UNIT
10: ASSESSMENT
STRUCTURE
10.0 Introduction
10.1 Learning Objectives
10.2 Present ways of assessment.
10.3 Why assessment
10.4 Points of assessment in language
10.4.1 Listening and speaking
10.4.2 Writing
10.4.3 Expression
10.5 Ways of assessment in language
10.5.1 Oral testing
10.5.2 Observation
10.5.3 Written test
10.6 Activities for assessing prose, verse and
drama.
10.6.1 Poetry
10.6.2 Prose
10.6.3 Drama
10.7 Let Us Sum Up
10.8 Suggested Readings and References
10.9 Unit-End Exercises
10.0
INTRODUCTION
In
this unit, we will try to understand how assessment is carried out in a
language class. What is assessment and what all does it include? What are the
points that should be emphasised in the context of language learning? We will
also look at the present process of assessment and examine whether it fulfills
the objectives of assessment. We will consider some alternative ways of
assessment that do not induce disinterest in the child towards learning. The
process of assessment should encourage development of self-confidence and
capabilities in the child. Assess-ment helps both children and the teacher. We
will also look at the kind of activities and questions that have the potential
for constructive assessment.
10.1
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
After
reading this unit you would be able to:
• understand the outcomes of the
present assessment process
• understand why assessment is needed
• analyse different ways of assessing
language abilities.
10.2
THE PRESENT PROCESS OF ASSESSMENT
We
need to ask whether the present process of assessment fulfills the objectives
of assessment. Does it lead to assessment of what actually needs to be
assessed? To understand the present process let us analyse a language class.
Example:
1
In
class 3 of a primary school the language teacher took a test. The test involved
the students telling a story from the book. There were 30 students in the
class. Except Mayank everyone could retell the story. Most children got 6 out
of 10. Prakrati got the maximum which was 8 but Mayank got only 2. When the
teacher told the children Mayank’s marks, they started laughing and teasing
him. Mayank was not able to understand why he got such a low score. He told the
story just like everyone else. He sat down quietly, feeling very unhappy. After
a while he asked the teacher why I got less than everyone else. The teacher
said, “I had asked you tell a story from the book and not say whatever comes to
your mind.” After that Mayank did not participate with energy in any activity
nor did he want to come to the school the next day. His parents had a great
difficulty in getting him come to the school.
Example
2
This
is also an example of a language period in class 3. The teacher asked the
children to write/copy 5 sentences on a cow in their notebook. The sentences
were:
1. Cow
is our mother.
2. Cow has four legs.
3. Cow eats green grass.
4. Cow
gives milk.
5. Cow
dung is used to make ‘dung cakes’.
The
teacher told the children to memorise the 5 sentences and write them in the
test. She said each sentence is worth 1 mark and whoever writes all the 5
sen-tences correctly will get full marks.
As
per the direction of the teacher the whole class started memorising sentences.
In the test, most children wrote the sentences given by the teacher as they
were. Neelam also wrote 5 sentences but they were different from the sentences dictated
by the teacher. The sentences were:
1. Cow
is our mother.
2. Cow
has four legs.
3. We
have many cows in the house.
4. The
milk of cow brings us money.
5. Jeetu’s
cow has a calf.
Most
children got 5 out of 5 but Neelam got only two even though she wrote 5
sentences just like everyone else. There were no errors in the sentences that
she wrote even then she gets less mark.
These
are just two examples but they are really representative of the norm that is
generally used for assessment in our country. This kind of assessment leads to
tension and insecurity, worry and feeling of being insulted. Memorising the textbook
material and verbalising cannot actually assess language ability. Assessment
must have space for imagination and creativity of the child.
Whatever
is happening in the context of assessment today is woven in a formal web. It
happens during a pre-decided period for a specific interval. Oral exams are
announced for one day and written examination is scheduled on another day
separately. This only leads to fear and anxiety in children. This kind of assessment
gives the impression that it is something entirely different from the teaching
learning process. The question paper is formulated somewhere else and the
person teaching is someone else. The person who makes the paper does not understand
children, their background and what they have done and learnt.
Check
Your Progress-1
1. In
the present assessment system, which of these states are not possible for the
child?
