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Summarizing the findings regarding the literature review it can be clear that the vast majority of
scientists, specifically, such scientists as Daniel Krieger, Timothy Stewart, Shinji Fucuda support the idea
that conducting debates during the class leads to the pure development of speaking and argumenting
skills; furthermore, A.U. Chamot and J.M. O'Malley, as well as Makiko Ebata consider debates to be one
of the effective methods to develop the overall academic success of a learner, whereas by some other
specialists as Richard Nesbett, and E. Allen it is mainly emphasized that, basically, debates enhance the
student‘s critical thinking skills followed by strong argumentation and persuasive speaking.
REFERENCES:
1. Allén E., Domínguez T., de Carlos P. University students perceptions of the use of academic debates as
a teaching methodology. Journal of Hospitality, Leisure, Sport & Tourism Education. 16(Complete).
2015. pp. 15-21.
2. Chamot A.U., J.M. O‘Malley. The CALLA handbook. New York: Addison-Wesley. 1994.
3. Davidson B. Critical thinking education faces the challenge of Japan. Inquiry: Critical Thinking Across
the Disciplines.
17(3). 1995. pp. 33-42.
Ebada M. Effectiveness of debate in EFL classes. Japan: JALT Publications. 2009.
4. Ferris D. Students' views of academic aural/oral skills: A comparative needs analysis. TESOL
Quarterly. 32. 1998. pp. 289-318.
5. Fukuda Sh. Attitudes toward argumentation in college EFL classes in Japan. Proceedings of the First
Asia TEFL International Conference
Pusan, Korea. 2003. pp. 417-418.
6. Krieger D. Teaching debate to ESL students: A six-class unit. The Internet TESL Journal. 11(2). 2005.
7. Nesbett R.E. The geography of thought. New York: The Free Press. 2003.
8. Stewart T. Debate for ESOL students. TESOL Journal. 12(1). 2003.
HOW CAN BE PUT “LEARNER- ORIENTED ASSESSMENT” IN PRACTICE?
Bayimbetova M.B.
Trainee-teacher, English Language and Literature Department,
KarSU named after Berdakh, Nukus, Uzbekistan
Traditionally, assessment plays a large role in the world of studying and directs learners towards
what is important and what they should be doing in order to further progress [Boud, 2006: 22].
There is more to assessment than test scores. By assessing students' passions, learning styles,
success skills, and levels of rigor, teachers can create a student-centered classroom.
One key way to create a more student-centered classroom is by assessing students for their
passions and interests. All of our students come with powerful experiences that have driven their lives,
such as family stories, favorite books, hobbies, and trips. We can use a variety of assessment tools like
one-on-one conversations, journals, and graphic organizers to learn more about our students and what
drives them to learn [Carless, 2007: 57-66].
In Learning Oriented Assessment (LOA), the learner is actively involved in their own assessment,
whether in class activities, formative assessment tasks, written progress tests or external summative
exams. The teacher and student use the evidence of such assessments to refer back to the learning
objectives for the stage of the course – be it a section of a lesson or a larger chunk of teaching – to decide
whether effective learning has taken place and to plan further.
This enables learners to develop into more autonomous learners with good reflective awareness
and strategies for lifelong learning. It encourages learners to be active agents in the learning and
assessment processes by making choices and monitoring and evaluating their activity and progress. As
Assessment and Education consultant Margaret Cooze describes, LOA draws on the valuable information
all forms of assessment can provide, whether considered summative or formative, whether formal or
informal and whether classroom based or external.
As Norris [Norris, 2014: 83] discussed, although all assessments implemented in the classroom
have the potential to be learning-oriented and provide valuable information for distinct purposes, LOA
seeks to maximize learning through careful planning and implementation of assessment tasks in
alignment with learning objectives, cognitive processes, the agents involved, and the characteristics of a
given educational context.
