Assessing Authentic Listening:
A theoretical framework with implementation techniques
Karen Englander, Ching Yi Ho, Pei-Yu Hsu, and Amy Minett
Indiana University of Pennsylvania
English 746: Assessment Project
Dr. Michael M. Williamson
The website we’ve designed will function as a tool for university EFL and ESL instructors who wish to try out alternative and authentic forms of classroom assessment, especially in the area of listening. Importantly, we view assessment as a process which must be linked to students’ learning, or more precisely, following Hancock (http://www.ericae.net/db/edo/ED376695.htm) (1994) on alternative assessment, as a process which "should acknowledge the effect of context on performance and provide the most appropriate contexts in which to assess competence, including ones that involve the individual in making self-assessments" (emphasis added).
Curiously, while O’Malley and Pierce’s (1996) book Authentic Assessment for English Language Learners: Practical Approaches for Teachers provides an excellent resource for English Language Instructors seeking approaches to authentic assessment of Oral Language, Reading, Writing, and Content areas, the authors neglect to address Authentic Listening Assessment. This website seeks then to help fill a perceived gap in the current resources for EFL instructors—authentic assessment of listening—by suggesting activities, theory, and other resources which may contribute to the design of a listening portfolio. To that effect, we will briefly define listening and how it differs between first and second language learners as well as mention key points in its pedagogical history. We’ll further review briefly what current literature suggests about a theory of listening and testing before we consider four domains in the construct of listening, and how a portfolio might provide an authentic tool for assessing those domains. This project is a starting point only, but one which will hopefully help us begin to rethink the ways and whys of assessing listening authentically. The website will conclude with a brief annotated bibliography related to listening, assessment, and portfolios.
Statement of Testing and Assessment
Implementing Authentic Assessment of Different Domains of Listening