How Young Learners Learn
Languages and how to Test them
Shelagh Rixon
© Copyright ALTE 2012
OR …
‘I can’t describe the perfect YL test in 40 minutes but I can try to open
discussion about
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2.
3.
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the ways in which we want to educate Young Learners in foreign
languages
realistic goals to match age and language level
the test and assessment characteristics which we therefore need
consciously to promote and to talk about with the learners as
part of their learning to learn languages development.’
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Two definitions of ‘Young Learners’
 Ages 6 to 12 app
(covers primary school in
many contexts) – This is the least visited and
researched age group for testing (but not for
assessment in general)
 Ages 6 – 16 app
(covers compulsory schooling
in many contexts) – Testing teenagers is more
familiar than testing children
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Testing and assessment
Assessment -
an umbrella term covering
any systematic means of discovering and recording
how well someone is able to do something,
(including observation of normal classroom activity and
scrutiny of work done)
Testing - more formal challenges, usually with the
learner working outside the normal classroom modes.
Includes exams.
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Sources of information and ideas
 Two world surveys (Cambridge and British
Council) with questions on assessment
practices with Young Learners
 Examples of Young Learners Tests from the
ALTE group
 Acting as volunteer Teachers Assistant in UK
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primary school where ‘Assessment for Learning’
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is strongly practised
Cambridge ESOL Survey on Testing and Teaching: 55
countries, 36 L1s, 726 respondents
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The British Council 2011 Survey on Policy and Practice
at Primary School Level: 64 countries, and counting ..
Expanding Circle
Algeria
Argentina
Azerbaijan
Brazil
Outer Circle
Denmark
Sri Lanka
Greece
Namibia
Egypt
India,
South India
Poland
Japan
France
China
Inner
Inner
Circle
Circle
UK USA
UK USA
India,
Tamil Nadu
Czech
Republic
Serbia
Bangladesh Hong Kong
Venezuela
Spain
Yemen
Bahrain
Senegal
Croatia
Sweden
Armenia
Turkey
Taiwan
Russia
Zambia
Uganda
Georgia
India,
Goa
Indonesia
Cyprus
Italy
Israel
Sierra Leone
Kazakhstan
Cameroon
Colombia
Peru
Lithuania
Kosovo
Latvia
Palestine
Uzbekistan
Saudi Arabia
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Germany
Portugal
Qatar
Mexico
North Cyprus
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Cambridge ESOL survey: the balance of assessment
types by age group
Assessment of students in respondents' context
90%
Percentage of respondents
80%
70%
60%
50%
Tested formally with standardised tests
Tested informally in the class
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
Students aged 6-11
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Students aged 12-16
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Cambridge ESOL survey: assessment types in
primary and secondary
schools
Tests given in the textbook used
Rank order
in secondary
Tests produced by class
teacher
number of respondents
400
350
Standardised tests &
examinations
300
250
Self-assessment
200
150
Collection of students’ work in a
file or portfolio
100
50
0
age 6-11
age 12-16
Total use
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in class
Observation & written
description of learner
performance
Peer-assessment
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Many assessment types, many purposes
e.g. accountability, certification, placement,
selection
Our focus today ‘Assessment for Learning’
which essentially means that …
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Testing and Classroom Assessment should work in
harmony with teaching and to some purpose
e.g.
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
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to enable current teachers to notice patterns in learning
and behaviour and act accordingly
to raise learners’ awareness of what they can do and
need to do
to sharpen learners’ metacognitive skills
to introduce ways of demonstrating skills that also work
as frameworks for teaching
to inform other teachers what to expect from learners
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To inform other teachers what to expect from learners?
The British Council survey revealed a
depressing and not new waste of
testing/assessment effort between primary
and secondary school levels
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British Council Survey: Is information from assessment passed
on from primary to secondary schools?
always
often
quite often
sometimes
rarely
Never
0
13
5
10
15
20
25
30
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British Council Survey: Do primary and secondary
school English teachers meet to discuss transition
pupils?
14
never
27
rarely
16
sometimes
10
quite often
3
often
2
always
2
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…
to introduce ways of demonstrating skills that also
work as frameworks for teaching
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
High-status external tests have had an impact on
teaching content and focus in some school
systems

The introduction of oral tests of English from
Cambridge (or Trinity College) has shifted the
focus to speaking

