Please, consult the Weekly Syllabus every week, so that you know what we will be doing in class and can be adequately prepared.

CURSO: 5º
CUATRIMESTRE: 1º
CRÉDITOS (T/P): 3 T + 3 P
TIPO: Optativa
PROFESORA: Dra. Lourdes Cerezo

DESCRIPTOR DE LA ASIGNATURA: Estudio de los procedimientos y técnicas de evaluación aplicados al aprendizaje del inglés en contextos de aula, así como a los materiales para su enseñanza.

Introducción: The goal of this course is to provide the students with a framework (both theoretical and practical) for the assessment of second/foreign language learning, which they will hopefully be able to apply in their near future as English language teachers.

On the theoretical side, students will familiarize themselves with key concepts in the area of SL/FL assessment. On the practical side, this framework mainly involves the handling of ready-made language assessment tools for analysis and evaluation, and the production by the students of their own language assessment tools.

It goes without saying that, for the building of this framework, the students will need to read relevant up-to-date literature on language learning assessment issues and reflect on their personal experience as second/foreign language learners.

Objetivos teóricos: On completion of this course, students will have

- become familiarized with the terminology used in the field of SL/FL learning assessment. This terminology will enable the student both to participate in theoretical discussions and to undertake practical analysis of assessment methods and problems.

- acquired explicit knowledge on key SL/FL assessment issues.

- developed a critical perspective on the relevant literature presented (as part of in-class explanations and discussions and out-of-class assigned readings) on each of the units that make up the course syllabus. This critical perspective will allow the would-be language teachers to justify when necessary their decisions concerning the methods of assessment they choose in any given teaching situation and/or context.

Objetivos prácticos: On completion of this course, students will have

- developed the ability to apply the knowledge acquired to the following tasks:
i) analyzing language tests;
ii) deciding on the suitability of given methods/tasks for language learning assessment, and
iii) developing the rudiments of test-making for SL/FL learning assessment.

Metodología: To achieve these aims, this course will be organized around a number of contact hours that include a) lectures and b) seminars over a period of 15 weeks.

Lectures and seminars will be organized around a number of teaching units (see the Contents section below). The development of these units will include:

a) Teacher-led and student-led presentations of the relevant aspects of each unit. The students are expected to have worked on the assigned readings before each lecture/seminar and discussion is to be held during these lessons between the students and the instructor on the issues presented.
b) Practicals in which students are expected to put into practice the theoretical knowledge acquired in the lectures and from the assigned readings.

Teóricos:

Unit 1: Introducing SL assessment —Key issues and terms
Unit 2: SL Testing (1): Test typologies
Unit 3: SL Testing (2): The cornerstones of testing: validity, reliability, practicality, washback, and authencity
Unit 4: Test task typology
Unit 5: Assessing the receptive skills (reading and listening)
Unit 6: Assessing the productive skills (writing and speaking)
Unit 7: Assessing the language system (grammar and vocabulary)
Unit 8: Alternative assessment techniques and procedures
(Note: The contents of Unit 8 will be appropriately distributed for teaching purposes where it applies in the teaching of the rest of the course units, as these contents can be said to cut across the contents of Unit 1 through unit 7)

Prácticos:

Practicals will be organized as follows:

- Language test analysis - Language test task production - Writing sample assessment - Critical commentaries on extracts from assigned readings

Coursework: 40%.

Practical 1 (10%): Submit by October 18th, 2012. Topic: The cornerstones of SL testing. (Pair assignment)
Practical 2 (10%): Submit by November 15th, 2012. Topic: Writing sample assessment. (Individual assignment)
Practical 3 (20%): Submit by December 20th, 2012. Topic: Test specifications and tasks development. (Group assignment)

Only the students who have handed in at least a minimum of 80% of the course practicals in due time and format will be allowed to sit the final exam.

Students must bear in mind that a) assignments will only be supervised during the course (i.e. from September to December) and b) attendance at the practical sessions is compulsory (as agreed by the Department).

Final exam: 60%. There are 2 parts to this final exam:

- Part 1 (50%): a multiple-choice test with a number of questions on issues studied during the course. Pass: 30%.
- Part 2 (10%): 2 questions on the theory contents of the course. Pass: 6%.

Students who sit the final exam must pass both Part 1 and Part 2 to obtain a pass grade in this course. If either Part 1 or Part 2 is not passed on the January and/or May exam call, the scores obtained in the other parts of the test will be “saved” until de September exam call. Students who do not pass the test in this call will have to register and do the complete test again on the following academic session(s). And this holds true for the last two academic sessions in which this subject will have exam calls (2013-14 and 2014-15).

IMPORTANT NOTE: Given that 2012-13 is the last academic session in which tuition is offered for this course, students must bear in mind that they will not be able to submit the required assignments (coursework) later than December 2012 (the end of 2012-13 Semester 1), which might make it very difficult for them to pass the course in subsequent exam calls (2013-14 and 2014-15). Students should not forget that coursework is worth a 40% of the total score for this course and they should also be aware of the fact that September 2015 will be the last opportunity for them to pass this course.

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Coombe, C., Folse, K. & Hubley, N. 2007. A practical guide to assessing English language learners. The University of Michigan Press.

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