Beyond Tests: Alternatives Assessment

Study: Language Testing

Suporting Lecture: Siti Maria Ulfa, M.Pd

Supporting by:

Arsista Yuli Kurniawati (1535511004)

Maimuna (1535511017)

SEKOLAH TINGGI KEGURUAN DAN ILMU PENDIDIKAN

(STKIP) PGRI BANGKALAN
Program Pendidikan Bahasa Inggris
2018
 PREFACE

I would like to praise and express my high gratitude to Allah swt who has
given His bless to the writer for finishing the English paper assigment entitled
”Alternatives In Assessment” right in the calculated time.
The purpose in writing this paper is to fulfill the assignment that given by
Ms. Siti Maria Ulfa, MPd as a lecturer in Language Testing major. In arranging
this paper, writer trully gets many challenges and obstuction, but with help of
many individuals, those obstructions could passed. The writer also wish to
express her deep and sincere gratitude for those who have guided in completing
this paper. The writer realized that this English paper is imperfect in the
arrangement and the content. Then the writer hopes the criticism from the
readers can help the writer in perfecting the next paper. Hopefully, this paper can
help the readers to gain more knowledge about Language Testing.

Bangkalan, 17 March 2018

Authors

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 TABLE OF CONTENT

PREFACE .............................................................................................................. i

TABLE OF CONTENT ........................................................................................ ii

CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION........................................................................... 1

1.2 Statement of Problem .................................................................................. 2

1.3. Object of Study .......................................................................................... 2

CHAPTER II DISCUSSION ................................................................................ 3

2.1 Definition of Alternative Assessment. ........................................................ 3

2.2 The Dilemma of Maximizing both Practicality and Washback. ................. 3

2.3 Performance-Based Assessment ................................................................. 5

2.4 Portfolio ...................................................................................................... 6

2.5 Journals ....................................................................................................... 9

2.6 Conferences and Interviews ...................................................................... 13

2.7 Observations............................................................................................. 15

2.8 Self and Peer Assessment ......................................................................... 16

2.8.1 Type of Self- and Peer Assessment .................................................... 17

2.8.2 Guidelines for Self-and Assessment ................................................... 19

2.8.3 A Taxonomy Of Selft-And Peer Assessment Tasks........................... 19

CHAPTER III CONCLUSION .......................................................................... 21

3.1 Conclusion ............................................................................................... 21

3.2 Suggestion ................................................................................................. 21

BIBLIOGRAPHY............................................................................................... 22

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 CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background of Study

Nowadays, societies assume that tests have a very big role to everyone,
especially the students. Everyone wants to do a test to measure or get something,
moreover, the tests are very cheap, quickly given, and scored instantaneously.
This is different from a predetermined standard (the standardized test industry).
In other words, that is the antonym of what societies want. According Bailey
(1998: 204) “One of the disturbing things about tests is the extent to which many
people accept the results uncritically, while others believe that all testing is
invidious. But, tests are simply measurement tools: it is the use to which we put
their results that can be appropriate or inappropriate.” So it can be seen that the
test is one of a number of different types of assessment.
In the early 1990s, the culture of rebellion against resisted the idea that
everyone both skills and knowledge cannot be measured by traditional tests,
because the rebellion appears then appears new idea also that is an alternative
such as journals, proposals, observations and others. Because the reason, the
teachers, and students begin to realize the lack or low of standardized tests. Not
only it, the alternative assessment takes more time than the traditional test.
According to Lynch (2001: 228) said the proposal was to assemble additional
measures of students–portfolios, journals, observation, peer-assessment, and the
like–in an effort to triangulate data about students. So that, the teacher and
students feel alternative assessment is just a task to get something, but not a test
to measure something.
The use of alternative assessment does not make a teacher or someone
does not use it such as an uninvited disaster, we should be able to spontaneously
make a plan to overcome it. It is the same as giving a sudden test if the teacher
or someone feels there is a need. The most important is alternative assessment
help teachers or someone to give the test. Besides that, as the times progress,
teachers are confronted by various things such as assessing the skills,attitudes,

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and activities; affective of students in the classroom. The assessing is K13 which
apply in every school.
This paper will present some alternative assessment to every teacher or
everyone to help their work become easier, especially if it has an interest. In
other words, this paper provides information or knowledge to us as educational
faculty students or as prospective educators, so that we can become professional
educators or teachers through alternative assessment.

