ELT Methodology III

Hanoi National University of Education

Faculty of English
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ELT Methodology 3

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ELT Methodology III

Aims:
 To introduce you to syllabus, characteristics and types of syllabus
 To give you criteria of syllabus design
 To broaden your experience of ways in which syllabuses can be used
 To give you the criteria to choose a course book to fit in your teaching
context.
 To give you the criteria to evaluate the textbooks to make the books fit
the real needs of your students.
 To give you the experience of evaluating some textbooks currently in
use.

Questions for discussions

1. What is a syllabus?
2. Who should take syllabus design into account? Why?
3. Types of syllabus approaches
3. What are criteria of syllabus design?
4. How many types of syllabuses do you know?
5. What are the characteristics of a syllabus?
6. How to use a syllabus effectively?

An Introduction to Syllabus Design and

Evaluation
In the past, the focus of syllabuses has shifted from structure to situations,
functions and notions to topics and tasks. In fact, as Nunan (1988:52) suggests,
with the development of the latter it is palpable that "the traditional distinction
between syllabus design and methodology has become blurred". So, how
should we initially define syllabus?

Syllabus: A Definition
A syllabus is an expression of opinion on the nature of language and learning; it
acts as a guide for both teacher and learner by providing some goals to be
attained. Hutchinson and Waters (1987:80) define syllabus as follows:

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At its simplest level a syllabus can be described as a statement of

what is to be learnt. It reflects of language and linguistic
performance.
This is a rather traditional interpretation of syllabus focusing as it does on
outcomes rather than process. However, a syllabus can also be seen as a
"summary of the content to which learners will be exposed" (Yalden.1987: 87).
It is seen as an approximation of what will be taught and that it cannot
accurately predict what will be learnt. Next, we will discuss the various types of
approaches available to course designers and the language assumptions they
make.

Product-Oriented Syllabuses
Also known as the synthetic approach, these kinds of syllabuses emphasize the
product of language learning and are prone to intervention from an authority.

The Structural Approach

Historically, the most prevalent of syllabus type is perhaps the grammatical
syllabus in which the selection and grading of the content is based on the
complexity and simplicity of grammatical items. The learner is expected to
master each structural step and add it to her grammar collection. As such the
focus is on the outcomes or the product.
One problem facing the syllabus designer pursuing a grammatical order to
sequencing input is that the ties connecting the structural items maybe rather
feeble. A more fundamental criticism is that the grammatical syllabus focuses
on only one aspect of language, namely grammar, whereas in truth there exist
many more aspects to language. Finally, recent corpus based research
suggests there is a divergence between the grammar of the spoken and of the
written language; raising implications for the grading of content in grammar
based syllabuses.

The Situational Approach

These limitations led to an alternative approach where the point of departure
became situational needs rather than grammatical units. Here, the principal
organizing characteristic is a list of situations which reflects the way language
and behavior are used everyday outside the classroom. Thus, by linking

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structural theory to situations the learner is able to induce the meaning from a
relevant context.
One advantage of the situational approach is that motivation will be heightened
since it is "learner- rather than subject-centered" (Wilkins.1976: 16). However, a
situational syllabus will be limited for students whose needs were not
encompassed by the situations in the syllabus. This dissatisfaction led Wilkins
to describe notional and communicative categories which had a significant
impact on syllabus design.

The Notional/Functional Approach

Wilkins' criticism of structural and situational approaches lies in the fact that
they answer only the 'how' or 'when' and 'where' of language (Brumfit and
Johnson. 1979:84). Instead, he enquires "what it is they communicate through
language" (Op.Cit.:18). Thus, the starting point for a syllabus is the
communicative purpose and conceptual meaning of language i.e. notions and
functions, as opposed to grammatical items and situational elements which
remain but are relegated to a subsidiary role.
In order to establish objectives, the needs of the learners will have to be
analyzed by the various types of communication in which the learner has to
confront. Consequently, needs analysis has an association with notional-
functional syllabuses. Although needs analysis implies a focus on the learner,
critics of this approach suggest that a new list has replaced the old one. Where
once structural/situational items were used a new list consisting of notions and
functions has become the main focus in a syllabus. White (1988:77) claims that
"language functions do not usually occur in isolation" and there are also
difficulties of selecting and grading function and form. Clearly, the task of
deciding whether a given function (i.e. persuading), is easier or more difficult
than another (i.e. approving), makes the task harder to approach.
The above approaches belong to the product-oriented category of syllabuses.
An alternative path to curriculum design would be to adopt process oriented
principles, which assume that language can be learnt experientially as opposed
to the step-by-step procedure of the synthetic approach.

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Process-Oriented Syllabuses
Process-Oriented Syllabuses, or the analytical approach, developed as a result
of a sense of failure in product-oriented courses to enhance communicative
language skills. It is a process rather than a product. That is, focus is not on
what the student will have accomplished on completion of the program, but on
the specification of learning tasks and activities that s/he will undertake during
the course.

Procedural/Task-Based Approaches
Prabhu's (1979) 'Bangalore Project' is a classic example of a procedural
syllabus. Here, the question concerning 'what' becomes subordinate to the
question concerning 'how'. The focus shifts from the linguistic element to the
pedagogical, with an emphasis on learning or learner. Within such a framework
the selection, ordering and grading of content is no longer wholly significant for
the syllabus designer.
Arranging the program around tasks such as information- and opinion-gap
activities, it was hoped that the learner would perceive the language
subconsciously whilst consciously concentrating on solving the meaning behind
the tasks. There appears to be an indistinct boundary between this approach
and that of language teaching methodology, and evaluating the merits of the
former remain complicated.
A task-based approach assumes that speaking a language is a skill best
perfected through practice and interaction, and uses tasks and activities to
encourage learners to use the language communicatively in order to achieve a
purpose. Tasks must be relevant to the real world language needs of the
student. That is, the underlying learning theory of task based and
communicative language teaching seems to suggest that activities in which
language is employed to complete meaningful tasks, enhances learning.

Learner-Led Syllabuses
The notion of basing an approach on how learners learn was proposed by
Breen and Candlin (1984). Here the emphasis lays with the learner, who it is
hoped will be involved in the implementation of the syllabus design as far as
that is practically possible. By being fully aware of the course they are studying

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it is believed that their interest and motivation will increase, coupled with the
positive effect of nurturing the skills required to learn.
However, as suggested earlier, a predetermined syllabus provides support and
guidance for the teacher and should not be so easily dismissed. Critics have
suggested that a learner-led syllabus seems radical and utopian in that it will be
difficult to track as the direction of the syllabus will be largely the responsibility
of the learners. Moreover, without the mainstay of a course book, a lack of aims
may come about. This leads to the final syllabus design to be examined; the
proportional approach as propounded by Yalden (1987).

The Proportional Approach

The proportional syllabus basically attempts to develop an "overall competence"
(Op.Cit.:97). It consists of a number of elements with theme playing a linking
role through the units. This theme is designated by the learners. It is expected
initially that form will be of central value, but later, the focus will veer towards
interactional components ; the syllabus is designed to be dynamic, not static,
with ample opportunity for feedback and flexibility (ibid:100).
The shift from form to interaction can occur at any time and is not limited to a
particular stratum of learner ability. As Yalden (ibid:87) observes, it is important
for a syllabus to indicate explicitly what will be taught, "not what will be learned".
This practical approach with its focus on flexibility and spiral method of
language sequencing leading to the recycling of language, seems relevant for
learners who lack exposure to the target language beyond the classroom. But
how can an EFL teacher pinpoint the salient features of the approaches
discussed above?

Syllabus Design and Evaluation

Initially, several questions must be posed. Do you want a product or process
oriented syllabus? Will the course be teacher or learner led? What are the goals
of the program and the needs of your students? This leads to an examination of
the degree to which the various elements will be integrated, which is of great
significance to White (1988:92) who comments:
A complete syllabus specification will include all five aspects: structure, function,
situation, topic, skills. The difference between syllabuses will lie in the priority
given to each of these aspects.

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Eclecticism is a common feature of the majority of course books under the

communicative banner currently on offer. Attempting to combine the various
aspects of language has also been addressed by Hutchinson and Waters who
state:
Any teaching material must, in reality, operate several syllabuses at the same
time. One of them will probably be used as the principal organizing feature, but
the others are still there (opcit.:89).

Conclusion
Clearly, there is a vast amount of material to disseminate when considering
syllabus design. The numerous approaches touched on here all offer valuable
insights into creating a language program. The synthetic approaches of
structuralism, situational and functional-notional, all have objectives to be
attained, a content to be processed and learnt. The foundations of the product
syllabuses remain fundamentally similar, whereas the underlying assumptions
about language and language learning from the analytic approaches differ
greatly: process type syllabuses assert that learning a language is transient and
cannot be itemized; pedagogical procedure takes precedence over content. If
our assumptions about the nature of linguistics and language learning is one of
"language as communication" (Richards and Rodgers 1986:69) then a syllabus
based around activities and tasks which promote real and meaningful
communication will seem advantageous. Further points to consider when
critically reviewing a syllabus are the objectives of the course as well as the
needs of the learners. Ultimately, and perhaps ideally, a hybrid syllabus will
result purely due to pragmatic reasons. As Hutchinson and Waters (1987:51)
suggest:
It is wise to take an eclectic approach, taking what is useful from
each theory and trusting also in the evidence of your own
experience as a teacher.
Thus, to what extent has an integration of the various approaches taken place?
Does the syllabus specification include all aspects? If yes, how is priority
established? These questions must also form part of the criteria when designing
or assessing your own syllabus.

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(from An Introduction to Syllabus Design and Evaluation by Roberto Rabbini

Bunan Gakuen (Warabi, Japan) in The Internet TESL Journal, Vol. VIII, No. 5, May
2002)

Using the syllabus

Classroom Task
Look at the box below, five teachers describe how they use their syllabuses,
discuss with your classmates about the following questions:
1. With whom do you identify most closely?
2. What is it about his or her statement that you feel in sympathy with?
With regard to the others,
3. what is it about other teachers’ approaches that you reject,
4. If you found yourself in their situation, how would you use the
syllabus?

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Lan: The syllabus of the language school Mai: They made us read the national
where I teach is very comprehensive. It syllabus in my teacher-training course,
includes grammar, vocabulary, functions, but I haven't looked at it since. What
notions, situations; and gives references to for? in my [state] school we use a
material I can use, I use it all the time and class coursebook, which lays out all
could not do without it. When preparing a the language I have to teach, as well
teaching session or series of sessions I go as giving me texts, exercises and
first to the syllabus decide what it will be ideas for activities. I assume the
appropriate to teach next according to its Ministry would not have authorized the
programme, plan how to combine and book if it didn't accord with the
schedule the components I have selected, syllabus, so there's no reason for me
and take the relevant books or materials to double-check if I am teaching the
from the library as I need them. right things.
Giang: There is a syllabus, but we don't Huong: I possess the syllabus, and
have to use it; nor is there any fixed look at it occasionally, but mostly I
coursebook, although the college work from the coursebook that my
recommends certain ones. Personally, I school chose for the class. It‟s just
simply ignore the syllabus, since I prefer to that sometimes I get a bit fed up with
do my own thing based on the needs of my the coursebook and want to do
[adult] students I use materials and something different, so then do my
activities from different sources (teacher's own thing for a bit, using the
handbooks, textbooks, enrichment syllabus at a retrospective checklist,
materials/literature) which are available in to make sure I'm still reasonably on
my institution's library in order to create a target with the content after all; I am
rich and varied program that is flexible being employed to teach a certain
enough to be altered and adapted to syllabus, I can't stray too far.
student needs during the course.
Long: The school where I work cannot afford to buy coursebooks for the children,
so I have the only book; I also have an officially authorized syllabus, Everything I
teach I-take either from the syllabus or from the course book; I don't add material of
my own; for one thing, the authorities do not approve, for another, lam not
confident enough of my knowledge of the language I am teaching- I might make
mistakes. @ adapted from Cambridge University Press 1996

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ELT Methodology III

Questions for discussion:

1. How necessary is a course book?

2. What are the advantages and disadvantages of using a
course book?
3. What criteria are involved in choosing a course book?
4. How to use a course book effectively?

Choosing a course book

Choosing a coursebook is one of the most important selections which teachers
can make. Teachers cannot influence their working lives in many ways. You
cannot choose your teaching hours, your holiday periods, the classes you teach,
the learners who are in those classes, or the classrooms you use, but you can
choose your coursebook. You select a coursebook for your learners and for
yourself, so you first need to analyse your learners‟ needs and your own needs

What do you want from a coursebook?

Teachers want different things from their coursebooks and they use them in
different ways. Some teachers want a coursebook to provide everything. They
want the teacher‟s book to tell us what to do, in which sequence to do each
activity and how to assess the progress which our learners have made.
However, some teachers do not want the coursebook to control their lives. They
want to be able to plan their own lessons or even their own syllabus. They want
the coursebook to be a library of materials from which they can choose to be
used in the ways they choose.

What can a good coursebook give the teacher?

A good coursebook can help a teacher by providing:
a clearly thought out programme which is appropriately
sequenced and structured to include progressive revision;

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a wider range of materials than an individual teacher may be able to

collect;
security;
economy of preparation time;
a source of practical ideas;
work that the learners can do on their own so that the teacher
does not need to be centre stage all the time;
a basis for homework if this is required;
a basis for discussion and comparison with other teachers.

What do your learners need from a coursebook?

Students want a coursebook to be colourful and interesting. They hope the
coursebook will contain exciting games and activities. They hope the cassettes
will contain exciting stories, amusing dialogues and entertaining songs and
rhymes.
But what do the students need? We all know that children have short memories.
They find it di fficult to retain ideas and language from one lesson to the next. So
the children need a coursebook which becomes an accessible and
understandable record of their work.
A good coursebook gives the children:
a sense of progress, progression and purpose;
a sense of security;
scope for independent and autonomous learning;
a reference for checking and revising.

