up would come with the final exercise the following week. Final Assessment What actually happened: Students were given a choice of whether to take a final review of all they had studied the preceding 10 weeks. They chose to take it, and they chose the date. Several days were spent in review. On test day, as soon as students arrived, they could begin this "Final Celebration." Students were allowed to work as long as needed. When all were finished, I took the exams home and graded them over two days. We discussed them in class on the final day. Time spent: 4+ hours writing the final exercise; 4+ hours for students to take the test while I monitored and answered questions; about 40+ minutes evaluating each "celebration" (what we call "tests") times 12 students; about 4 hours going over the test results. Reflection: In this final exercise, I attempted to assess "real world" listening skills by focusing on two experiences: a loudspeaker at an airport announcing flights, and a popular song. (We had regularly listened to popular songs in order to practice listening, study idioms, and just have fun.) We reviewed our major grammar focus: verbs. We also reviewed vocabulary, reading and writing, plus learning strategies and American body language. The exercise, driven by expressed student needs and tailored to what we had actually done in class, gave a satisfying (if somewhat exhausting) sense of closure to the preceding 10 weeks. I was proud of the effort that the students had made for the final exercise. Not to have some sort of final assessment would have left the class somewhat open-ended and unfinished. I think as students participated in this final celebration, they better realized their strengths and weaknesses. I certainly did. For example, Gaby is strong in her verbs, but still confused about similes and metaphors. Her listening and reading skills are excellent. Her final "book review" from our reading anthology was quite strong. All and all, both Gaby and I felt that she was ready for the next step: college in the United States! A final note of some pride: all 12 students who had started the class in December took the final celebration and finished the class. Conclusion As I look back on this cycle of assessment, I find myself asking: How did I use assessment to improve learning? What was my "philosophy" of assessment? My conclusions are that assessments for adult ESL learners should: 1. Be first and foremost learner-centered. 2. Be from start to finish an ongoing, shared venture between teacher and students as partners in the learning enterprise. 3. Be focused always on a positive, not deficit, model and be built to encourage, not discourage, to show what students can, not cannot, do. 4. Be composed of a flexible variety of instruments, appropriate to individual learners and to the particular skills being practiced. 5. Be designed to assist students toward greater proficiency in English, though English acquisition is not viewed as a final destination. In other words, students are not striving for a final grade, but for a greater sense of mastery appropriate to the individual learner and the skills being attempted. 6. Be fun, if possible. 7. Be always a focus to further learning by teacher and student alike. Tom Bello Fairfax County Public School WHAT DO YOU WANT? I. WHY I WANT TO LEARN (GOALS) I want to learn better English to (check ONE) 1. Live better with American people, make more American friends (LIFE) 2. Get a good (or better) job (EMPLOYMENT) 3. Go to college (EDUCATION) 4. Other goal (please write) II. WHAT I WANT TO LEARN (LANGUAGE SKILLS) The English language skills I most want to practice and improve are (check TWO) SPEAKING, LISTENING, READING, WRITING, PRONUNCIATION, VOCABULARY, GRAMMAR, SPELLING III. WHAT I WANT TO LEARN (LIFE SKILLS) I want to learn better English to (check THREE on each side)
IV. HOW DO YOU LIKE TO LEARN (LEARNING STYLE):
HOW MUCH TIME DO YOU HAVE TO DO HOMEWORK OR STUDY OUTSIDE OF CLASS EACH DAY? BRIEF LETTER (On the back of this paper, please write a letter telling why you are coming to class and what you most want to learn. THANK YOU) |