The design of test tasks (e.g. interactive, not
rehearsed recitation) can also shift teaching focus to
a particular quality of speaking
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My assumption for today
That the Young Learners tests we are discussing
are professionally constructed but that we are
always striving to make them a ‘best fit’ for the
age groups in the following ways:
 What we think our learners can achieve
 The ways in which they can demonstrate it
 In what particular areas we want our learners to
achieve
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Weir’s contribution
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Our Focus Today
How to respect TEST-TAKER CHARACTERISTICS
Particularly AGE
and choose from an appropriate range of
COGNITIVE and LANGUAGE demands for the
ages of the learners
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Moving from being able to claim and show this …
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‘Chunk’ use with children
It is a common beginner strategy to speak in
memorised ‘chunks’ such as:
I like …
My name is x
My favourite ….. is …….
There is a ….
At what point in oral testing do we require, set up
challenges for, and reward ‘creative’ language use?
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At the ‘higher’ levels of age and language level, what
choices do we make?
 The next activity is a good example of one which
sets up a richer interplay of challenge but still at
a low (A1) language level
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DELF A1 Scolaire et Junior (12+)
Dialogue simulé (ou jeu de role) (2 minutes environ)
Instructions to the candidate:
Vous voulez obtenir un bien ou un service (acheter un objet, passer une commande...).
A partir des images que l'examinateur vous a remises, vous vous informez sur le(s)
produit(s), le prix avant d'acheter. Pour payer vous disposez de pieces de monnaie et de
billets fictifs. Vous montrerez que vous êtes capable d'utiliser les formules d'accueil, de
congé et les formules de politesse de base.
You want to obtain a good or a service (buy something, ask for something ..) Using the
pictures that the examiner has given you, find out about the products, and their prices
before buying them. In order to pay you have some imitation coins and notes. You need
to show that you are able to use the proper language for greetings and leave-taking and
other basic social language.
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Some ‘chunks’ but other challenges too.
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
The learner is expected to initiate
and structure the role play

The examiner is the interlocutor
and may prompt/support if needed

The learner has to manipulate
mentally several visual sources of
information

The learner is expected to use
social formulae
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Moving to being able to do this …..
(FCE for Schools Oral Test Part 3. Instructions for a group
of 3 or 4 students interacting)
Interlocutor: Now I’d like you to talk about something together
for about 3 minutes. Here are some activities that students
often do during their school day.
First, talk to each other about why it might be important to do
these different activities at school. Then decide which two
activities are not important for students to do at school.
Alright?
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SO, it’s not all language. Other challenges can be
lessened or increased
Discourse:
 Maintaining interaction with other interlocutors (not ‘led’
by examiner) and ‘staying in the discussion’
Cognitive:
 Considering hypothetical possibilities (not all activities
may be part of the candidate’s own school experiences)

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Weighing advantages and disadvantages and
expressing them in a reasoned fashion
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Piaget’s Four Stages of Cognitive Development – a
start but not the whole answer
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Sensorimotor
Sensory experiences – Birth to 2 years
physical actions
Pre-operational
Beginning to represent
2 to 7 years
the world in words and
images, moving towards
symbolic thinking
Concrete operational
Logical reasoning about
concrete events begins.
Child can classify
objects into sets
7 to 11 years
Formal operational
Abstract reasoning and
logic. Hypothetical
thought
11 years onwards
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O'Sullivan’s (2000: 71-72) test-taker characteristics add
in some vital elements
Physical/Physiologi
Psychological
Experiential
Personality
Education
cal
Age
Memory
Gender
Examination
Short term ailments
Cognitive style
preparedness
Longer term disabilities
Affective schemata
Examination experience
Concentration
Communication
Motivation
Emotional state
experience
Target Language-country
residence
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Topic
knowledge/
Knowledge of
the world
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Some vital roles of ‘Education’
For many educators (e.g. Donaldson, 1978) Piaget’s 4th
(Formal Operational) stage is not an inevitable
development driven by biological maturation.
Much of primary education is devoted to fostering its
development, giving access to the ‘unnatural’ world of
academic discourse, and promoting metacognition as
well as to developing World and General Knowledge.
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Applying what goes on in General Education to think
Foreign
Language
and Testing
… Language
Learning
… LanguageLearning
Testing
Generalabout
Education
Subject-specific
input
Influence of
growing literacy
Varying quantity and quality of L2 Amount of L2 input is a very crude guide to the ‘level’ of external test that might be
input
realistically aimed at
Is high literacy in L2 a goal?
This may affect which language modes are tested and how, but BEWARE using
written tests for oral purposes
Additions to
General
Knowledge/
Knowledge of
the world
Is information and Affective
Content also valued in language
learning? (e.g. CLIL might be
one strong case where content is
important)
Issues of reliability and ‘fairness’ often mean that tests use information and cultural
content supposed to be equally ‘known’ or ‘unknown’ to most candidates
Induction into
academic modes
of language use
and recognised
genres
Guidance
towards
operating in
certain cognitive
and
metacognitive
BICS (Basic Interpersonal
Communication Skills)?
CALP (Cognitive Academic
Language Proficiency)?
Or both?
A very important choice, especially in setting requirements for reading and writing
tests
rote learning versus ‘learning by
using’.
Are learners aware of lesson
objectives? Are learners able
realistically to self-assess?
Is reflection on learning
encouraged? Do they receive
individual formative advice?
A high degree of metacognition leading to ‘Test Wiseness’ is an advantage when
facing high stakes tests. This is different from ‘over-preparation’ for tests.
.
modes
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Aspects of General Education and how they may feed
into Language Learning
 Subject-specific input
 Influence of growing literacy
 Additions to General Knowledge/ Knowledge of