(a) State of tension. (b) State of insecurity. (c) State
of worry and insult. (d) State of enjoyment.
2. If
you were the teacher, how would you have assessed Mayank’s answer?
3. What
do you think were the reasons for Neelam getting low marks? Are these
appropriate? Explain in detail.
10.3
WHY ASSESSMENT?
Assessment
is a tool that is useful for both teachers and children. On one hand assessment
helps us understand what an individual child can do keeping in mind her
capability, age, need and speed of learning, her current learning level etc and
on the other it helps the teacher to understand what kind of work she needs to
do with each child.
Assessment
should not be done merely for awarding marks to children. It is not important
to decide who has got how many marks. Assessment should never aim to rank and
place children in hierarchy of achievement starting with the most capable to
the weakest (unfortunately, this is what is normally done). The main objective
of assessment is to help teacher find gaps in her teaching and decide on her
next steps in the class. Assessment should make a child understand and talk about
the change that she sees in herself from where she was and recognise her
progress. It should be able to tell the teacher and the parents about the needs
of the children and the steps they should take to improve the proficiency
levels of children.
Assessment
presently is normally used for passing and failing children or to emphasise the
number of marks obtained. But its scope is not so limited. In the process of
assessment more than measuring the level of achievement of the child, the
effort is to understand how to make teaching-learning process more effective.
For example, when a language teacher does assessment, she wants to see how much
can a child read? How well does she read? Can she read fluently or with
hesitant breaks? How much does she comprehend what she listens to? How
confidently can she express herself? Can she express her thoughts in writing?
What is the level of her vocabulary and control on sentence structure? Assessment
helps us understand the speed and direction of learning in detail. For example,
if a child is not able to read what is the reason for it. Is she weak in
recognising some letters or she has not developed capability to read words and
sentences as meaningful units? Or is it the case that the habit of reading
letter by letter has led to an inability to comprehend meaningfully what (s)he
reads. All this is very important information to help us understand children.
We
have just talked about the assessment of a child’s ability to read and his/her
understanding of language. We have to record this data carefully. During assessment
we should write a descriptive comment for each child. It is not necessary that
these comments be detailed but the basis of each comment must be clear. Each
comment should be elaborated by a description of what was seen during the
observation.
For
example, the following comment about a child newly entering class 1 is
extremely limited and incomplete: “Jaya shows interest in books.”
The
basis of this comment must be presented. It can be written in the following
way:
“Jaya
shows interest in books. She looked through the books in the reading corner for
a long interval. Then she picked up a book and kept looking at each picture
turn by turn for long periods. This was a book on animals.”
This
assessment shows the behavior of the child and describes something that
actually happened. It is not a mere opinion. When you have 7-8 comments of this
kind about a child over a period of 2 to 4 months, then you can understand the
development of her language ability in some detail. Comments should be such
that they clarify what the child has learnt in the process of teaching and
learning. It will show us the way forward keeping in mind the reality of the
situation. For example, we have learnt the difficulties in learning to read and
we will have to find solutions for it. To make a child learn to read we will
have to prepare activities and exercises or other methods to help her learn. In
assessment we must compare the performance of a child only with her own
previous performance. No comparison with the performance or progress of any
other child is useful. Each child has a different pace of learning and her time
to learn may be different from others. We know, for example, that some children
learn to read, understand and speak easily but only learn difficult concepts
much later. It is very important that we recognise the need to encourage all
children and not only teach those who learn quickly. Assessment is not a one
shot job or even something carried out every thre months or so; it is a
life-long process.
Check
Your Progress-2
1) What
must we keep in mind during assessment? We must (tick one):
a. compare
the progress of the child with her previous level of learning.
b. compare
the progress of one child with other children.
c. compare
the progress of the child with those who learn fast and have learnt more.
d. compare
the progress of the child with those who speak quickly.
2) Why
should the process of assessment be student-centered? What are the advantages
of such a process?
3) How
is assessment linked to the teaching and learning process? Write your thoughts
on this.
4) You
read a comment on the ability of a child to read. Now similarly write a comment
describing the then writing ability of the observed child and explain the basis
of your comment.
