What motivates young learners in and out of the classroom? How can we harness children’s natural excitement to drive forward and advance their learning? What guidance do we give young learners to build up their skills so they develop a sense of achievement and fulfilment as they learn? Assessment plays an important part in this process.
Research from Cambridge Assessment English (Jones and Saville, 2016) has shown that expanding the repertoire of assessment methods and combining them with effective learning practice in the classroom can have very positive effects on learner motivation and produce better learning outcomes. This can be true for all learners – including those that are lower in age and language level.
Research shows that by placing learners at the centre of their learning journey, they become active participants in and out of the classroom and can subsequently go on to achieve higher results. The combination of learner centred classroom practice and structured yet flexible and varied assessment methods drives and motivates learners whilst also giving teachers the evidence they need to track progress. This results in confident and accomplished English language speakers.
8 ways to incorporate this approach in the classroom:
* build on learners’ prior knowledge and experience
* help learners to set their own learning outcomes and goals
* take time to reflect on progress before moving on
* incorporate meaningful feedback consistently
* celebrate positive achievements regularly
* widen the scope of what success looks like
* encourage learner autonomy and self-management
* help learners to identify constructive steps and models for improvement
And what would the above look like when used in real, everyday teaching materials and practice? Here are three activity ideas that you can try with your students:
1. Real-world videos
Use videos in class that show real-world scenarios and interactions and ask learners to think about their own knowledge and experience in relation to it. Encourage learners to use language both in English and L1 to talk about what they have seen. Ask learners to compile a two-column list of 1) what they know and 2) what they don’t know but wish to find out.
2. Role-play
Use role-play performances for pupils to demonstrate what they have learnt at the end of a topic, for example, a TV weather report to talk about seasons, weather and verbs. Before performing, give learners guidelines on what you will be giving them feedback on. Include a wide variety of both academic and life skills in order for learners of differing abilities to have the opportunity to succeed, for example, confidence, clarity of speech, difficulty of vocabulary used, creativity.
3. Reflect on progress
After receiving a paper test score, ask learners to look through the completed paper again. Ask them to then write at the bottom one thing they are pleased with/did well and one thing they would remember/improve for next time. Give them ideas on what these could be and include a wide variety of specific and generic reflections, for example, neater handwriting or the spelling of ‘hospital’.
This blog features ideas and examples from Power Up, a new six-level course that prepares young learners to confidently sit the Cambridge English Qualifications for young learners, A2 Key for Schools and B1 Preliminary for Schools.
Jones, N. and N. Saville, Learning Oriented Assessment: A Systemic Approach, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 2016.