Teaching and Assessing Reading and Writing
Effective Assessment
Practices in the English
Language Curriculum
Rundown
Reading
2:15 – 3:30 PM
Strategies for Implementing AfL & AaL in Reading Assessment
3:30 – 3:45 PM
Q&A Session / Evaluation 5:05 – 5:15 PM
Writing
3:45 – 5:05 PM
Break
Extending from AfL to AaL –-
Empowering students to monitor & evaluate own progress
Summative AoL • describes the level students have attained
• shows what they know/can do over a period of time
• gives an overview of previous learning for reporting/ selection purposes
Formative AfL • integrates assessment into learning & teaching
• helps students understand what they are learning, what they have attained, what is expected of them
• helps teachers collect learning evidence to provide timely feedback &
refine teaching strategies
AaL • engages students in reflecting on & monitoring their progress of learning
• involves students in regulating the learning process, evaluating their own
performance against the learning goals & planning for the next step in
learning
Reading Process
Reader Factors
Factors Affecting the Reading Process
Textual Characteristics
Passage length
Density of information
Elaboration or use of examples
Passage format
Expository or narrative
Organisational structure or coherence Headings, diagrams, etc.
Writing style
Familiarity of the topic
Background knowledge required of the reader
Grammatical complexity
Word choices
Factors Affecting the Difficulty of Question Items Different Types of Questions
MC Questions
T/F/Not Given
Matching
Labelling
Sequencing
Gap-filling
Short Answers
Summary Cloze
Proof-reading
Summary Writing
Unpacking Formative Assessment
Where Am I Going
How Can I Close the Gap?
Where Am I
Now?
Basic Competency (BC) Descriptors for English Language (Reading)
at the End of KS3
HKDSE Level Descriptors (Reading)
https://www.edb.gov.hk/en/curriculum-development/kla/eng-edu/references-resources/LPF/LPFenglish.html
Overview of the growth of learners on a developmental continuum as they
become effective readers
1. To better articulate in learning
objectives and question intents the reading the skills expected of
students
2. To help students understand their current performance and how they could be guided to progress further
(P.3 of the PDF file is relevant)
Closing the Gap – Designing Reading Activities
Base on what we have come across in the first part of the workshop, how can teachers help students bridge the gap or advance?
Identifying students’ strengths and weaknesses: where they are Possible resource: Learning Progress Framework (LPF)
Setting learning goals: where they are going
Share the learning intentions with students to help students focus
Selecting/designing learning activities to facilitate learning:
How to get there
Setting appropriate questions, ensuring a balanced coverage of question types and question intents to consolidate students’
reading skills and strategies
What I can do
What I can do with help What I can’t
do
Zone of Proximal Development –ZPD
What needs to be done to take the learner where he needs to be
Zone of Achieved Development –ZAD
Where the learner is right now
Assessment that Scaffolds Learning
AaL in the Language Classroom
The AaL process can be translated into a number of strategies:
Establishing and identifying learning goals and success criteria
Giving descriptive, diagnostic feedback that helps students understand their own strengths and weaknesses
Empowering students as learning resources for one another
Developing a sense of ownership in students so that they take
charge of their own learning
Self-assessment for Reading – Reflecting on Reading Strategies
Self-directed Reading – Metacognitively reflecting on the Content of Reading
Quotations from the text My Questions/Thinking/
Predictions
Evaluating own performance as independent readers:
• Observing
• Questioning
• Critiquing
• Evaluating
• Comparing/contrasting
Example: Double-entry Journal
Online Resources – Online Question Bank
Do you correct all errors in students’ compositions?
How do you ask students to do composition corrections?
Do you do process writing? Do you think this is an effective
way to improve students’ writing skills?
How to Answer the Three Guiding Questions
Seven Strategies of Formative Assessment
Where am I going? 1. Provide a clear and understandable version of the learning targets.
2. Use examples of strong and weak work.
Where am I now? 3. Offer regular descriptive feedback.
4. Teach students to self-assess and set goals.
How can I close
the gap? 5. Use evidence of student learning to
determine next steps in teaching
Strategy 1: Provide a clear & understandable version of the learning targets (enabling strategy)
(1) Map out the writing skills & text-types students have to master
over time (from 1 term to 3 years)
(2) Practise steps for analysing writing topics & task requirements
Where the learner is going
Who? (Your role + audience)
(Text-type + topic / content) (Purpose)
What?
Why ?
The 3Ws Approach
Highlight keywords in the writing topic
2018 HKDSE English Language Paper 2 Question 1
You are Chris Wong, the class teacher of 6A. You will be taking your class on a school trip next month to sky100, show in the poster below.
Write a letter to parents giving them the necessary information about the trip. You may use the mind map to help you write the letter.
Use the 3Ws approach and highlight the keywords:
You are Chris Wong, the class teacher of 6A. You will be taking your class on a school trip next month to sky100, show in the poster below.
Write a letter to parents giving them the necessary information about the trip. You may use the mindmap to help you write the letter.
Writer’s role
Target reader
Text-type
Purpose of writing
Content / topic
Strategy 1: Provide a clear & understandable version of the learning targets (enabling strategy)
(3) Feed forward – present task-/topic-specific learning outcomes (or success criteria)
Example
Some experts in education have observed that Hong Kong
teenagers are too pampered and spoilt by their parents, resulting
in their lack of self-management and problem-solving skills. One
proposed solution to this problem is requiring students to
undertake 50 hours of community service before graduation from
(3) Feed forward – present task-/topic-specific learning outcomes (or success criteria)
• To complete the task successfully, what are students expected to demonstrate in the following aspects?
