MID TERM

TEFL ASSESSMENT

ENDAH WORO HAPSARI

1. What is TEFL Assessment?

Education is something that we build based on the system on the real structure. Since education
success must be determined, it is necessary to have a system that arranges it. One of the must
elements in an education is assessment. Meanwhile, in language education, there is a term on
assessing. Especially for those who teach English on outside English-speaking country. It is
known as TEFL assessment. Both TEFL and assessment have different meaning. First, we have
to know what TEFL is and the second one is assessment. After having sufficient information
about both TEFL and assessment definition, we can conclude what TEFL assessment is.

First, what TEFL is. TEFL is the acronym of Teaching English as a Foreign Language.
According to Gilby, (2011) teaching English as a Foreign Language (TEFL), which is also
known as Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) or English Language
Teaching (ELT), involves the process of teaching the English language to students whose first
language is not English. In addition, Lin (2010:3) TEFL (English as a Foreign Language) is
focused on the purposes or studies of English by teachers and English learners with a different
mother tongue. Based on definition above, it can be concluded that TEFL is a situation where
teaching and learning process which take place on the country which English is English outside
English-speaking country.

In addition Lin (2010:4) also defined TEFL as work or study. As work means that TEFL is a
profession for teachers who teach English on English outside English-speaking country. While
as a study means that TEFL is a subject which focus on how to teach English outside-speaking
country. TEFL as a subject give detail explanation regarding to method, technique, approach to
teach EFL students.

Second, what assessment is. There are a lot of books and journals which written by well-known
experts which define what assessment is. The first expert is Brown. On his book entitled
Language Assessment, he gives his explanation what assessment is. According to Brown
(2004:18) assessment is an ongoing process that encompasses a much wider domain. Whenever
a student responds to a question, offers a comment or tries out a new word or structure, the
teacher subconsciously makes an assessment of the students’ performance. The second expert
is Harris &Hodges. Harris & Hodges (1999: 12), assessment is “the act or process of gathering
data in order to better understand the strengths and weaknesses of student learning, as by
observation, testing, interviews, etc. Assessment can be both formal (e.g., standardized tests
and informal (e.g., teacher-made tests, checklists). The third expert is Serafini. Serafini, (2002)
defines assessment as inquiry—a process of collecting data to make decisions about instruction:
“When assessment becomes a process of inquiry, an interpretive activity rather than simply the
‘objective’ measure of pre-determined behaviours. It means that assessment is a continuous
process during a period of learning.

Based on the experts statements above it can be conclude that TEFL assessment can be define
as a process to assess EFL students during teaching and learning process which done by the
teachers. As EFL students whose english is not their first language, they often find several
obstacles during English learning process. According to Gan in Alaraj (2016:486) students'
perceived EFL problems are analysed in relation to lack of language proficiency, spoken
language processes, conversational skills and educational speaking conventions, emotional
influence as well as lack of chances to practice English in speaking. Those obstacles lead them
to be pasive on the learning process. Meanwhile, teacher has to assess their learning process.
Thus, all the positive progress which done by the students on learning process should be
assessed by the teacher. As mention by Brown (2004:18) “Whenever a student responds to a
question, offers a comment or tries out a new word or structure, the teacher subconsciously
makes an assessment of the students’ performance”. Assessment also can be done in formal and
informal situation. Both of those assessment have the same purpose to gather the data regarding
the students’ strength and weaknesses. Besides, TEFL assessment also can be define as a study
which focus on method, approach and technique which can be used by the teacher to assess
their students.
2. What are 1) assessment, 2) testing and 3) evaluation? Mention some of their differences and
similarities!

In education, there are several term which should be understood by teachers. Some of them are
assessment, testing and evaluation. Third of them sounds similar. Yet, they have differences
and similarities. On terminology form, they have different meaning. According to (Kizlik,
2012) test is a method to determine a student's ability to complete certain tasks or demonstrate
mastery of a skill or knowledge of content. There are several types of test – multiple choice test,
weekly spelling test, essay test and etc. All types of test can be used to either as an assessment
or an evaluation. It depends on the teacher need.

