Job Discussion Forums

[buravirgil]

An "Oral English" class in China most often refers to a university program, while assessments in language schools typically purchase a curriculum with assessments included. One reason a foreign expert in a university position is so called is because they assess their own students with an evaluation of their own design.

How many tasks comprise an assessment in your class/program? I'm finding most are a guided conversation, i.e., the choice of a topic followed by questions and answers. I define that as a single task, typically scored with a rubric(s), where the teacher's training and experience determines their choice among many.

I was surprised a convention is teachers assess their own students. What controls for bias do you observe, if any? It's often the case a teacher, alone, conducts and scores their assessment. Some teachers make recordings to reduce the distractions (to both parties) of simultaneous scoring and some don't.

[jm21]

The oral English classes are every other week here, so 9 classes total. About 50 students. It basically takes 2.5 classes to explain and perform an oral assessment. I think it is pretty bad to spend almost 1/3 of the total class time on testing, so I would go more towards participation and grading small tasks as you go.

[buravirgil]

[BleedingBlue]

I have a rather complex evaluation system consisting of ten items. The OP is very unclear, random, and doesn't make sense in comparison to the poorly created poll. Adding 3 extra choices that are sarcastic and have nothing to do really with the issue at hand. Please evaluate your original message and be clear about what you are begging for; random, just want to know something or are you simply concealing your desire for someone to give you their evaluation system so you don't have to create one for yourself?

[buravirgil]

[Bud Powell]

How about criteria?

Are you a teacher?

[jm21]

[buravirgil]

[buravirgil]

[Non Sequitur]

I am required to assess the semester's work by allocating 60 percent to classwork and the remaining 40 percent to the end of semester speaking task.
This means starting recording student effort as soon as possible - ideally from Week 1 or 2.
I've put my vote to the continuous option for that reason.
There is a free download of a student assessment slip on the thread currently running on classroom resources.

[buravirgil]

[Guerciotti]

OP, thanks for this post. It is good food for thought. Nutritious, you might say. Delicious? No, now I've gone too far.

I conduct the mandatory exams when required, but my assessment weighs ongoing improvement and the completion of more than a few tasks during the course of the term or semester more heavily than the exam. During exam season students are focused on their 'real' exams. I would rather (hopefully) elicit effort, excellence, and improvement during the semester when they're not distracted.

My end of semester exam is one task. I think most schools don't give enough time for more than one. In my opinion, allocating two class periods for oral assessment of thirty students allows for just one task.

my two pence ...

[Non Sequitur]

[buravirgil]

Thanks for the reply and good will.

[buravirgil]

Thanks for the follow-up Non Sequitur. I think your class is more fun than mine and addresses the performance anxiety that's rooted in the scholastic traditions of China. I was surprised it's typical for a student to stand when asked to read. Notions of what's communicative and how focus is transferred are (compared to the west) nearly ritual. Yet human nature tends toward banter and quick exchange and your method would seem to bridge the differences.