Assesment in Language Teaching

ASSESSMENT IN LANGUAGE TEACHING

Suprihatin

100221509486

1.Assessment: an Introduction

Assessment is one of the most valuable sources of information about what is happening  in learning environment. In current educational practices, many educators  misunderstand this term as synonymous one with testing or evaluation. According to Brown(2004), assessment is an ongoing process that encopasses a much wider domain, whereas test are a subset of assessment which measure a person ability, knowladge or performance in a given domain.In addition, Cooper(2005.504) states” assessment is the process of gathering information about something or getting students to respond”. For example, a written works of students from a jotted down phrase to formal essay which can be assesed by self,teacher and possibly other students. Assessment play an important role in determining each students learning problems and progress and end outcomes after a period of learning time.

Assessment is relatively similar to evaluation in getting information about students’ learning progress, but they are significantly different in the purposes of utilizing the data. Since the purpose of the assessment, in general, is his is in line with Blair(2003:65) who states “assessment can drive instruction”. Unlike testing, assessment iis done to lets the students to have freedom to experiment and to try out what they know about the language without feeling that they overall competence is being judged in term of those trials and errors.In this case, the students have opportunities to play with language in the classroom without foormally graded. At the same time, during the teaching and learning process, a teacher is indeed observing students’ performance and making serious evaluation of each student. How does the performance compare to previous performance? Which aspects of performance are better than others? How does the performance compare to that of others  in the same learning community? In ideal classroom, all these observation feed in to  the way the teacher provide instruction to each student. Beside observation a teacher can also assess the students’ perforrmance by using a test to complete the data oobservations, but a test should be valid enough to cover the domain of what to test.

In relation to criteria of task done in class, there are fife criiteria of task done in the class for outhentic assessment. First,  the task is  meaningfull both to teacher and  students. Second, the task is framed by the students. Third,the task requires the students to locate and analyse information as well as to  draw conclusions about it.Fourth, the task requires students to communicate results clearly.Finally the task requires students work together for at least parts of the task in order to make assessment work well, some priciples should be considered as elaborate in the following sub- heading.

2.The purposes of Assessment

Assessment play an important roles in determining students learning problems and progress and end outcomes after period of learning time. Therefore,all teacher need ways to determine what students learn with their problems and the progress they make. The information provide the basis for making decisions, planning, or reform instructional activities and experiences, and dishtinguisting effective from ineffective procedures. In addition,Cooper(2000) maintain that one of the purposes of doing classroom assessment is to help the students take the ownership of their learning, seeing and planning ways to foster their own literacy growth. When students think about and reflect on their learning, they become more active participants in the teaching and learning process.

3.Conventional Assessment

Cooper (2000) maintain “many” educator have strong negative feeling abot many aspect of conventional assessment. Among their concern are (1) procedures that do not access what are being tought, (2) separation of assessment from instruction, (3) misuses of assessment data, and (4) cultural biases of test. In addition to conventional assessment, Kasbollah (2003) concude that there are three weaknesses of conventional assessment. First, it focuses on final judgment of what students have done. Second, iit dosnot resemble process outcomes but  end outcomes. Third, it tends to be characterized by summative test or standardized test. In addition conventional assessment which tends to use standardized achievement test are not embedded in instruction. The standardized test is mot useful in evaluating overall program growth as opposed to evaluate individual student’s  progress or determining instructional needs.

4.Authentic Assessment

Authentic assessment refer to assessing student’s real performance or ability using procedures that stimulate the aplication of  their ability to rreal life activities.Another term used to reflect authentic assessment in classroom-based assessment or cllassroom assessment. It is the daily ongoing process of gathering evidence which is inspirable from insruction in order to document learning and growth. Teachers make professional decisions based on observations, converences and data from surveys, as well as from samples of student work. Autentic assessment helps teacher to know the students and guide their instruction. Assessment become much more managable when data are collected on regular basis during the normal cycles of teaching and learning. It become more visible and valid when teacher asses student’s progresses during learning process.

