About the webinar
A major challenge faced by English Language Teachers is to enable their learners to use oral skills for effective communication and assess it. Successful communication contains four competencies namely- Linguistic, Socio-linguistic, Strategic and Discourse (Communication Competence Model, Bachman and Palmer, 2010).
Focussing on the collaborative aspect of communication, the speaking skills lesson plans must include a large number of pair and group activities. The same form part of formative assessment and are used, not just for evaluative, but for diagnostic and remedial purposes as well. This presentation will address questions related to the assessment of spoken skills and the enhancement of the same by the teacher playing the facilitator.
Assessment goes hand in hand with the teaching – learning process. The development of the other skills are adversely affected in the event of the learners not getting ample opportunity to express, negotiate and interpret in the target language. Learners must also understand the assessment tools and techniques well in advance. Therefore, the need is felt for assessment literacy on part of the teachers. The presenters will share with the audience a number of classroom activities, tools and techniques, criterion in the form of handouts for enhancing and assessing the spoken skills of their learners. In addition, the need for using authentic spoken tasks to help the English Language Teachers will be highlighted, helping participants to become aware of their responsibility and potential to assess the spoken skills of their learners.
About the speakers
Mamta Saluja works as a Lecturer in English with the Directorate of Education, Delhi India. She teaches intermediate classes and is a teacher trainer for her organization. Her teaching aims to provide her learners a participatory classroom with opportunities for expansion, equity and excellence. During her participation in the International Leaders in Education Program 2013 she was a fellow at James Madison University, Virginia, USA. In 2015 she was awarded State Teachers Award for her contribution in the field of education and academic excellence. Her interest includes writing papers and presenting them – one of the recent being at the Language and Development Conference 2015.
Dr. Vanita Chopra is working as an Assistant Professor (Language) in the Department of Elementary Education, Jesus and Mary College (JMC), Delhi University. She has an experience of more than nine years as a teacher trainer. She is associated with the British Council for her personal and professional development. She has authored several papers and presented in National and International Conferences like TESOL etc. Her research interests include Continuous and Comprehensive Evaluation, enhancement and assessment of language skills.