1.2 Statement of Problem

From the description, we can conclude some problems which need to be
discussed, that is:
1.2.1. What is the alternative assessment?
1.2.2. What do the dilemma in maximizing both practically and washback?
1.2.3. How is the use of performance-based assessment for students?
1.2.4. How is the use of portfolio for students?
1.2.5. How is the use of journals for students?
1.2.6. How is the use of conferences and interviews for students?
1.2.7. How is the use of observations for students?

1.3. Object of Study

The purpose of this paper is to deepen understanding, espeially:
1.3.1 Knowing the definition of alternative assessment.
1.3.2 Knowing the dilemma in maximizing both pratically and washback.
1.3.3 Knowing the use of performance-based assessment for students.
1.3.4 Knowing the use of portfolios for students.
1.3.5 Knowing the use of journals for students.
1.3.6 Knowing the use of onferences and inteviews for students.
1.3.7 Knowing the use of observatins for students.

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 CHAPTER II
DISCUSSION

2.1 Definition of Alternative Assessment.

In modern era, various shifts in models, and systems began to become
part of life, especially in education. The past, education only concerns a skill that
is knowledge, but right now education does not pay attention to the ability of
knowledge but skill and affective of students in class or outside of class also.
Therefore, various ways to support and help teachers in solving some problems
of either the student or their self then appears an alternative assessment which
refer to a test.
The alternative assessment is same with test where alternative assessment
is the development or movement of an test. In other words, the test is brother,
while alternative assessment is young brother. Generally, alternative assessment
is some activities are done by some students that focuses on continous individual
students progrees. In other words, this alternative assessment is more focus on
their skill and affective of students (activity of students), so that it can creates
crital students in responding, thinking, making, and doing things. The example
of alternative assessment is the journal, portfolio and conferences or interviews.
The use of alternative assessment is widely used in schools, not only for
college but senior high school and junior high school has been using alternative
assessment. The main reason is to improve and create students’ knowledge, skill
and affective. The luxury makes many teachers and schools apply and use the
alternative assessment for their students, moreover, in using K13, the teachers
have to assess their student by their skill, knowledge and affective. Of course
this alternative assessment is very suitable on the K13.
2.2 The Dilemma of Maximizing both Practicality and Washback.
Nowadays, many teachers feel blue or dilemma in the use of alternative
assessments. The test can be said as a large-scale standardized test and tend to be
one-shot performances that are timed, multiple choice, decontextualized, norm-
referenced, and that foster extrinsic motivation also, while the use of alternative
assessments such as portfolios, journal, and self-assessment are open-ended in

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their time orientation and format, contextualized to a curriculum, reference to the
criteria of that curriculum, and likely to build intrinsic motivation. Besides that,
the formal standardized tests are almost by definition highly practical, reliable
instrument. They are designed to minimize time and money on the part of test
designer and test-taker, and to be painstakingly accurate in their scoring, while
alternative assessment such as portfolios or conferencing with students on draft
of written work, observations of learners over time all require considerable time
and effort on the part of the teacher and student. Moreover, time must be spent if
the teacher hopes to offer a reliable evaluation of student or group work of
students. If the teachers use some the alternative assessments, they (alternative
assessments) carry greater face validity because of their authenticity. That is a
positive for this alternative assessments, whereas some negative of alternative
assessments are what explained before. Besides that, this alternative assessments
offer markedly greater washback, are superior formative measure.
The relationship can be decided in a hypothetical graph which shows that
if the teachers use portfolios, journal, and conferences have hight washback and
authenticity, but the practicality and reliability tend to be lower, while using
large-scale, standardized, and multiple-choice test have low washback and
authenticity, but the practicality and reliability tend to be higher.
The flip side of this challenge, especially the teachers is to understand
that the alternative assessments are not doomed to be impractical and unreliable.
According to Brown and Hudson (1998) said that admonition to scrutinize the
practicality, reliability, and validity of those alternatives at the same time that we
celebrate their face validity, washback potential, and authenticity. Actually, the
teachers are easy to fly out of the cage of traditional testing rubrics (do not use
traditional tests; testing rubrics), but it is tempting in doing so to flap our wings
aimlessly and to accept virtually any classroom activity as a viable alternative.
Remember, the teachers have to be smart to make a test is more good although
use alternative assessment so that the test can measure the student’s skill both
skill or knowledge.

