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1.

0 Introduction
Assessment has benefited from the advances that have taken place in the statistical
analysis over the years and it is now considered crucially important for assessors (teachers) to
check their tests empirically as well as rationally. Assessment, on the other hand, is an ongoing
process that encompasses a much wider domain that whenever a pupil responds to a question,
offers a comment, or tries out a new word or structure the teacher subconsciously makes
phrase to a formal essay; is performance that ultimately gets assessed by self, teacher, and
possibly other students (Brown, 2007). Assessment is a process of identifying learning goals
and determining how well students are meeting them (Linn & Gronlund, 2000 as cited in Shin &
Crandall, 2014).
2.0 Context of the Lesson/Language Skills/Assessment
The lesson focused on writing skills. Writing is a system for interpersonal communicating
using visible signs or graphic symbols (Nesamalar, Saratha & Teh, 2005). The aim of the lesson
on writing is to normally get pupils to learn to write from the most basic form (letters to words) to
the complex form (phrases, sentences, and finally to paragraphs). As a teacher, therefore, you
need to be very familiar with what writing is all about such as why people write and what kinds
of things they write and for what purposes; what a writer of different kinds of writing needs in
order to write successfully (Nesamalar, Saratha & Teh, 2005).
The teacher also need to know the various stages in the development of writing skills,
that is, you need to know the main issues that concern teachers of writing so that one can make
informed choices in own words as a teacher of writing As a teacher, therefore, you need to be
very familiar with what writing is all about such as why people write and what kinds of things
they write and for what purposes; what a writer of different kinds of writing needs in order to
write successfully (Nesamalar, Saratha & Teh, 2005). At the same time, it makes the pupils to
foster neat legible handwriting habit or in other words, good penmanship.
3.0 Language Assessment Content
Evaluation is seen as an integral part of the teaching and learning process (Nesamalar,
Saratha & Teh, 2005). The teacher has to bear in mind constantly the purposes for which the
evaluation is undertaken, affects the way the evaluation is done and how the results are
interpreted and used (Nesamalar, Saratha & Teh, 2005).

The main objective of writing

assessment is to encourage pupils to continue making the effort to write better by showing them
what kind of progress that have made and showing appreciation of the good points in their
writing. The other one is to point out the areas they need to improve on if they want to improve
the effectiveness of their writing and helping the pupils to make these improvements. It
encompasses multiple ways that teacher gather information about learners knowledge, abilities,
attitudes, and motivation (Ioannu-Georgiou & Pavlou, 2003 as cited Shin and Crandall, 2010).
Teachers should note the progress or difficulties that pupils are having in learning English
(Brown & Abeywickrama, 2010).
As a teacher, therefore, you need to be very familiar with what writing is all about such
as why people write and what kinds of things they write and for what purposes; what a writer of
different kinds of writing needs in order to write successfully (Nesamalar, Saratha & Teh, 2005).
Some of the questions like Who are the learners and what kind of evaluation is likely to bring
about the best returns for them? and How all the tasks should be assessed? will assist the
teachers to consider during evaluation (Nesamalar, Saratha & Teh, 2005).
4.0 Instruments/Task for Assessment
The first assessment activity consisted of comprehension questions where pupils
needed to select the correct answer. The second assessment activity needed the pupils to listen
and recall the answers and write them down correctly in the spaces provided. The instrument
used to assess the writing skills involved the pupils transferring words and phrases and writing
them down. It needed the pupils to copy down the words and phrases. It is a level at which
learners are trying to master the mechanics of writing (Brown, 2007).
In order to produce written language, the learner must attain skills in the fundamental,
basic tasks of writing letters, words, punctuation, and very brief sentences (Brown, 2007). The
main learning outcomes were the pupils would be able to choose and write down the answers
by reading the Wh-questions, and the pupils would also be able to write down the name of the
materials needed to make a pencil holder, at the end of the lesson. Assessment is directly
related to the teaching and learning, but that does not mean that all learning should be
assessed (Shin and Crandall, 2010).

