Assessing Young Learners of English: Global and Local Perspectives


Book Description

This volume documents international, national, and small-scale testing and assessment projects of English language education for young learners, across a range of educational contexts. It covers three main areas: age-appropriate ‘can do statements’ and task types for teaching and testing learners between the ages of 6 to 13; innovative approaches to self-assessment, diagnostic testing, self- perception, and computer-based testing; and findings on how young learners perform on vocabulary, listening, speaking, pronunciation, and reading comprehension tests in European and Asian contexts. Early language learning has become a major trend in English language education around the globe. As a result of the spread of teaching English to a growing number of young children, assessment of and for learning have emerged as key issues. In line with this development, there is a clear and emerging need to make early language programs accountable and to assess both the progress children make over time and to quantify their achievement at various stages of development. This volume informs stakeholders about the realistic goals of early language learning, their efficiency, and how much progress children make over time.




Examining Young Learners: Research and Practice in Assessing the English of School-age Learners


Book Description

The proposed book on child second language (L2) development and assessment will be a state-of-the-art account of what we currently know about how children learn L2s in formal contexts and how that knowledge impacts on the design, development, and evaluation of language assessment products for young learners. The uniqueness of child L2 development within the classroom is highlighted by considering children's L2 needs, typical patterns of development, and the role of instruction and assessment in how children learn. Common issues shared in child L2 acquisition studies, language testing and educational assessment are explored by linking research carried out within the educational, academic and testing communities. Several case studies are described from different educational contexts around the world where teaching and assessment of young language learners takes place. In particular, the book presents the Cambridge English approach to assessing young learners of English and presents a framework for the development, research and validation activities around the Cambridge English suite battery for children.




The Routledge Handbook of Teaching English to Young Learners


Book Description

The Routledge Handbook of Teaching English to Young Learners celebrates the ‘coming of age’ for the field of research in primary-level English Language Teaching. With 32 chapters written by international scholars from a wide geographical area including East Africa, Mexico, the South Pacific, Japan, France, the USA and the UK, this volume draws on areas such as second language acquisition, discourse analysis, pedagogy and technology to provide: An overview of the current state of the field, identifying key areas of TEYL. Chapters on a broad range of subjects from methodology to teaching in difficult circumstances and from Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) to gaming. Suggestions of ways forward, with the aim of shaping the future research agenda of TEYL in multiple international contexts. Background research and practical advice for students, teachers and researchers. With extensive guidance on further reading throughout, The Routledge Handbook of Teaching English to Young Learners is essential reading for those studying and researching in this area.




Assessing Oral Strategic Competence of Young Language Learners


Book Description

This book presents an empirical study that develops and validates a learning-oriented self-assessment instrument for assessing the strategic competence (SC) of young language learners in oral communication, specifically within the context of early English education in China. The instrument’s development followed a multi-phased research design, encompassing three interconnected stages: conceptualisation, operationalisation and validation. Each phase employed distinct methods, data collection techniques and analyses tailored to specific research objectives. By adopting an integrative approach, this book clarifies the crucial yet elusive concept of SC. It not only contributes to the field of language assessment but also underscores the importance of explicit SC instruction in language education for young learners. Focusing on real-world classroom scenarios and offering practical solutions for integrating SC instruction into current teaching paradigms, this book will appeal to educators, researchers and policymakers interested in language testing and assessment, foreign language education and applied linguistics.




Learning Foreign Languages in Primary School


Book Description

This book presents research on the learning of foreign languages by children aged 6-12 years old in primary school settings. The collection provides a significant and important contribution to this often overlooked domain and aims to provide research-based evidence that might help to inform and develop pedagogical practice. Topics covered in the chapters include the influence of learner characteristics on word retrieval; explicit second language learning and language awareness; meaning construction; narrative oral development; conversational interaction and how it relates to individual variables; first language use; feedback on written production; intercultural awareness raising and feedback on diagnostic assessment. It will be of interest to undergraduate and graduate students, researchers, teachers and stakeholders who are interested in research on how children learn a second language at primary school.




