Classroom Observation.

In this task that are given to be done for TSL3123, Language Assessment subject, I am
required to study a lesson plan of an English lesson conducted by an English teacher that are
given by my lecturer to me. In that tsk we need to pay special attention to the test instruments
by the teacher to assess any language skill or language content. It should be commented based
on some of the basic principles of language assessment such as reliability, authenticity,
practicality, washback effect, validity, objectivity and interpretability. I am to choose only four of
the principles to comment on the lesson plans assessment. The lesson plan that I analysed
was planned for year four pupils of average level. The theme chosen was from the world of
knowledge. The topic was about, Yesterday and Today. The content standard choosed by the
teacher is from 2.3. and the learning standard is 2.3.1.Able to read information and enjoyment
with guidance (b) non-fiction and the learning outcomes is by the end of the lesson pupils will be
able to identify the important information in the text by underlining it and transfer information
from the text to the i-think map. The duration of time was one hour.
Based on the assessment done in the lesson, the first principle that I choose to comment
is about reliability. According to (H.Douglas Brown, 2003), a reliable test is consistent and
dependable. As in the development stage, it is stated that the teacher will explain the passage
and asks pupils to identify the informations from it. In that case, all of the pupils are going to get
almost the same informations because it is a same passage read by them. So I strongly believe
that this stage and materials that are used for it are reliable. So it is simple for the teacher to
assess and evaluate her pupils and it is only the matter whether they identify and say it correctly
or wrongly.
The second principle that I choose to comment on this assessment is validity. According
to (Granlund, 1998 p.226) in Language Assessment, validity can be defined as the extent to
which inferences made from assessment results are appropriate, meaningful and useful in
terms of the purpose of the assessment. According to the definition, the assessment that has
been done by the teacher is valid to my view and understandings. I say so because, referring to
the learning outcomes that the pupils are to transfer information from the text to the i-think map.
Here it is because the teacher has assessed the pupils about what is supposed to assessed,
that is the capability of pupils to transfer information into the i-think map. So here the validity has
been considered into the assessment.

The third principle that I choose to comment on the assessments is about practicality.
According to (H.Douglas Brown, 2003), practicality means is not excessively expensive, stays
within appropriate time constraints, is relatively easy to administer and has a scoring or
evaluation procedure that is specific and time-efficient. So the assessment is practical. This is
because, the teacher only took within half an hour to assess her pupils. The teacher also had
clearly designed her assessment according to the learning outcomes that she had planned to
achieve. The pupils identify the important information in the text by underlining it and also later
in another assessment they are to transfer those information from the text to the i-think map. So
all those activities are practical and it really clearly describes the principles of practicality.
The fourth principle that I choose to comment on the assessment is about authenticity.
According to (Bachman and Palmer, 1996) in Language Assessment, authenticity is defined as
the degree of correspondence of characteristic of a given language task to the features of a
target language task. Based on this assessment, I strongly support the assessment because it
is done so meaningful relevantly to the topic. The topic was about Characteristics of the Robotic
Vacuum Cleaner which is also an interesting topic because it involves the pupils interests on
the topic and they will be really enjoying in learning the lesson.
Even though some or rather the four basic principles are covered correctly by the
teacher, there are some strengths and weaknesses in the lesson plan. The strength that I find in
this assessment is that the materials used in the teaching and learning sessions are authentic
materials. For this lesson, the teacher has used materials such as the text, the pen, telephone
and also the i-think map that really suits pupils interest. It is really a good lesson and
knowledgable since it is on inventions. Teacher could really link the lesson and the assessment
accordingly. In the development stage, the method used by the teacher where pupils are to read
and identify the information from it clearly. It is a good method in order to make pupils
understand the text nicely. Even the pair work was excellent as well, where the pupils are to fill
the i-think map with those informations that they had gathered from the text. Later, while the
assessment part also, teacher asks pupils to choose on an invention to write about in a
paragraph. The other strengths that I noticed is that by showing few examples and realias,
teacher had fulfilled the objective of the lesson successfully.
the weaknesses that I found from the lesson plan is during the development stage, the
teacher should read out the passage aloud once to the class. This is to make sure that the
pupils knows and understands the correct pronounciation of some difficult words from the