5.0 Comments/Principles Applied


A good test must be valid, reliable, and practical (Nesamalar, Saratha & Teh, 2005). For
Worksheet A, the instruction written was clear and direct. The answers were given above and
the pupils needed to choose the correct answer by reading and understanding the Whquestions carefully. For example, the question like Who is the boy in the story? and the pupils
need to choose and write down the correct answer Haikal. This assessment is valid. 'Validity' is
an all-encompassing term which is related to questions about what the test is actually
assessing. For a language assessment to be valid, the decisions made by the test must be
meaningful appropriate, and useful (Shin and Crandall, 2010). Is the test telling you what you
want to know? Does it measure what it is intended to measure? A test is not valid, for example,
if it is intended to test a student's level of reading comprehension in a foreign language but
instead tests intelligence or background knowledge. A test is said to be valid when it claims to
be testing (Nesamalar, Saratha & Teh, 2005). The task, thus, should be appropriate for
assessing the desired skill (Shin and Crandall, 2010).
The assessment worksheet had construct validity as it tested on writing skills. Construct
validation also relates to the test method, so it is often felt that the test should follow current
pedagogical theories. This assessment worksheet was also practical. This task is very
applicable for writing skills as well as it is practical for the use of assessing reading skills
(comprehension questions) An assessment task is practical if needed resources are available
for the assessment task (Shin and Crandall, 2010).
For Worksheet B, the template used was suitable because it was in the form of mind
map and pupils need to know what the question require in order to fill in the boxes provided. A
close-ended item has a predetermined answer or a set of answers and these answers generally
tend to be short (Nesamalar, Saratha & Teh, 2005). Pupils needed to recall what the teacher
had told them about the steps involved in creating a pencil holder. For instance, the centre part
of the mind map stated What do we need? and and the pupils needed to write down the
materials such as water bottle and glue in the boxes provided. For the next part, pupils had
to write down the answers theyve written earlier in the space provided to complete the
sentence. For example, the pupils needed to write ribbon in the sentence Finally, tie a
_________ around the water bottle. This assessment worksheet has face validity. Face validity
is an important aspect of a test. It relates to the question of whether non-professional testers

such as parents and students think the test is appropriate. Thus, the test looked like an
appropriate and good one to the learners (Nesamalar, Saratha & Teh, 2005).
6.0 Suggestion for improvements
For Worksheet A, my partner could try to insert visual elements to aid the pupils
understanding upon the text. This is also to make use of contextual clues and picture
comprehension. Moreover, the teacher could give an example so that the pupils could be able to
model the way of writing or answering the questions. On the other hand, the teacher might want
to try word answer instead of complete sentence answer since the pupils proficiency level is
low. For example, Why Haikal could not buy the present? and the structure for the answer will
be just He has no ________. instead of He has no money. Although writing down in complete
sentence form helps pupils to write better, writing words will help since the pupils were quite
weak in writing.
For Worksheet B, my partner could try using the numbering system like 1 and 2 so it
would look more arranged and neat. Furthermore, she could also try to use bigger fonts so the
pupils could see and read the question better. Finally, she could try to demonstrate and model
the writing skills to the pupils by writing on the manila card.
7.0 Conclusion
Developing or identifying appropriate assessments for young learners involves the
understanding the basic criteria that guide all the assessment, as well as the guideline to assess
the young learners (Shin and Crandall, 2010). There are various ways we could still learn to
assess young learners when teaching English lessons. Thus, evaluating pupils progress is
essential in ensuring the understanding of the pupils throughout the lesson.

Reference
Brown, D. H. (2007). Teaching by principles: an interactive approach to language
pedagogy: United States of America: Longman.
Brown, D. H. & Abeywickrama, P. (2010) Language assessment: principles and classroom
practices (2nd ed.).: White Plains, New York.
Clapham, C. (n.d.). Llas centre for languages, linguistics and area studies. Retrieved September
5, 2015, from https://www.llas.ac.uk/resources/gpg/1398
Joan, K. S., & Crandall, J. J. (2014). Teaching young learners english: from theory to
practice. Boston, Massachusetts: National Geography Learning.
Nesamalar, C., Saratha, S., & Teh, S. C. (2005). Elt methodology: principle and practice.
Shah Alam: Oxford Fajar.

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