10.4
ISSUES IN LANGUAGE ASSESSMENT
The
use of ‘correct’ words with ‘correct’ grammar and ‘correct’ pronunciation or
‘correctness’ in writing is termed as ‘using pure and accurate language’. On
the other hand, the ability that enables the child to speak, read and write
with felicity and express herself is called fluency. In this the emphasis is
more on meaning and context rather than on grammatical errors.
Assessment
at the primary stage needs to focus on fluency. Accuracy and correctness can
come later. After the primary stage we may balance correctness and fluency and
pay attention to both.
We
want to know the language abilities acquired by the child through assessment.
Before starting, the assessor has to consider if the learners have been
pro-vided a variety of repeated opportunities to acquire these abilities.
Unless they have had such opportunities, assessment is pointless. In this
section, we will try to explain the abilities by dividing them into points.
This is being done to clarify these ideas for you. If we do assessment using
activities, it is not necessary to have a separate activity for each and every
skill. We can take an activity which assesses three, four or more abilities.
The major abilities that we may assess include:
10.4.1
Listening and speaking
Children
should be able to describe a picture, they should be able to express themselves
freely and give their views on what they have heard. These could be
conversations, lectures or discussions. They should be able to use correct
words and respond in complete sentences to information seeking questions. They
should be able to talk about known things, people and events.
10.4.2.
Reading with comprehension
The
basic issue here is reading with understanding, even if it is individual words
and sentences. It is always better to embed all reading in a context. We may
initially assess the ability to recognise known words and read word with comprehension.
Subsequently, a child should be able to read words and sentences written with
pictures, stories and be able to tell the main points of the material read.
(S)he should also be able to interpret words and read accordingly to context.
10.4.3
Writing
During the assessment of writing, try and see if learners
are able to write letters of the letter and simple words. Later
they can be assessed on writing letters or words without seeing. Subsequently,
they could be assessed on writing one word or one sentence answer to questions
that are spoken out to them or read by them. The next stage would be: they are
able to write descriptions in two-three sentences and write spoken unfamiliar
words.
10.4.4.
Expression
In
this the learner should be able to make a picture of things or events according
to what (s)he has seen. Subsequently (s)he should be expected to make pictures
on his/her own freely and enact a poem, a story or an event. (S)he could be
assessed on making things with clay or any other material. We may also like to
assess them on creating or extending stories etc.
Check
Your Progress-3
1) What
does fluency means?
(a) Pronouncing the sentences correctly. (b) Writing without error.
(c) Speak, read and write to express herself with felicity. (d) Clarifying
the rules of grammar.
2) What
activities can be used to assess whether a child is able to read with understanding?
3) What
would you keep in mind while assessing the ability of speaking and listening?
10.5
METHODS OF ASSESSMENT IN LANGUAGE LEARNING
Language
assessment is mostly based on a written and/or an oral exam. The question paper
is generally based on the textbooks and on memory rather than on capability and
understanding of language. In the new methods of assessment, oral expression,
imagination, observations etc. have to be included. The National Curriculum
Framework 2005 also stresses the need to change the methods of assessment. In
the context of language the methods for assessment could be the following:
10.5.1
Oral Test
Oral
test can be both formal and informal. Talking to children on different top-ics,
asking questions, organising group discussions, having them act or mime can be
a part of the teaching learning process. During these the language abilities
can be assessed. Following can be the formal activities that can be organised:
Question
answer session: In this children are taken through a
question answer session. The initial ques-tions should require only such
answers that all children can provide. These questions could be around their
daily life, their experience, their interest and needs. In this activity, the
teacher, as the assessor, must give children plenty of opportunity to
articulate their ideas. Of course, the teacher must have the capability and art
of making good questions. This question answer session can assess the vocabulary,
pronunciation and sentence formation ability of the children.
Story
telling: The child telling a story that (s)he has read or heard
in his/her own words can be an important form of assessment. The story could
also be something that (s)he has created herself. We should keep in mind this
objective in assessing and take into account the expression, the presentation
and the remembering of the order of events as indicators in assessment.
