Testing in a College Language Classroom Jennifer Sheridan

Testing in a College Language Classroom Jennifer Sheridan Moss Wayne State University jennifer. sheridan. moss@wayne. edu

College vs. High School Latin/Greek Class • • Vast majority are grammar-based Do not teach or test etymology directly Do not teach or test “culture” directly Individual instructors usually free to teach/test as they see fit

Test Content ELEMENTARY INTERMEDIATE ADVANCED Paradigms ✔ ✔ Vocabulary ✔ ✔ Identification of forms ✔ ✔ Identification of syntax ✔ ✔ Translation (unseen) ✔ ✔ Comprehension/Summary ✔ Essays on text read ✔ Translation (seen) ✔ Complex essays

Paradigms

Vocabulary

Identification of Forms in Context

Identification of Syntax

Translation (unseen) I. Sight-Reading Translate the following Caesarian sentence. If you don’t remember all the vocabulary, indicate whether you know how the word fits into the syntax. If you can’t translate at all, at least chunk the sentence and explain as much grammar as possible. [Helvetii] Postero die castra ex eo loco movent. Idem facit Caesar, equitatumque omnem, ad numerum quattuor milium, quem ex omni provincia et Aeduis atque eorum sociis coactum habebat, praemittit, qui videant quas in partes hostes iter faciant. (BG 1. 15. 1) [Aedui, -orum, a Gallic tribe]

Translation (seen) 1) Translate 1 (one) of the following passages from Cicero’s In Catilinam I. Be as literal as you can, while approaching good English. When in doubt, make sure I know that you understand the grammar. A) quae cum ita sint, Catilina, dubitas, si emori aequo animo non potes, abire in aliquas terras et vitam istam, multis suppliciis iustis debitisque ereptam, fugae solitudinique mandare? “refer, ” inquis, “ad senatum. ” id enim postulas et, si hic ordo sibi placere decreverit te ire in exsilium, obtemperaturum te esse dicis. (VIII. 20. 18 -24) [51 points] B) habes, ubi ostentes tuam illam praeclaram patientiam famis, frigoris, inopiae rerum omnium, quibus te brevi tempore confectum esse senties. tantum profeci tum, cum te a consulatu reppuli, ut exsul potius temptare quam consul vexare rem publicam posses, atque ut id, quod esset a te scelerate susceptum, latrocinium potius quam bellum nominaretur. (X. 26. 17 -27. 24) [51 points] C) quam non nulli sunt in hoc ordine, qui aut ea quae imminent non videant, aut ea quae vident dissmulent; qui spem Catilinae mollibus sententiis aluerunt coniurationemque nascentem non credendo corroboraverunt; quorum auctoritate multi, non solum improbi, verum etiam imperiti, si in hunc animadvertissem, crudeliter et regie factum esse dicerent. (XII. 30. 14 -21) [50 points]

Comprehension/Summary Don’t translate this passage, but restate it’s meaning in your own words: 'Parce metu, Cytherea: manent immota tuorum fata tibi; cernes urbem et promissa Lavini moenia, sublimemque feres ad sidera caeli magnanimum Aenean; neque me sententia vertit. 260

Comprehension/Summary Draw a picture of the wings that Daedalus creates, based on the passage that follows: nam ponit in ordine pennas a minima coeptas, longam breviore sequenti, 190 ut clivo crevisse putes: sic rustica quondam fistula disparibus paulatim surgit avenis; tum lino medias et ceris alligat imas atque ita conpositas parvo curvamine flectit, ut veras imitetur aves.

Simple Essays How do you interpret the episode of the murder of Horatia and the trial of Horatius for treason? Livy obviously skipped over many parts of the oral tradition, so why did he include this story?

Complex Essays

Questions we generally do not ask • English to Latin translation • Multiple choice Circle the best translation for the following (Lat-Eng or Eng-Lat): loquī I speak to speak I spoke The god fills their sails with winds. cum ventīs ventōs

Bloom’s Taxonomy Complex essays Seen translation? Simple essays Unseens & Comprehension Form & Function Paradigms &Vocab

Constructivist Continuum of Expertise on i s y t m s lar nc g n i u u /f ee rad ocab s m a r p v Un Fo Novice e e s t n’ Do ns ter t a p n io ns e m Co eh r p Advanced Es ys a s Expert zed i n a l-org e l e W ledg w o kn

Problem: Learning the patterns of Latin/Greek is as important as memorizing forms.

Solution: Test knowledge of patterns on quizzes/tests • Give unfamiliar words and ask form identification based on patterns: What person/number is perstringimus? What part of the word tells you that? • Ask students to dissect forms for information: In the word dicebant, explain how the three parts of the word tell you what conjugation it belongs to, its tense, and it’s person/number: dice/ba/nt • Ask about expectations of syntax: What word would you expect right after a preposition? Which two cases is that world likely to be in? or: Will a sentence with a verb of motion have a direct object?

Problem: College classes have virtually no formative assessment

Solution: Add formative assessment to quizzes/tests • Structure quizzes to better reflect mastery of recent chapters and provide actual feedback • Formative assessment via online testing?

Thanks! Tom Kohn, Wayne State University Davina Mc. Clain, Northwestern State University Susan Shelmerdine, UNC Greenville