Professional Documents
Culture Documents
TKT: Young Learners Part 1 tests knowledge of young learners and principles of teaching English to young
learners. Part 2 tests candidates’ knowledge of planning and preparing lessons for young learners. Part 3
tests candidates’ knowledge of strategies for teaching language to young learners. Part 4 of TKT: Young
Learners tests candidates’ knowledge of assessing young learner learning through classroom-based
assessment. This is about teachers assessing young learners in the classroom, and responding to the
information provided by classroom assessment.
Task
Look at the list of subjects in the table below and the three testing focuses in the box. The subjects are
related to each of the three testing focuses which are tested under the heading of ‘Assessing young learner
learning through classroom-based assessment’. Decide which testing focus each list of subjects belongs
to. Write the testing focuses in the appropriate boxes A – C.
The first testing focus in TKT: Young Learners Part 4 is on knowledge of the purposes of assessing learning.
These are the different reasons teachers have for assessing learners. For example, teachers assess children
in class to find out about their progress or achievement in language, learning strategies and use of skills, or
to find out children’s strengths and weaknesses in language, learning strategies or use of skills. Let’s begin
by reviewing some terms related to assessment, then we’ll move on to a checking activity.
Task 1
Read the terms relating to assessment A – K and match them with the correct definitions 1 – 11.
Write your answers in the boxes below.
Terms
Definitions
1. F inding out or making a judgement about children’s ability during a course. Comparing ability in a
specific area with previous ability.
2. hen a teacher uses formal and informal assessment and information on children’s progress
W
during a course to change their teaching or to give children feedback on their learning.
3. hen the opinion or judgement of the person marking a test is not needed to assess children. The
W
questions in the test/assessment have one correct answer.
4. When children give their opinions on each other’s language or work.
5. hen the opinion of the person marking a test is needed to make a decision on the quality of the
W
work being assessed.
6. F inding out or making a judgement about how much children have learned in class, often at the end
of a course.
7. The qualities against which a learner’s performance or ability is judged.
8. type of assessment aimed at finding out what language and skills weaknesses or strengths
A
children have, perhaps at the start of a course, to decide what children need to learn or practise in
the future.
9. type of assessment done at the end of a course where the focus is on children receiving a grade for
A
their work rather than receiving feedback on their progress.
10. type of assessment which does not involve a final examination. Some or all of the work that
A
children do during a course is marked by the teacher on a regular basis and these marks go into a
calculation of the final grade given to learners.
11. hen children assess themselves, when they decide how good they think their progress, learning or
W
language use is.
Now check your answers in the key.
Task 2
Let’s check the meaning of some key terms. Match the terms A – F with the definitions 1 – 6. Write your
answers in the boxes below.
Terms
A. Language D. Feedback
B. Learning strategies E. Learning objectives
C. Skills F. Syllabus
Definitions
1. The language and skills covered in a course and the order in which they are taught.
2. The things teachers plan to achieve in a lesson or a course.
3. Information about what went well in a lesson and what didn’t work so well.
4. Vocabulary, pronunciation and grammar.
5. Reading, writing, listening, speaking.
6. Techniques to help with learning, such as predicting when reading or deducing the meaning of words.
Now check your answers in the key.
Task 3
Look at the suggested assessment activities listed 1 – 6. The activities would help to provide the teacher
with information for the assessment purposes listed in the box. Write the correct assessment purpose for
each activity in the gaps 1 – 6.
Assessment purposes
Assessment activities
1.
Give children a gap-fill exercise which tests vocabulary and structures that you have recently reviewed and
which they found difficult before.
2.
Ask children to produce a piece of writing about a topic area that they’ve been working on.
3.
Ask children to show you how they remember difficult spellings in English.
4.
At the start of term, give a picture dictation where children have to work alone and colour in the different
parts of a monster according to your instructions.
5.
Ask the class what they think about an activity after they have finished it
6.
Monitor children as they work by walking around the class and noting which areas of the syllabus will
need adapting and supplementing.
Now check your answers in the key.
Task 4
Now, read the statements listed 1 – 9 about the purposes of assessing learning. Decide which of the
statements are True (T) and which are False (F). Write your answers in the boxes below.
1. It can be useful to get children to give feedback about different topics on the syllabus.
2. sing checklists of language items which the teacher ticks or comments on to assess progress
U
distracts children when they are working.
