ASSESSMENT OF LANGUAGE

CAN LANGUAGE BE MEASURED?

 Can language be measured as a cloth is
measured?
 Do ‘tapes’ for language assessment exist?

 Do language assessors share tapes?

 Does language assessment come as naturally to

language teachers as measuring cloth comes to a
tailor?

 Thorndike claimed – “If a thing exists, it exists in

some amount. If it exists in some amount, it can
be measured.”
MEANING & DEFINITION
 Assessment is a process of finding out present
status of skills /knowledge /development/
functioning of an individual or group.
SCOPE OF LANGUAGE ASSESSMENT
 Language assessment is a multi-dimensional
concept.
 Reception precedes expression.

 Functioning level of reception is better than

functioning level of expression.
 Assessment should be planned for :
 Reception related areas
 Expression related areas
 Reception-expression interaction areas

 Since direct assessment of competence is not

possible, assessment of performance is done
SCOPE OF LANGUAGE ASSESSMENT
 Language assessment can be done in several
ways : formal/informal or indirect/direct
procedures
 Formal assessment is done using standardized
tests, informal assessment are the variety of
flexible tests/observations made by teacher.
 Direct procedures test the child in field itself (in
real life), indirect procedures make student
perform a linguistic task (paper-pencil task)
THREE PHASES OF LANGUAGE
ASSESSMENT
 Pre-intervention assessment
 Ongoing assessment
 Post-intervention assessment
PURPOSE OF LANGUAGE ASSESSMENT
 Checking if communicative behavior is “within
normal limits” -----To screen/classify – group
requiring further intervention & group that
doesn’t
 To diagnose why communicative behavior is not
“within normal limits”
 To plan teaching strategies to bring the
communicative behavior “within normal limits”
MODE OF LANGUAGE ASSESSMENT
 Aural – oral
 Visual –graphical

 Visual – manual

 Visual – facial
COMPONENT OF LANGUAGE ASSESSMENT
 Phonological knowledge
 Morphological knowledge

 Syntactic knowledge

 Semantic knowledge

 Pragmatic knowledge
CHARACTERISTICS OF LANGUAGE
ASSESSMENT
 Reliability : Are the results consistent?
 Validity : Does the test measures what it is
designed to measure?
 Practicability : Can it be carried out in real life?
(tools/time/simplicity etc.)
APPLICATION OF LANGUAGE ASSESSMENT
 Knowing about the test-options
 Selecting

 Administering the test (including interpretation)

 Documentation

 Linking the outcomes with teaching strategies

ROLE OF LANGUAGE ASSESSMENT IN
EDUCATION
 It takes a very small portion of teaching time, but
is very critical.
 It checks whether the students language needs
are being met or not
 It determines the efficiency of teaching.

GOALS

IMPLEMENTATION ASSESSMENT
ASSESSMENT ACTIVITIES

Language
Knowledge

Informal Assessment

Competitions Examinations

Application Teacher
Scales Formal
of learned Made
Tests Standardized
aspects
tests
ROLE OF ASSESSMENT IN CLASSROOM

PLANNING OF ASSESSMENT

Teaching EXECUTION
EXECUTION
Learning OF
OF
Process ASSESSMENT
TEACHING

PLANNING OF TEACHING
DIFFERENCES BETWEEN FORMAL &
INFORMAL ASSESSMENT
 Consistency : Formal tests are highly consistent
but informal tests are inconsistent.
 Qualitative vs. Quantitative Judgment: Formal
tests are Quantitative, informal are qualitative.
 Applicability: Formal tests are easy & convenient
to administer
 General vs. Specific skills: Formal tests test
general skills, informal tests can be used to test
specific skills
 Tool dependent vs. user dependent: Formal tests
are tool dependent while Informal tests are user
dependent.
DIFFERENCES BETWEEN FORMAL &
INFORMAL ASSESSMENT
 Rigidity vs. Flexibility: Formal tests are rigid,
whereas informal tests are flexible.
 Norm reference vs. Criterion reference: Formal
tests use norm reference i.e. the child who is
undergoing the test is automatically tested with
all other children with same details. Informal
tests are checking the capacity of child in
isolation, only the criteria on which he/she is
tested becomes important i.e. Criterion reference.
STANDARDIZED LANGUAGE TESTING
 Why do you think measuring language is not as
simple as measuring cloth?
 Cloth is a concrete object in front of you. It is
tangible & hence easy to measure.
 Language & other concepts are abstract,
intangible, complex & hence difficult to measure.