Reading
aloud: While assessing the ability to read-aloud, the pronunciation
and intonation according to the meaning including the emphasis on certain words
to clarify the meaning can also be assessed. In this test, texts expressing
different kinds of emotions, pieces of big and small conversations, portion of
a play or the portion of a textbook can be given as texts to be read loud. If a
child is not able to pronounce properly and not able to use appropriate
expression to bring out the question mark or exclamation mark, even then (s)he
should not be interrupted. This would produce fear and disinterest in the
learner. It is up to you to guide students for correct pronunciations and for
speaking correctly.
Describing
what has been seen, heard or read: In assessing language
ability, description is a very important aspect. In the begin-ning of the
primary classes the learner can be shown an object, a picture or some action in
familiar context and asked to describe it. In the initial stages the description
can start just with one sentence.
Check
Your Progress-4
1. If
a child is not able to pronounce correctly or not able to bring out the question
mark or mark of exclamation, what should the teacher do?
(a) Interrupt immediately. (b) Correct pronunciation.
(c) Have the same words/sound
pronounced many times. (d) Not
interrupt immediately.
2. What
should be the nature of questions in a question answer session?
3. Picture
given below is of a play ground. Look at this picture and write what class 2
and class 5 children would say about it?
10.5.2.
Observation
Description
|
1
|
2
|
3
|
4
|
5
|
Word knowledge
|
√
|
||||
Fluency
|
√
|
||||
Syntax
|
√
|
||||
Expression
|
√
|
When
you are teaching in a class you are observing the responses of learners
informally. There should be a record of these observations. This record would
help in assessing the felicity in language and ability of free expression.
Instead of giving marks or grade in the assessment we can use a 3 or 5 point
scale. The table can be of the following form:
In this table 5 is excellent performance and 3 is average. Two and anything
below it indicates that there is a need to give the child more opportunities to
acquire the ability.
10.5.3
Written test
In
this kind of text, it is very important to concentrate on the question paper.
The question paper should be such that it is able to assess
reading–comprehension, imagination and creativity, free expression, ability to
argue and to write precisely, ability to compare, ability to understand
differences etc. The question paper must test abilities rather than memory. It
should be able to add to the critical reflective ability of the learner.
Questions must give the learner opportunity to express her experiences. There
must be questions that help her develop ability to analyse. The emphasis should
be on the learners using their own words and not be expected to reproduce
exactly the language in the textbook.
Dictation:
Dictation
can also be used as a tool for assessing language competence. It is an
important method of assessing the ability to speak and listen. For dictation to
do this, however, it should be different from conventional dictation. Currently
dictation is not seen as a test for children’s ability but as a tool for
language learning. Dictation helps in assessing listening comprehension and
writing ability and can help to draw up a plan for capacity building according
to the level of the learners.
Dictation
can be used as a practice device from class 3 onwards. There must be a lot of
care taken to choose paragraphs for it. We must choose a paragraph that is
complete in itself and has meaning for children. The paragraph must be one
level above the child and related to a meaningful context. By this, we will be
able to assess what the child has learnt subsequent to the classroom on their
own.
The
whole process of giving dictation should be properly organised and done in a
defined time interval. The process can be divided into following steps:
Step
1:
The teacher must read the selected text in even flow, with proper intonations
and expressions at normal speed. During this period, learners must only listen
to the text being read out rather than write it. This will help them understand
the content of the paragraph and they would be mentally prepared for it.
Step
2:
After reading in this manner, the teacher must read the paragraph a bit slower
than before so that the learner can write it easily.
Step
3:
The teacher should read aloud the paragraph slowly again. This would help
children who have made mistakes or have left gaps to correct their mistakes or
fill gaps on their own.
Each
reading should be after a gap of 6-8 minutes.
Dictation
of this kind helps the learner identify and correct her own mistakes. This helps
her learn from her own decision making ability and from her errors. The learner
correcting mistakes in his/her own notebook helps the teacher get a sense of
his/her level and in that manner of all children. The teacher should, while
correcting the dictation identify the major mistakes children are making and
use them for future work plan. Therefore, if we conduct a dictation properly,
it would then not only help children learn but would also help teachers assess
the level of the child and develop the future plan in that context.
