Running Head: ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY 1

Annotated Bibliography

Luay Askar

California State University Monterey Bay

IST511 Writing Workshop

Dr. Sarah Tourtellotte

November 1, 2017
ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY 2

Annotated Bibliography

Article 1:

Blood, I. (2011).Diagnostic Second Language Assessment in the Classroom. Columbia

University Academic Commons. Working Papers in TESOL & Applied Linguistics,

11(1), 57-58. Retrieved from https://doi.org/10.7916/D8ZG6RTP.

The author of this article Ian A. Blood, is a Research Associate and Doctoral Student in

Applied Linguistics, Princeton, New Jersey. The article is directed to an audience in the field of

language teaching. The article starts with defining diagnosis. This term is used in finding or

discovering a disorder or a disease, and how it is used to find the problems or issues concerned

with the learning process. This article starts with the general use of diagnostic assessment in the

classroom in general then talks about language learning classroom. In addition, the author

questions the difference between formal and informal assessment. The formal assessment takes

place in the form of tests while the informal is the teacher questioning and giving feedback. Such

feedback is of importance in language acquisition as it seeks to deal with the areas of strengths

and weaknesses. Also, the article questions the manner in which these assessments are designed

and if they follow a universal standard scale, and the assessment tests made the teacher may be

based on the curriculum, thus achievement-based rather than proficiency-based assessment. The

author concluded to continue on research on the best practices in the field of assessment.

This article is a good reference for my proposed capstone. It is talking about diagnostic

assessment and its formal and informal parts, in addition to the importance of each one of them.

Also, it shows the relations and differences between the tests and assessment that can be

motivating for the participants to delve in the proposed training. This article is referring to
ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY 3

standardized scales for assessment, and this support my reference in the training about the

importance of the Interagency Language Roundtable (ILR) descriptors in selecting materials and

assessing students performance levels.

Article 2:

Brown, G. T. L., Kennedy, K. J., Fok, P. K., Chan, J. K., & Yu, W. M. (2009). Assessment for

improvement: Understanding Hong Kong teachers, conceptions, and practices of

assessment. Assessment in Education, 16(3), 347-363. doi:10.1080/09695940903319737

Dr. Brown has been in academic positions since 2005 at the University of Auckland and

the Hong Kong Institute of Education. The authors carried out a research to correlate between the

teacher's understanding the difference between the concept of assessment and the practice of

assessment. In their article, the authors discuss the difference between the Summative and

formative assessment. The former is an assessment of learning and the latter is an assessment for

learning. Three hundred teachers were asked to complete two inventories, one for the concept

and the other for the practice of assessment. Findings revealed there is a cultural influence that

affects the implementation of the concept of assessment in practice. In other words, the

questionnaire revealed that the teachers understand the concept that, assessment for learning has

a better outcome of the learning process, but culturally the parents and teachers over generations

use the assessment to prepare the students for the exams. In addition, these accumulated cultural

influences increase the student accountability to pass the exam. The authors concluded that for

Hong Kong, who is seeking assessment reform agenda, should keep in mind these barriers.

Despite this is a detailed research, it is supportive to the idea of my capstone. Because its

results confirm the main concept of DA, and that the teachers should use assessment as a tool for
ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY 4

learning and not prepare students for the test. Also, in order to use assessment as a tool for

learning the teachers should be trained to use it frequently and both formally and informally to

follow on their students.

Article 3:

Mendoza, A. & Arandia, R. (2009). Language Testing in Colombia: A Call for More Teacher

Education and Teacher Training in Language Assessment. Profile Issues in Teachers`

Professional Development, 11(2), 55-70. Retrieved November 02, 2017,

from http://www.scielo.org.co/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S1657-

07902009000200005&lng=en&tlng=en.

Alexis A. Lopez Mendoza holds a Ph.D. in education from the University of Illinois at

Urbana-Champaign. Currently, he is an Assistant Professor in the Center for Research and

Development in Education at Universidad de los Andes. This study was conducted by the

authors to answer two questions; one is about the concept, and the other is of practice or the use

of assessment. In the review, the authors stressed upon the differences between the terms;

assessment, testing, and evaluation. The information collected during assessment is used to

follow the teaching-learning process and to modify it, while, for testing, it is used to assess the

outcome. As for evaluation, the information is used to make decisions.

The authors found that there are three issues; one of them is that the teachers collect the

information at the end of the learning, where it will be too late to intervene. The other issue is

teachers lacking confidence and claim lack of knowledge about assessment. The third issue is

that some teachers cannot differentiate between formative and Summative assessment. The

authors also found from the gathered information that the perception and the practice of
ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY 5

assessment differ between teachers who received training from those who did not receive

training in language assessment. They concluded that it is essential to raise the issue of training

in language assessment to improve language education.