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2.3 Performance-Based Assessment
Performance-based assessment is part of the same general educational
reform movement that has raised strong objections to apply standardized test
scores as the only measure of student competencies. Besides, the standardized
test does not elicit actual performance on the part of test-takers. The traditional
standardized testing will not involve performances such as to write a description
of earth as seen from space, to work cooperatively with peers to design a three-
dimensional model of the solar system, to explain the project to the rest of the
class, and to take notes on videotape about space travel, whereas performance-
based assessment would require the performance of the above-named actions, or
samples, which would be systematically evaluated through direct observation by
a teacher and or possibly by self and peers.
Performance-based assessment not only brings authenticity to a task but
trains language skills or all four skills in the case of project work. Besides that,
the tasks that students perform are consistent with course goals and curriculum.
They are likely to be more motivated to perform them, as opposed to a set or
number of multiple-choice questions such as facts and figures regarding the solar
system. According to O’Malley and Valdez Pierce (1996) said that performance-
based assessment to be a subset of authentic assessment. In other words, not all
authentic assessment is performance-based. There are some characteristics of
performance assessment:
1. Students make a constructed response.
2. They engage in higher-order thinking, with open-ended tasks.
3. Tasks are meaningful, engaging, and authentic.
4. Tasks call for the integration of language skills.
5. Both process and product are assessed.
6. The depth of a student’s mastery is emphasized over breadth.
At the time, a teacher does a task (performance-based assessment), she should
pay attention to some things like in a traditional test. This implies that teachers
should:
1. State the overall goal of the performance,
2. Specify the objectives (criteria) of the performance in detail,

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3. Prepare students for performance in stepwise progressions,
4. Use a reliable evaluation form, checklist, or rating sheet,
5. Treat performances as opportunities for giving feedback and provide that
feedback systematically, and
6. If possible, utilize self -and peer-assessment judiciously.
Until recently, there are still many teachers use the performance-based
assessment without doing some criterias to support an assessment for students.
Therefore, it is expected that all teachers can apply or do the criteria for each the
performance-based assessment. Besides that, the performance-based assessment
is not an alternative assessment but it is as one of the primary traits of the many
available alternatives to assessment.
2.4 Portfolio
Until recently, portfolios were thought to be applicable only to younger
children who assemble a portfolio of artwork and written work for presentation
to a teacher or a parent. Now, learners of all ages and in all fields of study are
benefiting from the tangible, and hands-on nature of portfolio development.
According to Genesee and Upshur (1996), a portfolio is a purposeful collection
of students’ work that demonstrates.......their efforts, progress, and achievement
are given areas. Besides that, portfolios include materials such as
1. Essays and compositions in the draft and final forms;
2. Reports, project outlines;
3. Poetry and creative prose;
4. Artwork, photos, newspaper or magazine clippings;
5. Audio or video recording of presentations, demonstrations, etc;
6. Journals, diaries, and other personal reflections;
7. Tests, test scores, and written homework exercise;
8. Notes on lectures; and
9. Self-and peer-assessment-comment, evaluation, and checklist.
The most important is we should be able clear goals portfolios especially
reflective practice through journals and self-assessment checklist is an important
ingredient of a successful portfolio. The teachers should be able to take a very
good role especially in evaluating quality and development over time on their