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Evaluating a coursebook

Classroom Task 1: Read the following criteria and

1. method match them with the explanations.
2. appearance
3. teacher -
friendly a. Are there additional materials such as workbooks,
4. extras
5. realistic cassettes, teachers' notes and separate teacher's
6. interesting book? How helpful are these extras materials?
7. recycling
8. level b. Does the book cover all the skills you want to teach
9. skills (e.g. listening, speaking, reading, writing) in a way you
10. guidance
11. autonomy want to teach them?
12. time table fit c. Does the book's method suit your own teaching method
13. sufficient
practice and overall aim?
d. How authentic is the communication in the book? Does
the language seem true-to-life and current?
e. Is the book (including its cover, design, illustrations, 'colour, and feel)
appealing and attractive?,
f. Are language items recycled and reviewed enough?
g. Is the book easy for the teacher to use? Is it well- organized? Is there an
index? Does it have an answer key? Does it help you save preparation
time?
h. Is the book likely to be interesting for your learners? How do the topics relate
to their lives? Just as important, is it interesting to you?
i. Is the level suitable for the class you are teaching?
j. Can the learner use the coursebook to learn new materials, review and
monitor progress with some degree of autonomy?
k. Can the book provide useful guidance and support for teachers who are
inexperienced or occasionally unsure of their knowledge of the language?
l. Is there a range of activities which provide enough practice for students?
m. Do the number of lessons in the book fit the number of hours available in the
school year?
(Adapted from Ur, P 1996 A Course in Language Teaching Cambridge: Cambridge University
Press p.184 and Tanner, R & C Green 1998 Tasks for Teacher Education Harlow: Longman, p.
121)

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Classroom Task 2: Choose a new Tieng Anh textbook 10, 11, or 12 that
you are most familiar with. Discuss in groups and fill in the table of
textbook assessment below.
Your assessment
Criteria Not Reasons
Appropriate
appropriate
1. Method
2. Appearance
3. Teacher-friendly
guidance
4. Extras
5. Realistic
6. Interesting
7. Recycling
8. Level
9. Skills
10. Autonomy
11. Timetable-fit
12. sufficient practice

Using and adapting the coursebook:

When selecting a coursebook you always need to make a compromise. There will
be things which you don‟t like about any coursebook. Look at the following
questions
1. How important are those things?
2. Can you create materials to substitute those aspects?
3. Has the coursebook got something missing?
4. Can you find or create materials to fill that gap?
Remember that you work in partnership with your coursebook. Never expect the
coursebook to do everything for you. You will always need to personalise your
teaching with your own personality.

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Classroom Task 3: Read the table and then answer the questions
below it:

You can't always get what you want

Changes of some sort are inevitable if you want a book to fit your aims, your setting,
and most of all your learners. There are various actions you can take to tailor a
selected textbook to fit your teaching situation.
CHANGE REMOVE
Make small changes to the existing Remove a textbook activity from the lesson.
materials in the textbook.
REPLACE ADD
Replace one activity with another Add an extra activity in an area not covered
related one which is more suitable. sufficiently in the textbook.
(Tanner, R & C Green 1998 Tasks for Teacher Education Harlow: Longman, p. 122)

1. Which, if any, of the four types of actions (change, remove, add, replace) do
you already have experience of?
2. Which requires the most / least work for the teacher? Why?
3. Which ones are the hardest for inexperienced teachers to do?
4. Which ones are the hardest for all teachers?

Classroom Task 4

Examine New Tieng Anh 11, Language Focus, and answer these
questions:

a) What are the language points being taught?

b) How communicative are the exercises?

c) What adaptations can be made to make the exercises more communicative?

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Classroom Task 5
In 5 groups, choose one Reading activity in New Tieng Anh 10, 11 or 12.
Evaluate the activity by answering these questions:

a) What do you think about the comprehension exercises?

b) How meaningful/realistic are the questions?

c) How interesting is the exercise?

d) What adaptations can be made to improve the activity?

e) Is there a pre -, while - post - reading stage?

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Aims
 To provide you with some techniques, skills and practice of successful classroom
management;
 To help you deal with discipline problems and unplanned lessons;
 To introduce you to some types of classroom interactions to fit in your teaching
context

At every point in the lesson the teacher has options: to say one thing or to say
something different, to stop an activity or to let it continue for a few more
minutes, to take three minutes to deal with a difficult question or to move on
with what you had previously planned. These options continue throughout the
lesson; at every step your decision will take you forward on your particular
route.

Questions for discussions

1. What is classroom management?
2. What does good classroom management involve?
3. What influences teachers‟ decisions?
4. How to create a positive classroom climate?
5. Techniques for giving and checking instructions?

Classroom Task 1:
Q.1. Write two or more options for each of the following situations.
a) A student says I don't want to do this exercise.
b) You expected an activity to take five minutes. It has taken twenty so far and
the students still seem to be very involved. There is something else you
would like to do before the lesson ends in ten minutes.
c) The next activity involves students working in groups of five. At the moment
all the desks (which take five people) are facing forward in rows. They are
movable, but it takes a few minutes of chaos to do it.
d) The students are working in groups of three. Two groups have finished the
task you set them and are now sitting looking bored. The other groups still
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Methodology 3
seem to have a long way to go before they finish.
Q.2: What influences and informs your decisions between different
options?

Classroom Task 2: What teacher beliefs or attitudes might underlie the

following classroom actions?
a) The teacher includes a lot of student to student communication activities in
her lesson.
b) The teacher spends most of the class time explaining grammatical rules and
having the students do controlled drilling.
c) The teacher uses tapes recordings of native speaker conversations.
d) The teacher reads something to the students and then asks them to do
some follow-up comprehension activities.
e) In every lesson the teacher includes at least one game that involves students moving
around the classroom.

Classroom Task 3: Read this description of a classroom situation and

consider any alternative options available to the teacher at points (a) and
(b):
The teacher comes into the classroom at the start of the lesson. There are 45
adolescent students in the room. About half of them seem very involved in a loud
discussion (in Vietnamese - their mother tongue, not in English) about a fashion
model.
(a) The teacher shouts out OK. OK, let’s start the lesson; you can continue
that later. The room quietens down a bit; some people continue whispering
animatedly to each other. Now today we are going to look at ways of talking about
the future, continues the teacher. One student asks, but this subject is very
interesting, could we continue the conversation if we use English?
(b) The teacher says, I am sorry, but we have to get through unit 9 of the book
today. Perhaps we can have a discussion next week. Open your book at page
48.
(source: Jim Scrivener (2005). Learning Teaching. Macmillan Publishers limited.

Giving and Checking Instructions

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 Methodology 3

Classroom Task 4: Match the names of the techniques and their

definitions

DEFINITIONS TECHNIQUES
2 a. The teacher doesn't talk about what the students 1. "Step _ by - step" or
must do: instead s/he shows them what to do by the "feed-in" approach
giving a demonstration.

1 2. Demonstrate it,
b. The teacher gives the students one instruction at a
"model" it or "show -
time not a list of instructions all together.
don't - tell"
5 c. It's NOT important which language the teacher
uses - Vietnamese or English - but the way the
3. Say - Do - Check
instructions are delivered is the important thing.

3 d. The teacher follows 3 steps for each instruction.

First, s/he says the instruction, then s/he gets the 4. Student Recall
students to do it, then s/he checks that they've done
it correctly before going on to the next instruction.

4 e. The teacher checks that the students understand 5. Not What but How
everything by saying, "Tell me what you have to do in
Vietnamese" or "Say it again in Vietnamese".

(From LSS Methodology Course Book One)

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Methodology 3

Questions for discussions

1. What is classroom discipline?
2. What are causes of discipline problems?
2. What are factors that contribute to a disciplined classroom?
3. How to deal with discipline problems?
4. The use of mother tongue in a language class?

Classroom Task 1: Read through the descriptions of 5 episodes. Deal with

them in any order that you like and think about or discuss the following
questions:

1. What caused the problem?

2. What could the teacher have done to prevent arising?
3. Once it had arisen, what would you advise the teacher to do?

EPISODES: DISCIPLINE PROBLEMS

Episode 1
The teacher of a mixed class of thirteen-year-olds is working through an English
lesson. He asks Terry to read out a passage. “Do we have to do this book? says
Terry. 'It‟s boring'. Some members of the class smile, one says: “I like it” others are
silent awaiting the teacher's reaction.
(adapted from E. C. wragg Class Management and Control, Macmillan, 1981. p
12)

Episode 2
The teacher is explaining a story. Many of the students are inattentive, and there is
a murmur of quiet talk between them. The teacher disregards the noise and
speaks to those who are listening. Finally she reproaches, in a gentle and
sympathetic way, one student who is taking particularly noticeably. The student
stops taking for a minute or two, then carries on. This happens once or twice more,
with different students. The teacher does not get angry, and continues to explain,

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Methodology 3
trying (with only partial success) to draw students attention through occasional
questions.
(adapted from Sarah Reinhom-Lurie Unpublished research project on
classroom discipline, Oranim School of Eoucation Hafa 1992)

Episode 3
The teacher has prepared a worksheet and is explaining how to do it he has
extended his explanation to the point where John, having lost interest in the
teacher's words, begins to tap a ruler on his desk. At first the tapping is
occasional an(i not too noticeable, but John begins to tap more frequently and
more noisily building up to a final climax when he hits the tabs with a very loud
bang. The class startled by the noise, falls silent, and looks at both John and
the teacher to see what will happen. (adapted from E.C Wragg, Class
Management and control, Macmillan 1981, P18)

Episode 4
The teacher begins by giving out classroom books and collecting homework
books.
Teacher (to one of the boys): This book's very thin
Boy 1: Yeah, 'tis, isn't it
Teacher: Why?
Boy 1: I've been drawing in it
Boy 2: He's been using it for toilet paper, sir. (Uproar)
(adapted from E.C Wragg, (ed.) Classroom Teaching Skills, Croom Helm, 1984. p. 32)

Episode 5
The students have been asked to interview each other for homework and write
reports. In this lesson they are asked to read aloud their reports. A few students
refuse to do so. The teacher tells these students to stand up before the class
and be interviewed by them. They stand up but do not relate to the questions
seriously answer facetiously or in their mother tongue or not at all. The teacher
eventually sends them back to their places and goes on to the next planned
activity, a textbook exercise.(adapted from Sarah Reinhom-lurie, Unpublished
research project on classroom discipline, Oranim School of Education. Haifa,
1992)

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Methodology 3

Questions for discussions

1. What are classroom interaction patterns?
2. What are possible problems in classroom interactions?
3. What is the balance of Teacher Talking Time and Student
Talking Time
4. Types of Work Arrangement?
5. How to use pair work and group work effectively in a
language class?

Classroom Interaction Patterns

Classroom Task 1: Rearrange the following interaction patterns in

order of the most teacher – dominated to the most student-active pattern.
a. Group work
b. Open ended questioning
c. Students initiates, teacher answers
d. Choral response
e. Teacher talk
f. Close-ended teacher questioning
g. Individual work
h. Collaboration (pair work)
i. Self-access
j. Full class interaction

Classroom Task 2: In the list of statements below about classroom

interaction, tick any that you feel you can agree with:
1. a. It is more important for learners to listen and speak to the teacher than for
learners to listen and speak to each other.
b. Students should get most conversation practice in interacting with other
learners rather than with the teacher.
2. a. People usually learn best by listening to people explaining things.
b. People usually learn best by trying things out and finding out what works.

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Methodology 3
3. a. The teacher should speak as much as possible in classroom time.
b. The teacher should speak as little as possible in classroom time.

Potential Problems in classroom

interactions
1. Teacher Talking Time (TTT)
2. Echo
3. Helpful sentence completion
4. Complicated and unclear instructions
5. Not checking understanding of instructions
6. Asking Do you understand?
7. Lack of confidence in self, learners, material, and activity/making it too easy.
8. Not really listening (hearing language problems but not the message).
9. Weak rapport - creation of a poor working environment
10. Using L1 in the classroom
(source: Jim Scrivener (2005). Learning Teaching. Macmillan Publishers limited.

Teacher Talking Time and Student Talking

Time

Classroom Task 3: Read about what these teachers talk about the
balance of Teacher Talking Time and Student Talking Time and give your
own statements.

1. I always try to break the balance I think I have because I want the classroom to be the
students’ stage as long as possible . - Samir Ibrahim , Syria
2. In my county Education is still traditional .It is only imitating and

dictating from teacher to students although there are computers, most

people don’t use them to learn only as a video. Really students don’t speak

only listen. - Rasha , Egypt

3. I have notice that native speaker – teachers let the students speak more than non
native speaker – teachers of English. In my opinion this is because we tend to teach a lot
of grammar and make comparisons between the two languages , while native speakers

22
Methodology 3
use the language ’ naturally’ and so they tend to be more conversational.
- Teresa Ferrero , Italy

4. It’s true that students learn a lot from their teachers, especially when they are
starting out. The teacher must be an example , therefore listening as well as speaking
is the art of the fine conversation . Strike a balance. - Rebecca S. Hudson ,
UK
5. I think I have a good balance of teacher talking time in the sense that I try to
reduce or expand my talk according to students’ rapport. What I mean is that I
adapt my talking time to the group’s needs and activities involved. - Maria
Magdalena Rua , Argentina

Types of Work Arrangement

Classroom Task 4: Walk around the class and FIND some one who:

Name
1. Thinks PW/GW makes the classroom too noisy ……
2. Thinks PW/GW is not possible with a mixed ability class .. …
3. Thinks PW/GW encourages Ss to make mistakes ……
4. Thinks the teacher has less control over what Ss are doing in PW/GW …
5. Thinks PW/GW is not possible with a large class ……
6. Thinks PW/GW takes a lot of time ………
7. Thinks PW/GW can‟t make Ss speak English in class ……
8. Thinks Ss can‟t do PW/GW ………

Classroom Task 4: Read the following text and complete the summary
table below for your text:

N0 Work arrangements Diagram

23
Methodology 3
2

1. Pairwork
Pairwork is a non-confrontational way of getting all the students in a
class to participate: everyone must speak, contribute and interact with a partner,
but they don't have to do it in front of the whole class you follow the principle of
learning by doing, there is a direct correlation between the level of e student's
participation and the amount of learning taking place: high learner participation
results in effective learning for the majority of the class. At the same time,
pairwork cuts teacher-talking time down and provides a much more co-
operative, learner-centred working environment.
As a work arrangement, pairwork is based on an information gap
between partners. This means partner has one set of information and the other
partner has a different, but complementary, set of information. By getting
together, discussing what they have got, the pairwork task enables students to
fit pieces of knowledge together into a richer, or more complete, picture. Without
an information g and the need to 'co-operate' - the pairs do not have any real
reason to talk to each other.
For example, Student A has a picture. Student B has the same picture
with some features missing. In pairs, they have to find out the missing features.

   
 

2. Groupwork
Groupwork has the same co-operative learning advantages as Pairwork in that:
 it is non-confrontational (no-one has to get up and speak in front of the
whole class)
 it elicits a high degree of student participation (the teacher cannot dominate
the talking time the class is learner centred and de-centralised)

24
Methodology 3
 it forges a good group dynamic (as long as the group is given challenging
tasks with productive roles for each member).
In addition, groupwork is an excellent way of dealing with mixed ability levels
which divide the class and leave only a few strong students as 'contributors' in a
teacher-whole class (plenary) set up. By putting learners into groups, the trainer
can begin to deal with encouraging weaker students to perform well
Groupwork tasks are usually divided into share and/or compare activities. In a
share activity, each group works on solving a different problem (but with a
common theme) and then shares their problems and solution with other groups.
In a compare activity, all groups work on solving the same problem then compare
the different solutions they have come up with.
An example of Groupwork would be to get the members of each group to
brainstorm a list of things they would like to know about a given topic in the
course. Then, as a whole class they pool their crossing off duplication and
coming up with a final list of points they all want to know about.

