Читать книгу The Concise Encyclopedia of Applied Linguistics - Carol A. Chapelle - Страница 70

Recently, assessment as learning has joined the dichotomy of assessment approaches to make it a trichotomy. In this approach, students take center stage as agents of their own learning and are the heart of the teaching–learning cycle. In assessment as learning, students are expected to step up to new levels of involvement through activities such as self and peer assessment (Black & Wiliam, 1998; Colby‐Kelly & Turner, 2007). With teachers as their guides and facilitators, through gradual release of responsibility, students take on the role of independent, self‐regulated learners as part of their development (Berkowitz, Bier, & McCauley, 2016).

Assessment as learning is descriptive of a student‐centered approach where students are invited to and guided in becoming autonomous thinkers and learners (Earl, 2013; Gottlieb, 2016). Like any effective assessment approach, student‐centered assessment articulates developmentally appropriate, yet challenging, learning targets, provides feedback on how to deepen teaching and learning, is valid and reliable for its given purpose (and audience), and the data that are generated are fair and useful (McMillan, 2011). There are several additional defining qualities that distinguish student‐centered assessment from the other approaches; they:

 allow for individualization of performance;

 focus on student learning and growth;

 motivate students to do their best;

 encourage students to actively engage in pursuing learning;

 are informative to a variety of audiences. (Andrade, Huff, & Brooke, 2012)

Assessment as learning places students at the forefront of the process. In one instance, teachers might involve students in the assessment design process by co‐constructing scoring guides with class‐generated criteria; then students apply the rubrics to assess their own or peers' performances. In another, learners routinely reflect on their language development and learning in journals and learning logs that document their experiences and create portfolios of their evidence of language use and learning.

In assessment as learning student voice is honored in classroom decision making, from selecting topics to pursue for learning from designated themes, crafting original projects or work products, and evaluating their performance against agreed upon criteria for success. Having students critically reflect on their own work by matching their performance against preset criteria where they have had input validates their thinking and learning. Other benefits of student engagement in self‐assessment include

 having a venue for students to convey their depth of understanding,

 encouraging students to take responsibility for their own learning,

 honoring student voice in the assessment process,

 recognizing students as a valued data source in making classroom decisions,

 fostering a shared set of expectations between teachers and students,

 helping students set realistic language and learning goals,

 promoting students to set realistic goals based on their accomplishments

 prompting students to analyze the quality of their work. (Gottlieb, 2016)

Assessment as learning, viewed from an assets‐based perspective, is personalized for each student's individual strengths. Students can use self and peer assessment to gather and reflect on information about specific language performances as well as to generate a picture of their language development over time. Assessment as learning can also guide students in cultivating metacognitive, metalinguistic, and metacultural awareness of their language development that helps facilitate the crafting of individual learning goals. Additionally, multilingual learners can analyze how they choose to use their languages, the connections between their languages, the purposes for communicating, the embedded cultural nuances, and the audiences involved. Ultimately, learners can become instructional resources for one another and can be activated to be owners of their own learning (Wiliam & Leahy, 2015).