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A framework for performance
assessment
The
graphic to the right was created for the Foreign
Language National Assessment of Educational Progress (FLNAEP)
by a committee of language educators from across the United States.
It represents the assessment framework that will be used in the
FLNAEP and reflects the interrelatedness of the Five ‘C’s of
the National Standards for Foreign Language Learning.
Communication is the focal point of the graphic and should
be the focal point of assessments in the foreign language classroom.
From the National Standards, we understand that there are three
types, or “modes “ of communication, the Interpretive,
Interpersonal, and Presentational. These three
modes are identified in the graphic as the sides and base of the
communication triangle. The visual reminds us that the triangle,
hence the assessment of communication, is incomplete without attention
to all three modes.
Because the terminology related to the three modes
of communication is relatively new, the graphic “defines”
the modes through the ring of terms that are familiar to both professionals
and the general public. The Interpretive Mode involves one-way communication
via reading and listening. The Interpersonal Mode is two-way, interactive
communication via conversation (listening/speaking) and e-mail (reading/writing).
The Presentational Mode is one-way communication via speaking and
writing.
Perhaps the most important message from this graphic is that in
today’s foreign language classroom reading, writing, speaking,
and listening should not be treated as isolated skills. It is the
interconnectedness of these skills that strengthens learning. Assessment
then, should also reflect this interconnectedness. By striving to
plan an integrated unit, the line between instruction and assessment
fades. The ultimate goal is for the line to disappear. In other
words, teachers would not stop to assess but integrate assessment
into their instruction so that students, while demonstrating what
they know and can do, are also learning while they perform the assessment
task----assessment is not simply regurgitation of information, it
is application of what was learned to an authentic (real life) communicative
situation.
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