Task 15 -- Communicative Approach2

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Date Posted: 12:47:21 08/12/03 Tue
Author: Patr�cia de Almeida Neri
Subject: Task 15

Tests have been used for a long time to evaluate students� progress. According to Hancock, �tests have come to be an accepted component of instructional programs throughout the world. Sometimes tests are justified on the basis of accountability: are students learning what they are supposed to be learning? (...) Sometimes, tests are viewed as feedback for language students concerning their progress�. In this way, testing �serves as a monitoring device for learning�.
Considering communicative approach, we can question such tests to evaluate students�progress. Therefore, there is the necessity of another way �of thinking about learning� and of �monitoring students� language progress and performance. A kind of assessment, which, �should be viewed as an interactive process that engages both teacher and student in monitoring the
student's performance�. There are different kinds of assessment: �Alternative assessment, authentic assessment, portfolio assessment, self-assessment, self-monitoring�, and so on.
�Portfolio Assessment� corresponds to this necessity of an alternative way to evaluate our students, because at the same time we are evaluating them, they also �become independent thinkers and the development of their autonomy as learners is facilitated�. Besides, the majority of �young students (...) do not well on tests, often not because of a failure on their part to study
or prepare�. This can happen due a variety of things, for example, the student could not be feeling well on that specific day or is not familiar or feeling comfortable with the subject required. In this way, Portfolio can be a chance to students really demonstrate they can use
language very well and complete their tasks, as it happens �in the real world� because �most of us have more than one opportunity (...) So, it makes sense to provide similar opportunities for students in instruction�.
Portfolios are collections of student work representing a selection of performance(...)A portfolio
may be a folder containing a student's best pieces and the student's evaluation of the strengths and weaknesses of the pieces. It may also contain one or more works-in-progress that illustrate the creation of a product, such as an essay, evolving through various stages of conception, drafting,and revision�. It can evaluate reading, writing, listening or speaking, by using videotapes and
audiotapes.
In conclusion, we can use Portfolio as a tool to evaluate better our students, because it makes students think critically. They can evaluate their own progress and revise the whole learning through Portfolios. Besides, teachers can evaluate the whole process not only some items chosen to elaborate a test.
http://www.ed.gov/pubs/OR/ConsumerGuides/classuse.html
http://www.cal.org/ericcll/digest/hancoc01.html
http://www.stanford.edu/group/CFLP/research/portfolio/portfolio1.html

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Replies:

Re: Task 15 -- Vera Menezes, 14:51:31 08/13/03 Wed