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portfolio. If a teacher does not do it then the teacher does not get the desired
value even the students can not hone and increase their skills and knowledge. In
fact, evaluation of portfolios requires a time consuming but fulfilling process of
generating accountability. Besides that, the portfolio can serve as an important
link between student and teacher, parent, community, and peers, because they
(the students) will ask each other and give information about the task they get.
The advantages of engaging students in portfolio development have been
extolled in a number of source such as (Genesee & Upshur, 1996; O’Malley &
Valdez Pierce, 1996; Brown & Hudson, 1998; Weigle, 2002), they said that:
1. Foster intrinsic motivation, responsibility, and ownership,
2. Promote students-teacher interaction with the teacher as facilitator,
3. Individualize learning and celebrate the uniqueness of each student,
4. Provide tangible evidence of a student’s work,
5. Facilitate critical thinking, self-assessment, and revision processes,
6. Offer opportunities for collaborative work with peers, and
7. Permit assessment of multiple dimensions of language learning.
Besides, the advantages of the portfolio, the portfolio can fail if the goal is not
clear if guidelines are not given to students or learners, if systematic periodic
review and feedback are not present, and so on. The successful portfolio will
depend on following a number of steps and guidelines.
1. State objectives clearly. Choose one or more of the “CRADLE” (collecting,
reflecting, assessing, documenting, linking and evaluating). Show how those
purposes are connected to, integrated with, and reinforcement of your already
stated curricular goals.
2. Give guidelines on what materials to include. The teacher has to give some
good direction. In other words, It is helpful to give clear directions on how to
get started since many students will never have compiled a portfolio and
maybe mystified about what to do, a sample portfolio from a previous student
can help to stimulate some thoughts on what to include.
3. Communicate assessment criteria to students. The teacher must give some
information about assessment of portfolio. Two sources – self - assessment,
and teacher assessment – must be incorporated in order for students to receive

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 the maximum benefit. Self-assessment should be as clear and simple as
possible.
Portfolio self-assessment questions (O’Malley & Valdez Pierce, 1996, p.42)

1. Look at your writing sample

a. What does the sample show that you can do?
b. Write about what you did well
2. Think about realistic goals. Write one thing you need to do
better. Be specific.

Portfolio self-assessment questions (Genesse & Upshur, 1996)

1. What makes this a good or interesting project?

2. What is the most interesting part of the project?
3. What was the most difficult part of the project?
4. What did you learn from the project?
5. What skills did you practice when doing this project?
6. What resources did you use to complete this project?
7. What is the best part of the project/ why?
8. How would you make the project better?

4. Designate time within the curriculum for portfolio development. Make sure
that students have time set aside for portfolio work (including in-class time)
and that your own opportunities for conferencing are not compromised.
5. Establish periodic schedules for review and conferencing. By doing so, you
will prevent students from throwing everything together at the end of a term.
6. Designate an accessible place to keep a portfolio. In this case, teachers should
encourage students to create their own accessible location and to bring to
class only the materials they need. Moreover, if the teacher has room or
library to keep the materials, that may provide a good option.
7. Provide positive washback-giving final assessment. For portfolios containing
written work, Wolcott (1998) recommended a holistic scoring scale ranging
from 1-6 based on such as the qualities inclusion of out-of-class work, depth
of content, creativity, organization, writing style, and engagement of the
student. Such scores are perhaps best viewed as numerical equivalents of
letter grades.

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 It is clear that portfolios get a relatively low practically rating because of
the time it takes for teachers to respond and conference with their students (their
task). Nevertheless, some guidelines suggested above for specifying the criteria
for evaluating portfolios can increase the reliability to a respectable level, and
without question, the washback effect, the authenticity, and the face validity of
portfolios remain exceedingly high.
2.5 Journals
Fifty years ago, journals had no place in the second language classroom.
But today, journals occupy a prominent role in a pedagogical model. A journal is
a log (or “account”) of one’s thoughts, feelings, reactions, assessment, ideas, or
progress toward goals, usually written with little attention to structure, form, or
correctness. Besides that, journals are often used in education or to be known
that is dialogue journals.
The teachers can interact with students through dialogue journals usage
such as responding to a person or students journal and students can read and
respond to them as well. For today, students and teachers can already use emails
to communicate or respond to a student journal or others. Certainly, it is more
efficient. Besides, that, through dialogue journals, teachers can become better
acquainted with their students, in terms of both their learning progress and their
affective states, and thus become better equipped to meet students’ individual
needs. The following journal entry from an advanced student from China, and
the teacher’s response. It is an illustration of the kind of dialogue that can take
place.

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 Journal entry by Ming Ling, China:
Yesterday at about eight o’clock I was sitting in front of my table,
holding a fork and eating tasteless noodles which I usually really like to eat
but lost my taste yesterday because I didn't feel well. I had a headache and
a fever. My head seemed to be broken. I sometimes felt cold, sometimes hot. I
didn’t feel comfortable standing up and I didn't feel comfortable sitting
down. I hated everything around me. It seemed to me that I got a great
pressure from the atmosphere and I could not breath. I was so sleepy since I
had taken some medicine which functioned as an antibiotic.
The room was so quiets. I was there by myself and felt very solitary. Thy
dinner reminded me of my mother. Whenever I was sick in China, my
mother always took care of me and cooked rice gruel, which has to cook
more than three hours art and is very delicious, I think. I would be better
very soon under the care of my mother. But yesterday, I had to cook by myself
even though I way sick. The more I thought, the less I wanted to eat. Half an
hour passed. The noodles were cold, butt was still sitting there and thinking
about my mother. Finally I threw out the noodles and went to bed:

