When?
- Communicative tests and quizzes should be
administered frequently throughout the unit.
Some of these will be formative in that they
will allow the teacher and students to see
what has been learned and what should be
expanded upon. Others will be summative
and will give a picture of what the students
have accomplished after doing the activities
and/ or the unit.
With whom?
- Although communicative quizzes often
evaluate students on an individual basis,
students should also have the opportunity to
collaborate in pairs and in small groups when
doing a test, for example, role-playing for oral
production tests.
Why?
- Traditionally, second language quizzes and
tests focused on the mastery of linguistic
material. Learning a second language
however, involves more than linguistic
competence. If a communicative/ experiential
approach is the basis of the second language
classroom, then the quizzes and tests that
are given should reflect the content and the
manner in which the students are taught.
- Communicative/ experiential teaching
involves much more than the mastery of
linguistic material. Communicative/
experiential quizzes and tests will therefore
cover a much broader range of skills and
abilities.
What?
- Keeping in mind the foundational and
learning objectives of the curriculum, there
are a number of quizzes and tests that can be
administered that are consistent with
communicative evaluation.
- The four syllabi from the National Core
French study are woven throughout the units
and these too should be evaluated.
- The Common Essential Learnings are builtinto each unit and should be
evaluated.
- If students are going to be part of the
communicative/ experiential classroom, then
it is imperative that the overall evaluation
reflect not only linguistic competence but also
communicative competence as well as a
cultural component.
- The development of skills and abilities can be
evaluated through tests that measure oral
production, oral comprehension, written
production and written comprehension or a
combination of the above.
- Quizzes designed to evaluate listening
comprehension may test everything from
global comprehension of an oral passage to
listening for specific information. Students
will become more adept at listening
comprehension activities as their ears become
more accustomed to hearing the spoken
language. As with all skills, it takes time to
develop listening comprehension strategies
but with time and practice, students will
develop the abilities required to assist them
with listening to the global as well as the
specific message.
- Students will develop their reading skills
(written comprehension) through a variety of
strategies. Examples of quizzes that test
reading abilities may include making
inferences based on the information in the
passage, looking for specific information or
trying to understand the global meaning.
- There are a number of ways that oral
production may be evaluated. Presentations
given by the students at the end of the unit
will constitute part of their oral mark. It
would be ideal to give personal interviews;
however, the logistics of such an evaluation
are not always possible. There are methods
of grading the speaking abilities of the
students throughout the course of the class.
The most common method is the use of the
observation checklist or rating scale as the
students are working in their pairs and small
groups.
- Another way to evaluate oral production is to
verify the oral responses of the students after
they have been working in their pairs and
small groups. Students should be aware that
after the pair and group activities, variousstudents will be asked to share
their answers
with the rest of the class. Since the students
have been practising the language in their
pairs and small groups, it is appropriate to
record what they have learned during the
activity. Note that it is not necessary to test
all students in the class after each oral
activity.
- Testing the writing skills (written
production) of students includes more than
looking for correct linguistic responses.
Evaluation that tests the abilities of students
to write should be based on the types of
writing that is done within the class on a
regular basis.
How?
- The examples of communicative tests on the
following pages apply to specific activities or
annexes from the model units.
- Example 1 (based on Unité 6.2, Annexe 4)
Example 2 (based on Unité 7.2, Annexe 2)
Example 3 (based on Unité 9.1, Annexe 8)
Example 4 (based on Unité 7.3, Annexe 6)
| Heure
| lundi
| mardi
| mercredi
| jeudi
| vendredi
| samedi
| dimanche
|
| 17h00
| Chanteur:
Daniel
Lavoie
| Chanteuse:
Patricia
Kaas
| Chanteur:
Richard
Séguin
| Chanteuse:
Mitsou
| Chanteur:
Réné
Simard
| L'univers des sports
| Les inventions de la vie
|
| 17h30
| Vie de famille
| Le temps de vivre
| A demain
| Bonjour, Monique
| A vous, la parole
|
| 18h00
| Saskatchewan ce soir
|
| 18h30
| Voyage en Californie
| Voyage en Suisse
| Voyage en France
| Voyage au Mexique
| Voyage à Paris
| La semaine verte
| La soirée de hockey
|
| 19h00
| Dallas
| Cinéma:
Monsieur
Destin
| Ma maison
| Bonjour, mes amis
| Génies en herbe
|
| 19h30
| Juste pour rire
|
| Juste pour rire
| Juste pour rire
| Cinéma:
Le feu et la glace
|
| 20h00
| Knot'sLanding
| Mont-Royal
| Dallas
| Sherlock Holmes
|
| 20h30
|
|
|
|
|
| 21h00
| Le téléjournal, Les nouvelles du sport
| Téléjournal
|
Foundational Objective: The students will understand oral and
written
communication in French that is provided in a
meaningful context.
