Af L in MFL assessment for and as

Af. L in MFL: assessment for and as learning Dr Jane Jones King’s College London, Sept. 2006

The Black Box – Black & Wiliam • Extensive KCL research on positive impact of Af. L • Kent / Oxfordshire – average 1. 5 grade increase for Af. L pupils • Ongoing Jersey research on teacher development, pupil attitude and achievement and sustainability • Global appropriation of formative practices

Af. L in MFL: a great many stars in our practice • • • Graded Q/A – challenging questions Feedback and targets on written work Two and a wish Self- marking of exercises Peer-assessment e. g. of role-play Wait time through teacher repeating or rephrasing questions • Traffic –lighting, thumbs up whatever • Language awareness

Af. L in MFL 1 - Traditional Q/A can be overly linear and unimaginative + Spiralling or up and down the Q-ladder - 3 SQ is predictable and restrictive + Basic practice then develop unpredictability esp. in differentiation - Teachers ask too many questions; pupils inadequately rehearsed in asking questions + Teach question formats and provide opportunities to practise inc ‘ask the teacher’ - Asking the ridiculous or pedagogical good practice? Comment t’appelles-tu Michaela? + Authentic questions and naturalistic responses • Scope for revisiting and extending questioning

Af. L in MFL II - Feedback and targets can be non-formative/ meaningless/ repetitive/ computer-speak versions + Devising a broad range of comments and SMART targets for use and adaptation - TL or English? Not always systematic + TL a way to use the language in an authentic context and a way to extend exposure - Whole class feedback can be vague + Use error analysis to provide feedback and feedforward for whole class learning • Many targets on written work • Extend to all 4 skills • Developing quality formative feedback and targets

Af. L in MFL III - Self-marking of routine exercises or from back of book + Share marking criteria of exercises and extend self-marking to more challenging work - Fragmented and low level activity + Develop the skills of self- assessment through sharing the vocabulary of assessment in the TL - Random and occasional marking + Ongoing self-assessment every lesson

Pupils’ Comments - I would like to mark my own book as long as I know what I am doing. I also need time as sometimes Miss takes the mark scheme off before I’ve finished. - I am not always sure if I can have half marks and what for. - Yes I feel confident to mark my own work.

Af. L in MFL: - Peer-assessment can be rather routine and pupils may lack confidence + Train pupils to peer-assess and develop confidence with a triangle of teacher feedback • Good idea: use of ‘post-it’ feedback

Pupils’ Comments - It’s a bit scary marking your neighbour’s work if you have to give them lots of crosses because when you give it back they might hit you. - I like marking my friend’s work because I learn from it and get good ideas

Wait time Rowe’s research (1974) in elementary School classrooms • Mean wait time between ask a question and next intervention was only 0. 9 seconds • Insufficient time given for most pupils to think and formulate response • Increasing wait time leads to: longer answers, more pupils responding, more confident responses, pupils challenging each other (no hands up) • Working collaboratively on responses – peer learning • Not to be confused with ‘waiting time (up to 75% of some primary school lessons according to Cullingford 1995) or ‘wasting time’

L F M f. L in A - Wait time limited, limited teacher sight range, star pupils, a culture of hands shooting up. + Increase wait time- repeat and rephrase questions or comments + Room scanning to ‘read’ face and body language responses from all + Check comprehension + Establish expectations of all + No hands up; be ready + Pupils have time to think. + The art of the pause: confidence-building and equality of opportunity

Af. L in MFL: + = ? ? ? - Traffic lighting, thumbs up can be OTT or over-routinised or over-used and lose their meaning +coloured dots, mini-lights, ‘waving hands’, even teddies can all be used. + Clarity about what your lights, thumbs and other semiotics mean and what you want pupils to be indicating by theirs

Af. L in MFL - Away from vague LA and the development of strategic competence + language-aware and language- generating classrooms + Time to reflect and consolidate: ‘stop and think’ + developing critical skills and critical thinking through challenging learning and an L 2 L agenda

Teacher development • Not ‘old dogs learning new tricks’ but ‘old dogs re-affirming and redefining old tricks’ • A gradual, stepped, trialling approach to developing Af. L • Peer observation and video-ing sequences of ‘best bits’ • Collaborative planning e. g. of targets, primary –secondary liaison (literacy; KS 3 strategy; 14 -19 learning roles • From practice to policy: teachers / pupils /parents

Issues • The formative / summative ‘dilemma’: finding pedagogic validity in summative assessment • Primary school pupils have considerable experience of Af. L • Re-defining roles of teacher and pupil: ‘letting go’ • Dependent on well defined learning intentions and success criteria • ‘Out damn grade!’: the meaning of grades and locating grades within an Af. L framework • Parental involvement: favour quantitative data ‘work in progress’; parental comments • Whole school initiative required to give a joined-up powerful message: leadership • Resourcing –pupil reference materials; more technology for independent learning • Time: a resource like any other to be used as effectively as possible • Sustaining new practices – keeping them fresh

A classroom culture of support: Year 4 Primary School children learning German 1 Hanif to Robbie: You speak with a really good German sound but sometimes forget to stay in German (he lapsed into English for counting his dice moves!) Robbie to Bethany: You remember the words very well, but need to do the ‘r’ (ref to the rolled ‘r’) Jake to Kelly: I really like your clear pronunciation. Lizzie to Polly: I think you are amazingly quick at learning new words. Barbara to Eliza: You’re good at remembering the words. You have good pronunciation. Make sure you say what you mean (she meant a different noun on one occasion)

A classroom culture of support: Year 4 Primary School children learning German 2 Alec to Guni: With your pronunciation it is hard to tell if you’re German or English, but you need to put a bit more effort into your ‘r’ sound. Guni to Alec: What you said made good sense. You say your words very clearly. Billy to Eliza and Roberta: You are very clear. Billy to Jake: I like the way if you get it wrong, that you go back and correct yourself. Roberta to Billy: You say your words really clear, and you say ‘well done’ to others

In a nutshell ‘You can be sure that a pupil has understood something if he or she can explain it to another pupil. And if they don’t they will ask the teacher as a last resort. I didn’t know this was called assessment for learning. ’ A languages teacher