passage. Another thing that I noticed was, during the stage two, the teacher should give an
example on how to fill in the i-think map using informations provided in the passage. This is to
make pupils to understand what they should be doing.
The improvements that I suggest to make this lesson even more better is, the teacher
should discuss about one or two informations from the passage with pupils so that they know
what the teacher trying to ask and what are the passage is mainly about. Another thing is, when
the pair takes place, the teacher should explain the differences between characteristics and
functions, this is because the pupils might be confused of the meaning of those words. And
when it becomes with examples from the teacher, the pupils will understand what they are
suppost to do clearly. And another suggestion is, during the final part of the assessment, where
the pupils are needed to write a paragraph on any information they know, teacher could have
given a few simple topics and some key words related to it.
As a conclusion, in writing a lesson plan, a teacher should take in consider of all those
principles in the language assessment and also not forgetting about her or his pupils prior
knowledge and level of learning ability. After doing this assignment, I as a teacher understand
how much is all those criterias are important. This would make the lesson plan suitable and
effective to be taught.

REFLECTION
Assessment plays an integral role in teaching and learning. If assessment is to be used
in classrooms to help pupils learn, it must be transformed in two fundamental ways. First, the
content and character of assessment must be significantly improved. Second, the gathering and
use of assessments information and insights must become a part of the ongoing learning
process. Since many years ago til today, the way of assessing do have changes in our
Malaysian Education System. For example, KBSR had being changed to KSSR where it is
totally different in a practical way. It is introduced to overcome certain shortcomings within the
older system of KBSR. It is hoped with this new structured and improved curriculum, pupils
would have the necessary knowledge, skills and also the values to face and overcome the
challenges of current time.
Language assessment is areal knowledgable and an useful subject in our semester 6. I
really feel that it helps me a lot in my teaching profession. According to (H.Douglas Brown,
2003), assessment is an ongoing process that encompasses a much wider domain. Whenever
a pupil responds to a question, offers a comment, or tries out new word or structure, the teacher
subconsciously makes an assessment of the pupils performance. As for me, assessment is a
way to get to know about our pupils condition and is a way to plan our further action towards
pupils feedback. An assessment could be in any way also, either asking pupils to write
something on a piece of paper, or also by communicating withn them orally based on some
topics or activities.
In this course, we are to plan a lesson to teach any of one language skill or language
content by including a test or an assesment task as a part of the lesson. I really would like to
thank our TSL 3123 lecterur Mr.Zeeree Kanreng for being so supportive for us in completing our
assignment on language assessment. He gave us lots of knowledge and informations about this
particular subject which enables us to explore deeper about this topic of their particularly. And
also my colleagues whom also shared some ideas that they had experienced with me.
So to complete the particular task, I choosed to plan a lesson to teach year one class.
Infact, it was one of my English class that Im teaching currently. Those students are from
average level. Since this week I was on the topic teaching about Myself, so I wrote a lesson
plan on the topic. The theme was about World of self, family and friends. I wrote for an hour
lesson. I choosed the content standard 1.1. by the end of the 6-year primary schooling, pupils
will be able to pronounce words and speak confidently with the correct stress rhythm and

intonation and also 1.2. by the end of the 6-year primary schooling, pupils will be able to listen
and respond appropriately in formal and informal situations for a variety of purposes. Wherelse
for learning standard1.1.1.Able to listen and respond to stimulus given with guidance and also
1.2.1.Able to participate in daily conversations of (b) introduce oneself. The learning outcome
was by the end of the lesson, pupils could be able to listen and respond to stimulus given with
guidance and also pupils couldnt be able to listen and respond to stimulus given with guidance
and also pupils could be able to participate in daily conversation about introducing oneself.
Since pupils have previous knowledge and knows to talk about themselves, so it was
easier for me to plan and teach the lesson. In the set induction stage, I played an audio visual
using my laptop about a girl and a boy introducing themselves. I did so, to enhance my pupils
interest towards learning the days lesson onwards. My pupils really enjoyed that since it was a
colourful audio that comes with music at the background. From that art, I introduced the days
lesson was going to be on Myself. I asked my pupils some questions base on the audio that
they watched. For example, What do you see in the picture?, How old is the boy? and so on.
This is to make sure that how far has my pupils understand the audio. As we know the use of
technology and people skills for one are vital tools that needed to be in cooperated into the
curriculum to ensure that the pupils can perform successfully on a global platform.
Next during the presentation stage, I pasted a mahjong paper with some particulars
about a person on it.