Learning Objective: The students will use various strategies for
understanding
oral questions about a television timetable.
Skill focus: Listening Comprehension
Situation: Ton ami te téléphone. Son frère
a versé de la sauce tomate sur son
horaire de télévision. Elle veut vérifier quelques
émissions. Réponds
aux questions suivantes par «Oui» ou «Non».
-
Mitsou chante jeudi à dix-sept heures? (Oui)
-
Génies en herbe commence à dix-huit heures? (Non)
-
On regarde l'émission Dallas le lundi soir? (Oui)
-
Il y a une émission de sport le samedi? (Oui)
-
Voyage en Californie termine à dix-huit heures trente? (Non)
Exemple 2: (Unité 7.2 Annexe 2)
Repas No 1
- un sandwich au jambon
- des carottes
| Repas No 2
- du rosbif
- du macaroni
- du fromage
| Repas No 3
- du poulet
- du riz
- du yogourt
|
Repas No 4
- des pommes de terre
- du maïs
- du lait au chocolat
| Repas No 5
- du boeuf haché
- une salade de chou
- des patates frites
| Repas No 6
- du jambon
- des carottes et des pois
- du thé
|
Repas No 7
- un sandwich aux
bananes et au beurre
d'arachides
| Repas No 8
- des hot dogs
- une baguette
- du lait
| Repas No 9
- des tomates
- du lait
- des croissants
|
Repas No 10
- du riz
- une salade aux épinards
- du lait frappé
| Repas No 11
- du poulet frit
- des lentilles et du céleri
- du fromage blanc
| Repas No 12
- la lasagne
- une baguette
- des champignons
|
Foundational Objective: The students will understand oral and
written
communication in French that is provided in a
meaningful context.
Learning Objective: The students will use various strategies for
understanding
menus written in French.
Skill Focus: Written Comprehension
Situation: Tu es responsable de vérifier les menus de
la semaine au cafetéria. Quel
menu:
-
a un produit laitier?
-
ne contient pas de viande et substituts?
-
contient deux produits céréaliers?
-
contient un «met composé»?
Example 3 (based on Unité 9.1, Annexe 8)
|
| Film No 1
Titre du film:
___________________
| Film No 2
Titre du film:
__________________
|
|
On aime une personne spéciale. (aimer)
| Oui Non
| Oui Non
|
|
On tue quelqu'un. (tuer)
| Oui Non
| Oui Non
|
|
On vole de l'argent. (voler)
| Oui Non
| Oui Non
|
|
On se cache. (se cacher)
| Oui Non
| Oui Non
|
|
Tout le monde rit. (rire)
| Oui Non
| Oui Non
|
|
Ils courent. (courir)
| Oui Non
| Oui Non
|
|
Un homme meurt. (mourir)
| Oui Non
| Oui Non
|
|
Quelqu'un chante. (chanter)
| Oui Non
| Oui Non
|
| Voici d'autres verbes d'action:
attaquer, chasser, chercher, choisir, communiquer, conduire, danser,
découvrir, défendre, déguiser, encourager, frapper,
garder, glisser,
grimper, habiter, imiter, inventer, inviter, jeter, lancer, manger, marier,
perdre, plonger, prendre, regarder, sauver, traverser
|
Foundational Objective: The students will use French to communicate
ideas and
concepts orally and in writing in various areas of
interest.
