Ways to Measure Grammar Knowledge in English
One of the most difficult task as an English teacher is assessing students' grammar knowledge. Although students may be able to successfully complete controlled grammar exercises, they may have trouble using proper grammar in writing and speaking. Some students may be able to use grammar correctly, but they may not understand the rules that govern their choices. It's important to use a variety of assessment methods to measure grammar knowledge.
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Controlled Exercises
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A controlled exercise is an assessment method that can test a student's basic knowledge of a grammar rule, often early in instruction. In a controlled exercise, students are given a sentence or phrase with a blank line left for a word or mark of punctuation. They must choose the correct item to fill in this blank from a list of multiple choice answers. Another type of controlled exercise involves the teacher asking students to fill in verbal blanks with the correct answer. By using controlled exercises, you can determine if a student understands the basic concept of a grammar rule and if that student is ready to move on to more complex material.
Free-Form Exercises
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In free-form exercises, students show their grammar knowledge by writing or speaking in response to a prompt that tells them the specific knowledge to be assessed. For instance, students might be asked to write a sentence that correctly uses a conjunction or a sentence that lists the activities they completed yesterday to test their use of the past tense.
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Essay Writing
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Although many students can correctly complete controlled and free-form exercises, they may still have trouble correctly using their grammar knowledge when they write original essays. For this reason, you can measure students' grammar knowledge by reviewing their essays for correct grammar usage. To determine if students understand the grammar rules they are using in their original writing, you can choose two or three of their sentences and ask them to explain their choices verbally or in a written reflection.
Speeches and Conversation
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Like writing, students who do well on controlled and free-form exercises may still have trouble using grammar correctly when they speak. To assess their grammar knowledge in this "real-life" situation, you can assign students speeches or conversation groups. Monitor the speeches or groups, and take notes of grammar mistakes to form an evaluation of your students' grammar knowledge.
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References
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