Teacher Marcin Lewandowski was one of the winners of our Teacher Research Programme last year. In his second post for Cambridge Conversations, he shares his findings on assessment in the English as a Second or Other Language classroom.
A few years ago I carried out a small scale practitioner inquiry into the impact of assessment on motivation and second language learning.
The study looked at how tests could be used as a tool to facilitate, rather than only assess, language learning by providing a strong external stimulus for revising in order to prepare for them. I was particularly interested in the effects of regular weekly tests on learners’ motivation to study and to revise: namely, in how weekly tests help learners to regulate their behaviour in regards to studying after their classes.
The majority of the learners that I work with are adult learners living in London, who are already very motivated to study. Their motivation largely stems from their desire to enhance their lives through improving their career prospects, making new friends, gaining the ability to understand teachers of their children or becoming more independent. However, many of them are busy adults with commitments outside of their courses. They often have to fit their learning around their families, work, etc. This can be very challenging. When asked about their English use, some admitted to using English for no more than 30 minutes per day despite living in an English speaking country. These commitments also mean that they often procrastinate when it comes to revising, something we can all relate to.
The study found that learners who received weekly tests with prior notice performed consistently better on the tests compared to learners who did not receive the notice. They also made a greater progress on their course, doubling their scores on a post test, had better attendance and better retention rates compared to their peers in a control group. Contrary to my misgivings about tests being stressful and thus detrimental to learning, learners found the tests motivating and admitted that they studied more because they knew they were going to be tested.
It seemed that tests provided these learners with a stimulus powerful enough to regulate their behaviour and to revise the material even when they may have felt like doing something else. Deci and Ryan (1985) call this type of stimulus identified regulation, i.e. engaging in an activity because the individual highly values it and sees its usefulness.
The sample I looked at was very small (only 15 learners). Not surprisingly, therefore, I concluded the study with a caution that more data would have to be collected to ascertain the effect of regular tests on motivation and learning.
Recently, I decided to analyse one year’s data I collected from students who attended courses between January 2014 and January 2015. The sample consisted of 8 groups of adult learners studying at levels from Elementary to Intermediate – 81 learners in total. All these students received weekly tests and completed pre/post tests.
This analysis provided results that were consistent with the findings of the original study. Students in all eight groups almost doubled their post test scores, and their attendance and retention were exemplary. And like the original group of learners, they also admitted that they enjoyed the tests and looked forward to them. In fact, they would often be disappointed when there was no test.
According to Dornyei (2001), taking regular tests may have a powerful motivation function, as they mark progress and provide immediate incentive and feedback. Regular tests therefore allow learners to monitor/check their own progress and act upon feedback provided by the test results as well as the teacher. This, in turn, enables them to set their own individual targets. More importantly, tests can provide a stimulus powerful enough to encourage these, otherwise busy, people to revise and thus extend learning activities beyond the classroom.
References
Deci, E. L., & Ryan, R. M. (1985). Intrinsic motivation and self-determination in human behavior. New York: Plenum.
Dornyei, Z (2001) Teaching and Researching Motivation. Harlow: Longman.
Lewandowski, M (2008) Assessment, Motivation and Language Learning – research into the effect/impact of assessment on SL learning. RaPAL Journal v.66 available here