--- Forwarded Message from "Sarah Withee" <[log in to unmask]> ---

>Subject: #9403 recommendation for language testing tools
>Date: Fri, 7 May 2010 08:44:39 -0600
>Thread-Topic: #9403 recommendation for language testing tools
>Thread-Index: AcrtUQXMzbKWjVcfRHmdLb2SWzp9VgACjecAACYY9cA=
>From: "Sarah Withee" <[log in to unmask]>
>To: <[log in to unmask]>

The STAMP test is a Web-based assessment testing students' reading,
writing, and speaking abilities.  STAMP reports scores according to
benchmarks related to the ACTFL Performance Guidelines at the novice and
intermediate levels.  For us, this means the test is appropriate for
students in romance languages through the end of their second year of
study. 

We at Colorado College have used STAMP in Spanish, French, and Japanese as
part of our reaccreditation assessment process.  It is expensive
($18/test), but because the testing company rates student performances, it
does not require any work on the part of faculty.  I do have to get the
computer lab ready and do troubleshooting during the exam, when for some
reason the microphones don't work, or the computers crash.  More
information is available at http://www.avantassessment.com/education.html

If you are interested in building your own tests, you might want to take a
look at the ACTFL integrated performance assessment model.  This is not a
computer-based test.  Rather, it is a framework for designing assessments
that are pegged to the ACTFL proficiency guidelines.  ACTFL sells a
booklet on their website which describes the performance assessment
framework, and the Foreign Language Educators of New Jersey have some
example IPA assessments at their website at
http://flenj.org/CAPS/?page=149

The IPA is a bit of a paradigm shift (it evaluates performance in the
interpretive, interpersonal, and presentational modes, rather than the
traditional "four skills"), so it may not be the easiest thing to figure
out on your own. ACTFL will be hosting a daylong workshop on the IPA at
their conference in November in Boston.  Paul Sandrock, past president of
ACTFL, will also lead a more general workshop on assessing student
performance. I was able to attend the workshop given by Paul Sandrock at
the Colorado Congress of Foreign Language Teachers conference, and found
it to be an invaluable introduction to how to think about assessing
student performance in languages.   If you have professional development
funding available, you might want to look at attending one of these
workshops.

Sarah Withee
Instructional Technologist
Colorado College
[log in to unmask]
(719) 389-6381
 


-----Original Message-----
From: Language Learning and Technology International Information Forum
[mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of LLTI-Editor
Sent: Thursday, May 06, 2010 1:19 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: #9403 recommendation for language testing tools

--- Forwarded Message from Birgit Deir <[log in to unmask]> ---

>Date: Thu, 6 May 2010 11:20:05 -0400 (EDT)
>From: Birgit Deir <[log in to unmask]>
>To: [log in to unmask]
>Subject: recommendation for language testing tools

Hello, 

Would you have a recommendation for language testing tools to test
students'
abilities at the beginning and the end of a semester/year, etc.? Are there
tools
that follow standards set by ACTFL or MLA? We would like using such a tool
across several languages. 

Thank you for your advice, 
Birgit 

Birgit Deir 
Emerson Language Lab Director 
Nazareth College 
4245 East Avenue 
Rochester, NY 14618 
(585)389-2864 


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