For the purpose
of assessing the reading competence of students in a lower form in a typical
Malaysian secondary school, I would most likely use journals. As reading is a
receptive skill that is invisible and inaudible, a written response will allow
me to assess their understanding of the given text. Hence, a journal which is a
written record of one’s thought, feelings, reactions or ideas towards a stimulus
is fitting.
There is a low
emphasis on grammatical errors or language structures, allowing students to
write freely and frequently, using it as a form of “thinking”. Journals can provide comfort for students as
it allows them to articulate their thoughts in words before attempting to
speak. As their insecurities to pronounce the words accurately inhibits
students’ confidence in speaking, writing about them is an alternative method
for students to get their message across. Besides that, students who may have a
vague understanding of the reading text and are unable to answer the questions
accordingly are able to write freely, allowing students to express their
understanding in a way that they are more comfortable in. This could raise the
content validity and impact if the entries are closely connected to the
curriculum goals.
Journals is an
effective form of student-teacher communication as it allows teachers to understand
and meet students’ individual needs better. This form of assessment accounts to
positive washback as it allows teacher to offer feedback to students to
encourage and celebrate their achievements, provide suggestions for further
improvement as well as moderate students self-expectations.
Consider what you'd expect students to record in their journals for particular macro skills . For example, if you're focussing on macro skills such as responding to a text with an opinion, or summarizing the main idea, or outlining an argument, you could have students write or draw a figure/chart in their journal and discussing it with you. That way, you get to see if they're able to understand the text in their own way. So you see, keeping a journal is not necessarily only by writing!
ReplyDeleteThis is also a good way to wean students off the notion that there is always ONE right answer , and train them to be confident in giving their own interpretation supported of course by good reasons.