Check
Your Progress-5
1. The
important way to assess listening-speaking is:
(a)
Speaking (b) Listening (c) Speaking and Listening both (d) Dictation
2. What
abilities can be assessed during an oral test?
3. A
teacher educator conversing with her friend says “what the child has written is
absolutely correct but not in the proper words that I gave, what do I do,
should I deduct marks? What will you tell this teacher?
4. Have
you learnt something new about using ‘dictation’? Discuss.
10.6 ACTIVITIES TO ASSESS PROSE, POEMS AND DRAMA
We
have spoken about ways to assess abilities till now. We will now consider
examples of prose, poem and drama to find out what kind of oral and written
questions can be formulated and what kind of activities can be done with them.
Some examples are given below:
10.6.1
Paragraph
Cloze
test: Cloze test is a good way to assess proficiency in
language. It can be used to measure the levels of proficiency in all kinds of
language abilities. In this, children are given a text with words at repeated
quick intervals deleted and blanks inserted in that place.
Making
of a cloze test: The paragraph chosen for the cloze test
should have a clear context and be complete in itself. The text chosen must be
interesting and challenging. The first line of the text must be retained as it
is and from the second line every 5th/ 6th/9th word should be removed. The last
sentence of the material is kept intact. Each test should have at least 20
blanks. Another way of choosing words to delete is deleting words of a
particular category. For example, only some verbs, nouns, prepositions or
adjectives etc. could be deleted in a modified cloze procedure. This will help
us deduce the ability of the child about that particular component and help us
form our teaching strategy.
Children
must be clearly advised to first read the paragraph carefully two-three times
and only then start filling in the blanks.
They
should also be instructed to fill only one word in each blank. This test can be
begun from class – 3. The teacher can get the children to practice this many
times and then gradually make it more difficult.
There
are two ways of marking a cloze test. The first is only those are marked as
correct where the entry filled matches the words in the original text. The
second way is to expect words that are equivalent to the words in the original
text. An example of cloze test is given below:
A
tortoise in a pond and a fox in a nearby den were good friends. Once when they
were chatting about this and that by the pond, a leopard arrived on the scene.
The fox fled in panic. The tortoise, poor thing, couldn’t move fast enough to
hide or escape. With one leap, the leopard grabbed him with his mouth and
settled down under a tree to make a meal of him. But neither his teeth nor his
claws could make a dent in the hard shell of the tortoise. The fox was watching
the leopard’s struggle from his den and thought of a way to save the tortoise.
So he came out, approached the leopard, all courtesy and innocence, and said,
‘I know an easy way to crack the shell of that tortoise. Just throw him into
the water. He will soak in it and the water will soften the shell in a few
minutes. Try it.
The
foolish leopard said, ‘Never thought of it. What a good idea’ and threw the
tortoise into the pond. What more could the tortoise have wished for?
Close Test
A
tortoise in a pond and a fox in a nearby den were good friends. Once when they
were chatting of (1) ______________ and that by the pond, a (2) ______________
arrived on the scene. The fox (3) ______________ in panic. The tortoise, poor thing,
(4) ______________ move fast enough to hide or (5) ______________
With one leap, the leopard grabbed (6) ______________ with his mouth and settled down (7)
______________ a tree to make a meal (8)
______________ him. But neither his
teeth nor (9) ______________ claws could make a dent in (10) ______________
hard shell of the tortoise. The (11) ______________ was watching the leopard’s struggle
from (12) ______________ den and thought of a way (13) ______________ save the
tortoise. So he came (14) ______________, approached the leopard, all courtesy
and (15) ______________, and said, ‘I know an easy (16) ______________ to crack
the shell of that (17) ______________ Just throw him into the water. (18)
______________ will soak in it and the (19) ______________ will soften the shell
in a (20) ______________ minutes. Try it.
The
foolish leopard (21) ______________, ‘Never thought of it. What a (22)
______________ idea’ and threw the tortoise into (23) ______________ pond. What more could the tortoise have
wished for?
Activities
to assess the paragraph:
·
Write the story in your own language (mother
tongue/home language).