3. Cross Grouping (Jigsaw)

Cross grouping is a co-operative work arrangement where students are put into
a first group and regrouped into a second group. In the first group, the class is
split into, say, 6 groups of 5 members each. The six groups all work on different
aspects of the same topic -no two groups are working on the same thing.
Everyone in the group takes notes. Then the teacher regroups the students
groups of 6:- one member from each of the original 6 groups becomes an
'ambassador' for his/her group in the new group.
First Group: 11111 22222 33333 44444 55555
Second Group: 12345 12345 12345 12345 12345
The advantage of this work arrangement is that the reporting back from the first
group happens in another group, not as a plenary report-back session which is
often boring and repetitive. This way, certain 'strong' students are not able to
dominate the forum; everyone must speak because everyone has a different
piece of the jigsaw puzzle to contribute; there are no 'passengers'. In addition, a
lot more information can be covered; each of the first groups become 'expert' in
one piece of information and they then relay their new knowledge to the
members of their second group. There are also confidence building aspects to
this co-operative work arrangement: each member of the second group has

25
Methodology 3
something unique to contribute to the group - they have a real role to play.
(From LSS Methodology Course Book One))

Grouping students
When deciding how to group students, we need to consider a number of
different factors:
1. The teaching aim: It is much easier to choose how to group students when
we have decided on the aim of the lesson and the aim of each activity.
2. The learning styles of the students. For example, some students prefer to
work as individuals, others in groups. Students also have different
personalities and find it easier to work with some partners or groups than
with others.
3. The ability and level of the students. Most classes are 'mixed ability', i.e. they
include students of different abilities. We can group students for some activities
so that students of the same ability work together, and for other activities so that
students of different abilities work together.
4. The personalities of our students. Most of the time students will work well
together, but sometimes there are students who do not work together
positively, e.g. when one student is shy and another is quite dominant (i.e.
always talking and stopping others from taking part). We need to think
carefully about how to group these students.
5. The class size. With a class of between 20 and 30 students, we can
manage pair and group work quite easily. With classes of more than 30
students, pair and group work are possible, but need more careful planning.
6. The previous experience of the students. When students are not used to
pair and group work we need to plan how to introduce this way of working.
We can start by doing short pairwork activities and gradually introduce
longer and more varied groupings.
7. The activities that we have chosen. For example, a discussion activity can be
done in groups, a role-play can be done in pairs. But we can also choose to do
these activities differently, depending on the needs of the group and the aims of
the lesson. So, for example, a discussion activity can be done in pairs or as a
whole class, and a role- play can be done in groups.
8. The balance of interaction patterns in a lesson. A lesson where learners
are doing pairwork for the whole lesson will probably not be successful:
learners will become bored and there might be discipline problems. A lesson
26
Methodology 3
where learners are doing individual work for the whole lesson will probably
not be successful either: learners will lose concentration and become bored.
Equally, a lesson which is wholly teacher-led is unlikely to be successful:
learners need a balance of different interaction patterns within one lesson.
9. The group dynamics of the class. i.e. the relationships between the
students and how students will behave towards each other.

27
Methodology 3

Group work Organization

1. Presentation
a) Introduce the technique
b) Justify the use of small groups for the technique
c) Model the technique
d) Give explicit detailed instructions
e) Divide the class into groups (by chance, streaming or friendship)
f) Check for clarification
g) Set the task in motion
h) Give a time limit
2. Process: Monitoring the task
a) Don't sit at your desk and do something else.
b) Don't leave the room and take a break
c) Don't spend an undue amount of time with one group at the expense of
others.
d) Don't correct students' errors unless asked to do so.
e) Don't assume a dominating or disruptive role while monitoring groups.
3. Ending
a) draw the activity to a close at a certain point
b) finish the activity while the students are still enjoying it and interested or only
just beginning to flag
4. Feedback
a) Get feedback.
b) Give Students a chance to demonstrate their work.
c) Check Student work, give correction if necessary,
d) Come to conclusions of the topic,
e) Add constructive comment and feedback to enhance students motivation.
(adapted from Penny Ur (1996.p 234). A course in language teaching. Cambridge University
Press)

28
Methodology 3

Classroom Task 4: Teacher self –evaluation

1. Observation: Reflect on the interaction patterns in your last few classes. Use the
circle below to create a pie chart indicating the approximate percentage of your time
your student spent.
a. Listening to you
b. Working individually
c. Working with a partner
d. Working in a group
e. Participating in a whole class activity

An example of classroom interaction

15%
5% a.
b
c
10% 50% d
e
20%

2. Analysis
a) Did you vary the pattern of interaction?
b) How would you describe your role in the class and the role of the students?
c) What was the balance b/w teacher talk and student talk?
d) Was there any of the teacher talk that could have been student talk or could
the students access the information in any other way?
(Adapted from LSS Methodology Course Book One, p.123)

29
Methodology 3

Aim:
 To raise awareness of different teachers’ attitudes towards lesson and lesson planning
 To help you solve some of the problems you have with lesson planning
 To give you some guidelines for writing effective lesson plans
 To help you provide more variety and flexibility in lessons and lesson planning
 To provide you with criteria to evaluate the effectiveness of a lesson.
 To introduce you to the application of Bloom taxonomy in lesson planning

Questions for Discussions

1. What is a Lesson Plan?
2. Why lesson planning?
3. What are components of a lesson plan?
4. What are your problems in writing a lesson plan?
5. What are steps of writing a lesson plan?

Metaphor of a Lesson

Classroom task 1: Exploring metaphors for a lesson

A. Choosing a metaphor: Decide which of the items below best express the
essence of a lesson, and say Why?

A lesson can be generally compared to:

 a variety show
 a wedding
 a menu
 a conversation
 a football game
 a symphony
 climbing a mountain
 eating a meal

30
Methodology 3
 doing the shopping
 consulting doctor

Which metaphors emphasize:

 teacher-centered approach?
 learner-centeredness?
 the 'steps' of the lesson?
 problem solving?
 competition?
 natural communication?
(Adapted from Ur, P (1996p213) A Course in Language Teaching Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
)

B: Comparing choices
 Get together in pairs or threes and share your selections and reasons for
making them.

Problems involved in Lesson Planning

Classroom Task 2:

A. List the problems you have in writing lesson plans:

- preparation time
- what to include and what to leave out
- timing for each activity
- anticipating problems
- covering the textbook

B. Write your group's list of problems in order of importance in the table

below and solutions to the problems in the right-hand column of the table
below.

Problems Your suggested solutions

31
Methodology 3
(From LSS Methodology Course Book One, p.123)

What should be in a Lesson Plan?

Classroom Task 3:

Discuss the following questions:

1. Should lesson plans follow a particular format?
2. Should all lesson plans have the same components?
3. What components should be included in a lesson plan?
Write your list of components in the table below.

Components

Writing a lesson plan

1. Why use a lesson plan?
Every lesson needs preparation time. Even if manual and materials of the
lesson have already been prepared, preparation time is required to adapt
materials and structures to the context and the students. A lesson plan is
particularly important when the teacher has just started using the new Tieng
Anh text book with which many teachers have complained that they have not
had enough time to go through the sections in the new book. It will also help
them better manage the time allocated for each section or activity. More
importantly, the lesson plan will clearly show which is the focus part of the
lesson – the „must know‟ - so as to facilitate any adjustment of time or cutting
down on parts of the lesson when there is a possibility of running overtime.
More specifically, a lesson plan will answer such questions as:
 Where to go? (aims, objectives, goals);
 How to get there? (Methodology/ techniques/ work arrangement);
32
Methodology 3
 What to use? (Materials; Teaching aids, resources);
 Whether or not you are on the right track? (Time, On Task); and
 How you know to have arrived? (Evaluation of teaching & learning)

A good lesson plan provides the teacher with a clear direction. It is the timetable
and roadmap of a lesson. The lesson plan indicates the content of the lesson
and helps to ensure a logical order of information, showing the learning
techniques to be used and the training aids needed and when they are required.
Providing information in a logical order helps the students to understand and
retain information.
The lesson plan allows the teacher a source of reference, highlighting where to
continue from if they deviate from the planned lesson (for example - if the
teacher needs to spend extra time on a particular point), and indicating the
times that each section of the lesson should take.
Upon deciding on class activities and work arrangement, the teacher must think
to include the CM and VAK into the lesson plan.

2. What should a lesson plan include?

The following information would be recorded in the lesson plan.
 Class details/ Students‟ background;
 Lesson aims/ learning objectives and/ or skills that students are expected to
achieve by the end of lesson.
 Materials (course book/ other materials (references if taken from other
sources)
 Teaching Methods/ Techniques;
 Teaching aids;
 Stages/ Activities by teachers‟ & students‟; teaching procedures
 Work arrangement/ classroom interaction patterns (pair work/group
work/individual work/whole class work…)
 Timing of the activities;
 Anticipated problems;
 Reserved activities;
 Homework.

33
Methodology 3

3. The seven steps of writing a lesson plan

Step 1: Check prior knowledge
If possible the teacher should find out as much as possible so as to better
arrange the teaching and learning activities applicable to them and decide on
the level of difficulty of the knowledge that the students are supposed to obtain.
Such baseline information is considered important often when the teacher starts
a new course/ class. If they have worked with the class already, this step might
be skipped.
Step 2: Define the teaching objectives
The methods and content of the training should be chosen only after full
consideration of the aims and objectives of the training. The lesson objectives
should address:
(a) Learning – Define what the students will learn by end of course.
e.g. “By the end of lesson, you will be able to produce
examples of present simple tense.”

(b) Action – Identify how the students can apply their learning in their
day-to-day communication.
e.g. “By the end of today‟s lesson, you will be able to write/
or describe your daily routines.”

Notes: Writing the objectives of the lesson involve the use of Bloom
Taxonomy

Step 3: Prioritise the information

Grade the lesson into:
(a) Essential information - what the students must know.
(b) Related information - what they should know.
(c) Complementary information - what they could know.
When the information is arranged in this way the teacher can ensure the
information that is essential (must know) is covered, understood and
remembered. The teacher can then include the remainder of the information
(should know and could know) depending how relevant it is to the students,
their level of knowledge and the time available.
It is better to deliver the most important information, presented in a form that is
easily understood and remembered, than to cover as much information as

34
Methodology 3
possible in the time. Including too much detail confuses the essential
information with other less relevant material.
Teachers should ask themselves, based on their knowledge of the students‟ prior
experience, “what is the best way to learn this topic?” rather than the best way to
teach it.

Step 4: Arrange the order of content

The logical order of a lesson is to move from that which is known to that which
is unknown. This is achieved by identifying the baseline knowledge of the
students and linking that to new information presented in small, easily
understood blocks. When the unknown becomes known (the students have
learnt the information), move on to the next unknown.

Step 5: Selecting the resources

The basic resources, such as the training room, audio-visual aids and handouts,
should be selected according to the course content, the students and
availability. When you have decided on the resources to be used, test them
prior to the lesson in order to check how they relate to the lesson and to
familiarise yourself with their use. It is good to have a back-up or reserve in
case a problem arises with the technology. e.g. If you plan to use PowerPoint,
bring a print out of the slides in case there is a problem with the computer.

Step 6: Selecting the teaching techniques

Decide which types of training techniques are most appropriate for
demonstrating each point. Methods which use participation are the most
appropriate for students of these age (rather than didactic learning where the
teacher just lectures to the students). Several recent studies1 support the use
of participation for the development of new skills and increasing knowledge.

Some examples of teaching techniques which use participation are:

 Brainstorming – where everyone is asked to contribute their ideas and each
idea is written up on a board or paper without comment. Evaluation of the
responses is only done after all ideas have been written down. The benefit
of brainstorming is that a greater and more varied number of ideas come
from students working together than by any one person working on their
own.

35
Methodology 3
 Question and answer – asking questions helps to check whether students
have understood the information. By encouraging students to ask
questions, this helps to clear up any misunderstandings and it can be helpful
to involve the group in responding to the question.
 Problem solving exercises – The purpose of these exercises is to promote
team work through the development of creative, supportive and innovative
approaches to problems.1
 Case studies – where a specific example is reviewed for discussion and
comment. The case provided may be based on a real situation or may
represent a combination of real cases based on the teacher‟s experience.
 Role plays – where students act in a representation of a situation. Role plays
are one of the most powerful techniques used with groups to assist with
learning and can help to change people‟s attitudes and learn how others
think and feel.1 Role plays need to be well planned and well facilitated.
Setting up and running a role play normally requires a series of steps to
explain the activity and allocate roles, conduct the role play and then de-brief
and transfer the experience to the real world.
 Quizzes, Debates, Games
When selecting techniques take into account the education level and
experience of the group so that the techniques are at an appropriate level.
Learning new skills is best done through practice while factual information can
be provided through lectures, quizzes and question and answer lessons.
Try to utilise a variety of techniques so that the students remain interested and
different learning styles of the students are catered to. Some may learn better
from visual stimuli while others prefer practical activities.
Using different audiovisual materials can also ensure that students maintain
their concentration. Teachers should check that all the teaching resources and
activities are well prepared in advance. Ensure that there are enough copies of
each handout and activity sheets for each student and that all the equipment is
available. Teachers will also need to check that any activities and case studies
are appropriate and relevant to the specific context. If not, these will need to be
adapted.
Step 7: Estimating the segment times
Estimate how much time is needed for each part of the presentation. Check that
the total time does not exceed the time allowed for the lesson. If it does, then

36
Methodology 3
cut down on the information that you have included from the “could know”
material. Don‟t cut down on time for activities that you have designed for each
activity. Estimated times can be revised after a practice run, and after each
actual presentation of the lesson.

(adapted from a ToT training package from WHO; ToT training package from
CSC International)

Classroom Task 4: Use the following questions to work out a

lesson plan of yourself.
1. What kinds of things do I want my learners to learn?
2. What are my precise instructional objectives?
3. What is the most appropriate sequence of topics and tasks?
4. What are the most appropriate methods?
5. How should the teaching and learning be evaluated?

LAYOUT OF A LESSON PLAN

Model 1:
 Name of teacher:……....... . . . . . .............................................. . . . . . . . . . .
.
 Date & Time: . . . . . . . …… . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .........................
 Class: .. . . .. . . . . . . ...................................................................................
 Subject:. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .........................................................................
 Aims: . . . . . . . . . . ………….. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ….. ..................................
 Objectives: . . . . . . . . …………… . . . . ………… .......................................
Method
Duration Key Teaching Point Teacher Learner Teaching Aids
Activity Activity

Model 2:

37
Methodology 3

Layout of a lesson plan

Class details: _____________________________________
Aim: ___________________________________________
Objectives:_______________________________________

Time Stage Steps/activites Work

Arrangement

8/4/2006 6

38
Methodology 3

Questions for discussion

1. Why varying lessons?
2. How many different ways of varying language learning activity
within a lesson can you think of?
3. What are criteria for evaluating lesson effectiveness?
4. How to apply Bloom taxonomy in lesson planning?

Classroom task 1: Read this text and answer the questions.

Lesson planning principles

The two overriding principles behind good lesson planning are variety and
flexibility. Variety means involving students in a number of activities of different
types and where possible introducing them to a wide selection of materials; it
means planning so that learning is interesting and never monotonous for the
students. Flexibility comes into play when dealing with the plan in the
classroom; for a number of reasons, what the teacher has planned may not be
appropriate for that class on that particular day. The flexible teacher will be able
to change the plan in such a situation. Flexibility is the characteristic we would
expect from the genuinely adaptable teacher.