• Think of 2 most important criteria under each of the following.
Content Organisation Language
Establishing Success Criteria with Reference to Task Requirements
Design task-specific assessment form
Strategy 2: Use examples and models of strong and weak work (enabling strategy)
(1) Show sample model texts from textbooks or teachers (2) Show peers’ work (discuss strengths & ways to improve)
Where the learner is going
Strategy 3: Offer descriptive feedback during the learning process (enabling strategy)
Where the learner is
Strategy 3: Offer descriptive feedback during the learning process (enabling strategy)
What is effective and quality feedback?
Informative – point out strengths and weaknesses, help students know where they are and what to do next for improvement
Concrete and focused – show specially what has been done well/not so well with examples
Student-centred –
Strategy 3: Offer descriptive feedback during the
learning process (enabling strategy)
Strategy 4: Teach students to self-assess and set goals for the next steps (destination)
(1) Formulating directions for revising or rewriting
Strategy 4: Teach students to self-assess and set goals for the next steps (destination)
(2) Setting goals for tracking progress in writing skills
development in a set period of time (e.g. a term)
Strategy 5: Use evidence of student learning to determine next steps in teaching (floaters)
Strategy 6: Design focused instruction, followed by practice with feedback (floaters)
(1) Explicit strategy instruction
(2) Focused correction/rewriting for focused feedback
How to get there
Examples
Problems identified in the task on “50 hours of compulsory community service”:
• too much copying of the question in the introduction
• limited arguments focusing only on students
• key argument/ focus of each body paragraph unclear
• lack of elaboration and supporting evidence
• boring or abrupt ending
(1) Explicit strategy instruction
(2) Focused correction / rewriting for focused feedback
Rewriting the introduction Re-writing 1 body paragraph Rewriting the conclusion
(2) Focused correction / rewriting for focused feedback
Effective (High-impact / lasting-effect) Writing Correction
Quality over quantity
(selective and focused, first things first, less is more)
Going beyond accuracy
(error / sentence / paragraph level correction)
Fostering learner awareness, independence and ownership
Allowing choice
Involvingstudents in the thinkingprocess
Encouraging inquiry/ self-directed learning
Providing evidence for self-reviewand monitoring
For example, in the sample student work on 50 hours of community service
• correcting a few errors/slips (i.e. “insist”, “homeworks”, “by their own”)
• rewriting 2 problematic sentences (i.e. “mindset/intention”, “deprive”)
• rewriting the weakest paragraph (opening/ 3
rdargument)
individualised (learner-centred) to deepen learning
economical version of process-writing (less time-consuming but lasting effects)
(1) Explicit strategy instruction
Hands-on Practice Example 1: Short story opening
2018 HKDSE English Language Paper 2 Question 9
Learning English through Short Stories
Imagine you are a pet bird in a cage. One day your owner left your bird cage open.
Write a story from the bird’s point of view.
How to get there
(1) Explicit strategy instruction
Example 2: Argumentative essay closing
2020 HKDSE English Language Paper 2 Question 6
How to get there
Strategy 7: Engage students in self-reflection and provide
opportunities for students to track and share learning progress
Self perception of Writing Habit and Competence
Tracking Progress on Goal Attainment
Reflection on Progress over
Time and the Way Forward
Establish the success criteria with learners and present them in a student friendly
language
Offer advice when learners set goal, and formulate plans to improve writing
Guide students to analyse the writing topic and task requirement
Promoting AfL and AaL in Writing
Teacher’s role
Provide focused feedback to help learners understand their strengths and weaknesses
Plan the writing curriculum carefully to provide opportunities for learners to practise, recycle
Teach writing skills / strategies explicitly
and adopt effective correction practices
References
Alderson, J.C. (2000). Assessing reading. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Black & Wiliam (1998). Assessment in Education: Principles, Policy and Practice, Vol 5, Issue 1
Booth, D., & Swartz, L. (2004). Literacy techniques: Building successful readers and writers (2nd ed.).
Ontario, Canada: Pembroke Publishers Limited.
Han, Z. H. (2001) Fine-tuning corrective feedback. Foreign Language Annals, 34, pp.582-95.
Chappuis, J. (2009). Seven Strategies of Assessment for Learning. Assessment Training Institute, Inc Series, Allyn & Bacon.
Chappuis, J. (2017). Seven Strategies of Assessment for Learning: An Overview
http://www.sdcoe.net/lls/assessment/Documents/Continuous%20Learning/Seven%20Strategies%20Ch appuis%202017.pdf
Daily Teaching Tools: https://www.dailyteachingtools.com/free-graphic-organizers.html
Harlen, W., & James. (1997). Assessment and learning: Differences and relationships between
formative and summative assessment. Assessment in Education: Principles, Policy & Practices, Vol 4, Issue 3
Increasing Reading Engagement: How to Use self-Directed Reading in Your Lesson Plans
http://lessonplanspage.com/increase-reading-engagement-how-to-use-self-directed-reading-in- your-lesson-plans/
Lorna, M.L. (2003). Assessment As Learning: Using Classroom Assessment to Maximize Student Learning. Crown Press, Inc.
Stiggins, R. (2007). Assessment for learning: an essential foundation of productive instruction. In Douglas Reeves (ed.), Ahead of the curve. Bloominton, IN: Solution Tree
The Learning Progression Framework for English Language Source: http://www.edb.gov.hk/LPFenglish
Zhang, L. (2001). Awareness in reading: EFL students’ metacognitive knowledge of reading strategies in an acquisition-poor environment. Language Awareness, 10 (4), 268-288