Integrating Assessment into Early Language Learning and Teaching


Book Description

The volume unites research and practice on integrating language learning, teaching and assessment at preschool and early school age. It includes chapters written by experts in the field who have studied some of the very youngest (pre-primary) children through to those up to the age of 12, in a variety of private and state contexts across Europe. The collection makes a much-needed contribution to the subject of appropriate assessment for children with the focus of many chapters being classroom-based assessment, particularly formative assessment, or the case for developing assessment skills in relation to even the youngest children. As a whole, the book provides useful case study insights for policymakers, teacher educators, researchers and postgraduate students with interest in or responsibility for how children are assessed in their language learning. It also provides practical ideas for practitioners who wish to implement greater integration of assessment and learning in their own contexts.




Global Perspectives on Effective Assessment in English Language Teaching


Book Description

English language programs depend on the effective assessment of the measure of student proficiency for purposes of placement, advancement, and completion. A variety of approaches may be adopted depending on the program, its objectives, and the students it serves. Teachers and administrators in many contexts may also be required to meet institutional accountability expectations, often externally imposed and related to accreditation standards. The need for appropriate and accurate assessment of student learning, whether internally sought or externally required, provides the opportunity for teachers and administrators to consider current practices, implement reforms, and because of ongoing assessment findings, improve student learning through curricular change, teacher training, and modification of classroom practice. Global Perspectives on Effective Assessment in English Language Teaching explores approaches, models, principles, and techniques related to effective assessment at the classroom and program levels. Covering topics such as language program evaluation, curriculum alignment, and alternative assessment methods, this book is ideal for classroom teachers, administrators, researchers, and students.




The Routledge Handbook of Language Testing


Book Description

This second edition of The Routledge Handbook of Language Testing provides an updated and comprehensive account of the area of language testing and assessment. The volume brings together 35 authoritative articles, divided into ten sections, written by 51 leading specialists from around the world. There are five entirely new chapters covering the four skills: reading, writing, listening, and speaking, as well as a new entry on corpus linguistics and language testing. The remaining 30 chapters have been revised, often extensively, or entirely rewritten with new authorship teams at the helm, reflecting new generations of expertise in the field. With a dedicated section on technology in language testing, reflecting current trends in the field, the Handbook also includes an extended epilogue written by Harding and Fulcher, contemplating what has changed between the first and second editions and charting a trajectory for the field of language testing and assessment. Providing a basis for discussion, project work, and the design of both language tests themselves and related validation research, this Handbook represents an invaluable resource for students, researchers, and practitioners working in language testing and assessment and the wider field of language education.




Early Foreign Language Learning and Teaching


Book Description

Over the past six decades, the field of teaching modern foreign languages to young learners has come a long way, from the early surmises about the advantages of a young start to today’s widespread integration of foreign languages into curricula in public and private schools. The chapters in this book bring together internationally renowned researchers who have been vocal in establishing early language teaching and learning as an independent area of research and novice voices who represent a new generation of devoted researchers to present a state-of-the-art volume on the topic. The authors address key questions about young learner second/foreign language (L2/FL) development, methodological issues when conducting research with young learners, L2/FL teaching pedagogy, language education policy, technology enhanced learning and assessment. Together, the chapters capture the reality of early FL development in the context of a globalized world and will be of great interest to researchers and postgraduate students of SLA and Applied Linguistics, specifically in the field of early language development and teaching languages to young learners.




Innovative Practices in Early English Language Education


Book Description

This book shines a light on novel and less familiar domains of early English language education for children aged 3 to 12, in mainstream and out-of-school settings. Enveloping the volume is the making of creative connections to wider educational philosophies which extend beyond the confines of a narrow linguistic lens. In reconciling the theory-practice divide in English language education, each chapter presents a synthesis of research issues leading to a practical showcase of ideas. Organised in two main parts, the first focuses on innovations within classroom practice, curriculum development, and child-centred assessment, exploring areas which have either received insufficient attention and/or have been reimagined through fresh perspectives. The second part explores innovations in pre- and in-service teacher education contexts and focuses on lesser-known and/or underexplored topics, including bridging general and language education, multilingualism, in-depth learning, metacognition, and pragmatics. This is a timely publication for teacher educators and practitioners alike.