Kizlik (2012) claims that assessment is the process of gathering information to monitor progress
and make educational decisions if necessary. As noted in my definition of test, an assessment
may include a test, but also includes methods such as observations, interviews, behaviour
monitoring, etc. Others expert also define what assessment is. According to Harris & Hodges
(1999: 12), assessment is “the act or process of gathering data in order to better understand the
strengths and weaknesses of student learning, as by observation, testing, interviews, etc.

In addition, Kizlik (2012) states that evaluation is a procedures used to determine whether the
subject (i.e. student) meets pre-set criteria, such as qualifying for special education services.
This uses assessment (remember that an assessment may be a test) to make a determination of
qualification in accordance with predetermined criteria.

Similarities:

Third of assessment, test, and evaluation are used on education field. Assessment and test are
common used to measure the process of learning while evaluation is not. Evaluation is common
used to evaluate the result of both test and assessment. Another similarity is found between
assessment and evaluation. Both of them have similar steps on the implementation. Both
involve specifying criteria to observe in a performance or outcome. Another similarity, both of
assessment and evaluation are used observing on performance or outcome by looking at the
outcome or product. Either assessment or evaluation needs performer and a person who collects
information about the performance. Those persons who collects information about the
 performance are known as assessor and evaluator. Meanwhile the person who perform are
known as assesse and evaluate.

Difference

Besides similarities, third of assessment, testing and evaluation have differences. The first
differences of assessment, testing and evaluation can be seen from the definition. According to
(Kizlik, 2012) test is a method to determine a student's ability to complete certain tasks or
demonstrate mastery of a skill or knowledge of content. While according to Kizlik (2012)
assessment is the process of gathering information to monitor progress and make educational
decisions if necessary. Meanwhile Kizlik (2012) states that evaluation is a procedures used to
determine whether the subject (i.e. student) meets pre-set criteria, such as qualifying for special
education services.

The second differences are time. Assessment are addressed any time. It can be done during
teaching and learning process. While test is addressed at the end of semester or at the end of a
year. It used to as specific purposes. For example, the test which addressed at the end of
semester is used to determine students level. Meanwhile, evaluation is done when assessment
and test have been conducted. Evaluation is used to determine whether the students has achieved
the pre-set criteria which are qualified for special education services.

Third, the format. Either assessment, testing or evaluation has different format. Test format, can
be multiple choice, essay, true-false and etc. While assessment which address during the
learning process, it might require students to answer question in order to find out what students
know related to the material. Next, evaluation. Evaluation form might include interview,
questionnaires and group participation which help the teacher to collecting the data.

3. There are some purposes of assessment. Mention three purposes of assessment and explain
briefly!

There are several purposes of assessment. Stinggins, Arter, & Chappuis (2007:35) claims that
the purpose of assessment can define based on the assessment user – students, teachers, parents,
principal, and superintendent. The table is as follows:
 Stiggins, Arter, & Chappuis (2007:35)

Based on the table above, the purpose of assessment for students are used to assess their
understanding toward the learning materials either on assessment for learning or assement of
learning. For teachers, assessment is used to give information weather learning process is
success or not. Assessment also help the teacher to decide the future instruction which needed
by the students. For parents, assessment gives informations regarding the their children
development on the learning process at school. In addition, assessment also provide some
information for the students parents what materials have been taugnt by the teachers. In
addition, assessment also beneficial for the principal – assessment of learning. Assessment of
learning is used to make judgement and predicting weather the students have achived what have
 been expected by the government/ work field or not. The last, assessment is beneficial for
superintendent. Assessment help the superintendent to control weather the each public school
run their learning program well or not.

4. What is (1) assessment of learning and (2) assessment for learning? Explain.

There are two kinds of assessment. First, assessment of learning. Second, assessment for
learning. Both of those things sound similar. Yet, those things have different meaning in
educational field. According to Stinggins, Arter, & Chappuis (2007:31) assessment of learning
is supposed to have occurred to determone if it did. Somethimes, it refered to summative
assessment. Assessemnt of learning is used at the end of a unit, term or semester, and may be
used to rank or grade students. The purpose of assessment of learning is to summarize the
achievement status of individuals and groups at a point in time. In addition, assessment of
learning can be used by the teacher to make judgement judgment about the success of the
learning; this frequently takes the form of a grade or a statement of level of mastery.