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the world
Induction into academic modes of language use
and recognised genres
Guidance towards operating in certain cognitive
and metacognitive modes.
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Carry-over from General Education to Language
Teaching …
Language input (varying quality and quantity)
Is developing high literacy skills in L2 a goal?
Is information and other content also valued in language learning? (e.g. CLIL
might be one strong case where content is important)
Is BICS (Basic Interpersonal Communication Skills) what you aim at in the
foreign language? Or CALP (Cognitive Academic Language Proficiency)? Or
both?
Metacognition? Are learners aware of lesson objectives? Are learners able
realistically to self-assess? Is reflection on language learning encouraged? Do
learners receive individual formative advice?
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… and then into Language Testing
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Internationally, the amount of L2 input is a very crude guide to the ‘level’ of
external test that might be realistically aimed at
Goals for L2 literacy may affect which language modes are tested and how,
but BEWARE of using written tests for oral purposes
Issues of reliability and ‘fairness’ often mean that tests use information
and cultural content supposed to be equally ‘known’ or ‘unknown’ to most
candidates, that can be, banal and ‘empty’.
BICS and/or CALP is a very important choice in terms of test cognitive
demands
A high level of metacognition leading to ‘Test Wiseness’ is an advantage
when facing high stakes tests. This is different from ‘over-preparation’ for
tests by simply practising past papers
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Working towards known tests or assessment
instruments – some interesting issues:
The CEFR (Common European Framework of Reference
for Languages) and the related Portfolio Materials provide
an excellent start point for metacognition and reflection.
They offer great ideas for teaching
‘ I CAN ……..’
But …
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CEFR was not designed for use with children and
young people
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
Many good ‘local’ Junior versions of the Portfolio have been
produced BUT for more in-depth and detailed use there are issues:

Many school systems specify A1 or A2 for the end of primary
schooling, but what about stages ‘on the way’? Levels need to be
distinguished in a meaningful way within the current descriptions
provided by the CEFR at the lowest levels.

The Japanese version of the CEFR (the CEFRJ) does divide the
learning goals into 3 levels within each A band (e.g. A1.1, A1.2,
A1.3) (Negishi, Takada, Tono 2011). Worth considering.
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Test-wiseness and metacognition (‘thinking about
learning’)
If Test-Constructors can build in different challenges,
Test-Takers benefit from being able to deconstruct them
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
In other words, to build ‘Test-Wiseness’ in a positive
manner we need to link:



classroom learning
classroom assessment and
awareness of the demands of high-stakes tests
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Metacognition in the classroom
Much modern teaching attempts to offer springboards for
developing
METACOGNITIVE SKILLS AND AWARENESS
(even/especially for the younger learners)
However what works for younger usually works for older
and the UK strategy spans primary and secondary
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Extract from UK government Assessment for
Learning Strategy
1.
2.
3.
Learning objectives made explicit and shared with
pupils
Peer and self-assessment in use
Pupils engaged in their learning and given immediate
feedback
My note: feedback = advice on what to do next, not just
on ‘how well you did’
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This wall is mostly about Assessment for Learning
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WALT = We Are Learning To …
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WILF gets them from WALT into the teacher’s mind
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Not to speak of WAGOLL
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What
A
Good
One
Looks
Like
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Traffic lights in exercise books to signal to the teacher
 Red =
Help! I really
don’t ‘get’ it
 Amber = I need some
more support
 Green =
I’m
confident with this
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‘Never be afraid to think about your learning’
Register/ Circle time. Each child says a sentence about
what they found tricky, interesting, frustrating, confusing, in
the last week about a school topic, or where they had a
TRIUMPH in the past week.
Often happens with maths e.g. ‘I think place value
charts are really AWFUL’ but this approach could
equally be applied to language learning
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Children sometimes are VERY aware of what they need
to do in order to get the grades

Me: What’s that?
(meaning can the child
name the semi-colon
punctuation mark)

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;
Child: That’s Level 5,
that is! (meaning that he
knows that using a semicolon correctly is one
criterion for Level 5 work)
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‘That’s great. You are all working at Level 5 this week’
‘Levels 4 and 5’ are the Golden Treasure Assessment
and Test Grades for all UK primary teachers and 10-11
year old children, and increasingly, they all know what
they have to do to get there …
It’s easy to mock but IF the test-wise teachers and
children are talking about wise tests, the teaching-testing
gap can happily be narrowed.
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Thanks
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We would like to acknowledge the help of
following colleagues in the two surveys:
Hanan Khalifa, Cambridge ESOL
Evelina Galaczi, Cambridge ESOL
Roger Hawkey, Cambridge ESOL consultant
Lucy Chambers, Cambridge ESOL
Debbie Howden, Cambridge ESOL
John Knagg, British Council
Tom Poole, British Council
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Thanks also to:
Grange Farm Primary School
and
Stanton Bridge Primary School
Coventry
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