Test data lets us know how students are progressing toward learning content and skills from the
standards. However, these standardized tests may only assess the bare minimum (if that) of the level of
rigor that we want and expect from our students. Also, these assessments do not provide us with just-in-
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time data that we can truly use. What we get from them often comes too late for our purposes. While we
can look at the data for trends, we may not be able to use this information in the immediate moment to
meet the needs of individual students. Teachers instead should use low-stakes formative assessments to
assess students' content knowledge and skills. This way, we can learn which concepts and skills need to
be retaught, and which ones students have mastered. These assessments are not graded. Instead, we can
use them to create a learning environment that is more student-centered [Boud, 2006: 57-66].
Assessment allows both instructor and student to monitor progress towards achieving learning
objectives, and can be approached in a variety of ways.
Formative assessment
refers to tools that
identify misconceptions, struggles, and learning gaps along the way and assess how to close those gaps. It
includes effective tools for helping to shape learning, and can even bolster students‘ abilities to take
ownership of their learning when they understand that the goal is to improve learning, not apply final
marks [Trumbull, E., & Lash, A.,2013]. It can include students assessing themselves, peers, or even the
instructor, through writing, quizzes, conversation, and more. In short, formative assessment occurs
throughout a class or course, and seeks to improve student achievement of learning objectives through
approaches that can support specific student needs [Theall, and Franklin, 2010: 151].
In contrast,
summative assessments
evaluate student learning, knowledge, proficiency, or
success at the conclusion of an instructional period, like a unit, course, or program. Summative
assessments are almost always formally graded and often heavily weighted (though they do not need to
be). Summative assessment can be used to great effect in conjunction and alignment with formative
assessment, and instructors can consider a variety of ways to combine these approaches.
Learning Oriented Assessment provides a clear structure for integrating in-course tests, public
examinations and less qualitative observations of learners. It helps plan course objectives and to ensure
that lessons and study outside the classroom directly contribute to the achievement of each learner‘s
personal objectives [6, 1].
Passing tests and exams is widely thought of as being the gateway to opportunity, for example,
going up to the next level, changing readers, or winning a place at university. This means that the
underlying value of assessment can easily be forgotten, which is that assessment can be used to:
identify learning needs
evaluate progress
help make decisions to promote continued learning.
Learning Oriented Assessment aims to deliver measurably better results for learners, while
reducing teachers‘ workload and their need to improvise methods for managing evidence of learners‘
progress; as a result, we can gain following results after LOA:
a) Increase role of assessment throughout the course, giving ongoing and systematic feedback
b) Frequent, timely, targeted feedback
c) Promoting learner autonomy
d) Clear evidence of progress towards learning objectives.
Truly, assessment can be a powerful force for knowing our students and creating a classroom that
can meet their needs. We simply have to move past the baggage that comes with the term
assessment
, and
understand that it can mean a lot of things. We can assess for content and skills, yes, but we can also
assess for passions, interests, success skills, and the like for the purposes of the right instruction at the
right time.
REFERENCES
:
1. Boud, D (2006) Foreword in How Assessment Supports Learning: learning-oriented assessment in
action by Carless, D; Joughlin, G; Liu N F, & Associates. Hong Kong University Press. 22:2.
2. David Carless ―Learning-oriented assessment: conceptual bases and practical implications‖ Innovations
in Education and Teaching International Vol. 44, No. 1, February 2007, pp. 57–66 ISSN 1470–3297
(print)/ISSN
1470–3300
(online)/07/010057–10
©
2007
Taylor
&
Francis
DOI:
10.1080/14703290601081332
3. Norris, J. M. (2014, October). Some reflections on learning-oriented assessment. Presentation at the
Roundtable on Learning-Oriented Assessment in Language Classrooms and Large-Scale Contexts,
Teachers College, Columbia University, New York.
4. Trumbull, E., & Lash, A. (2013). Understanding formative assessment: Insights from learning theory
and measurement theory. San Francisco: WestEd.
5. Theall, M. and Franklin J.L. (2010). Assessing Teaching Practices and Effectiveness for Formative
Purposes. In: A Guide to Faculty Development. KJ Gillespie and DL Robertson (Eds). Jossey Bass: San
Francisco, CA.
6. L