Learning Objective: The students will correctly conjugate the
verb to agree with
the subject. (Note: It is only the subject and verb agreement
that is to be marked.)
Skill Focus: Written Production
Situation: Tu dois écrire une courte description d'un
film pour le journal de l'école.
Utilise 4 ou 5 des verbes fournis dans l'annexe. Tu peux vérifier
les
terminaisons des verbes dans un livre de référence si tu en
as besoin.
Exemple 4 (Unité 7.3, Annexe 6)
| C'est un message pour.....
| Le message
| Numéro de téléphone.
|
| Claire
| J'ai deux billets pour le
spectacle.
| 554-9874
|
| Paul
| Je ne peux pas aller au
cinéma.
| 974-9743
|
| Jan et Annette
| J'ai un problème de
mathématiques.
| 874-3254
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Exemple.
Anne: Bonjour, c'est Anne à l'appareil.
Mike: Bonjour, Anne. C'est Mike.
Est-ce que je peux parler à Claire?
Anne: Claire n'est pas à la maison.
Est-ce que je peux prendre un message?
Mike: Oui. J'ai deux billets pour le spectacle.
Anne: Quel est votre numéro de téléphone?
Mike: C'est 554-9874.
Anne: Très bien. Au revoir.
Foundational Objective: The students will use French to communicate
ideas and
concepts orally and in writing in various areas of
interest.
Learning objective: The students will correctly ask questions
during a simulated
phone conversation. (Note: when marking the exercise, focus on
the questions that are asked.)
Skill Focus: Oral Production
Situation: Role A: Téléphone à ton amie/amie.
S'il ou elle n'est pas là, laisse un
message.
Role B: Réponds au téléphone. Prends un message (nom,
message,
numéro de téléphone.)
There are a number of questions that one should
ask when developing a test. (Adapted from
Ullman, Evaluating for Communication).
-
Where does the test fit into the French
program? Is it a unit test or does it test a
specific point of usage.
-
Is the test summative or formative?
-
What is the communicative purpose or
function of the test? What is the mode of
language use (narrating, discussing,
describing, giving directions, etc.) and what is
the tone (formal, informal, complaining,
courteous, etc.)?
-
What is the linguistic focus of the test?
-
What is the skill focus of the test? Does it
test listening, speaking, reading or writing or
a combination of the above?
-
What is the topic of the test? Is it related to
the immediate environment of the students
and is it appropriate for all levels of student
ability?
-
What is the communicative context? Is it a
telephone message, an announcement, a
commercial, a letter, a dialogue, etc?
-
What must the students do to complete the
task? Must they choose the correct answer,
complete a dialogue, write a letter, write an
open-ended response, respond orally to a
question or instruction, etc.?
-
What is the format of the test? Do the
students listen to the teacher, a tape
recording, etc.?
-
What is the scoring technique? Will it be
done objectively or subjectively? If it is done
subjectively, what is the criteria involved?
The following example is meant to help teachers
reflect on their teaching of a particular unit.
- Were the majority of my activities directly
related to the experiential goal?
- Was the vast majority of my talk (teacher
talk) in French?
- Did my students have the opportunity to use
their French in pairs and small groups?
- Did I offer students opportunities to hear
authentic language samples related to the
theme of the unit?
- Did I offer students opportunities to read
authentic language samples related to the
theme of the unit (appropriate for the grade
level)?
- Which roles did I assume during this unit?
- instructor
- diagnostician
- animator
- language model
- facilitator (brainstorming sessions,
discussion)
- resource person for groups
- Did my methods of evaluation reflect
elements of a communicative/experiential
approach to language learning?
- Did I provide opportunities for my students
to produce French to express their ideas, and
opinions (oral and written appropriate for the
grade level)?
- Did I succeed in relating the theme of this
unit to the students' interests and personal
lives?
- Did my students improve...
- in their knowledge of the French
language and culture?
- in their ability to comprehend oral and
written French (appropriate for the grade
level)?
- in their ability to speak and write
creatively in French (appropriate for the
grade level)?
- as language learners?