3. Playing a game such as ‘Passing on a telephone message’ gives feedback on speaking objectives.
4. sking the class to rank animals in size from biggest to smallest shows achievement in developing
A
cognitive strategies.
5. Doing simple reading games at word level identifies progress in learning strategies.
6. Doing a colour dictation shows children’s achievement in reading skills.
7. etting children to use reference resources like dictionaries or websites can assess their progress in
G
using learning strategies.
8. sking children to proofread their work before handing it in gives feedback on progress in
A
language learning.
9. aining feedback on the effectiveness of teaching methods is not a good reason for
G
assessing learning.
Now check your answers in the key.
Task 5
Look back at Task 4. What are your reasons for saying that the answers are either True or False?
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
Now check your answers in the key.
Sample question
For questions 1 – 7, match the assessment tasks with the main purposes of assessment listed A, B and C.
Write your answers in the boxes below.
Main purposes of assessment
Assessment tasks
1. hildren use a substitution table to complete sentences about things their classmates can and
C
can’t do.
2. Children plan how they will organise their individual projects on plants and the environment.
3. hildren look at pictures from a story they have read and fill in speech bubbles to show what the
C
characters are saying.
4. hildren vote on whether they preferred singing the song about the elephant and the mouse or
C
drawing the picture.
5. hildren choose which animal they want to be in their role-play after the teacher has described
C
each one.
6. Children make a word snake using different words related to vegetables.
7. hildren use either an online dictionary to find the meaning of some
C
new words themselves.
Now check your answers in the key.
The second testing focus in TKT: Young Learners Part 4 is on knowledge of the focuses of assessing
learning. In this part of the test candidates are tested on their knowledge of the different kinds of things
children may be assessed on. In TKT: Young Learners the different focuses of assessing learning are:
assessing language, assessing behaviour, assessing learning strategies and assessing cognitive strategies.
Let’s begin by doing some revision activities and then we’ll move on to a sample test question.
Task 1
Let’s check what the focuses relate to. Match the focuses A – D to the correct examples 1 – 4.
Focuses
A. Language
B. Behaviour
C. Learning strategies
D. Cognitive strategies
Examples
1. matching, ranking, predicting
2. reviewing work, organising learning, planning, self-monitoring
3. vocabulary, pronunciation, grammar
4. the way children act in the classroom both when they are on their own and with other children
Now check your answers in the key.
Task 2
Now look at the assessment activities listed 1 – 16 below and choose the focus they belong to. Write the
numbers of the correct four assessment activities under each assessment focus A - D.
Assessment activities
A. Teacher checks children’s notebooks to assess how their work is organised.
B. Children guess what’s in the next part of a film on DVD.
C. Teacher observes how children act when they have to follow instructions.
D. Children change nouns from singular to plural.
E. Children brainstorm time expressions, e.g. today, yesterday, tomorrow.
F. Teacher observes how children act when the group arrive and leave the classroom.
G. Teacher listens to children repeating a choral drill.
H. Children use Can Do statements for self-assessment tasks.
I. Children order jumbled words to make sentences.
J. Teacher asks children how they review their work.
K. Children categorise pictures of animals into zoo animals, farm animals and pets.
L. Teacher observes how children act when they work in pairs or small groups.
M. Children order picture cards to make a story.
N. Teacher discusses with children how they plan their work.
O. Teacher observes how children act when they work alone on tasks.
P. Children rank themselves in order of age from oldest to youngest.
Now check your answers in the key.
Cambridge English TKT: Young Learners | Part 4 | © UCLES 2016 11
1 Assessing young learner learning through classroom-based assessment
Sample question
For questions 1 – 6, look at the statements about assessing children in class and choose the option
(A, B or C) which does NOT complete each statement correctly. Circle the correct answer.
1. W
hich option does NOT complete the 4. W
hich option does NOT complete the
statement correctly? statement correctly?
To assess their cognitive skills, the teacher To assess their spelling, the teacher asks
asks the children to the children to look at pictures and
A. answer True/False questions about their A. fill in a crossword puzzle using the pictures
favourite types of food. as clues.
B. p
ut pictures of food into two groups B. m
ake sentences with the words in a
according to whether they are fruit or substitution drill.
vegetables.
C. label the buildings on a picture of a town.
C. s equence the prices of different foods from
the cheapest to the most expensive.
5. W
hich option does NOT complete the
statement correctly?