Teacher's response:
This is a powerful piece of writing because you really communicate what you were
feeling. You used vivid details, like "eating tasteless noodles," "my head seemed to be
broken" and "rice gruel, which has to cook more than three hours and is very delicious."
These make it easy for the reader to picture exactly what you were going through. The
other strong point about this piece is that you bring the reader full circle by beginning and
ending with "the noodles."
Being alone when you are sick is difficult. Now, I know why you were so quiet in
class.
If you want to do another entry related to this one, you could have a dialogue with
your "sick" self. What would your "healthy" self say to the 'sick" self? Is there some
advice that could be exchanged about how to prevent illness or how to take care of
yourself better when you do get sick? Start the dialogue with your "sick" self speaking
first.

Journals have important pedagogical goals both teachers or students such

as collaboratories that is where students in a class are regularly carrying on email
discussions with each other and the teacher. Besides, students can practice the
mechanics of writing, using writing as a “thinking” process, individualization,
and communication with the teaches. In other hands, a dialogue journal between
student and teacher give a unique opportunity for a teacher to offer various kinds
of feedback.
In the use of journals not only has a positive impact but negative impact.
It is argued that journals are too free a form to be assessed accurately. Besides,
certain critics have expressed ethical concerns that is, students may be asked to

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reveal an inner self, which is virtually unheard of in their own culture. Not only
it, some English learners, the concept of free and unfettered writing is anathema.
The following steps for using journals as an assessment instrument.
1. Sensitively introduce students to the concept of journal writing. For many
students, especially those from educational systems that play down the nation
of teacher-student dialogue and collaboration, journal writing will be difficult
at first. Therefore, teachers should be able to explain and guide their students
well. Besides that, students who are shown examples of journal entries and
are given specific topics and schedules for writing will become comfortable
with the process.
2. State the objective of the journal. The teacher must determine the categories
of the given journal. In other words, the journal refers to the journal type.
a. Language-learning logs. It refer a number of skills, strategies, or language
categories. The students record their responses to learning challenges set
by their teachers. In addition, teachers should limit the number of skill,
strategies, language categories commented by students so that it is not too
heavy for students.
b. Grammar-journals. It refers to grammar. In other words, these types of
journals are especially appropriate for courses and workshop that focus on
grammar.
c. Responses to readings. Entries may serve as precursors to freewrites and
help learners to sort out thoughts and opinions on paper. In other words,
the students respond to a material and the response can be in the form of a
journal if desired, then it will be responded by the teacher and vice versa.
d. Strategies-based learning logs. It is almost same with language-learning
logs; where it focuses only on strategies that learners are seeking to
become aware of and to use in their acquisition process.
e. Self-assessment reflections. It can be a stimulus for self-assessment in a
more open-ended way than through using checklist and questionnaires. In
other words, with the possibility of a few stimulus questions, the students
will seek and develop what is the problem. Finally, students’ journals can
extend beyond the scope of simple one-word or one-sentence-responses.

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 f. Diaries of attitudes, feelings, and other affective factors. The affective
states of learners are an important element or factor of self-understanding.
Therefore, teachers can become better equipped to effectively facilitate
learners’ individual journeys toward their goals. In other hand, it is covers
student life.
g. Acculturation logs. A variation on the above effectively based journal is
one that focuses exclusively on sometimes difficult and painful process of
acculturation in a non-native country. Because of culture and language are
so strongly linked, and awareness of the symptoms of acculturation stages
can provide keys to eventual language success.
3. Give guidelines on what kinds of topics to include. Once the purpose or type
of journal is clear, students will benefit from models or suggestions on what
kinds of topics to incorporate into their journals.
4. Carefully specify the criteria for assessing or grading journals. Teachers must
give some assessment criteria clearly. In other words, students need to know
assessment criteria. Maintain reliability by adhering conscientiously to the
criteria that you have set up.
5. Provide or give optimal feedback in your responses. McNamara (1998, p.39)
recommended three different kinds of feedback to journals:
a. Cheerleading feedback, in which you celebrate successes with the students
or encourage them to persevere through difficulties,
b. Instructional feedback, in which you suggest strategies, suggest ways to
fine-tune strategy use or instruct students in their writing, and
c. Reality-check feedback, in which you help the students set more realistic
expectations for their language abilities.
6. Designate appropriate time frames and schedules for review. It is essential to
budget or gives enough time to a curriculum for both writing journals and for
your written responses. Set or arrange schedules for submitting journal entries
periodically; return them in short order.
7. Provide formative, washback-giving final comment. Teachers have to give
some comment or final comment from students’ journal so that the students
know the progress of their knowledge or work.

