Evaluation

What and why?

There are two main ways in which evaluation is important in learning. The first way is in relation to what and how much students have learned - such as through tests and quizzes (see TESTS). The second way, however, is in relation to how or in what way the students are learning, as a group and as individual learners. The first aspect of evaluation is the most common in language teaching, although the second aspect is of equal importance to learning and understanding. The aim of this second kind of evaluation is to encourage the students to look at the different ways they can learn and identify the 'best' ones for them. This means that they can gradually take more control over the way they learn and, at the same time, you, the teacher, can get a clearer insight into how the students approach language learning.

In CEWw, evaluation is introduced in various places. At the lower levels, there are evaluation questions after the students have done an optional Activity Unit. These questions ask them, for example, how well they have worked in groups, whether they liked writing poems and so on. From CEWw 3 onwards, regular Evaluation sections ask the students to think about how they approach different aspects of learning English, such as preparing for tests, doing homework, remembering new language and so on.

Practical ideas

• For practical ideas in the what and how much aspects of evaluation, see TESTS.
• Avoid, initially at least, asking the students questions such as 'What things did you like?' 'What things didn't you like?' Negative questions tend to produce negative answers. It is better to ask 'What do you think about ...?'
• You can ask the students to give you feedback in writing (in the mother tongue), anonymously. You can ask them, for example, to list exercises in order of difficulty (e.g. mark exercises on a line from 'easy to difficult'), to say where they think they need/would like more practice, to say how fast/slowly they think things are going, what problems they think they have with English or what things they would like explained again.
• Evaluation by the students requires the teacher to be open to listen and discuss, and make changes if necessary.
• Initially, it is likely that the students' evaluation of how they have been learning will be very superficial. Just like learning itself, evaluation requires practice. The more they do it, the better they will become at it, and the more able they will become to accept responsibility.
• You could place a Suggestion Box in the classroom in the second or third week of your course and encourage students to put in it their evaluations of different tasks and texts as they work through a Unit. This could provide the basis for discussion at the end of the Theme.

Researching the classroom

• Before giving the students a TEST, give them a list of what they will be tested on. Then, before they do the test, ask them to write down what mark they think they will get in each part. If you do this before each test, you can see if the students' ability to assess their own strengths in English improves, and if the gap between what they think they will get and what they actually get, closes.
• After a lesson, ask the students to write down a list of what they think they learnt in that lesson. Think back over the lesson (or tape-record it) and try to identify when and how the things that they remembered came up. Do this for a few lessons to see if a pattern emerges.
• If you have one or more classes using this coursebook, you can involve one class in a lot more evaluation discussions. You can then see if more student evaluation activities produce more involved learners. You could give each class an anonymous questionnaire to discover how much time they devote to English in a week, how high their motivation is, which aspects they like best and so on. In the long term, you could also see if more student evaluation/planning activities produce better abilities in English.
• You could ask some students to keep a diary of their studies in English, of what precisely they study outside the classroom, of how long they spend on it and so on. This could also give you some idea of the LEARNING STRATEGIES they use.
• You could interview a few students to find out how they go about their studies. A word association technique is very useful in giving a 'snapshot' of the students' impressions. Read out a list of key areas in language learning, and after each one pause for a minute or so. Ask the students to note down their thoughts in relation to that area. This can be anonymous, of course. You can then collect the papers to get a picture of what is going on in the students' heads. Key areas might be: topic lessons, grammar, listening to English in class, writing in English, and so on. You could also try word association on how they feel about things to do with English, English culture and so on (which will be related to their motivation). Key areas might be: English, 'Me speaking English', English things, English-speaking people, 'my English book', 'doing English homework', and so on.