Vol. VIII No. 1
October 1995



Editorial

Teachers Ask

Les journaux
de réflection


Le processus
de l'écriture

Return to:


Teachers Ask

  1. How can I develop my own items based on
    the Maritime Oral Communication Assessment Portfolio's (MOCAP) prototype?

  2. Many teachers in and outside the Maritimes have been introduced to and/or are currently using MOCAP techniques in their FSL classrooms. MOCAP is a assessment package which has been developed for 4 specific themes (loisirs,voyages et excursion, alimentation, environnement) in 4 specific programs (grade 6 core, grade 9 core, grade 6 immersion, grade 9 immersion). Although the evaluation items found in the MOCAP package can be used as they are, many teachers feel adaptations are necessary in order to use the MOCAP techniques in their particular learning contexts. For those who participated in a MOCAP workshop, MOCAP item development templates (see below) were provided in order to guide teachers in the creation of their own items and accompanying evaluation sheets.

    One type of adaptation that the classroom teacher may have to make relates to the language to be evaluated in the item. The oral language tasks that learners are required to perform in any given item should correspond to their abilities. Modifying the tâches langagières is the best way to ensure that you are evaluating an oral skill to which students have had exposure. An item could follow the same theme and communicative situation as a MOCAP item but modifications could be made to the communication tasks in order to better suit specific learners.

    Teachers may also need to create items related to other themes. In this case the teacher first chooses an appropriate MOCAP technique which will serve as a model to guide the creation of a new item. Situations de communication should be the starting point once the theme or field of experience has been determined. A teacher does not necessarily have to create student sheets and teacher sheets. For example, if they chose jeu de rôle they could simply write the situation on a flip chart or on the board. Because the only change to make to the evaluation sheet is that of the tâches de langagières, teachers could make up several blank evaluation sheets and insert this information according to the assessment activity. Sometimes a teacher may only want to verify students' performance on one or two tasks. The spaces for commentary allow the teacher to assess, in a descriptive way, other sorts of language ability such as intonation, a specific point of grammar or vocabulary usage. The most effective way to use MOCAP-type items is to try not to evaluate too many tasks at one time.

    Teachers may also wish to add more items to a given theme. This can be done by choosing the most appropriate technique for the task and creating a new situation de communication relating to a MOCAP theme. It is important to remember that MOCAP serves as a prototype by which teachers can gradually add to their repertoire of oral assessment tools.

  3. How can I manage my classroom in order to effectively use MOCAP-type items?
  4. Ideas from: Thorogood, J. (1992). Pathfinder 13. Continuous assessment and recording. London: Centre for Information on Language Teaching and Research.

  • Do not let assessment take over from teaching (i.e. there is not requirement that all pupils be assessed every week)

  • There is no obligation to assess whole classes at each assessment session- draw up an oral assessment schedule that would target, for example, 5 pupils per week in a 6 week cycle.

  • Allow for the fact that each task observation may take different lengths of time for different students.

  • Establish a routine for assessment sessions so that students (both those who are being assessed and those who are not) know what is expected of them (this may require a few trial runs before the "real thing").

Other helpful hints from MOCAP users:

  • For students not being assessed by the teacher at any given assessment session, have them do peer assessments for members of their group for the designated evaluation task.

  • If you prefer to give another activity to those not being assessed, make it one that will be of value in their eyes (e.g., something that will be passed in on cassette or on paper at the end of the class, something that will be displayed in the classroom, or something that they will have to report on at the beginning of the next class).

  • Have various oral assessment activities going on at once but only evaluate one of these items in any given group. Make a random selection so that students do not know which of the items you will ask them to do when it is their turn. This system also attempts to cut down on students "borrowing" ideas from their neighbours.

  • For teachers using the thematic learning centre concept, assessment items could become the basis for the centres on any given day. For example, you could have 5 centres - jeu de roles, discussion de groupe, compte rendu, questionnaire, and écart d'informations. A teacher could also set up another centre for self-assessment.


* If you would like to obtain a copy of MOCAP, teachers in the Maritimes should contact their district FSL or immersion coordinator or the Department of Education. For those teachers interested in MOCAP outside the Maritimes, please contact the Second Language Teacher Education Centre, Faculty of Education, University of New Brunswick, Fredericton, NB, E3B 6E3, Tel: 506-453-5136, Fax: 506-453-4777, Email: slec@unb.ca.