·
Suggest a title for the story.
During this activity the
teacher must talk to the learners and ask them why they chose a particular
title and which title is more appropriate.
·
Forming questions:
This
can be done in groups or individual. If the task is done in groups then one
group can form questions and the other should answer them. The following are examples of questions that can be made on the test:
1. Why did the fox flee in panic?
2. Why
did the fox suggest that the tortoise should be thrown in water?
3. Why
did the leopard grab the tortoise?
4. Why
is the leopard in the text called foolish?
5. Write
the full conversation between leopard and the fox in your own words.
6. Identify
proverbs and idioms in the story and use them in new sentence.
7. Change
the story into a conversation.
Children
could also be asked to write about different scenes in the story. This could be
done in groups.
10.6.2
Poem
Special Friend
Up and down and all around,
There’s my shadow on the ground.
Doing everything I do,
Instead of one, he makes me two.
When I run along the beach,
There he is within my reach.
When I build sand castles fine,
There are his, right next to mine.
When I climb high in a tree,
Still he tries to follow me.
But I lose him in the shade,
Can it be that he’s afraid?
—May Pynchon
I. Assessment of this poem can be done with the
help of the following questions:
1.
Who is Rajesh’s special friend?
2.
Where is Rajesh’s friend during the night?
3.
Do you have such a friend?
4.
Does your shadow do what you do?
Tick (√) the correct
answer:
1.
Rajesh’s shadow forms when……
a) rain falls
on him b) light falls on him c)
it is dark d) none of the above.
2.
He loses his shadow when he is….
a) on the
beach b) in the field c) in the
garden d) in the shade
3.
Enact in the class:
a. To
climb is to try to go up or ascend. How would you enact climbing?
b. Enact
how a shadow would behave when there is a moving light.
4.
What are the words used in the poem to
describe what the shadow does?
5.
Shadow Activities
Shadow
is formed when the light is blocked by an object. You can try it out.
1. Stand
in front of a wall in a dark room.
2. Ask
someone to shine a torch on you.
3. Your
shadow will form on the wall.
4.
Now
use your hands to make some interesting shadow puppets
b. Do you
want to know what your shadow looks like? Well, you can draw your own shadow.
1. Take
a blank sheet of paper and stick it on a wall.
2. Stand
in front of the wall.
3. Ask
someone to shine a torch on you.
4. Ask
another person to draw the outline of your shadow on the blank paper.
10.6.3
Drama
We
can enact or write the script for any play or drama. What grade would each
learner get on the script written by her depends upon whether what has to be
expressed is emerging in the dialogues written by him/her. We need to check if
learner is able to explain his/her ideas? Is (s)he able to use words other than
the words already used in the original text of drama. Are the dialogues simple,
crisp and interesting? These can be the main points for assessment for drama.
RAMA,
THE SINGER
CHARACTERS: a) Rama, the singer
b) Madhu, Rama’s wife
c) Neighbourbours.
Rama : (sits with his harmonium and
practices singing).
Do,
Re, Me, Fa, So, La, Te, Do
1st
Neighbour : (to Rama’s wife) Madhu, ask
your husband to stop singing. It gives me a headache.
2nd
Neighbour : He thinks himself to be a good singer but
he’s awful.
3rd
Neighbour : He hardly sings. He croaks like a frog.
4th
Neighbour : He’s indeed disgusting.
(Neighbors
go out)
Rama : (Continues singing) Doe, a
deer, A female deer
Ray
- A Drop of golden sun
Me
- A Name I call myself....
1st
Neighbour : All our requests have fallen on deaf
ears.
2nd
Neighbour : We’ll have to teach him a lesson.
3rd
Neighbour : He’s as stubborn as a mule.
4th
Neighbour : (Throws a shoe at him)
Rama
: No one in this village admires my
talent.
Madhu:
(Comes from the kitchen) Don’t worry. You keep on singing. That person will
throw the second shoe also and we will have a pair of shoes.
1. What
other title would you like to give to this play?
2. Which
character do you admire most in this play? Why?
3. a. What is the name of Rama’s wife?
b. Does Madhu enjoy Rama’s singing?