We have already commented on the danger of routine and monotony and how
students may become demotivated if they are always faced with the same type
of class. This danger can only be avoided: the teacher believes that the learning
experience should be permanently stimulating and interesting. This is difficult to
achieve, but at least if the activities the students are faced with are varied there
will be the interest of doing different things. If new language is always
introduced in the same way, then the introduction stage of the class will become
gradually less and less challenging. If all activities always concentrate on
extracting specific information and never ask the students to do anything else,
reading will become less interesting. Our aim must be to provide a variety of
different learning activities which will help individual students to get to grips with
the language. And this means giving the students a purpose and telling them

39
Methodology 3
what the purpose is. Students need to know why they are doing something and
what it is supposed they will achieve.

In anyone class there will be a number of different personalities with different

ways of looking at the world and different learning styles. The activity that is
particularly appropriate for one student may not be ideal for another. But
teachers who vary their teaching approach may be able to satisfy most of the
students at different times.

Good lesson planning is the art of mixing techniques, activities and materials in
such a way that an ideal balance is created for the class. If teachers have a
large variety of techniques and activities that they can use with students they
can then apply themselves to the central question of lesson planning: What is it
that my students will feel, know, or be able to do at the end of the class (or
classes) that they did not feel or know or were not able to do at the beginning of
the class (or classes)?
(Adapted from: Harmer, J 1991 The Practice of English Language Teaching
Harlow: Longman pp.258-260 New Edition)

A. List 5 reasons why the teachers should provide variety.

1. _____________________________________________________________

2. _____________________________________________________________

3.
______________________________________________________________

4.
______________________________________________________________

5.
______________________________________________________________

B. List 3 ways the teacher can provide variety in his/her lessons.

40
Methodology 3

1.
______________________________________________________________
2.
______________________________________________________________
3.
______________________________________________________________

C. List 1 way the teacher can be flexible in his/her lessons.

1.
______________________________________________________________

D. Why flexibility is important?

_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________

Classroom Task 2: Discuss these questions: To what extent can a

teacher in Vietnamese high school:
1. provide "a wide selection of materials"?
2. provide “a wide selection of techniques and learning activities”?
3. be flexible about the lesson plan?
4. cater for the different learning needs of students in a mixed ability class?

Classroom task 3: Reflect on what makes a lesson effective in terms

of
a) The learners ...
b) The class ...
c) The materials ...
d) The lesson...
e) The language ...
f) The teacher ...

41
Methodology 3

Classroom Task 4: Put the following suggested criteria in order of

priority: from most-to-least important.
a) The learners were active all the time
b) The learners were attentive all the time.
c) The learners enjoyed the lesson, were motivated
d) The class seemed to be learning the material well
e) The lesson went according to plan.
f) The language was used communicatively throughout
g) The learners were engaging with the foreign language throughout.
(adapted from Penny Ur(1996 p219)). A course in Language Teaching. Cambridge University
Press)

Classroom Task 5: Evaluate each other’s lesson plan using this sheet
LESSON PLAN EVALUATION SHEET
Clarity, usefulness and understanding of the To some
Yes No
lesson plan extent
 The plan is easy to understand and follow
 The objectives are clear and achievable and follow
 There is an awareness of student problems
 The teacher understands and can explain the plan
 The lesson plan shows a good understanding
of the methodology

Comments/Details

LESSON EFFECTIVENESS EVALUATION SHEET

To some
During the lesson-teaching and learning Yes No
extent
a) The class seemed to be learning the material well
b) The learners were engaging with the foreign
language throughout.
c) The learners were attentive all the time.

42
Methodology 3
d) The learners enjoyed the lesson, were motivated

e) The learners were active all the time

f) The lesson went according to plan.

g) The language was used communicatively

throughout

(adapted from Penny Ur(1996 p220)). A course in Language Teaching. Cambridge University
Press)

43
Methodology 3

Aims:
- To make you aware of current issues in learning assessment, forms of assessment,
assessment for learning and assessment of learning,
- To provide you with some principles and characteristics of assessment for learning

Questions for discussions

1. How has the perception of Assessment been
changed?
2. The current trend in Assessment
3. Forms of Assessments
4. The difference between assessment for learning
and assessment of learning
5. Key characteristics of assessment for learning

44
Methodology 3

Classroom Task 1: Fill in the forms of assessment commonly used at

high schools.
Forms of assessment at high schools
Kinds of Sequence Content Test type Time
test
Mini test 3 Language Listening 15 minutes
tests/semester skill/element MCQ, gap fill,
T/F

Changed Perceptions of Assessment

Teachers, parents, and students frequently bristle when they hear the word
assessment. So negative are some of the reactions to state and federally
mandated testing that we have all but forgotten the positive impact assessment
can have on teaching, learning and promoting language programs. Current
research suggests that when they view assessment as a learning tool, teachers
are more likely to integrate authentic assessments into their lessons and alter
how they organize learning experiences (Williams, 2006). The negative attitude
toward testing may be a result of testing used by government as an instrument
for accountability and not as a learning tool.
Fifteen years ago, states such as Kentucky and Vermont were on a different
course with statewide assessments taking the form of portfolios in writing and
mathematics and performance events in science, math, social studies and the
arts. Early results showed teachers spent more time training students to think
critically and solve complex problems than previously (What the research,
1996).
Today many of those alternative open-ended, large-scale assessments have
been abandoned and testing has become standardized. The No Child Left
Behind (NCLB) Act has driven teachers toward designing instruction to help
students “pass the test”, rather than engineering creative and critical thinking
45
Methodology 3
learning environments. Many world language teachers have felt a trickle down
effect from NCLB: some are asked to contribute to students‟ test readiness by
incorporating general statewide testing practices in their own assessments,
others feel the need to fight to maintain their programs when funding is diverted
to tested content areas. Without significant assessment data to make a strong
case, many more programs could be in jeopardy when resources tighten
(Keatley, 2006).
Throughout this period of test-driven teaching, leaders in the world language
profession have responded to the need to demonstrate student progress and
proficiency by choosing to view assessment as a learning tool. This stance
focuses attention on integrated performance tasks, oral interviews, portfolios,
collaborative projects and other alternative assessments. Assessments such as
these can be particularly beneficial for young learners (McKay, 2006; Shohamy,
1998). Integrated assessments, which are activities that blend content and
language in real world tasks, make learning meaningful to students and provide
comfortable, and at times, playful, opportunities for contextual language output.
They bring a more balanced approach to assessment and have a positive effect
on achievement, because students perceive them as activities rather than tests,
and consequently, they perform in a more relaxed, stress-free manner, self-
correcting. Implementing such assessment experiences often has the effect of
increasing teachers‟ use of the target language in class and improving student
motivation. Instruction becomes more student-centered and sparks student-
initiated activities.
Current trends in education emphasize the importance of this type of formative
assessment that offers a snapshot of what students know in order to make
responsive changes in teaching and learning (Wiggins, 2004; Pellegrino,
Chudowsky, & Glaser, 2006). Formative assessment provides a balance to
assessment systems and turns attention to a type of teaching that looks more
like managing learning than teaching. Reframing how we think about
assessment can positively affect how teachers shape curriculum, plan lessons
and guide students‟ learning. Dylan Williams (2006) purports that improvement
in student achievement will be result from what happens in these newly
constructed learning environments.
To gain greater ground we need compelling data. Dr. Carolyn Taylor‟s study
shows that foreign language students significantly outperformed their non-

46
Methodology 3
foreign language counterparts on every subtest of the Louisiana state
assessment and the language portion of the fifth-grade Iowa Basic Skills Test
(2003). Preliminary data from Dr. Adeidine Moeller‟s longitudinal study of the
effects of LinguaFolio on student achievement suggest a positive effect on
achievement from self-assessment and goal setting (personal conversation,
September 26, 2006). A balanced assessment system is vital for generating the
necessary scientific data to maintain current programs, make systemic program
improvements and advocate for new world language programs.
Therefore assessment can be an essential tool to: diagnose key areas for
improvement, describe achievement and progress, manage and assist learning,
improve curriculum and instruction, validate program design, facilitate
articulation, and advocate for language learning.

Assessment Literacy
Acknowledging the need to reframe our perceptions of assessment signifies half
of the challenge; applying this new perspective to practice is the other crucial
aspect. To build a successful balanced assessment program, teachers need to
be assessment literate, that is to know what assessment tools are available and
to understand which particular types of instruments should be used for what
purposes. A variety of assessments is fundamental to providing a
comprehensive overview of a student competence and making learning
transparent to students, parents and other stakeholders. Different assessments
address different needs and purposes. Many of the simple, daily, classroom
activities can serve as assessments to inform planning and motivate learners.
After assessment instruments are selected and implemented, the next step is to
analyze the results and interpret the findings to inform instructional decision-
making. Adopting this new assessment perspective does not imply more time
for teachers, rather a redirection of teacher energy to adapt instruction based on
the results of assessment.
Leaders in the field (O‟Malley & Valdez Pierce, 1996; Donato, 1998; Tollefson,
2005; McKay, 2006) agree that teachers need to use a suite of assessments in
order to provide a comprehensive view of students‟ knowledge and
performance. Generally, assessments can be categorized in the following
manner:

47
Methodology 3
Diagnostic assessments identify problem areas, such as reading, language and
cognitive skills. Information gained from diagnostic tests provides guidance for
student placement or strategic intervention.
Achievement tests examine students‟ mastery over what was taught. Not limited
to paper-pencil tests, this type of assessment often focuses on discrete points,
covers specific content and allows for a perfect score. Norm referenced,
achievement tests compare students‟ performance. In the past, achievement
tests were principal determining factors in the assignment of grades.
Achievement tests may be considered formative if conducted on an ongoing
basis and used to inform teaching and learning.
Proficiency tests identify, globally, what students know and can do with the
language. The content on a proficiency test is not limited to what was taught in
the classroom. Criterion-referenced, proficiency tests compare students‟ overall
language competence to a standard, such as the ACTFL K-12 Performance
Guidelines or state or district standards.
Prochievement assessments, a performance-based hybrid of proficiency and
achievement tests, measure students‟ progress toward identified proficiency
goals. More than the ordinary tool, they provide a meaningful context and real-
life simulation.
Summative assessment is a comprehensive check of what students have
learned at the end of a lesson, unit, or course. Based on a cumulative learning
experience, summative assessment is testing for achievement and, depending
on age and level, can take the form of performance tasks, oral interviews,
written reports, projects or role-plays.
Formative assessment encompasses of many of the ordinary learning tasks
students do on a routine basis. Formative assessment provides on-going,
continuous snapshots of knowledge used to monitor progress, give student
feedback, modify curriculum and adjust learning experiences. Examples of
formative assessment include anecdotal records, observations, interviews,
performance tasks, written work, worded graphics, and journals.
Peer-Assessment encourages students to think deeply about the various
elements of language competency when they rate other students‟ performances
and products against specific criteria. With well-designed rubrics, students can
analyze and discuss language use and provide feedback to one another.
( source: Jacqueline Bott Van Houten(2006). Turning a New Light on
Assessment
48
Methodology 3
with LinguaFolio. VOLUME XII, NUMBER 1 • Learning Languages))

Assessment for Learning

Assessment for learning involves using assessment in the classroom to raise
pupils‟ achievement. It is based on the idea that pupils will improve most if they
understand the aim of their learning, where they are in relation to this aim and
how they can achieve the aim (or close the gap in their knowledge).
Effective assessment for learning happens all the time in the classroom. It
involves:
 sharing learning goals with pupils
 helping pupils know and recognize the standards to aim for
 providing feedback that helps pupils to identify how to improve
 believing that every pupil can improve in comparison with previous
achievements
 both the teacher and pupils reviewing and reflecting on pupils'
performance and progress
 pupils learning self-assessment techniques to discover areas they need
to improve
 recognizing that both motivation and self-esteem, crucial for effective
learning and progress, can be increased by effective assessment
techniques.
Research has shown that being part of the review process raises standards and
empowers pupils to take action to improve their performance. An Afl checklist
can be used to identify effective assessment for learning in your own classroom
or school.
Assessment for learning (formative assessment) is different from assessment of
learning (summative assessment), which involves judging pupils' performance
against national standards (level descriptions). Teachers often make these
judgments at the end of a unit of work, year or key stage. Test results also
describe pupils‟ performance in terms of levels. However, an important aspect
of assessment for learning is the formative use of summative data.
Key characteristics of assessment for learning are:
 using effective questioning techniques
 using marking and feedback strategies
 sharing learning goals
 peer and self-assessment.
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Methodology 3
High-level questioning can be used as a tool for assessment for learning.
Teachers can:
 use questions to find out what pupils know, understand and can do
 analyze pupils' responses and their questions in order to find out what
they know, understand and can do
 use questions to find out what pupils' specific misconceptions are in
order to target teaching more effectively
 use pupils' questions to assess understanding.
Some questions are better than others at providing teachers with assessment
opportunities. Changing the way a question is phrased can make a significant
difference to:
 the thought processes pupils need to go through
 the language demands made on pupils
 the extent to which pupils reveal their understanding
 the number of questions needed to make an assessment of pupils'
current understanding.
For example, a teacher wants to find out if pupils know the properties of prime
numbers. The teacher asks, 'Is 7 a prime number?' A pupil responds, 'Err...yes,
I think so' or 'No, it's not.'
This question has not enabled the teacher to make an effective assessment of
whether the pupil knows the properties of prime numbers. Changing the
question to 'Why is 7 an example of a prime number?' does several things.
 It helps the pupils recall their knowledge of the properties of prime
numbers and the properties of 7 and compare them.
 The answer to the question is 'Because prime numbers have exactly two
factors and 7 has exactly two factors.' This response requires a higher
degree of articulation than 'Err...yes, I think so.'
 It requires pupils to explain their understanding of prime numbers and to
use this to justify their reasoning.
 It provides an opportunity to make an assessment without necessarily
asking supplementary questions. The question 'Is 7 a prime number?'
requires further questions before the teacher can assess the pupil's
understanding.
The question 'Why is 7 an example of a prime number?' is an example of the
general question 'Why is x an example of y?' This is one type of question that is

50
Methodology 3
effective in providing assessment opportunities. Other types of questions that
are also effective in providing assessment opportunities are:
 how can we be sure that...?
 what is the same and what is different about...?
 is it ever/always true/false that...?
 how do you...?
 how would you explain...?
 what does that tell us about...?
 what is wrong with...?
 why is...true?

Using marking and feedback strategies

Teachers recognize that feedback is an essential element in helping pupils
improve. When using assessment for learning strategies, teachers need to
move away from giving work marks out of 10 with comments that may not be
related to the learning intention of the task (egg 'try harder' or 'join up your
writing') and move towards giving feedback to help the pupil improve in the
specific activity. This will help to close the learning gap and move pupils forward
in their understanding.
It is important to establish trust between the teacher and the pupil before giving
feedback.
Pupils benefit from opportunities for formal feedback through group and plenary
sessions. Where this works well, there is a shift from teachers telling pupils
what they have done wrong to pupils seeing for themselves what they need to
do to improve and discussing it with the teacher. Giving feedback involves
making time to talk to pupils and teaching them to be reflective about the
learning objectives and about their work and responses.