This article or research is supporting the results of my needs assessment, where the lack

of knowledge and misconception about DA constitute the main barrier to implementing DA in

the classroom. Also, there are certain definitions that can be used to clarify information provided

to teachers during training like the concept of alternative assessment that some of the teachers

already use in an assessment like writing journals, portfolios and classroom projects.

Article 4:

Reed, D. (2006). Diagnostic Assessment in Language Teaching and Learning. CLEAR

News.10(2),1-5. Retrieved from http://clear.msu.edu/files/4013/6000/8128/fall2006.pdf

Daniel Reed, Ph.D., is Testing Coordinator at Michigan State Universitys English

Language Center, and a visiting assistant professor and assessment specialist at CLEAR. The

article is directed to specialists in the field. The authors opening discussion in this article is

mentioning an important issue, and that is, talking about diagnostic assessment is much easier

than acting. The author simplified this by mentioning that, when an action is required for a

struggling student, it will be too late. According to the author, this is because we are waiting for

the results of tests or final grades to decide on intervention, and here comes the importance of

diagnostic assessment, as it is used anytime and thus gives an early diagnosis to intervene. The

author referred to features of the diagnostic assessment adapted from Diagnosing Foreign

Language Proficiency by Alderson. These features include; identifying strengths and

weaknesses, focusing on weaknesses, detailed analysis, and providing a feedback. The author
ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY 6

concluded that the aim of the diagnosis is to identify the weakness and to address the learners

needs.

This article is emphasizing the idea of my proposed training. The concept is to train the

teacher how to apply diagnostic assessment on regular basis and not to wait for the final or unit

test to decide about learners needs. In my proposed training, I will touch upon the diagnostic

features mentioned by Alderson through their implementation in the training material. The article

mentioned and stressed upon feedback, this will be reflected in the training through writing the

report and recommendation to the learner and the teaching team.

Article 5:

Tsagari, D.(2016). Assessment Orientations of State Primary EFL Teachers in Two

Mediterranean Countries. Center for Educational Policy Studies Journal / CEPS Journal,

6(1), 9-30. Retrieved from https://ojs.cepsj.si/index.php/cepsj/article/view/102

Dina Tsagari is Assistant Professor in Applied Linguistics/TEFL at the Department of

English Studies, University of Cyprus. This research is in the area of assessment, and in

particular classroom-based language assessment. Therefore, it targets individuals who are

professionally related to education and more specific language teaching. The research

concentrates on the trends in teaching EFL in two Mediterranean countries, also, on how

assessment of learners is conducted. Also, it concentrates on how often teachers practice

assessment, level of training received by teachers, and how do they perceive the training.

Research data is collected through different questionnaires, and the conclusion is that test

is the main form of assessment used in the classroom. In addition, the tests mainly concentrate on

vocabulary and grammar, but lack creativity and higher order thinking, and are not consistent.
ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY 7

The feedback is deficit-oriented that is negative feedback rather than corrective or positive

feedback. The teachers are concentrating more on the assessment of learning than on assessment

for learning.

The content and outcome of this research is a locally oriented confirmation of a generally

based issue in education and language learning in specific. Solving this issue is carried out

through professional development programs that enhance teachers awareness to meet their

professional assessment needs and responsibilities.

This article is a supporting document to my proposal. It confirms the need for training to

familiarize teachers about DA and its uses and the difference between it and the summative

assessment that is used traditionally.

Article 6:

Zhao, Z. (2013). An Overview of Models of Speaking Performance and Its Implications for the

Development of Diagnostic Speaking Tests. International Journal of English Linguistics.

3(1), 41-45. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5539/ijel.v3n1p41

Retrieved from http://www.ccsenet.org/journal/index.php/ijel/article/view/24239

Zhongbao Zhao, Foreign Languages College, Zhejiang Gongshang University,

Hangzhou, China. This article is an overview of studies on diagnostic testing and assessment. It

highlights the difference between a diagnosis of learning and diagnosis for learning. The author

touched on the Behaviorist version or the traditional assessment, where, in order to assess, we

look for a change of behavior that will be at the end of an instructional period. Also, the author

compares it to the Constructivist and Cognitivism approach started in the 1980s that assess the

development of the communicative ability. This discussion involved the difference between
ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY 8

Summative and Formative Assessments, where the former focuses on the product while the later

on the process of learning. Also, the Formative Assessment enables the teacher to concentrate on

the weaknesses of the learner and to provide feedback. The author also mentioned the diagnostic

assessment features put forward by Alderson which include; identifying strengths and

weaknesses, focusing on weaknesses, detailed analysis, and providing a feedback.

My gain from this article is that it supports my proposal to conduct training to familiarize

teachers with the concepts and principles of Diagnostic Assessment. Giving the differences

between the Formative and Summative, between the traditional and the communicative

Assessment will motivate the participants in the training towards the implication of this training

in their daily teaching. Also, this will enlighten the concept of early diagnosis and give feedback

to the learners to enhance their learning process.