Assessment for Learning and Motivation in Bilingual Primary

Classrooms

Presenter: Rachel Lofft Basse

Thesis Director: Dra. Rachel Whittaker

UAM Research Seminar on CLIL

March 21, 2012

Research Aims

1. To observe and analyze assessment techniques present in classes that implement Assessment for Learning (AfL) and traditional summative assessment.

2. To determine whether presence of AfL techniques leads to an increase in L2 motivational features and whether this leads to increased student motivation.

Summative vs. Formative Assessment

Assessment of Learning Summative Assessment

Assessment for Learning Formative Assessment

Occurs at end of academic unit or year

Summative review on everything that students have learned.

Usually written: test, quiz, exam

Feedback in form of a mark, error correction.

Occurs on an ongoing basis throughout the academic year.

Students set short term goals and are facilitated by teacher in order to achieve these goals.

Can be based on a variety of sources (teachers questions, portfolios, written work)

No grades or scores given. Plenty of oral feedback, peer correction, self-correction

Shohamy, 2005 Black and Wiliam, 1998

Features of Assessment for Learning (AfL)

AfL Establishing

Clear Learning

Objectives

Effective Questioning Techniques

Feedback

Self-Correction

Peer-Correction

AfL in Action

Traffic Lights

Two Stars And a Wish

WALT and WILF

  RESEARCH QUESTIONS:

  1. Do teachers who implement Assessment for Learning use more second language learning motivational techniques than non-AfL teachers?

  2. Do students in Assessment for Learning classes feel more motivated than students who encounter traditional summative assessment practices?

Participants and Data   Participants:

  Two bilingual teachers, one who was an AfL expert and the other who employed summative assessment.

  Two Year 5 classes (students aged 10-11) with approximately 22 students in each class

Data Collected Description Corpus of Classroom Recordings Four 45 minute Citizenship classes

taught in English, Two Afl and Two non-AfL classes Totaling 18,641 words

Student motivational surveys Administered to all AfL and non-AfL students at the end of the unit

Student Motivational Interviews Three selected lower achieving students, end of unit

Teacher Interviews Biographical information, assessment techniques used, assessment beliefs

Why Motivation?

“Learning a second language is a longitudinal process and there is nothing more important than motivation in sustaining this long-term goal” (Dörnyei and Guilloteaux, 2008)

Formative assessment introduces a new pedagogy in which the learners are actively involved in the assessment process, seeking to improve their motivation and self-esteem (Black and Wiliam, 1998)

Measuring Motivation

 Instruments   Motivational Orientation of Language Teaching (MOLT)

Observation Scheme (Guilloteaux and Dornyei, 2001)

  Motivated Strategies for Learning Questionnaire (MSLQ) (Pintrich and DeGroot, 1989)

Coding Instrument:   UAM Corpus Tool (O’Donnell, 2011)

MOLT Observation Scheme: Features

Teacher Discourse Signposting

Referential Questions Promoting Cooperation Promoting Autonomy

Scaffolding Establishing Relevance

Social Chat Arousing Curiosity

Stating the Communicative Purpose

Encouraging Self-Evaluation

Effective Praise Neutral Feedback

Peer and Self-Correction Classroom Applause

Activity Design Tangible Reward

Intellectual Challenge Tangible Task Product

Personalization Creative or Fantasy Element

Group and Pair Work Group Work Pair Work

(Guilloteaux and Dornyei, 2008)

AfL Teacher Non-AfL Teacher

T-Test Chi Square

Teacher Discourse

183 (51.0%) 196 (74.0%) 5.97+++ 33.78+++

Encouraging Self-Evaluation

85 (23.7%) 52 (19.6%) 1.21 1.46

Feedback 48 (56.5%) 52 (100.0%) 6.28 +++ 31.01 +++

Peer and Self-Correction

15 (17.6%) 0 (0.0%) 0.00 10.30 +++

Class Applause 22 (25.9%) 0 (0.0%) 0.00 16.03 +++

Activity Design 88 (24.5%) 13 (4.9%) 6.80 +++ 43.20 +++

Tangible Reward

0 (0.0%) 1 (7.7%) 0.0 6.84 +++

Personalization 78 (88.6%) 9 (69.2%) 1.91 + 3.57 +

Group and Pair Work

3 (0.8%) 4 (1.5%) 0.79 0.62

Totals 359 Techniques 265 Techniques

Classroom Data Results

Conclusions 1. Do teachers who implement Assessment for Learning use more

second language learning motivational techniques than non-AfL teachers?

Yes. The AfL teacher used +94 more motivational techniques during the two lessons than the non-AfL teacher. Also, these techniques were more varied throughout all four categories.

2. Do students in Assessment for Learning classes feel more motivated than students who encounter traditional summative assessment practices?

In the first part of the survey, non-AfL students demonstrated more motivation in categories of self-efficacy, cognitive strategies and intrinsic value. However, in the second part of the survey, AfL students demonstrated more internal motivation than non- AfL students.

Current Research   Extending corpus to include four schools, more subjects

and many more units.

  Investigating characteristics of motivation (from the MOLT scheme) that correspond directly to formative assessment.

  Integrating Autonomy and finding/ developing a framework for measurement in the classroom.

  Appraisal theory- Judgment (resources for assessing behavior according to various normative principles).

Tips for Taking the First Steps   1. Develop research questions. First write some general queries

that you may have and gradually adapt them into strong questions that will have measurable results.

  2. Read everything that you can about your area of interest. This will help you see what has already been done and how you can contribute research to the field.

  3. Think about the corpus that you will be using to measure your research questions. You can use a corpus that is already available or start planning on how to collect your own.

  4. Start writing a little bit every day, even if it’s only 15 minutes. It’s a great way to break the ice that’s not too overwhelming. Writing is a great way to develop your ideas, and you will see in time that the small pieces you have written will snowball into something bigger.

Thank You For Your Attention!!

Bibliography

Black, Paul, Dylan, Wiliam (1998). ¨Inside the Black Box: Raising Standards Through Classroom Assessment¨. Phi Delta Kappan

  Dörnyei, Z. & Guilloteaux, Marie J. (2008). “Motivating Language Learners: A Classroom Oriented Investigation of the Effects of Motivational Strategies on Student Motivation.” TESOL Quarterly. Vol. 42. No. 1. 55-77.

O’Donnell, Mick. (2011). UAM Corpus Tool.

Pintrich, Paul & DeGroot, Elizabeth. (1989) Motivated Strategies for Learning Questionnaire. University of Michigan.

Shohamy, Elana. (2001) The Power of Tests: A Critical Perspective on the Uses of Language Tests. London: Longman. 1-30.

http://www.britishcouncil.org/spain-education-bilingual-project.htm