Characteristics of effective feedback

Feedback is more effective if it focuses on the learning intention of the task and
is given regularly while still relevant.
 Feedback is most effective when it confirms that pupils are on the right
track and when it stimulates correction or improvement of a piece of
work.

51
Methodology 3
 Suggestions for improvement should act as 'scaffolding', i.e. pupils
should be given as much help as they need to use their knowledge. They
should not be given the complete solutions as soon as they get stuck and
should learn to think things through for themselves.
 Pupils should be helped to find alternative solutions if simply repeating
an explanation continues to lead to failure.
 Feedback on progress over a number of attempts is more effective than
feedback on one attempt treated in isolation.
 The quality of dialogue in feedback is important and most research
indicates that oral feedback is more effective than written feedback.
 Pupils need to have the skills to ask for help and the ethos of the school
should encourage them to do so.

A culture of success should be promoted in which every pupil can make

achievements by building on their previous performance rather than being
compared with others. This is based on informing pupils about the strengths
and weaknesses demonstrated in their work and giving feedback about what
their next steps should be.

52
Methodology 3
Sharing learning goals
Most schemes of work emphasize the need to clearly identify the learning
objectives for a lesson. Teachers should ensure that pupils recognize the
difference between the task and its learning intention (separating what they
have to do from what they will learn).
Assessment criteria or learning outcomes are often defined in formal language
that pupils may not understand. To involve pupils fully in their learning teachers
should:
 explain clearly the reasons for the lesson or activity in terms of the
learning objectives
 share the specific assessment criteria with pupils
 help pupils to understand what they have done well and what they need
to develop.
Looking at a range of other pupils' responses to the task set can help pupils
understand how to use the assessment criteria to assess their own learning.

Peer and self-assessment

Research has shown that pupils will achieve more if they are fully engaged in
their own learning process. This means that if pupils know what they need to
learn and why, and then actively assess their understanding, gaps in their own
knowledge and areas they need to work on, they will achieve more than if they
sit passively in a classroom working through exercises with no real
comprehension either of the learning intention of the exercise or of why it might
be important.

Peer assessment
Peer assessment can be effective because pupils can clarify their own ideas
and understanding of both the learning intention and the assessment criteria
while marking other pupils' work.
Peer assessment must be managed carefully. It is not for the purpose of
ranking because if pupils compare themselves with others rather than their own
previous attainment, those performing better than their peers will not be
challenged and those performing worse will be demotivated.

Self-assessment

53
Methodology 3
Self-assessment is an important tool for teachers. Once pupils understand how
to assess their current knowledge and the gaps in it, they will have a clearer
idea of how they can help themselves progress.
Teachers and pupils can set targets relating to specific goals rather than to
national curriculum levels. The pupils will then be able to guide their own
learning, with the teacher providing help where necessary or appropriate. In
addition, pupils will need to:
 reflect on their own work
 be supported to admit problems without risk to self-esteem
 be given time to work problems out.
Asking pupils to look at examples of other pupils' work that does and does not
meet the assessment criteria can help them to understand what was required
from a task and to assess the next steps they might need to take. Looking at
different responses can also help pupils understand the different approaches
they could have taken to the task. It is often helpful if the work is from pupils
they do not know.
(adapted from http://www.qca.org.uk/qca_4336.aspx)

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Methodology 3

Aims:
- To make you aware of the relationship between testing and teaching and learning, and
some of the issues in language testing
- To get you to identify the purposes of testing.

Questions for discussions

1. What is the relationship between
teaching/learning and testing?
2. Why do we need tests?
3. How to make testing more productive?
4. What are alternative testing methods?

Classroom Task 1:
Read the statements and tick the correct box. Give reasons for your
opinions.
Statements Agree Disagree Reasons
1. Testing should be a positive learning
experience for students, which motivates
them and shows them how much they
have achieved.
2. National exams or University Entrance
Exams should not always be the model
for the sort of classroom tests teachers
write.
3. Test results should measure students'
ability according to a description of a
language level. It's not necessary to rank
students.
4. Teachers should test all four skills as well
as grammar, vocabulary, and phonology.
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Methodology 3
5. Marks from final exams are the only
"true" indicators of learners'
achievement. Semester tests results and
ongoing classroom achievement marks
are just a formality.
6. It is not important to link classroom tests
to what has been taught that month.
7. When designing a test, it's much better to
take the text and questions directly from
the textbook than to write out a new test
with parallel content and questions.

Why Test?
Testing is certainly not the only way to assess students, but there are many
good reasons for including a test in your language course.
 A test can give the teacher valuable information about where the students
are in their learning and can affect what the teacher will cover next. They will
help a teacher to decide if her teaching has been effective and help to
highlight what needs to be reviewed. Testing can be as much an
assessment of the teaching as the learning
 Tests can give students a sense of accomplishment as well as information
about what they know and what they need to review.
o In the 1970's students in an intensive EFL program were taught in an
unstructured conversation course. They complained that even though
they had a lot of time to practise communicating, they felt as if they
hadn't learned anything. Not long afterwards a testing system was
introduced and helped to give them a sense of satisfaction that they
were accomplishing things. Tests can be extremely motivating and
give students a sense of progress. They can highlight areas for
students to work on and tell them what has and hasn't been effective
in their learning.
 Tests can also have a positive effect in that they encourage students to
review material covered on the course.

56
Methodology 3
o Tests can encourage students to consolidate and extend their
knowledge.
 Tests are also a learning opportunity after they have been taken. The
feedback after a test can be invaluable in helping a student to understand
something she couldn't do during the test. Thus the test is a review in itself.
Tests also give teachers valuable information on how to improve the process of
evaluation. Questions as follows will help the teacher to improve the evaluative
process for next time.
 "Were the instructions clear?"
 "Are the test results consistent with the work that the students have done
on the course. Why/why not?"
 "Did I manage to create a non-threatening atmosphere?"

Making testing more productive

Despite all of these strong arguments for testing, it is very important to bear in
mind the negative aspects we looked at first and to try and minimize the effects.
 Try to make the test a less intimidating experience by explaining to the
students the purpose for the test and stress the positive effects it will
have. Many may have very negative feelings left over from previous bad
experiences.
 Give the students plenty of notice and teach some revision classes
beforehand.
 Tell the students that you will take into account their work on the course
as well as the test result.
 Be sensitive when you hand out the results. (go through the answers
fairly quickly, highlight any specific areas of difficulty and give the
students their results on slips of paper.
 Emphasize that an individual should compare their results with their own
previous scores not with others in the class.

Alternatives to testing
Using only tests as a basis for assessment has obvious drawbacks. They are
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Methodology 3
'one-off' events that do not necessarily give an entirely fair account of a
student's proficiency. As we have already mentioned, some people are more
suited to them than others. There are other alternatives that can be used
instead of or alongside tests.
 Continuous assessment
Teachers give grades for a number of assignments over a period of time.
A final grade is decided on a combination of assignments.
 Portfolio
A student collects a number of assignments and projects and presents
them in a file. The file is then used as a basis for evaluation.
 Self-assessment
The students evaluate themselves. The criteria must be carefully decided
upon beforehand.
 Teacher's assessment
The teacher gives an assessment of the learner for work done
throughout the course including classroom contributions.
(From “Testing and assessment” Richard Frost, British Council, Turkey)

Classroom Task 2:

A. Write down 4 more purposes of testing in the list below.

1. To measure students' ability

2. ..........................................................................................................................

3. ...........................................................................................................................

4. .... .....................................................................................................................

5. .... .....................................................................................................................

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Methodology 3
B. Categorize your lists under these headings

Diagnosis/ Motivation Teaching Tool Official

Evaluation Assessment
- To
measure
students'
ability

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Methodology 3

Aims To help you recognize different types of tests and test items

Questions for discussions

1. Types of tests
2. Types of test items
3. Testing techniques: Objective and Subjective methods
4. Advantages and disadvantages of objective and subjective
methods

Types of test
Before writing a test it is vital to think about what it is you want to test and what
its purpose is. We must make a distinction here between proficiency tests,
achievement tests, diagnostic tests and prognostic tests, integrative test and
discrete point test, proficiency test …..

Classroom Task 1: Match the test types with their descriptions.

Test types Descriptions

1) These tests are tests like IELTS or TOEFL. They don't
a) placement
test what you have learnt from a course. They test your
/diagnostic
ability in a language. Everyone can take these tests if they
have the money because they are international exams
controlled by international examining bodies, not by
individual institutions.
2) These tests are used to put students into groups or
b) classes relevant to their language levels. They are usually
achievement long with many multiple-choice questions based on
grammar and vocabulary and easy to mark so that many
students, for example, at the beginning of the school year,

60
Methodology 3
can be 'placed' quickly. The aim of these tests is to see
what students are good at and what they need to improve.
3) These tests are given at the end of a course, e.g. Grade
9 graduation test or semester tests. They aim to see how
c) proficiency
successful each individual student has been in taking a
course.
4) This is a method of testing. In fact, proficiency,
placement, diagnostic and achievement tests can use this
d) integrative
method of testing. This type of item tests one element at a
test items
time, item by item. An example is a gap-fill test in which
students have to supply only the prepositions but no other
part of speech.
5) 5) An example of this test item is writing a composition or
e) discrete-
an essay. This type of item tests your vocabulary, grammar,
point test
spelling, punctuation, paraphrasing and writing skills, all at
items
the same time. Other examples are random cloze, dictation,
oral interviews, listening and note taking.
f) prognostic
A 6) attempts to predict how a student will perform on a
test course

There are of course many other types of tests. It is important to choose

elicitation techniques carefully when you prepare one of the aforementioned
tests.

Types of task/test items

There are many elicitation techniques that can be used when writing a test.
Below are some widely-used types with some guidance on their strengths and
weaknesses. Using the right kind of question at the right time can be
enormously important in giving us a clear understanding of our students'
abilities, but we must also be aware of the limitations of each of these task or
question types so that we use each on appropriately.

Multiple choice
Choose the correct word to complete the sentence.

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Methodology 3

Cook is ________________today for being one of Britain's most

famous explorers.

a) recommended b) reminded c) recognized d) remembered

In this question type there is a stem and various options to choose from. The
advantages of this question type are that it is easy to mark and minimizes guess
work by having multiple distracters. The disadvantage is that it can be very
time-consuming to create, effective multiple choice items are surprisingly
difficult to write. Also it takes time for the candidate to process the information
which leads to problems with the validity of the exam. If a low level candidate
has to read through lots of complicated information before they can answer the
question, you may find you are testing their reading skills more than their lexical
knowledge.

 Multiple choice can be used to test most things such as grammar,

vocabulary, reading, listening etc. but you must remember that it is still
possible for students to just 'guess' without knowing the correct answer.

Transformation
Complete the second sentence so that it has the same meaning as the first.

'Do you know what the time is, John?' asked Dave.

Dave asked John __________ (what) _______________ it was.

This time a candidate has to rewrite a sentence based on an instruction or a key

word given. This type of task is fairly easy to mark, but the problem is that it
doesn't test understanding. A candidate may simply be able to rewrite
sentences to a formula. The fact that a candidate has to paraphrase the whole
meaning of the sentence in the example above however minimizes this
drawback.

 Transformations are particularly effective for testing grammar and

understanding of form. This wouldn't be an appropriate question type if
you wanted to test skills such as reading or listening.

Gap-filling
Complete the sentence.
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Methodology 3

Check the exchange ______________ to see how much your

money is worth.

The candidate fills the gap to complete the sentence. A hint may sometimes be
included such as a root verb that needs to be changed, or the first letter of the
word etc. This usually tests grammar or vocabulary. Again this type of task is
easy to mark and relatively easy to write. The teacher must bear in mind though
that in some cases there may be many possible correct answers.

 Gap-fills can be used to test a variety of areas such as vocabulary,

grammar and are very effective at testing listening for specific words.

Matching
Match the word on the left to the word with the opposite meaning.

fat old

young tall

dangerous thin

short safe

With this question type, the candidate must link items from the first column to
items in the second. This could be individual words, words and definitions, parts
of sentences, pictures to words etc. Whilst it is easy to mark, candidates can get
the right answers without knowing the words, if she has most of the answers
correct she knows the last one left must be right. To avoid this, have more
words than is necessary.

 Matching exercises are most often used to test vocabulary.

Cloze
Complete the text by adding a word to each gap.

This is the kind _____ test where a word _____ omitted from a
passage every so often. The candidate must _____ the gaps,
usually the first two lines are without gaps.

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Methodology 3
This kind of task type is much more integrative as candidates have to process
the components of the language simultaneously. It has also been proved to be
a good indicator of overall language proficiency. The teacher must be careful
about multiple correct answers and students may need some practice of this
type of task.

 Cloze tests can be very effective for testing grammar, vocabulary and
intensive reading.

True / False
Decide if the statement is true or false.

England won the world cup in 1966. T/F

Here the candidate must decide if a statement is true or false. Again this type is
easy to mark but guessing can result in many correct answers. The best way to
counteract this effect is to have a lot of items.

 This question type is mostly used to test listening and reading

comprehension.

Open questions
Answer the questions.

Why did John steal the money?

Here the candidate must answer a simple questions after a reading or listening
or as part of an oral interview. It can be used to test anything. If the answer is
open-ended it will be more difficult and time consuming to mark and there may
also be a an element of subjectivity involved in judging how 'complete' the
answer is, but it may also be a more accurate test.

 These question types are very useful for testing any of the four skills, but
less useful for testing grammar or vocabulary.

Error correction
Find the mistakes in the sentence and correct them.

Ipswich Town was the more better team on the night.

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Methodology 3
Errors must be found and corrected in a sentence or passage. It could be an
extra word, mistakes with verb forms, words missed etc. One problem with this
question type is that some errors can be corrected in more than one way.

 Error correction is useful for testing grammar and vocabulary as well as

readings and listening.

Other Techniques
There are of course many other elicitation techniques such as translation,
essays, dictations, ordering words/phrases into a sequence and sentence
construction (He/go/school/yesterday).

It is important to ask yourself what exactly you are trying to test, which
techniques suit this purpose best and to bear in mind the drawbacks of each
technique. Awareness of this will help you to minimize the problems and
produce a more effective test.

(Adapted from Richard Frost, British Council, Turkey)

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Methodology 3

Subjective or Objective
Recognition or Reproduction?