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 The journals score on principles of assessment remain relatively low,
although the appropriation of electronic communication increases practicality by
offering teachers and students convenient, rapid (and legible) means responding,
because it takes a long time and still sustainable. The reliability in the use of
journals can still be maintained if they are in accordance with established goals
and objectives, but because of individual variations in writings and variety of
responses, reliability may reach only a moderate level, while authenticity and
washback is high, even washback is unequaled.
2.6 Conferences and Interviews
Generally, everyone knows the conference is as meetings for discussing
or exchanging opinions on a common problem. Besides that, the conference is a
face-to-face communication media which provides a common understanding and
it is cannot take by written communication. Conferences have been a routine part
of language classroom, especially of course in writing.
Conferences are not limited to drafts of written work. The list of possible
function and subject matter for conferencing is substantial:
1. Commenting on drafts of essay and reports
2. Reviewing portfolios
3. Responding to journals
4. Advising on a student’s plan for an oral presentation
5. Assessing a prosal for a project
6. Giving feedback on the results of performance on a test
7. Clarifying understanding of a reading
8. Exploring strategies-based options for enhancement or compensation
9. Focusing on aspects of oral production
10. Checking a student’s self-assessment of a performance
11. Setting personal goals for the near future
12. Assessing general progress in a course
In this case, the teacher is only a facilitator of the conference, so that the
students can self-assess and train their ability to respond to a problem or take a
decision. In other words, the conference usage can train speaking skill and their

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brain. Conferences are by nature formative, not summative, and their primary
purpose is to offer positive washback.
Genesee and Upshur (1996, p.110) offered a number of generic kinds of
questions that may useful to pose in the conference:
1. What did you like about this work?
2. What do you think you did well?
3. How does it show improvement from previous work? Can you show me the
improvement?
4. Are these things about this work you do not like? Are there things you would
like to improve?
5. Did you have any difficulties with this piece of work? If so, where, and what
did you do (will you do) to overcome them?
6. What strategies did you use to figure out the meaning of words you could not
understand?
7. What did you do when you did not know a word that you wanted to write?
The most important is discussions of alternatives in assessment usually
encompass one specialized kind of the conference: an interview. This term is
intended to show a context in which a teacher interviews a student for designated
assessment purpose. It is not talking about a student conducting an interview of
others in order to gather information on a topic. Interviews may have one or
more of several possible goals, in which the teacher
1. Assesses the student’s oral production,
2. Ascertains a student’s needs before designing a course or curriculum,
3. Seeks to discover a student’s learning styles and preferences,
4. Asks a student to assess his or her own performance, and
5. Requests an evaluation of a course.
One overriding principle of effective interviewing centers on the nature
of the questions that will be asked. Generally, it is easy for teachers to assume
that interviews are a just informal conversation, but the teachers have to
maintain the all-important reliability factor, interview questions should be
constructed carefully to elicit as focused a response as possible. The following
guidelines may help to frame the questions efficiently:

