Assessing Listening
Topic 2: Assessing Listening
Look at the listening log and think about its purpose.
Assessing Application
In everyday life, listeners often have to use, or apply, information they hear. For example, if a listener wants to go to the store, he needs to follow the directions he hears. If someone gives directions, the listener can mark the route on a map. This is one way textbooks assess student's ability to apply knowledge. Other ways to assess this ability include:
labeling a diagram
completing a form
creating a table or chart
Self Assessment
Students can sometimes assess their own listening ability. This is called self assessment. When students track their own learning progress, they are more engaged in the process. They can direct their own learning by spending more time practicing what is difficult. They can be more autonomous.
One form of self assessment is a listening log. Look again at the example log entry. Students can keep track of listening experiences. Perhaps most importantly, students can keep track of their success and challenges. They can use this information to decide what to practice more.
[17/05, 00:14] Ms. Ema: Topic 2: Assessing Listening
Listen to the audio and look at the message slip. What does this activity assess? Read the text.
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00:33
Proficient Listening
Proficient listening involves different factors, including:
knowledge of the sound system
understanding meaning
application of information heard
Knowledge of the sound system
Learners need to have knowledge of the sound system. This knowledge includes understanding English phonemes, stress, and intonation. As you have learned in Units 3 and 6, learners often have trouble distinguishing between phonemic vowel sounds (hit–heat, bed–bad). Trouble with phonemes can lead to misunderstanding. Look at these two sentences:
I beat the other runner. (I was the winner.)
I bit the other runner. (I used my teeth to bite the other runner.)
They mean very different things. When assessing knowledge of the sound system, you should focus on sounds that can change meaning.
Meaning
Students also need to understand the meaning of what they hear. First, they should understand the gist of the audio. What is the topic? What is it about? Who is speaking? Then they need to understand the main ideas. What are the important points? Finally, learners need to listen for specific information. What time is the doctor's appointment? What is the address of the school? What is the price of the dress?
In addition to understanding specific words and meaning, listeners need to be able to interpret what they hear. A speaker may say something directly, but mean something else. For example, if someone says, It's cold in here, he or she may want the listener to close the window. When listeners make sense of information that is not directly stated, they are making inferences.
Application
Listeners sometimes need to do something with what they hear. They may need to follow directions. They may need to take messages. They may need to complete a form, or buy something over the phone. Application is using information to do something.
Listen again to the textbook activity. Notice that it assesses meaning and application. Students must complete a message slip. This is application. They also must make an inference. They need to understand that the message is urgent.
[17/05, 00:15] Ms. Ema: Topic 2: Assessing Listening
Listen to the two sentences and think about the differences. Read the text.
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00:07
Assessing the Sound System
There are several ways to assess student's knowledge of the sound system. One way is to use minimal pairs. Minimal pairs are words that are alike except for one sound. The difference of one sound is phonemic, and is enough to create a different word. The following are minimal pairs: mat–met, pad–bad, mound–mount.
Activities that assess minimal pairs include:
students listen and circle the correct word from a pair of words
students listen to pairs of sentences that differ in only one word or phrase (and circle the one they hear)
students match sentences they hear to pictures (for example, a picture of someone winning a race versus a picture of someone biting another runner).
students give an appropriate response to a statement they hear. For example
Prompt: Response:
I see a ship. Let's get on it.
I see a sheep. Let's go pet it.
You can also assess knowledge of intonation patterns. Sometimes a statement and a question have the same form. Then learners have to know intonation to distinguish them. Listen again to the two sentences. Think about the different intonation patterns. They would be written as follows.
He's coming at two.
He's coming at two?
The response to each sentence is completely different.
Okay.
No, not until three.
Assessing Meaning
There are a number of ways to assess students' understanding of meaning. Students show understanding when they can answer oral questions. They also show understanding when they respond or react to a spoken command (Raise your right hand.). Many textbooks or summative assessments include multiple choice and cloze activities to assess students' understanding of meaning.
[17/05, 00:15] Ms. Ema: Topic 2: Assessing Listening
Look at the listening log and think about its purpose. Then read the text. When you are finished, click Submit.
Assessing Application
In everyday life, listeners often have to use, or apply, information they hear. For example, if a listener wants to go to the store, he needs to follow the directions he hears. If someone gives directions, the listener can mark the route on a map. This is one way textbooks assess student's ability to apply knowledge. Other ways to assess this ability include:
labeling a diagram
completing a form
creating a table or chart
Self Assessment
Students can sometimes assess their own listening ability. This is called self assessment. When students track their own learning progress, they are more engaged in the process. They can direct their own learning by spending more time practicing what is difficult. They can be more autonomous.
One form of self assessment is a listening log. Look again at the example log entry. Students can keep track of listening experiences. Perhaps most importantly, students can keep track of their success and challenges. They can use this information to decide what to practice more.