Table 1: Testing techniques

Testing focus Subjective methods Objective methods
Listening Open-ended question and answer Blank filing
Note taking Information transfer
Interview Multiple choice questions
True-false questions
Jumbled pictures
Speaking Role plays Sentence repetition
Interviews Sentence responses to cues
Group discussions
Describing pictures
Information gap activities
Reading Open –ended comprehension Information-transfer
comprehension Questions and answers in the Multiple choice
target language or mother tongue True/false question
Summary-writing Jumbled sentences
Note taking Jumbled paragraphs
Cloze
Writing Guided writing e.: Letter Blank filling
completion, rewriting, information Sentence joining
transfer
Free writing e.g: composition,
essays
Grammar Open-ended sentence completion Expansions exercises
Rewriting Scrambled exercise
Transformation exercises
Multiple choice questions
Functions Giving appropriate responses Matching
Discourse chains Multiple choice question
Split dialogues Odd one out
Listen and match
Vocabulary Composition and essays Crosswords

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Methodology 3
Paraphrasing Classification exercise
Matching exercises
Labeling
(Source: a range of testing techniques by Spratt (1985:146)

Classroom Task 2: Write whether the following test items are objective
or subjective and if they are recognition or reproduction.

Test items Objective Subjective Recognitions Reproduction

1. True/False/Doesn't
Say
2. Gap-fill (no choices
given)
3. Listening and
ordering pictures
4. Multiple-choice
questions
5. Jumbled sentences
6. Composition writing
7. Underlining mistakes
8. Speaking on a topic
9. Dictation
10. Essay
11. Role play
12. Short
Answer/Information
Transfer
13. Summary
14. Interview
15. Matching

1. Are all 'objective' items also 'recognition' items?

2. Can a 'subjective' item be 'recognition'?

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Methodology 3

Classroom Task 3: What language and which skill(s) do you think the
following item types can be used to test?

Pronunciation

Vocabulary

Listening
Grammar

Speaking

Reading

Writing
Item types

1. True/False/Doesn't Say
2. Gap-fill (no choices given)
3. Listening and ordering pictures
4. Multiple-choice questions
5. Jumbled sentences
6. Composition writing
7. Underlining mistakes
8. Speaking on a topic
9. Dictation
10.Essay
11.Role play
12. Short Answer/Information Transfer
13. Summary
14. Interview
15.Matching

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Methodology 3

Classroom Task 4: Look at the following sample test items and

identify the techniques used in the samples. Then complete the table.

Sample test Item type Skills Language elements

items
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14

SAMPLE TEST ITEM 1

Replace the underlined words with a synonym in English

Mount Everest, in Nepal, is the highest mountain on Earth. Its peak is 8,847 metres above
sea level, and the first people ever to reach it were Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay who
arrived at 11.30am on 29th May 1953. Many mountaineers before them had failed to climb
the mountain, and some had even died trying. Hillary and Tenzing Norgay hugged each
other with relief and happiness when they reached the summit, and then took some
photographs. The view was incredible: the two men could see for at least a hundred miles in
every direction. However, they only stayed at the top for fifteen minutes because they were
running out of oxygen. The climb to the summit from the camp at the bottom of the
mountain had taken seven weeks, but the return journey, although also dangerous, took
only three days.

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Methodology 3
SAMPLE TEST ITEM 2

Say what the following words in English

hoàng tử: ___________________________________________________
công chúa: ___________________________________________________
hoàng hậu: ___________________________________________________
vua: ___________________________________________________
ngai vàng: ___________________________________________________

SAMPLE TEST ITEM 3

Fill in the blank with an appropriate word

1 What is the weather ________ Liverpool?
2 She is good __________ maths and physics.
3 He failed _________ meet her at the airport

SAMPLE TEST ITEM 4

Choose the best answer to fill in the blank

There are geographic, economic, and cultural reasons why _____ around the world.
(A) diets differ
(B) do diets differ
(C) are diets different
(D) to differ a diet

SAMPLE TEST ITEM 5

Where can you see these notices? Mark one letter A, B or C for the correct answer

A. in a shop Please leave your room

key at Reception.
B. in a hotel
C. in a taxi

SAMPLE TEST ITEM 6

Writing at least 150 words, telling about one of your most memorable
childhood experiences.

SAMPLE TEST ITEM 7

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Methodology 3

Read the following text and decide whether the sentences 1-3 are true(T),
false(F) or of no information(NI)
Last year marked the 100th anniversary of one of the greatest feats of
engineering in the world. New York City hosted a number of events to celebrate
the opening of the underground system one hundred years ago, in 1904.
Although there are 468 subway stations, only 277 of them are underground.
Many stations are above the ground. The highest subway line is in Brooklyn. It‟s
27 m above street level and offers some beautiful views over the city. With
27,000 employees, the New York City subway is one of the largest urban rail
networks in the world. About 4.5 million people are carried on the 600 trains
every day.
1. New York underground system is the oldest in the world.
2. There are more subway stations underground than those above the
ground.
3. There are more than 4 million people travelling by the New York
underground system everyday.

SAMPLE TEST ITEM 8

Put the following words in the correct order to make a meaningful sentence
1. an/excursion/I/to/on/last Monday/went/Cambridge
..................................................................................................................
2. build/they/car park/wanted/Supermarket/for/to/ their /a
..................................................................................................................
3. Saturday/march/a/twenty seventh/football/at/his/on/wife/were/he/and/ March/the.
..................................................................................................................

SAMPLE TEST ITEM 9

In each item, the underlined words or phrases are marked A, B, C, or D. Read the
sentence and circle the part that is incorrect.
1. The committee decided to cancel its law suit, to approve the contract, and
(A) (B) (C)
that it would adjourn the meeting.
(D)
2. Air travel is fast, safe, and it is convenient.
(A) (B) (C) (D) 71
3. Rock music is not only popular in the United States but also abroad.
(A) (B) (C)(D)
Methodology 3

SAMPLE TEST ITEM 10

Write at least 250 words, giving your opinion about the following topic

Universities should accept equal numbers of male and female students in

every subject. To what extent do you agree or disagree?

SAMPLE TEST ITEM 11

Read the following passage and circle the best answer to the questions below
The Lincoln Memorial is located on the west bank of the Potomac river. Its outer walls
are white Colorado marble, 189 feet long and 118 feet 8 inches wide. The thirty - six
outer columns are also of marble, representing the thirty - six states that were in the
Union at the time of Lincoln's death. The name of each state is cut into stone above
the column. Inside the memorial, the walls are Indiana limestone and the floor is pink
Tennessee marble. These commemorative features include the huge seated statute of
Lincoln and two inscribed stone tablets.
1 What is the size of the Lincoln Memorial's outer walls?
A. It’s 8 inches wide B. Its length is less than its width
C. Its outer walls are thicker than its D. It’s nearly 190 feet long
inner wall
2 What are the wall inside the memorial made of?
A. pink marble B. stone
C. limestone D. column
3 What do the thirty - six outer columns represent?
A. Lincoln’s death B. thirty-six states
C.TEST
SAMPLE theITEM
names12
of the states D. pink marbles
4 Where is the Lincoln Memorial?
Talk to the person next to you, answering the questions below
A. Colorado B. Indiana
 C.
Who Tennessee
is the most attractive in your family? D. near a river
 Does beauty affect one's success in life? Why/why not?
5 What are the three commemorative features of the Lincoln Memorial?
 Is it better to be physically attractive or intelligent? Why/why not?
 A.
Is it better
two inscribed
to be physically
stone tablets
attractive
and a or wealthy?
B. Lincoln
Why/why
and two
not?
inscribed stone
statue tablets
SAMPLE TEST ITEM 13
C. the outer walls and the inner D. Colorado marble, Indiana
Read the following
walls passage and answer the questions limestone,
followed and Tennessee
The Great Pyramid of Giza is the last of the Seven Ancient Wonders left for us to see today
marble.
and is probably the most famous of all the Egyptian pyramids. The Great Pyramid is one of
72
three at Giza and was built by Khufu, or Cheops, over four thousand years ago.
Next to it is a smaller pyramid built by Khufu’s son, Khaefre. Khaefre’s pyramid,
Methodology 3

SAMPLE TEST
Listen to ITEMand
the story 14 number the pictures according to the sequence of
appearance

73
Methodology 3

Aims:
- To familiarize you with the qualities of a good test.
- To show you how to evaluate the reliability and validity of a test.
- To help you recognize the steps in planning a test, designing a test;
- To show you how to administrate and mark the test appropriately and effectively;
- To provide you with ways of making a fair test.

Questions for discussions

1. What makes a good test?
2. What are major characteristics of a good test?
3. How to plan a test?
4. How to write a test specification?
5. What are factors involved in Administrating and Marking
tests ?

Qualities of a good test

Classroom Task 1: Read the text and answer the questions that follow it.

1. Reliability
1.1. A Definition of Reliability
Every test should be reliable. In other words, a test should measure precisely
whatever it is supposed to measure. If a group of students were to take the
same test on two occasions, their results should be roughly the same - provided
that nothing has happened in the interval (such as one student receiving private
tuition or several students comparing notes and specially preparing for the test
when it is set a second time). Thus if students' results are very different (e.g. the
top student scoring low marks the second time), the test cannot be described as
reliable.

1.2. Reliability and Size.

Reliability is achieved through size: through a large number of test items within
the test and through piloting the test with a large number of candidates. If there
are very few items in the test, the test may rely too heavily on luck - weak
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Methodology 3
candidates may score 50% or more on a short test which has only True/False
type questions, just by guessing. If the test is piloted with less than 30 students
who happen to all come from gifted schools and they all score over 90%, test
writers will conclude that the test is too easy. But if the same test is piloted with
15,000 Grade 9 students in Quang Ninh Province a more reliable analysis can
be made. The larger the sample the easier it is to find the items which are too
easy or too difficult for everyone, and then to remove them.

1.3. Reliability and Test Item level of Difficulty

If individual test items are too hard for everyone or too easy for everyone then
they are not reliable test items: they do not differentiate between strong and
weak candidates. Reliable test items ensure that between one and two thirds of
the candidates will get it right. Over the whole test, especially with achievement
tests, this means that the candidates final scores are distributed with
approximately one third scoring less than 45% (weaker candidates), one third
scoring between 45% - 65%.(average candidates) and one third scoring 65% -
100% (good candidates). Tests-which show this kind of spread of scores are
reliable tests.

1.4. Reliability and Marking

Sometimes a test can be unreliable because of the way it is marked. For
example, if an average
composition is marked immediately after a very good composition, the average
composition may be given a mark that is actually below average. The marker's
subconscious comparison of the two compositions will result in the average
composition appearing worse than it really is. However, if the same average
composition is marked immediately after a very poor composition, then it may
appear above average and be awarded a higher mark than it deserves.
In addition, different markers may award different marks to the same
composition; for example, some of the markers may be very lenient and others
may be unfairly strict

1.5. Reliability and Syllabus

Another factor that influences the reliability of a test is how much the test is
based on passages and questions taken directly from a textbook and how much

75
Methodology 3
it is based on the syllabus within the textbook, not the book itself. An over-
emphasis on 'quoting' the textbook in a test will produce results that do not
reveal real achievement or progress of the learners in terms of reading, writing,
listening, speaking, vocabulary and grammar. The results will only reveal how
well students have memorised the passages and the correct answers.

2. Validity

2.1. A Definition of Validity

The central question about validity, according to Carroll and Hall (1985) is this:
are we actually
measuring what we are intending to measure? A listening test with written
multiple-choice options may lack validity if the printed choices are so difficult to
read that the exam actually measures reading comprehension as much as it
does listening comprehension. - It is least valid for students who are much
better at listening than at reading. Similarly, a reading test will lack validity if
success in the exam depends on information not provided in the passage. A
composition test which requires students to write about modern methods of
transport may not be valid since it will measure not only an ability to write in
English but also an interest in, or knowledge of, modern transport. When
students are given an oral interview, is it only their language abilities that are
being assessed or are such assessments influenced by the students'
personalities?

2.2. Types of Validity

Validity is often discussed under the headings: face, content, response, concurrent
and predictive.

Face validity concerns the appeal of the test to the popular (non-expert)
judgment, typically that of the candidate, the candidate's family, members of the
public...

Content validity, on the other hand, depends on a professional judgment, that

of the teacher or tester. These experts use their own knowledge of the language
to judge to what extent the test provides a satisfactory sample of the syllabus.

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Methodology 3
Response validity is intended to describe the extent to which examinees
responded in the manner expected by the test developers. If examinees
respond in a haphazard or non-reflective manner, their obtained scores may not
represent their actual ability. Also, if instructions are unclear and the test format
is unfamiliar to the students, their responses may not reflect their true ability,
and in this way the test may be said to lack response validity.

Statistical or empirical validity is the validity obtained as a result of

comparing the results of the test with the results of some criterion measure such
as: an existing test, known or believed to be valid and given at the same time;
or the teacher's ratings or any other such form of independent assessment
given at the same time; or the subsequent performance of the testees on a
certain task measured by some valid test; or the teacher's ratings or any other
such form of independent assessment given later.
Results obtained by either of the first two methods above are measures of the
test's concurrent validity in respect of the particular criterion used. The third and
fourth methods estimate the predictive validity of a test which is used to predict
future success.

3. Practicality
The main question of practicality is administrative. A test must be carefully
organized well in advance. How long will the test take? What special
arrangements have to be made (for example, what happens to the rest of the
class while individual speaking tests take place)? Is any equipment needed
(tape recorder, language lab, overhead projector)? How is marking the work
handled? How are tests stored between sittings of tests? All of these questions
are practical since they help ensure the success of a test and testing.
(Adapted from: Heaton, J 1988 Writing English Language Tests Harlow: Longman (New Edition)
Hughes, A 1997 Testing for Language Teachers Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Carroll, B & P Hall 1985 Make Your Own Language Tests Oxford: Pergamon)

Classroom Task 1

1. What are the main qualities of a good language test?

77
Methodology 3
2. If a language test is unreliable, what will happen to students' marks the
second time they take the same test?

3. Which of these are more reliable?

a) 1. tests with a large number of test items in them
2. tests with a small number of test items in them
b) 1. tests piloted in a few schools
2. tests piloted across the whole country
c) 1. test items in which 40% of candidates get it right
2. test items in which everyone gets it right
d) 1. tests which rely on the markers‟ good level of English and their
subjective judgment
2. tests which can be marked 'clerically'
e) 1. test items for reading which use the same grammar and vocabulary
as the textbook but in a new passage that no candidate has ever
seen before
2. test items for reading which are taken directly from the textbook

4. Using your answers from 3) above, complete the following passage:

A reliable test contains ……………………………………of test items of ...........................

difficulty, based on………………………..within the textbook, not ................................

Such a test will have been piloted .......................and can be marked....................

5. In the examples given in 2.1

a) Why is the listening test invalid?

b) Why is the reading text invalid?

c) Why is the writing test invalid?

d) Why is the speaking test invalid?

78
Methodology 3
6. Match the Types of Validity with their correct definitions.

1. Face A. The test layout and instructions are clear so students'

Validity wrong answers are because of their lack of ability in English,
not because the answer sheet was badly designed and made
them put the tick in the wrong box, for example.
2. Content B. Other teachers agree that the methodology used in the test
Validity and the language items tested are the right level and approach
for their students.
3. Response C. The same students who got high, average and low marks
Validity on this test will get high, average and low marks on another
test.
4. Statistical D. The test is what students and parents want, and it looks
Validity familiar to them.

Classroom Task 2: What lack of validity made these tests

unsuccessful?