As teacher carryout assessment, they have to measure the performance of the students and the progress they make (Harris and McCann,1994).They then confirm the authentic or informal assessment is called so vital in assessment activity.Another important poin according to them is self-assessment activity. It is carried out by the students themselves to see their own progress and problem they find during the process of learning under the teacher’s control.

4.1.The Purpose of Authentic Assessment

Assessment should be done purposefully. This is becouse the failure of assessment and instuction to interact effectivelly can be the source of inaccurate identification, improper program of placement, inadequate monitoring of students progress and the long- term failure of instruction (O’Malley & Pierce,1996). They remark that “ the main goal of implementing authentic

assessment is to gather evidence about how students aproaching,processing, and completing real life task in particular domain”.

Furrthermore, the Department of National Education ( in 2002 Classroom Bassed Assessment) states in EFL classes like in Indonesian secondary school, authentic assessment that also known as classroom assessment can be implemented. Its implementation aims to:

1.  Provide information about students’ individual learning proggress and his or her  achievement on learning target according to the learning activity done.

2.  Provide information about students’ learning problem , actual abiility, progress strengths and weaknesses to making follow up to those students either individual and classical, and

3.  Report periodically students’ learning achievement for public accountability

4.2. The Advantages and Dishadvantages of Implementing Authentic Assessment in EFL Classes

                    As a new assessment srategy, like other assesment srategies, implementing authentic assessment in EFL writing classses, of course , has some  weaknesses besides its strength. These can be seen from both the teacher’s and the student’s peerspective.

4.2.1. Advantages

                   The use of authentic assessment has some advantages, as follow:

a.       Authentic Assessment are Direct Measures

 As  teachers, we doo not just want the students to know the content of the dicipllines whenn they graduate. We, of course, want them to be able to use the acquired  knoladge and skills in  the reakl world.So,our assessment have also to tell us if the students can apply what they have learned in outhentic situation.

             b.  Authentic Assessments Capture constructive Nature of Learning

Assessment cannot just ask students to repeat back information they have recieved.Students mmust also be ask to demonsrate that they have accurately constructed meaning about what they have beeen tought.

b.      Authentic Assessment Integrated Teaching, Learning and Assessment

Authentic assessment, in contrast to more traditional assesssment, encourages the integration of teaching, learning and assessing.For example, when ppesennted with real- world probllem to solve, students are learning in the process of developing solution, teacher are facilitating the process, and the students solutions to the problem become an assessment of how well the students can meaningfully apply the concept.

4.2.2.Disadvantages

                 Besides its strenghts,  as found by O’Mallley & Pierce (1996),aouthentic assesssment also has few weaknessses, suchh as highly demanding on teacher professional skill to make decision based on various types of assesssment tools, tiime consuming, and need extra ennergy to utilize various information obtained during the process too the basis for decision making.

                  To  be more details, the disadvantages of applying outhentic assessment in teaching EFL are as folllows:

a.  Using outhentic assessment is not easy and does require a connsiderable amount of time.

b.The garhering of necessary data and work samples can make especially the  

    potofolios are difficult to manage.

       c.It is difficult to make result consistence and usable.

       d.Using authentic assessment need high cost.

5. Conclusion

 Assessing English Mastery of SMP students

The  best way to conduct the assessment is the combination of both.Take the analogy of driving license examination. In conventional, the applicant is tested using pencil and paper to measure  his knowladge about traffict role and knowladge about driving, while outhentic assessment, the applicant is ased to demonstrate the ability by driving car directly.It is possible happen in the first test the applicant will pass the examination but actually he cannot drive. It is also possible in second test that the applicant could perform well in driving a car  but he cannot pass the paper and pencil test since he knows nothing about the traffic  rules. Ideally the applicant will pass the examination becouse he has sufficient knowladge of traffic rules and he has good skill to drive. So, combining the both kinds of assessment is the best way to get more valid data.