Hello!
Not too long ago on ESOL-Research we discussed ways of assessing the
speaking skills of ESOL students. Here is a link to part of the CLESE
website, where you can see a video of Heide Spruck Wrigley conducting a
reading assessment with an ESOL student. The assessment is based around
verbal interaction mediated by everyday artifacts, a coke can, a map,
etc. Heide, who is something of a guru in US ESL circles, then discusses
how to interpret the results. A test like this can tell us so much more
than a standardised reading test. This will make interesting viewing for
those involved in assessing the speaking skills of ESOL students, and is
the sort of thing which lends itself to classroom assessment. Have a
look at: http://www.clese.org/video4_reading.htm
The video appears on the website of the organisation CLESE, The
Coalition of Limited English Speaking Elderly. This group describes
itself as "a truly unique coalition of over forty agencies representing
many immigrant groups and seniors". Have a look at www.CLESE.org for
some interesting short papers on teaching ESL/ESOL and literacy to older
people. ("we have identified a range of strategies that not only improve
English communication, but decrease social isolation, and increase
civics skills").
And as for assessing the speaking skills of ESOL learners, I can give an
advance plug for a paper I have written on this topic: J. Simpson (2006)
'Differing expectations in the assessment of speaking skills of ESOL
learners.' Linguistics and Education 17, 40-55. This paper is about to
appear in a special issue of Linguistics and Education containing
individual papers written by members of the ESOL Effective Practice
Project team. I'm not allowed to post the paper on a website yet, but if
anyone wants a copy, get in touch and I'll email it. I'll post a message
about the entire Linguistics and Education special issue when it's
published.
Finally Tania Horak talks about her research into ESOL and assessment in
the latest NATECLA News - number 81, Autumn 2006. (www.natecla.org).
This issue also contains a summary of the NRDC ESOL Effective Practice
Project, as well as the NATECLA response to the LSC ESOL funding cuts.
James
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