1. It is not clear from the instructions if the students must tick or circle or
underline the correct
answer but the answer sheet is marked electronically:
2. For the past 8 years the Grade 9 exam has used passages, comprehension
questions and grammar exercises taken directly from English 9. Students
have prepared for the exam by memorising the book. This year, the Foreign
Language Specialist writes the exam using parallel texts and exercises, not
taken directly from the book, without warning anyone.
3. Students who did well all through the second semester of Grade_8 and got
good classroom marks, scored very badly on the Grade 8 Semester II test.
4. After the introduction of the new textbooks, teachers have taught
communicatively from Grade 6 to Grade 9, emphasising speaking and
listening skills and fluency as well as accuracy. But on the Grade 9 exam
there is still no speaking or listening component.

79
Methodology 3

Classroom Task 3: Which test (A or B) is more reliable? Why?

TEST A (taken from English 11, Unit 16, paragraphs 1-2, p. 163)
Read the passage and answer the questions followed

The Great Pyramid of Giza

The Great Pyramid of Giza was built by the Egyptian pharaoh Khufu around the
year 2560 BC. The purpose of this huge stone pyramid was to serve as a tomb
when he died and to protect the burial chamber from the weather and from thieves
who might try to steal the treasures and belongings there. The Great Pyramid is
believed to have been built over a 20 year period. The site was first prepared, and
blocks of stone were transported and placed.
When it was built, the Great Pyramid was 147 meters high on a base of 230 meters
square. It ranked as the tallest structure on earth for more than 43 centuries, only to
be surpassed in height in the nineteenth century AD. The structure consisted of
approximately 2 million blocks of stone, each weighing about 2.5 tones. It has been
suggested that there are enough blocks in the three pyramids to build a 3 meters
high wall around France.
1. When was the Great Pyramid of Giza built?
2. What was the purpose of this huge stone pyramid?
3. How high was the Great Pyramid of Giza?
4. Did the Great Pyramid of Giza rank as the tallest structure on earth for more than
43 century?
5. How many stones were there in the structure?

TEST B (based on from English 11, Unit 16, paragraphs 1-2, and Grade 11
vocabulary)

Mount Everest, in Nepal, is the highest mountain on Earth. In Sanskrit, the ancient
language of Nepal, it is known as Sagamartha, or “Goddess of the Sky”. Its peak is
8,847 metres above sea level, and the first people ever to reach it were Edmund
Hillary (from New Zealand) and Tenzing Norgay (from Nepal), who arrived at
11.30am on 29th May 1953. Many mountaineers before them had failed to climb the
mountain, and some had even died trying.
Hillary and Tenzing Norgay hugged each other with relief and happiness when they
reached the top, and then took some photographs. However, they only stayed at
the top for fifteen minutes because they were running out of oxygen. Their climb to
the top from the camp at the bottom of the mountain had taken seven weeks, but
the return journey, although also dangerous, took only three days.

1. What is the ancient language of Nepal?

2. What does Mount Everest mean in the ancient language of Nepal?
3. How many people had reached to the top of Mount Everest by 1953?

4. What prevented Hillary and Tenzing from staying longer at the top of Mount
Everest?

5. How long was Hillary and Tenzing‟s climb to and back from the top of Mount 80
Everest?
Methodology 3

Planning, Administrating and Marking

the Test

Classroom Task 1: Planning a test

Arrange the following steps in order of planning a test

Administering the test

Scoring and rating Planning

the test

Analyzing the test items

Determining and task
the purpose of the test

Improve the course and

the teaching methods

Report the test result

Selecting items
and task

Test specifications in general cover the following areas, as appropriate. Test

specifications naturally vary according to their uses, so not all of these will be
appropriate for all tests.

1. What is the purpose of the test?

The purpose of a test generally falls into one of five broad categories:
placement, progress, achievement, proficiency, and diagnostic. It is important
before starting to write a test to know which of these broad purposes the test
has.
2. What sort of learner will be taking the test?
Useful information about the learner can include the age or educational level;

81
Methodology 3
general level of proficiency; first language(s); cultural or national background;
level and nature of education; reason for taking the test; professional interests,
if any; and levels of background knowledge.
3. How many sections should the test have, and how long should they be?
The specifications should establish how many sections the test has, how long
each of them is, and how they are different. For example, the test might be one
two-hour exam or two one- hour sections, one an examination and one an
essay.
4. What text types should be used in the test?
The specifications should indicate whether the texts should be written or
spoken, what kinds of sources they should come from, what topics they should
include, how difficult they should be, what their functions should be (for
example, persuasion or summarizing), etc.
5. What language skills should be tested?
The specifications should indicate what skills the test should cover, including
the enabling skills, and whether they should be tested in an integrative or
discrete way. They should also establish whether the test should ask for the
main idea, specific details, inferences, etc.
6. What language elements should be tested?
If there are specific grammatical points, functions, or lexical items that should be
covered in the test, the specifications should list these.
7. What sort of tasks are required?
The specifications should indicate whether the tasks should be simulated
authentic tasks, objective or subjective, etc.
8. How many items are there in each section, and what is the relative
weight for each item?
The specifications should specify the number of items in each section and
indicate whether they are weighted equally or whether more weight is given to
more difficult or longer items.
9. What test methods are used?
The test specifications should indicate whether the items should be multiple
choice, fill-in-the-blank, picture description, role play using cue cards, essay,
etc.
10. What instructions should be given to the candidates?
The test specifications should indicate what information should be included in

82
Methodology 3
the instructions, whether examples of worked problems should be provided,
whether there will be information about how the responses will be evaluated.
11. What criteria will be used for assessment?
The specifications should establish whether the test will be assessed according
to accuracy or fluency, whether spelling will be counted, and so on.

Test specification grid

Focus Input Response/ Marks weights

item type

Classroom Task 2: List the factors that Test Administrators need to

consider when running tests.

a)______________________________________________________________

b)_____________________________________________________________

c)_____________________________________________________________

d)_____________________________________________________________

Classroom Task 3: Discuss the following questions in groups.

Before the test
1. How far in advance do you announce the test?

83
Methodology 3
2. How much do you tell the class about what is going to be in it, and about the
criteria for marking?
3. How much information do you need to give them about the time, place, any
limitations or rules?
4. Do you give them any 'tips' about how to cope with the test format?
5. Do you expect them to prepare at home, or do you give them some class
time for preparation
Giving the test
1. How important is it for you yourself to administer the test?
2. Assuming that you do, what do you say before giving out the test papers?
3. Do you add anything when the papers have been distributed but students
have not yet started work?
4. During the test, are you absolutely passive or are you interacting with the
students in any way?
After the test
1. How long does it take you to mark and return the papers?
2. Do you then go through them in class?
3. Do you demand any follow-up work on the part of the student?
(source: Brown.H.D(2001).Teaching by principle (2nd ed) chapter 22. NJ: Prentice Hall
Regents)

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Methodology 3

MARKING THE TEST

The most important point to be noted in giving a marking scale is that the
balance of marks distributed to the different parts of a test should reflect the
balance of the syllabus.
Second, the weighting of marks should take into consideration the difficulty of
a test item and, to an extent, the proportion of the overall test time that it is
likely to take students to complete that item.
A final point in relation to marks is that if the test includes an element which
has to be marked subjectively, the teachers should give careful proportion of
the total marks for the test, but also to the criteria to be used for assessing that
element. Even when only one person is marking a set of test papers, it is
important for reliability and consistency that marking should be done according
to guidelines of one form or another.

Classroom Task 4: Discuss the following questions in groups

1. How do you often mark your pupils‟ tests?
2. What should be taken into consideration when marking?

Classroom Task 5: Discuss with your group about ways of making a

fair test.

.TIPS FOR FAIR TESTS

1. Ask enough questions to test accurately;
2. Write clear directions for the test and use examples;
3. Test what has been taught in class;
4. Write clear test items;
5. When writing multiple choice questions, use realistic distractors;
6. Score test consistently with a key;
7. Avoid traps for students

85
Methodology 3

Aims:
- To make you aware of problems in writing a test.
- To provide you with some techniques of writing test instructions and test items.

Questions for discussions

1. What are common mistakes in writing a test?
2. How to write test instructions effectively
3. Techniques of writing some common items

Common mistakes in writing tests

Classroom Task 1: Look at the following extracts from tests. Say what is
wrong in each case. Correct the mistakes.
(From: The ELTTP Methodology Course Book Two - Skills & Testing)

Extract 1: Read the passage and then choose the correct answer to the questions.

The fire broke out around 9.45 a.m. on Thuy Khue Road between lane 127 and lane
131 in Ba Dinh district. The blaze destroyed 4 houses. One fireman was slightly
injured.

How badly was the fireman hurt?

a. a little b. slightly c. very badly d. not at all

Extract 2: Fill in the blanks in the dialogue by using the phrases listed below:
A. ________ ___ _____ ______, sir?
B. Yes, I want to buy a piano.
A. Oh, ____ ___ _____ the piano?
B. Yes, ___ ___
A. The pianos are over there, sir
B. _____ ______ by credit card?
A. Yes, ____ _____
I can Can I play Can you play You can Can I help
you?
86
 Extract 3: A. Choose the letter of the correct answer
1. She had to help the old man up the stairs.
Methodology 3
a. weak b. slowly c. try d. wisdom

2. She needs to get up earlier so she's buying an ________ clock.

a. time b. alarm c. watch d . bell

3. They needed lots of training to operate such_______ equipment.

a. easy b. sophisticated c. blue d. wise

4. She sent the _______ yesterday.

a. letter b. gift c. food d. books
(Madsen, S 1983 Techniques in Testing Oxford: Oxford University Press, chapter 2)

5. You can get it from the lady ___________ he sold it to.

a. which b. who c. whom d. why
Analysis of Bad tests
6. If I had a new fur coat,
a. I showed it to everyone. b. I'd show it to everyone.
Classroom Task
c. I've shown 2: Analyzing
it to everyone. d. I'llthe given
show test below. Figure out the
it to everyone.
mistakes and correct them.
ENGLISH EXAM
PART 1:
1. Pick out the word whose underlined part is pronounced differently from that of
the other words.
1. A. beat B. head C. meat D. seat
2. A. but B. cut C. put D. bus
3. A. target B. farthest C. bargain D. charming
4. A. school B. chemistry C. ache D. chair
5. A. giant B. game C. gate D. guest
6. A. allow B. borrow C. grow D. follow

2. Choose the word that has the stressed pattern at the different place from the
others.
1. A. alarm B. husband C. peasant D. student
2. A. literature B. geography C. comfortable D. interesting
3. A. summer B. district C. purchase D. announce
4. A. technology B. particular C. occupation D. transplanting
87
Methodology 3
5. A. education B. information C. television D. activities
6. A. arrive B. remind C. apply D. anchor
7. A. career B. people C. papper D. female

3. Choose the best answer among A, B, C, D to fill in the blanks.

1. When we ___ to see him last night, he _____ to music.
A. come/is listening B. came/was listening
C. had come/listened D. were coming/had listened
2. They are selling their house to move to ____
A. the smaller ones C. the one smaller
B. a smaller one D. a one smaller
3. Right now I ____ T.V. Tomorrow at this time, I_____T.V as well.
A. watch/will watch
B. am watching/will be watching
C. have watched
D. was watching/am going to watch
4. ……………along Canary Street, I saw a terrible accident.
A. While walking C. While I had walked
B. While I walking D. To walk
5. Since his bicycle____ stolen last week, he ___ _____to school by bus.
A. has been /goes C. was/has gone
B. had been/was going D. was/went
6. He ____for her for nearly one hour last night before she ___.
A. was waiting/came C. has waited/comes
B. had been waiting/came D. waited/will come
7. Jane____ at my house when you_______________________.
A. is/will arrive C. will be /arrive
B. will be/will arrive D. was/had arrive
8. On some occasions men smoke simply………………..relax.
A. so that C. so as to
B. in order that D. so

4. Read the passage and choose the best answer.

Marconi was born in Bologna in Northern Italy in 1874. His father was a rich
Italian businessman and his mother was a Scot who had lived in Ireland and

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has gone to Italy to study music. The family lived in a country house, the villa
Grifone, just outside Bologna. When he was a boy, peope didn‟t think that
Marconi was particularly clever. He was a quite boy who spoke little but thought
a lot. He liked nothing better than to sit and read science books. He also loved
to do experiments with electricity. For most of his early life, he was taught at
home. He didn‟t go to school.
 When was Marconi born?
A. He was born in 1874. C. He is born in 1874.
B. He were born in 1874. D. He has been born in 1874.
 What did his father do?
A. He was an Italian doctor. C. He was an Italian chemist.
B. He was an Italian scientist. D. He was an Italian
businessman.
 The word “clever” in the passage means….
A. foolish B. intelligent C. stupid D. naughty
 Which invention was he famous for?
A. electricity B. chemistry C. physic D. generator
 Did he go to school?
A. Yes, he was. C. Yes, he did. B. No, he didn‟t. D. No, he
wasn‟t.

5. Read the text below and choose the correct word or phrase for each
space.
What do you do at the weekend? Some people like to stay at home but others
like to go (1)______ a walk or play football. My friend, Jack works hard in a
factory during the week. At the weekend, he (2)_____the same thing. On
Saturday, he (3)____ his car. On Sunday he goes with his family to a village in
the country. His aunt and uncle have a farm there. It isn‟t a big one but there is
always so much (4)___ on a farm. The children (5)______with the animals and
give them their food. At the end of the day, they are all hungry.
 A. in B. at C. for D. on
 A. do always B. always do C. does always D. always does
 A. washes B. wash C. to wash D. washed
 A. do B. to do C. doing D. does
 A. see B. eat C. help D. make

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6. Read the passage and choose the best answer.

If you are invited to an American friend‟s house for dinner, remember these
general rules for polite behavior. First of all, arrive approximately on time but
only early. Americans expect promptness. It‟ll be all right to be 10 or 15 minutes
late, but not 45 minutes late. When you‟re invited to someone‟s home for meal,
it‟s polite to bring a small gift. Flowers and candy are always appropriate. If you
have something attractive made in your country, your host or hostess will
certainly enjoy receiving that gift. What‟ll you do if you are served some food
that you cannot eat or you don‟t like? Do not make a fuss about it. Simply eat
what you can and hope that no one notices it. Be sure to compliment the cook
on the food that you are enjoying. Do not leave immediately after dinner, but do
not over-stay your welcome, either. The next day, call or write a thank you note
to say how much you enjoyed the evening.
1. If you are invited to American friend‟s home, ____
A. punctuality is appreciated. C. politeness is not necessary.
B. you should go late a bit. D. You should be late at least 45 minutes.
2. When you come to someone‟s house for dinner, _____
A. do not care about gifts.
B. bring a lot of gifts.
C. bring some flowers, candy, or something made in your native country.
D. you should never offer any gift.

3. Which sentence is Not True?

A. You should not compliment the cook on the food.
B. You should not over-stay.
C. You should not make some notice that you don‟t like the food.
D. You should not leave immediately after the dinner.
4. The next day, _____
A. You needn‟t say thank you.
B. Remember to thank to host for the dinner.
C. say nothing to the host.
D. invite the host to your house.

