Άρθρα κατηγορίας Tradional vs alternative assessment

KPG exam battery

 The KPG within the Greek public school context.

Of the six main kinds of language test the KPG is categorized as a proficiency test. It is a formal type of testing outside the formal education setting. Its purpose is neither summative assessment, that is to test how much of the syllabus has been learnt, as it is the case with achievement tests, nor to assist learning as a formative assessment tool (KPG Handbook, 2013· West, 2004). As West (2004) mentions, proficiency tests have a washforward effect, meaning they try “to establish whether the students have the necessary level and type of language to undertake a task in the future” (p.24). As such the KPG is mainly used by its holders as a credential for employment (KPG Handbook, 2013).

In the public school context the KPG test – Level B (B1&B2) – will be used by the English language teacher as a formative type of assessment, to assess 1st grade High school students’ abilities in the target language. The objective is to diagnose students’ strengths and weaknesses and accordingly plan a syllabus for the whole school year. The choice of using this specific test was made due to the fact that it is addressed to “Greek users of the foreign language and takes into account the social circumstances for its use” (KPG Handbook, 2013, p.20). That is, language is not disembodied but it is used for social purposes.

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Traditional vs alternative assessment

eportfolio

Paper-and-pencil tests have been until these days the primary means to test students’ proficiency in the foreign language. This type of assessment is mainly summative and is usually related to high stakes exams. According to West (2004a), this approach to foreign language testing overemphasizes the grading function, while students confine themselves to passive recipients of knowledge whose needs are not taken into consideration.

paper-and-pencil test

In a learner-centred approach to foreign language teaching students are expected to assume a more active role. Nunan states that “learners who are able to play the kind of active role in their own learning (…) could be said to be autonomous” (p. 193).

Hughes (1989) mentions that criterion-referenced testing not only provides information about what students can actually do with language but “students are encouraged to measure their progress in relation to meaningful criteria” (p. 21).

ePortfolio, as an alternative method of assessment, demands more active participation on behalf of the students (Yastibas, 2013) and promotes learning independency (Alawdat, 2014). In addition it focuses both on the process and product of learning (Genc & Tinmaz, 2010).

e-portfolios as a pedagogical device in primary education