 Standard test : test is a situation aimed at

quantifying present status of an individual’s
capacity by consistent use of a set of material &
procedure that assumes to represent that
capacity.
STANDARD TESTS: SET OF MATERIALS
 Manual
 Objectives of test

 Scope of test

 Procedure of administer

 Test material or Test Plates

 Scoring sheet
STANDARD TESTS: SET OF MATERIALS
 Manual
 Objectives of test
 Scope of test
 Procedure of administration
 Requirements
 Specifications – age/language background etc.
 Instructions for interpretations
STANDARD TESTS: SET OF MATERIALS
 Test Material or Test Plates:
 Consists of pictures
 3 or 4 pictures on one plate
 The tester either verbally/using Sign
Language/written language asks about a sentence
 The child points to the appropriate picture
 AYJNIHH developed ELS (Estimate of Literacy
Skills)
STANDARD TESTS: SET OF MATERIALS
 Scoring Sheet:
 Result/scores of various sub-tests are marked.
TEACHER MADE TEST
 The school tests or examinations if made in a
scientific manner could be called TMTs.
 They are Reliable, Valid & Practical

 Planning the test :

 Selection of Objectives & Sub-units
 Weightage of Objectives (Knowledge /Understanding
/Comprehension /Application/ Skill/ Expression)
 Weightage of content
 Weightage of different forms of question
 Scheme of options
 Weightage of Difficulty level (Difficult/ Average/
Easy)
Content Knowledge Understand Application Skill
E S O ing
E S O

Communicatio 10 10 2
n

Language 10 10 10 2

Methods 10 20 5 1 10

Assessment 5
SELECTION OF ASSESSMENT TECHNIQUES
 Availability of the Tool
 Exposure to Test Tools

 Age of the child

 Principle of Variety

 Combination of both Options

STANDARDIZED LANGUAGE TESTING IN
INDIA
 Non-Availability of Standard language tests
in Indian Languages
 Some available language tests are:

 Modified 3D – Language Acquisition Test

 Test of Psycholinguistic Abilities in Kannada

 Test of Acquisition of Syntax in Kannada

 Syntax Screening Test in Tamil

 A screening Picture Vocabulary Test in Kannada

 Assessing Syntax in Children – A test in Marathi

 Early Development Scale (Herlekar)

 Vocabulary Test (Shreedevi & Ojha) etc.

STANDARDIZED LANGUAGE TESTING IN
INDIA
 Inadequate Adaptations
 Less than 5 to 10 % Indian children are exposed
to English
 There are structural & cultural difference in
English & Indian languages.
 Some available adapted language tests are:

 REEL

 Northwestern Syntax Screening Test

 Bankson’s Test of Psycholinguistic Abilities

 Utah Test of Language Development

 Pea-body Picture Vocabulary Test

STANDARDIZED LANGUAGE TESTING IN
INDIA
 Rare use in Educational Set up
 Assessment Restricted to Knowledge

 Lack of Commercial Availability

 LPT (Linguistic Profile Test) developed by

AYJNIHH & RRTC – available in 7 Indian
languages – assesses Syntactic & Semantic
component
INFORMAL ASSESSMENT
 Systemization of Informal Assessment is very
essential in absence of standardized tools as in
the case of India.
 Consistency or giving the appropriate results
repeatedly
 Consistency of tools (pattern of questions)
 Consistency of strategies (correcting)
 Consistency in administration (instructions)

 Documentation (so that it could be linked to

past & future assessments)
 Feedback (systematic & clear feedback to the
child)