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1. Offer an initial atmosphere of warmth and anxiety-lowering (warm-up)
2. Begin with relatively simple questions.
3. Continue with level-check and probe question, but adapt to the interview as
needed
4. Frame questions simply and directly.
5. The teacher must focus on only one factor for each question. Do not combine
several objectives in the same question.
6. Be prepared to repeat or reframe questions that are not understood.
7. Wind down with friendly and reassuring dosing comments.
In terms of principles of assessment for conferences and interviews are
same with the journals, portfolios, and others, because they are time-consuming.
In this case, conferences may not be important to have reliability because the
whole purpose is to offer individualized attention, which will vary greatly from
students to the student. For the interview, a relatively high level of reliability
should be maintained with careful attention to objectives and procedures. Face
validity for both can be maintained at a high level due to their individualized
nature. Besides that, washback and authenticity are high for conferenes, but for
the interview is moderate unless the results of the interview are clearly folded
into subsequent learning.
2.7 Observations
Observation is the action or process of observing something or someone
carefully or to get information. The information we can get real information with
using a observesing. Teachers can observations their learners spontaneitly.
Teachers observation their student for get information about their student’s
character, student’s ability, interest and talent’s student or knowledge’s student.
The observation must have plan of procedure for real time, almost surreptitious
recording of student verbal and nonverbal behavior. One of the objectives of
such observation is to assess students without their awareness. It is course
important to take following steps:
1. Determine the specific objectives of the observation.
2. Decide how many student will be observed at one time.
3. Set up the logistics for making unnoticed observation.

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4. Design a system for recording observed performances
5. Do not overestimate the number of different elements you can observe at one
time-keep them very limited.
6. Plan how many observatios you will make
7. Determine specifically how you will use the results.
Designing a system for observing is no simple task. Recording your
observation s can take the form of anecdotal records,checklists, or rating scales.
Anecdotal records should be as specific as possible in focusing on the objective
of the observation, but they are so varied in form that to suggest formats here
would be counterproductive. Their very purpose is more note –keeping. The key
is to devise a system that maintains the principle of reability as closely as
possible.
2.8 Self and Peer Assessment
Selft and peer assessment derives its theorical justification from a
number of well establish principles of second laguage, acquisition the participle
of autonomy stand out as one of the primary foundation stones of succesful
learning. The ability to set one’s own goals both within and beyond the structure
of classroom curriculums, to pursue them without the presence of an external
prod, and to inde pendenntly monitor that pursuit are all keys to success.
Developing intrinsic motivation that comes from a self-propelled desire to excel
is at the top of the list of successful acquisition of any set of skills.
Resesearchers (such as Brown & hudson, 1998) agree that the above
theoritical underpinnigs of self–and peer-assessment offer certain benefits: direct
in volvement of students in their own destiny, the encouragement of autonomy,
and increased motivation because-of their self-involvement. Of course, some
noteworthy drawbacks must also be taken in to account. Subjectivity is a
primary obstacle to overcome. Students may be either too harsh on themselves
or too selft flattering, or they may not have the necessary tools to make an
accurate assessment. In the case of direct assessmentof performance (see below),
they may not be able to discern their own mistakes. In contrast, Bailey (1998)
conducted a stady in which learners showed moderately hight correlations
(between .58 and. 64) between self reted oral production ability and scoreson the

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OPI ,which suggests that in the assessment of genaral competence, learner’s self-
may be more accurate than one might suppose.
2.8.1 Type of Self- and Peer Assessment
There are numbers of type in self and peer assessment that is
1. Assessment of ( a specific ) performance.
This category, a student monitors him self-or her self in either oral or written
production and renders some kind of evaluation or performence. that
assessment, student can know their value from after their presentation, they
can corectin their presention.
2. Indierect assessment of (general) competence
Indirect self or peer asssessment targets larger slices of time with a view with
to rendering an evaluation of general ability, aas opposed to one specific
relatively time constrained perfomemce. a list of attributes can offer a scaled
rating, from “strongly agree” to “strongly disagree”.

I demonstrate active listening in class. 5 4 3 2 1

I volunteer my comments in small-group
5 4 3 2 1
work.
When I don't know a word, I guess from
5 4 3 2 1
context.
My pronunciation is very clear. 5 4 3 2 1
I make very few mistakes in verb tenses. 5 4 3 2 1

3. Metacognitive asessesment
This catagory assessment the learners with using a simple goals-setting self-
assessment was offered by smole, newman warhen and lee(1995). In response
to the asignment of making “goal cards”. Like:

1. My goal for this week is to stop during reading

and predict what is going to happen next in the
story.

2. My goal for this week is to finish writing my

Superman story.