2. W
hich option does NOT complete the
To assess their ability to review their learning,
statement correctly?
the teacher asks the children to think about
To assess their ability to use language the lesson and to
creatively, the teacher asks the children to
A. decide what things they were good at.
A. listen to and perform a jazz chant in pairs.
B. list the words they understood.
B. take part in a role-play in pairs.
C. say which activities they liked.
C. talk about their last holiday in pairs.
6. W
hich option does NOT complete the
3. W
hich option does NOT complete the statement correctly?
statement correctly?
To assess their ability to remember language,
To assess their listening comprehension skills, the teacher asks the children to
the teacher asks the children to listen and
A. fill in the gaps in a text about different types
A. mime the words in a song. of clothes.
B. follow a text with the words of a song. B. m
atch clothes words to pictures of
different clothes.
C. a nswer some questions about the meaning
of a song. C. listen to a song about different clothes.
Now check your answers in the key.
The third and final testing focus in TKT: Young Learners Part 4 is on acting on assessment evidence. This is
the way that teachers respond to and act on the information classroom assessment provides by:
• giving oral formative feedback
• giving written formative feedback
• adjusting teaching materials
• adjusting task types
• adjusting classroom management.
Task 1
Look at the definitions 1 – 5 and the ways of acting on assessment evidence in the box. Write the ways of
acting on assessment evidence above the definitions.
Ways of acting on assessment evidence
Definitions
1.
The teacher talks to the children about what they have done well in an activity and about how they could
improve further. This may be a short comment in class or it could be during a tutorial.
2.
The teacher writes comments for the children on their work. They could be comments written about an
activity, a portfolio or on some work children have completed as homework.
3.
The teacher adds to, adapts or supplements materials used in class; for example, by deciding to add
visuals or leave out a task because assessment evidence has shown that the material is too difficult.
4.
The teacher simplifies or changes an activity because assessment evidence has shown it is too easy or
too difficult.
5.
The teacher makes changes to the way the lesson has been planned or organised; for example, by asking
children to work in pairs rather than individually because assessment evidence has shown this is a more
productive way for children to complete a particular type of task.
Task 2
Now let’s check your understanding. Read the teachers’ comments about what they did in class 1 – 5 and
match them to the ways of acting on assessment evidence A – E. Write your answers in the boxes below.
Ways of acting on assessment evidence
Sample question
For questions 1 – 7, match the examples of teacher actions with the different ways of acting on
assessment evidence listed A - E. You will need to use some of the options more than once. Write the
correct letter against each example of teacher actions.
Answer key
Section 1: Assessing young learner learning through classroom-based assessment
1.1 Possible testing focuses in TKT: Young Learners Part 4
A. Purposes of assessing learning
B. Focuses of assessing learning
C. Acting on assessment evidence
1. C 4. H 7. B 10. E
2. G 5. J 8. F 11. I
3. A 6. D 9. K
Task 2
1. F 3. D 5. C
2. E 4. A 6. B
Task 3
4. Identifying progress in language 7. Diagnosing strengths and weaknesses in use of skills
5. Identifying achievement in use of skills 8. Identifying children’s likes and dislikes
6. Identifying achievement in learning strategies 9. Gaining feedback on learning objectives
Task 4
Task 5
1. True 6. False
This helps a teacher to identify children’s likes and dislikes. It shows achievement in listening skills and recognition
of target language such as colours and clothes.
2. False
Children can be motivated by and quickly become used to 7. True
the teacher using checklists for short periods to assess and Getting children to use reference resources, for
record levels of achievement. example in project work, shows progress in finding,
reading, remembering and using information in the
3. True
target language.
Teachers can assess specific areas of pronunciation or
notice children’s ability to remember language during 8. True
speaking games. Children can sometimes correct their own mistakes and
so show their progress in using target language.
4. True
Children need to think abstractly about the size of different 9. False
animals to consider an order from large to small. It is important to assess children’s learning to understand
and evaluate the effectiveness of different approaches or
5. False
coursebook methodologies.
Doing reading games at word level identifies progress or
achievement in reading and language skills.
1. A 3. A 5. C 7. B
2. B 4. C 6. A
Task 2
1. D, E, G, I
2. C, F, L, O
3. A, H, J, N
4. B, K, M, P
1. A 4. B
2. A 5. C
3. B 6. C
Task 2
1. C 3. E 5. B
2. D 4. A
Published research
www.cambridgeenglish.org/research-and-validation/published-research
TKT
www.cambridgeenglish.org/tkt
All details are correct at the time of going to print in August 2016