4. The
4th Neighbour throws a shoe at Rama. Suppose it falls on his face. What would
happen next? Complete the play in the same form (dialogue from) as given above.
5. Write
a conversation between you and your friend about playing some game together.
6. Write
a paragraph on something or someone that disturbs you in your day to day life.
Describe how you would tackle the problem peacefully.
7. Enact
the play in groups.
CLEVER
BHOLA
Characters :
Bhola, the villager
Bhola’s
wife - Diya
Bhola’s
child
Dabbu,
the robber
Narrator :
One day, Bhola was going to a nearby village.
He had to cross a dense jungle. Suddenly a voice stopped him.
Dabbu : Stop. Stop I said. If you move I’ll shoot you.
Divya : We
are poor people. We have nothing with us.
Dabbu : Nonsense!
Everyone says so. Give me whatever you have or I will kill you all.
Bhola : No. No. Leave us all. I’ll give you my wallet.
Dabbu : Ha!Ha!Ha!
See how I befooled you. There are no bullets in this gun.... ha ha ha ha!
Bhola : Ha! Ha! Ha! ha ha!
Dabbu : Why the hell are you laughing?
Bhola : I also befooled you. There is no
money in that wallet.
Dabbu : What!
Bhola : You thought yourself to be very
smart. Ha! Ha! Ha!
1.
What other title would you like to give to
this play?
2.
If you were Bhola what would you have done
in the same situation?
3.
(a)
What was Dabbu carrying with him? Why?
(b) Why did
Divya say that they are poor people?
4.
Suppose Dabbu takes out some bullets after
Bhola befools him. Complete the play in the same form (dialogue form) as given
above.
5.
Write the play in story form.
6.
Enact the play in groups.
Check
Your Progress-6
1.
What is the way to measure all language
proficiencies of a learner?
(a)
Essay writing (b) Story writing (c) Cloze test (d) Dictation
2.
Write what you understand of a cloze
test.
3.
What should be kept in mind while
making a cloze test?
4.
Choose a passage or a text for class-5,
make a cloze test and use it in a classroom to find out gaps in language
ability.
5.
Ask children in groups to present some
scene of a play and use a rating scale to assess self-confidence, expression
and categorise them accordingly.
10.7
LET UP SUM UP
In
this unit we have learnt that there is a need to change the present process and
ways of assessment. Assessment does not mean assessing only the content of the
text but requires the understanding of other areas. It requires appreciation
and assessment of changes in understanding and development in capabilities. The
process of assessment must be continued throughout the session and can have
many different stages. The assessment process should be recorded appropriately and
learners given opportunities to learn according to the diversity in learning
and backgrounds and their special requirements. This unit has only a few
sug-gestions that are given below. You can add many more based on your
experience.
1.
Assessment should be done keeping in mind
abilities rather than the con-tent.
2.
At the primary level fluency takes
precedence over accuracy.
3.
To assess different abilities you do not
need as many different activities. One activity can be utilised to assess many
abilities.
4.
Assessment helps provide the children with
an opportunity to learn accord-ing to their needs and the diversity in them.
5.
Assessment goes on throughout the session
and covers all aspects of a child’s performance. That’s what we mean by
continuous and comprehensive assessment.
10.8
SUGESSTED READINGS AND REFERENCES:
1. NCERT. 2009. Manual for Assessment.
NCERT, New Delhi.
2. NCERT. 2008. Understanding of Reading.
NCERT, New Delhi.
3. Vidya Bhawan Society. 2009. Kites
Series: Books for Classes 1 to 8. New Delhi: Macmillan.
10.9
UNIT END EXERCISES
1. Write
the difficulties learners, parents and teachers face due to the present method
of assessment.
2. How
does assessment help the teacher formulate her teaching plan? Clarify.
3. Why
should the progress of a child not be compared with that of other children?
4. At
primary level what would you emphasise more, fluency or accuracy? Why?
5. What
are the major points of assessment in language learning? Describe the process
for any one point in detail.
Assignment:
Use
one passage, one poem and one play from class – 3 book and form questions
appropriate for assessment.
Block
3 : Language Learning in the Classroom