In addition Stinggins, Arter, & Chappuis (2007:31) assessment for learning is still underway.
Assessment for learning is refered to ‘formative assessment'. The purpose assessment for
learning are formative assessments give the students evidence of their current progress,
formative assessments give us the ability to provide constant feedback to our students. In short,
assessment for learning is done on the learning proses. It gives information for the teacher about
the day to day information regarding to students’ achievement on the learning process. The
information will help the teacher to plan the next step instruction.

5. There are many types of assessment. Mention three types and explain!

There are three types of assessment. They are diagnostic, summative and formative.
Diagnostic

Diagnostic assessment is a type of assessment which help the teacher to identify students’
current knowledge of subject, skills and it also to clarify the misconception of the students
before teaching process. According to University, n.d. there are four types of assessment – pre-
tests, self-assessment, discussion board responses and interviews. Pre-test is used to measure
students’ abilities. Self-assessment is used to identifying skills and competencies. Discussion
board responses on content-specific prompts. And the last is interviews. Interviews are
addressed ten minute for each student.

Summative

Summative assessment takes place after the learning has been completed and provides
information and feedback that sums up the teaching and learning process. According to
(Garrison, 2009) summative assessments are given periodically to determine at a particular
point in time what students know and do not know. It provides information which needed by
the teacher to determine the students level. Because it given after instruction every few weeks,
months, or once a year, summative assessments are tools to help evaluate the effectiveness of
programs, school improvement goals, alignment of curriculum, or student placement in specific
programs. The purpose of assessment of learning is to summarize the achievement status of
individuals and groups at a point in time.

Formative

Formative assessment is a type of assessment which done during teaching and learning process.
Garrison (2009) claims that formative assessment informs both teachers and students about
student understanding at a point when timely adjustments can be made. It means that formative
assessment is used to ensure whether the students have achieved the target learning or not. In
addition, formative assessment has variety of formats which distinguish them from summative
assessment.
6. What is portfolio? Mention the type of portfolio!

Portfolio is one of alternative assessment types. There are a lot of experts which define
definition of portfolio. The first expert is Brown on his book entitled language assessment
principle and classroom practice. According to Genesee and Upshur in Brown (2004:256)
portfolio is a purposeful collection of students’ work that demonstrate …their effort, progress
and achievement in given area. Paulson (2003) claims that portfolio is purposeful collection of
students work that exhibit students’ effort, progress and achievement in one or more areas.
Grace in Birgin & Baki (2007:77), who stresses the learning process, defines as “portfolio is a
record of the child's process of learning: what the child has learned and how she has gone about
learning; how she thinks, questions, analyses, synthesizes, produces, creates; and how she
interacts--intellectually, emotionally and socially-with others”. Based on the statements above,
it can conclude that portfolio is a documentation or artefact of students work which purposeful
to show the students’ progress on learning process.

Not only definition of portfolio but also the type of portfolio itself are defined by a lot of experts.
But in this task, I mention two experts who mention and explain the type of portfolio. First,
according to Halady in Birgin & Baki (2007:81) there are five types of portfolios that named
ideal, showcase, documentation, evaluation, and class portfolio. Ideal portfolio is a type of
portfolio which allow the students to assess their own portfolio. While showcase portfolio is a
type of portfolio which allow the students to choose the best of their work. In contrast,
documentation portfolio is a type of portfolio which do not allow the students to choose their
work by themselves. This type of portfolio is a type which collect all of students work in order
to see the students’ progress. Next, evaluation portfolio is one of portfolio which have standard
based on the teachers need. Thus students work will be selected by the teacher. The last, class
portfolio is one of portfolio types which contain students’ grade, teacher’s view and knowledge
of the students in the classroom.

The second expert is Slater in Birgin & Baki (2007:81). He describes three types of portfolio as
showcase, open-format and checklist portfolio. Showcase portfolio which define by Slater is
quite similar to Halady. Showcase portfolio is a kind of portfolio where a student is only allowed
to show off several of their work result. Open format portfolio also has similar definition to
showcase portfolio which define by Halady. In open format portfolio, the students are free to
 choose the best of their work result. The last is a checklist portfolio. Checklist portfolio is
composed of a predetermined number of items. It guides the students to allow the rule of the
assignment given.

