How Young Learners Learn

Languages and how to Test them

Shelagh Rixon

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OR
I cant describe the perfect YL test in 40 minutes but I can try to open
discussion about

1.
2.
3.

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

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

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

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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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

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

often

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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Weirs 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 simul (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 tes capable d'utiliser les formules d'accueil, de
cong 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 Id 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, its 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 candidates own school experiences)

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Weighing advantages and disadvantages and

expressing them in a reasoned fashion
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Piagets 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'Sullivans (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) Piagets 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 teachers 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
dont get it

Amber = I need some

more support

Green =

Im
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: Whats that?

(meaning can the child
name the semi-colon
punctuation mark)

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Child: Thats Level 5,

that is! (meaning that he
knows that using a semicolon correctly is one
criterion for Level 5 work)
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Thats 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
Its 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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Cambridge ESOL Levels

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Council of Europe Levels

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