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4. Social affective assessment.
Assessment is quite different from looking at and planing linguistic aspects of
acquisition. It requires looking at oneself trought a psychological lens and
may not differgreatly from self-assessment acrossa number of subject-metter
areas or for any set of personal skills: when learners-resolves to assess and
improve motivation, to gauge and lower their own anxiety, to find mental or
emotional obstancles to learning and then plan to overcome those barriers, an
all-important socio affective domain in invoked. We can check the example

Learning Preferences

Think about the work you did in this unit: Put a check next to the items that helped
you learn the lessons.

Put two checks next to the ones that helped a lot.

Listening to the teacher Listening to the tapes and

Working by myself doingexercises

Working with a partner Reading

Working with a group Writing paragraphs

Asking the teacher questions Using the Internet

The new vistas series (brown. 1999) also present an end-of-unit section
on “learning preferences” that calls for self assessment of an individual’s
learning preferences. This information is of value to both teacher and student in
identifying prerfered styles.
5. Student-General Test.
This test is the tecnique of engagin students in the process of constructing
tests themselve. The traditional view of what a test is would never allow
student to engege in test construction, but student-generated test can be
productive, instribsically motivativating, autonomy-building process.

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2.8.2 Guidelines for Self-and Assessment
There are some guideliness for teachers of self and assessment, that is
1. Tell student the pusose of the assessment.
2. Define task(s) clearly.
3. Encouge importial evaluation of perfomance or abiltiy one of the geatest
drawbacks to self assessment is threat of subjectivy.
4. Ensure beneficial washback thorought follow-up task.
2.8.3 A Taxonomy Of Selft-And Peer Assessment Tasks
To sum up the possibilities for self-and peer assessment, it is helpful to
consider a variety of tasks within each of the four skills.
Listening Tasks

listening to TV or radio broadcasts and checking comprehension with a partner

listening to bilingual versions of a broadcast and checking comprehension

asking when you don't understand something in pair or group work

listening to an academic lecture and checking yourself on a "quiz" of the content

setting goals for creating/increasing opportunities for listening

Speaking Tasks

filling out student self-checklists and questionnaires

using peer checklists and questionnaires

rating someone's oral presentation (holistically)

detecting pronunciation or grammar errors on a self-recording

asking others for confirmation checks in conversational settings

setting goals for creating/increasing opportunities for speaking

Reading Tasks

reading passages with self-check comprehension questions following

reading and checking comprehension with a partner

taking vocabulary quizzes

taking grammar and vocabulary quizzes on the Internet

conducting self-assessment of reading habits

setting goals for creating/increasing opportunities for reading

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 Writing Tasks

revising written work on your own

revising written work with a peer (peer editing)

proofreading

using journal writing for reflection, assessment, and goal-setting

setting goals for creating/increasing opportunities for writing

The most important is the use of self and peer assessment according to
our class principles of assessement yields a pattern that is quite consistent with
other alteernatives to assessment that have been analyzed in this chapter. The use
of self and peer assessment in a classroom, especially practically, it can achieve
a moderate level with using some procedures as checklist and questionnaires that
explained before, while reliablity is still low. Besides, authenticity and washback
have very high potential because students are centering on their own lingusitic
need and are receiving useful feedback.

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 CHAPTER III
CONCLUSION
3.1 Conclusion
Alternative assessment is part of assessment and test also. In other words,
alternative assessment is close to test, but they have some different characteters
such as practicality, reliability, authenticity and washback. Generally, the test is
more practicality and reliablity than alternative assessment because a alternative
assessment take much time and money to do it. The alternative assessment such
as performance-based learning, portfolios, journals, conferences and interviews
and observation and self and peer assessment too. In fact, many teachers use
alternative assessment because it make and have authenticity and washback for
students than test itself. Besides, it is challenge for teachers how use alternative
assessment but still apply charactheristic’s test that is practicality and reliability.
Generally, the steps for using of alternative assessment but apply practicalty and
realiblty such as giving some explain before give some project to students, and
teachers give some suggestions at project’s students or giving evaluation for
students. Therefore, the teachers have to plan before give some project to their
students so that it can good measured (their score or value).
3.2 Suggestion
The teachers can use this alternative assessment for their students, but the
teachers have to pay attention at parcticality and realibility of the alternative
assessment. Therefore, the teachers have to be smart to make a test is more good
although use alternative assessment so that the test can measure the student’s
skill both skill or knowledge.

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 BIBLIOGRAPHY

Brown, H. Douglas. Language Assessment: Principles and Classroom Practices.

San Fransisco University: Available at Longman.com.

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