7. What is an alternative assessment? Mention four type and explain!

There is no clear definition what alternative assessment is. But, there are several characteristic
of alternative assessment. According to Brown (2004:252) there are several characteristic of
alternative assessment. The characteristic is as follows:

a. It requires students to perform, create, produce or do something.

b. It uses real-world contents/simulations

c. It assess students on what they do in class every day.

d. It focus on processes as well as products.

e. It allows students to have higher-level thinking and problem solving.

f. It provides information about students’ strength and weaknesses.

g. It uses human judgement in scoring.

Based on the characteristic above, it can conclude that alternative assessment is a type of
assessment besides the traditional assessment. In addition, the purpose of alternative assessment
also reflects on it’s characteristic – to find out what students know or can do outside the
traditional assessment. Sometimes we can’t judge whether a students have a good
understanding toward a certain materials or not based on his/her test score. There are a lot of
external factors which might influence his/her condition during a test. Thus, we need alternative
assessment to complete our data regarding the students’ skills, understanding, performance and
etc.
Here are four types of alternatives assessment explained by Brown:

Portfolio

Portfolio is one of alternative assessment which can be used by the teacher to assess their
students. According to Genesee and Upshur in Brown (2004:256) portfolio is a purposeful
collection of students’ work that demonstrate …their effort, progress and achievement in given
area. In short, portofolio can be define as is a documentation or artefact of students work which
purposeful to show the students’ progress on learning process. In addition, he also defines
materials which can be used on portfolio. The materials are essay and composition in draft and
final form, report, project outline, poetry and creatives prose, artwork, photos, newspaper or
magazine clippings, audio and/or video recordings of presentations, demonstrations, journals,
diaries, and other personal reflections, test, test scores and written homework exercises, notes
on lectures and self-and peer-assessments-comments, evaluation, and checklists.

As an alternative assessment, portfolio also offers several benefits for those who apply it on
his/her classroom. The benefits of alternative assessment also mention on Brown’s book.
According to Genesee and Upshur in Brown (2004:257) the benefits of portfolio are foster
interinstic motivation, responsibility and ownership, promote students-teacher interaction with
the teacher as facilitator, individualze learning and celebrate the uniqueness of each student,
provide tangible evidance of student’s work, facilitate critical thinking, self-assessment and
recision process, offer opportunities for collaborative work with peer, and permit assessment of
multiple dimension of language learning.

Demonstration (Performance based assessment)

Demonstration is categorized as an alternative assessment – performance assessment.

According to McMillan (2007) performance assessment is one in which the teacher obeserve
and makes judgement about the students’ demonstration of a skill of competency in creating
product, constructing a response, or making presentation. Based on the statement above, it can
be concluded that demonstration requires students to demonstrate the specific mastered material
by perform it based on specific skill and competence.
Furthermore, O’malley in Brown (2004) claims that there are several characteristics of
demonstration. The characteristic is as follows:

a. Students make constructed response.

b. They engage in higher-order thinking.

c. Task are meaningful, engaging and authentic.

d. Integration of language skills.

e. Both process and product are assessed.

Conferences

Conference is one of alternative assessment which looks difference from others alternative
assessment. The difference is on the teacher role on the classroom. The teacher acts as the
facilitator who have to encourage students’ self- reflection and improvement on learning. While
the other alternative assessment asks the students to show up their ability or skill toward the
certain material when they can’t achieve the target learning on paper-based test. Conference
must assume that the teacher plays the role of a facilitator and guide, not of an administrator, of
a formal assessment (Brown, 2004:266)

Commonly, conferences are used on teaching writing. Where teacher and students will interact
one on one. The teacher is commenting on drafts of essays and reports (Brown,2004:266).
Furthermore, on commenting process, there will be a discussion of teacher and students – the
teacher asks several questions to a student regarding his/her task. Discussion of alternative in
assessment usually encompass one specialized kind of conference: an interview.

