Assessment is a key ingredient in successful instruction. Assessment provides valuable information about the effectiveness of instruction and the areas where students are thriving and struggling in order to inform future instruction. Assessment can also be a valuable learning tool and provide the means for tracking progress. Throughout the lesson plans associated with the clusters, formative assessment practices have been identified. These will provide guidance about the specific aspects of language, culture, or communicative performance that can be assessed during the activities in the clusters.
As task-based language teaching emphasizes meaningful communication, task-based assessment focuses on completion of the task (Long, 2015). Emphasis is not placed on how the task is completed (e.g., whether a particular grammatical structure was used or how accurate the utterances were), but rather on the ability of the student to perform the task. Portfolios are commonly used as assessment tools to track student progress in relation to the ability of students to complete different tasks. The European Language Portfolio (https://www.coe.int/en/web/portfolio) is an example of a portfolio system that facilitates self, peer, and teacher assessment using a portfolio. Our sister website (https://taskbasedbeginnerfrenchmodule.weebly.com/) also includes a portfolio that can be used with younger learners to explore their cultural affiliations and experiences, the strategies used to promote language learning, and a series of ‘I can’ statements related to the grade four French as a Second Language Program of Study with accompanying evidence of performance to track French communicative growth throughout the year. While assessment would primarily be based on successful task completion (please refer to the attached example Task Completion Checklist), the accuracy, complexity, and fluency of language usage could also be assessed during activities related to the post-task. These activities would be catered to the needs of the specific students in the course based on the language proficiency demonstrated during task completion. Examples of rubrics focusing on specific elements of language usage have been provided below (see Example Language Rubrics).
Long (2015) highlighted that a “linguistic ‘caboose’” (p. 333) could also be attached to assessments of task-based abilities. He argues that such an approach may have value in learning contexts where accuracy of language is imperative (e.g., an individual working in the service industry may come across as rude if the proper grammatical structure is not used). We would argue that in the beginning stages of French learning, in particular with younger learners, accuracy is less important than developing communicative abilities using French to complete simple tasks, as this will help to develop linguistic foundations and a risk-taking communicative disposition to encourage further growth in language learning going forward. As a result, we would advocate not attaching the ‘caboose’ to the task-based train of communicative assessment. Nonetheless, we understand that many teachers may feel apprehensive about this approach, so we have included a generic task completion rubric to support the assessment of task completion in each of the clusters (see Task Completion Rubric below).
References:
Long, M. (2015). Second language acquisition and task-based language teaching. West Sussex: Wiley Blackwell.
As task-based language teaching emphasizes meaningful communication, task-based assessment focuses on completion of the task (Long, 2015). Emphasis is not placed on how the task is completed (e.g., whether a particular grammatical structure was used or how accurate the utterances were), but rather on the ability of the student to perform the task. Portfolios are commonly used as assessment tools to track student progress in relation to the ability of students to complete different tasks. The European Language Portfolio (https://www.coe.int/en/web/portfolio) is an example of a portfolio system that facilitates self, peer, and teacher assessment using a portfolio. Our sister website (https://taskbasedbeginnerfrenchmodule.weebly.com/) also includes a portfolio that can be used with younger learners to explore their cultural affiliations and experiences, the strategies used to promote language learning, and a series of ‘I can’ statements related to the grade four French as a Second Language Program of Study with accompanying evidence of performance to track French communicative growth throughout the year. While assessment would primarily be based on successful task completion (please refer to the attached example Task Completion Checklist), the accuracy, complexity, and fluency of language usage could also be assessed during activities related to the post-task. These activities would be catered to the needs of the specific students in the course based on the language proficiency demonstrated during task completion. Examples of rubrics focusing on specific elements of language usage have been provided below (see Example Language Rubrics).
Long (2015) highlighted that a “linguistic ‘caboose’” (p. 333) could also be attached to assessments of task-based abilities. He argues that such an approach may have value in learning contexts where accuracy of language is imperative (e.g., an individual working in the service industry may come across as rude if the proper grammatical structure is not used). We would argue that in the beginning stages of French learning, in particular with younger learners, accuracy is less important than developing communicative abilities using French to complete simple tasks, as this will help to develop linguistic foundations and a risk-taking communicative disposition to encourage further growth in language learning going forward. As a result, we would advocate not attaching the ‘caboose’ to the task-based train of communicative assessment. Nonetheless, we understand that many teachers may feel apprehensive about this approach, so we have included a generic task completion rubric to support the assessment of task completion in each of the clusters (see Task Completion Rubric below).
References:
Long, M. (2015). Second language acquisition and task-based language teaching. West Sussex: Wiley Blackwell.
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