THE END OF THE TEST

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Writing Test Instructions

Classroom Task 3: Write instructions for the test item provided below

Test item 1:
1. A. radio B. bicycle C. child D.
mine
2. A. pens B. pencils C. keys D.
desks

Test item 2:
1. A. cinema B. library C. eleven D.
balcony
2. A. seven B. sixteen C. fifty D.
hundred

Test item 3:
1. A. pens B. book C. shoes D.
keys
2. A. child B. men C. women D.
teachers

Test item 4:
1. The film was so funny that I burst out laughing.
It was ..............................................................................................................
2. Who does this umbrella belong to?
Who...............................................................................................................

Test item 5
1. At the hospital, doctors and nurses take care of their________.
A. students B. patients C. children D. friends
2. Do you like tea ______ lemon?
A. or B. with C. and D. by
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Test item 6
1. If you need to keep fit, then why not take on a sport such as badminton or
tennis?
A B C D
2. By the year 2010 it may be possible to travel faster than the speed of the
light
A B C D

Test item 7
There are_(1)____ people in my family: my mother, my father, my sister and
me. My _(2)____ is thirty-six years old. She‟s a doctor. My father is forty-one.
_(3)____ an engineer. My sister is fifteen. She‟s a student. I‟m twelve _(4)___
old. I‟m a student, too. Every day I _(5)____ up at six. I brush my teeth. I wash
my face. Then I _(6)____ breakfast. I go to school at a quarter _(7 )____
seven. I have classes from seven to half past eleven. I _(8 )____ home and
have lunch at twelve. In the afternoon, I do my homework. _(9 )____ four I play
games. In the evening, I watch television _(10)____ seven to eight. Then I do
my homework again. I go to bed at a quarter past ten.
1. A. two B. three C. four D. five
2.. A. mother B. father C. brother D. sister
3. A. she B. she‟s C. he D. he‟s
4. A. hours B. days C. months D. years
5. A. stay B. get C. take D. go
6.. A. take B. have C. do D. make
7. A. past B. of C. to D. for
8. A. go B. enter C. come D. arrive
9. A. in B. on C. by D. at
10. A. for B. from C. to D. between

Test item 8
1. She never laughed, ________ lose her temper.
A. either did she B. so did she ever C. nor did she ever D. nor she
ever did

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2. The higher the standard of living and the greater the national wealth, the
______________.
A. greater is the amount of paper is used B. greater amount of paper is used

C. amount of paper used is greater D. greater the amount of paper

used

Test item 9
The Sunday paper is usually very thick. It has many advertisements and many
different sections. The adults in the family like the front page, the editorial page,
and the world news section. Many men also read the sports pages and the
financial pages. Most men don‟t read the women‟s pages, but the mother of the
family usually does. The women‟s pages have news about parties and
marriages, and advice about food, health, and clothes. Most Sunday papers
have comics, which children enjoy very much. Older people read the death
notices, which tell about people who have died during the week.
1. What section do the adults like to read?
A. Advertisements. B. Editorial page. C. Death notice. D. Comics.

2. Which of the following is NOT included on the women‟s pages

A. News about parties B. News about marriages
C. The world news D. Advice about health
3. Who is very interested in comics?
A. Woman. B. The older people.
C. Adults. D. Boys and girls.
4. Which of the following is TRUE?
A. Sunday paper represents the world view.
B. Sunday paper is full of advertisements.
C. Sunday paper is the voice of families.
D. Sunday paper is not for sport fans.
5. The word “which” in the last sentence refers to ___________.
A. notice B. death
C. dead people D. death notices

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Test item 10
1. My wife / anxious / find / good school / children.
...............................................................................................................................
2. My father / have to / work / Sundays / that can earn enough money / support /
family.
...............................................................................................................................

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TEST WRITING TECHNIQUES

True/False

Good for:

 Knowledge level content

 Evaluating student understanding of popular misconceptions

 Concepts with two logical responses

Advantages:

 Can test large amounts of content

 Students can answer 3-4 questions per minute

Disadvantages:

 They are easy

 It is difficult to discriminate between students that know the material and

students who don't

 Students have a 50-50 chance of getting the right answer by guessing

 Need a large number of items for high reliability

Tips for Writing Good True/False items:

 Avoid double negatives.

 Avoid long/complex sentences.

 Use specific determinants with caution: never, only, all, none, always,
could, might, can, may, sometimes, generally, some, few.

 Use only one central idea in each item.

 Don't emphasize the trivial.

 Use exact quantitative language

 Don't lift items straight from the book.

 Make more false than true (60/40). (Students are more likely to answer
true.)

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Matching

Good for:

 Knowledge level

 Some comprehension level, if appropriately constructed

Types:

 Terms with definitions

 Phrases with other phrases

 Causes with effects

 Parts with larger units

 Problems with solutions

Advantages:

 Maximum coverage at knowledge level in a minimum amount of

space/preptime

 Valuable in content areas that have a lot of facts

Disadvantages:

 Time consuming for students

 Not good for higher levels of learning

Tips for Writing Good Matching items:

 Need 15 items or less.

 Give good directions on basis for matching.

 Use items in response column more than once (reduces the effects of
guessing).

 Use homogenous material in each exercise.

 Make all responses plausible.

 Put all items on a single page.

 Put response in some logical order (chronological, alphabetical, etc.).

 Responses should be short.

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Multiple Choice

Good for:

 Application, synthesis, analysis, and evaluation levels

Types:

 Question/Right answer

 Incomplete statement

 Best answer

Advantages:

 Very effective

 Versatile at all levels

 Minimum of writing for student

 Guessing reduced

 Can cover broad range of content

Disadvantages:

 Difficult to construct good test items.

 Difficult to come up with plausible distractors/alternative responses.

Tips for Writing Good Multiple Choice items:

 Stem should present single, clearly formulated problem.

 Stem should be in simple, understood language; delete extraneous

words.

 Avoid "all of the above"--can answer based on partial knowledge (if one
is incorrect or two are correct, but unsure of the third...).

 Avoid "none of the above."

 Make all distractors plausible/homoegenous.

 Don't overlap response alternatives (decreases discrimination between

students who know the material and those who don't).

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Methodology 3
 Don't use double negatives.

 Present alternatives in logical or numerical order.

 Place correct answer at random (A answer is most often).

 Make each item independent of others on test.

 Way to judge a good stem: student's who know the content should be
able to answer before reading the alternatives

 List alternatives on separate lines, indent, separate by blank line, use

letters vs. numbers for alternative answers.

 Need more than 3 alternatives, 4 is best.

Short Answer

Good for:

 Application, synthesis, analysis, and evaluation levels

Advantages:

 Easy to construct

 Good for "who," what," where," "when" content

 Minimizes guessing

 Encourages more intensive study-student must know the answer vs.

recognizing the answer.

Disadvantages:

 May overemphasize memorization of facts

 Take care - questions may have more than one correct answer

 Scoring is laborious

Tips for Writing Good Short Answer Items:

 When using with definitions: supply term, not the definition-for a better
judge of student knowledge.

 For numbers, indicate the degree of precision/units expected.

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 Use direct questions, not an incomplete statement.

 If you do use incomplete statements, don't use more than 2 blanks within
an item.

 Arrange blanks to make scoring easy.

 Try to phrase question so there is only one answer possible.

Essay

Good for:

 Application, synthesis and evaluation levels

Types:

 Extended response: synthesis and evaluation levels; a lot of freedom in

answers

 Restricted response: more consistent scoring, outlines parameters of

responses

Advantages:

 Students less likely to guess

 Easy to construct

 Stimulates more study

 Allows students to demonstrate ability to organize knowledge, express

opinions, show originality.

Disadvantages:

 Can limit amount of material tested, therefore has decreased validity.

 Subjective, potentially unreliable scoring.

 Time consuming to score.

Tips for Writing Good Essay Items:

 Provide reasonable time limits for thinking and writing.

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Methodology 3
 Avoid letting them to answer a choice of questions (You won't get a good
idea of the broadness of student achievement when they only answer a
set of questions.)

 Give definitive task to student-compare, analyze, evaluate, etc.

 Use checklist point system to score with a model answer: write outline,
determine how many points to assign to each part

 Score one question at a time-all at the same time.

Oral Exams

Good for:

 Knowledge, synthesis, evaluation levels

Advantages:

 Useful as an instructional tool-allows students to learn at the same time

as testing.

 Allows teacher to give clues to facilitate learning.

 Useful to test speech and foreign language competencies.

Disadvantages:

 Time consuming to give and take.

 Could have poor student performance because they haven't had much
practice with it.

 Provides no written record without checklists.

Student Portfolios

Good for:

 Knowledge, application, synthesis, evaluation levels

Advantages:

 Can assess compatible skills: writing, documentation, critical thinking,

problem solving

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 Can allow student to present totality of learning.

 Students become active participants in the evaluation process.

Disadvantages:

 Can be difficult and time consuming to grade.

Performance

Good for:

 Application of knowledge, skills, abilities

Advantages:

 Measures some skills and abilities not possible to measure in other ways

Disadvantages:

 Can not be used in some fields of study

 Difficult to construct

 Difficult to grade

 Time-consuming to give and take

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Classroom Task 4: Read the text below and answer the following
questions:

1. What steps did the writer employ in the construction of the test?

2. What tips were employed and what for?

3. How can the writer validate the test?

A Test Construction Procedure

I draw up study questions which cover virtually every important concept from
the chapter. This results in about 110 study questions per chapter. In the "old
days" when our university was on the quarter system, with classes meeting
daily and a typical student taking three classes, the number was 160. Now, with
each student taking five classes, and each class meeting only two or three
times per week, 110 questions per week is plenty. That is also enough to give
complete coverage of a moderately sized textbook chapter.

I draw up a multiple choice question or two for each study question. If I can't
come up with a good test item for a study question, I delete the study question. I
use questions with five alternatives, rather than four. That reduces the likelihood
of guessing the correct answer.

I avoid "all of these" or "none of these" or "both a & b" type answers for the
reasons discussed above (I found that excellent students could often come up
with creative reasons to pick the wrong answers). I just use five different
answers, and only one is correct.

I use quotation marks and scientific sounding jargon in wrong answers, just as
often as I do in correct answers. So these are not effective cues

Using each study question as a starting point, I construct plausible sounding

alternatives which are supposed to be clearly wrong...but which might sound
right to a poorly prepared student. I also do an item analysis at the end of the
term and delete questions which are missed by top-level students. If for some
reason a question is inscrutable to the top students in the class, then either
there is something wrong with the question or the level of difficulty is
unreasonable, or the material is not being explained very well. In any event, the
question should go.

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For what it's worth, I find that I write better questions if I do so with the book
closed, working from a list of study questions alone. If I am looking at the
answer in the text while I write the question, the details are right in front of me
and I am more likely to write a picky question which requires students to have a
photographic memory. With the book closed, I must rely on my own memory of
the material. I figure if I cannot remember something myself, it is not reasonable
to ask students to remember it. This means I have to double-check later to
make sure my own memory of the material was correct, but it is worth the
trouble because the resulting questions are more reasonable.

The result of this whole procedure is quiz items which are hard to guess unless
the student truly understands the material. My "validation" for this procedure is
informal: I get very consistent results term after term, and I notice that students
who do poorly on my quizzes generally cannot talk about the material either.
Yet if they sit down, book in hand, and compare the quiz item to the study
question and the material in the text, the answer is obvious and the student
seldom complains that the test item is unfair. This leads me to think the test
items are doing their job.

(adapted from “Writing Multiple Choice Items which Require Comprehension” by Russell A. Dewey, PhD)

WRITING TEST ITEMS

Classroom Task 5: Write Test items for the following texts:

Example:

1. Điền vào chố trống, dùng những từ cho sẵn trong khung. So 0 la ví dụ
has - leaves – have – tired – of – a – bed – assistant – takes - watch

Pauline Wright is twenty-two years old. She lives in ____an____(0) industrial town in
Michigan. She shares ________(1) room with a friend in the center ________(2) town. She is a
shop ________(3) and she works in a clothes shop. She gets up early and ________(4) home
every morning at eight o’clock. She doesn’t ________(5) a car, so she ________(6) the bus to
work everyday. It’s a very long working day and Pauline is very ________(7) when she gets
home. In the evening, she ________(8) dinner with her friend and then they often ________(9)
television. They go to ________(10) at about ten-thirty.

1. Reading, Grammar and Vocabulary (GAP-FILL)

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Steve Brent is a computer software engineer in Seattle. Steve is Irish and
comes from Belfast in Northern Ireland. He works for a company which
produces computer games. He came to the United States in his early twenties
because he couldn't find an interesting job back home. He first lived in California
for three years, then he moved to Seattle where he found a more interesting
job. He has been living in Seattle for the last five years and prefers it to
California. Steve is very ambitious and he has already changed his job twice.
He enjoys living in the US, but he sometimes gets homesick and he would like
to go back to Ireland to see his relatives more often. He wants to go home for
Christmas this year.
2. Reading (TIF)
It's six o'clock in the evening. Many people are at home. They are having
dinner. They are watching TV. They are listening to music. But Mrs Bich is
going to work. She's a doctor and she works at night in the hospital. Today
she's late. The hospital is not in her neighborhood so she usually goes by car.
She drives. Mrs Bich is in her car now. She's driving fast. She should slow down
but she must be at work by six-thirty. A policeman stops her. "You're driving too
fast!" he says. "You're going to have an accident!". It's six-thirty. Mrs Bich is not
at the hospital. She's at the police station. Her car must stay there for fourteen
days.

3. Listening (Monologue) (GRID)

1. Mary, 24 years old, comes from Scotland and would like to find a pen pal who
comes from East Europe. She likes playing the piano and listening to jazz
music. She is interested in history but does not like discussing politics.
2. Pietro, 42 years old, comes from Argentina. He is a businessman and would
like to find a pen pal who is also a businessperson and lives in North America.
He is married with three children and likes using the Internet in his free time.
3. Jennifer, 18, comes from Cardiff in Wales. She is interested in discussing the
political differences between East Europe and the United Kingdom. She loves
riding her horse, Jackie, and listening to jazz music.

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5. READING (Multiple choice)
With a growth in air travel, airports have become symbols of international
importance, and are frequently designed by well-known architects. Airports
have impressive facilities nowadays. There are comfortable departure lounges,
where passengers wait before boarding their flight, restaurants, shopping areas
and banks. Good road and rail communications with nearby towns and cities
are also essential. However it is becoming increasingly difficult to find land on
which to build airports, as aircraft, despite improvement in engine design, are
noisy, and need a considerable amount of space in which to land and take off.
Crowded residential areas need to be avoided, so, unfortunately, suitable land
and might be an inconvenient distance away from the city.

Choose one chapter in the Tieng Anh 10,11,12 text book, then design
 One vocabulary test (at least 5 items)
 One pronunciation test (at least 5 items)
 One grammar and writing test (at least 10 items)
 One reading test (at least 5 items)
 One speaking test (at least 3 activities)
 One listening test (at least 5 items).

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