In short, conference is an alternative assessment which guide the teacher to create positive
atmosphere on the learning process by acting as facilitator for the students. Each student can
consult their problem regarding to his/her task one by one. This situation allows the students to
get direct feedback from the teacher. Conference is not only providing benefits for the students
but also for the teacher. For the teacher, conferences provide a lot of information about each
student ability and skills – speaking, writing and reading comprehension.
Observation

Obeservation can be define as a common alternative assessment which often uses by teacher.
Observation is done during the learning process by observing the classroom situation.
Obeseravtion is used to capture the students learning activity whether the students show a
progress. For instnce, there are several stundents show their progress on learnig by raising,
ansewering questions, or giving comment and response. All of those activities have to capture
by the teacher every day. Unfortinately, teacher also have a limit to memorize all of those
students activities. Thus the teacher need an observation tool which is known as observation
cheklist. Thus, teacher can get information about students ability without adressing a test or
quiz (Brown, 2004:267). In addition, Brown (2004:267) claims that one of the objectives of
such observation is to assess studnets without their aware ness (and possible consequesnt
anxienty) of the observation so that the naturalness of their linguistic performance is
maximized.
8. Design a rubric for writing for grade 8 (2nd year of SMP) students!

Writing rubric below is made based on Heaton teori. According to Heaton (1988:146) there are
five aspect which have to assess on students writing product. They are mechanic, language use,
vocabulary, organisation and content. The rubric which is presented below is the general writing
rubric which can be used by teachers to assess students writing product for all of writing material
which have to mastered by 8th grade students. The rubric is as follows:

Aspect Score Description

Mechanic 5 Benar dan tepat dalam menggunakan tanda baca dan huruf kapital

4 Terdapat beberapa kesalahan pada penggunaan tanda baca dan huruf

kapital.
3
Kurang tepat pada penggunaan tanda baca dan huruf kapital.

2 Tidak tanda baca dan huruf kapital.

Language use 25-22 Benar dan tepat

21-19 Tekadang kurang tepat tapi tidak mempengaruhi arti

17-11 Kurang tepat dan mempengaruhi arti

10-5 Sulit dimengerti
Vocabulary 20-18 Benar dan tepat

17-14 Tekadang kurang tepat tapi tidak mempengaruhi arti

13-10 Kurang tepat dan mempengaruhi arti

9-7 Sulit dimengerti
Organisation 18-20 Ide pokok penulisan masing-masing paragraph terlihat sangat jelas

14-17 Ide pokok penulisan masing-masing paragraph terlihat cukup jelas

10-13 Ide pokok penulisan masing-masing paragraph terlihat kurang jelas

7-9 Ide pokok penulisan masing-masing paragraph terlihat tidak jelas

Content 27-30 sangat jelas dan sangat efektif

22-26 cukup jelas dan efektif

17-21 jelas dan tidak efektif

13-16 kurang jelas
 References

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Interview to Examine Saudi Students' Thoughts and Feelings. Journal of Language
Teaching and Research, 7(3), 484-490. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.17507/jltr.0703.07

Birgin, O., & Baki, A. (2007, September 2). The Use of Portfolio to Assess Student’s Performance.
TURKISH SCIENCE EDUCATION, 4(2), 75-90. Retrieved from http://www.tused.org

Brown, D. (2004). Language Assessment. New York: Pearson Education.

Garrison, C. e. (2009). Formative and Summative Assessments in the Classroom. National Middle
School Association. Retrieved from www.nmsa.org and www.measuredprogress.org.

Gilby, C. (2011). Teaching English as a Foreign Language. ELC (HK) Ltd and former Edge Hill
student, 16(7).

Heaton, J. (1988). Writing English Language Test. New York: Longman Inc.

Kizlik, B. (2012, January 4). Measurement, Assessment, and Evaluation in Education. Retrieved
from adprima: http://www.adprima.com/measurement.htm

Lin, G. et.al. (2010). An Introduction to English. Saarbrücken, Germany: VDM Verlag Dr. Müller
Aktiengesellschaft & Co. KG.

Paulson, F. e. (2003). What make a portfolio a portfolio? Educational Leadership, 60.

Serafini, F. (2002). Dismantling the factory model of assessment. Reading and Writing Quartely,
18(1), 67-85.

Stinggins, R. J., Arter, J., & Chappuis, J. C. (2007). Classroom Assessment for Student Learning.
New Jersey: Pearson Education, Inc.

University, N. I. (n.d.). Formative and Summative Assessment.

doi:https://www.niu.edu/facdev/_pdf/guide/assessment/formative%20and_summative_as
sessment.pdf
 MID TERM TEST
TEFL ASSESSMENT

By: Endah Woro Hapsari

MASTER STUDY PROGRAM OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE EDUCATION

TEACHER TRAINING AND EDUCATION FACULTY

TANJUNGPURA UNIVERSITY

PONTIANAK

2017