Speaking: “Interacting with Others" - ON THE PHONE

The handout clearly identifies the skill, competency area, CLB levels and abilities for students talking on the phone. I have tried to present it in “student friendly” language, based on my interpretation of the CLB 2012. 

Whatever the phone task you are using to assess students’ abilities:

·                      Print off the first two pages

·                     Add the title/ task  & date under “On the Phone”

·                      Photocopy

 Download Speaking: Interacting with Others ON THE PHONE CLB 4-8

TIPS …              Arrange pairs so that students sit/stand back to back. That way they can’t see each other, or use body language to communicate. You can record their sessions if you like, but try your best to complete your assessments in real time. That way, you are paid for your valuable time and skill.

As this is a Microsoft Word File, please feel free to modify to your needs.

You may want to:

• Delete or white-out the information for a level you are not assessing
• Add specific language / actions you have taught and want to assess
• Enlarge/ alter the students’ reflection area  

            

 Download Speaking: Interacting with Others ON THE PHONE CLB 4-8

Please let me know if this works for you – or if you have another idea. 

Thank you!

Speaking: Interacting with Others just got easier.

Assessing Speaking: “Interacting with Others” just got easier.

This handout clearly identifies the skill, competency area, CLB levels and abilities.

All this information is presented in (what I hope is) “student friendly” language

and is based on my interpretation of the CLB 2012. 

Whatever the task you are using to assess students’ abilities:

•  Print off the first two pages
• Add the title/ task  & date
•  Photocopy

             Download Speaking: Interacting with Others CLB 4-8

TIPS …             Assess students in class.

If you want to assess speaking AND listening at the same time, record speakers while writing comprehension questions. Then ask students to write answers to your questions. While they are doing that, go back and listen to the recording to fill in the speaking assessment chart. Include comments on pronunciation, grammar, vocabulary, body language, etc.  After a few groups/ individuals have spoken in front of the class, collect and mark “listening” notes, add helpful comments and record scores. In my experience, this is best done with small groups. Sometimes I’ll break a class into groups and assess speakers for one task over a course of a few days. 

As this is a Microsoft Word File, please feel free to modify to your needs.

You may want to:

•  Delete or white-out the information for a level you are not assessing
• Add specific language / actions you have taught and want to assess
• Enlarge/ alter the students’ reflection area  

            

             Download Speaking: Interacting with Others CLB 4-8

Please let me know if this works for you – or if you have another idea. 

Thank you!

Good Learning Anywhere

Thanks to “Good Learning Anywhere” I finally launched this blog. Their step-by-step moodle course helped me understand the benefits and pitfalls of blogging, as well as how to navigate Blogger to create the website I wanted. If you have any students in Ontario interested in upgrading their basic literacy skills, or know people between jobs interested in upgrading, please let them know about the many interesting FREE courses offered at http://goodlearninganywhere.com .

Thanks!

Listening Abilities Index: 4-8

Looking for a tool to help you judge a listening activity's CLB level, or create a level-appropriate assessment? 

Download: Listening Index: 4-8

The Listening Abilities Index includes three tables which help you level questions using key words and concepts that appear in the Canadian Language Benchmarks (CLB) 2012.  

1. ABCs... an alphabetized list of listening abilities  
2. Depth of Understanding ... a brief summary showing thresholds of progression
3. Sorted by Levels... groups abilities by levels 

Find an interesting audio clip. Generate comprehension questions, or read those provided. Identify the abilities needed to answer each question successfully. Look up the abilities in the ABCs list. Assign levels for each question. For example: 

identifying 5Ws/facts = CLB 4 

Identifying an opinion = CLB 5

interpreting opinions = CLB 6 

Let me know if these help, or if you have found other tools you like. 

Download: Listening Index: 4-8

Thanks!

What are the CLB and PBLA?

The Canadian Language Benchmarks (CLB) are a standardized system for measuring an adult language learner’s listening, speaking, reading and writing abilities. At one time, students were given final grades for each of the four skills based on end-of-term exam results. Now, students must demonstrate their abilities for each skill , in four different competency areas, multiple times over the course of a term. They are to collect evidence of Portfolio-Based Language Assessments (PBLA), be able to produce a minimum of eight “artefacts” per skill.

This means each adult student across Canada is now required to present their Instructor with

at least 32 items (4 skills x 4 competency areas x 2 artefacts)

for review, before being given any updated scores.

Doing this when you are teaching one group one level each day is manageable. It’s a very different story when you have students with abilities spanning 3-8 levels…

This Blog is dedicated to the men and women doing their best to help students build the lives they have always dreamed of, while trying to implement PBLA in the Canadian classroom. 

CLB 2012 - The Canadian Language Benchmarks are a national standardized system used for  measuring language proficiency of adult learners in Canada. There are three "stages" spanning 12 levels for each of the four skills: Listening, Speaking, Reading and Writing. Citizenship and Immigration Canada require applicants for citizenship demonstrate a minimum CLB 4 in Speaking and Listening.

Download CLB 2012

      

       

Portfolio-Based Language Assessment (PBLA): Guide for Teachers and Programs provides an outline of roles and responsibilities, expectations and targets.

Download PBLA Guide 2014

  

Welcome / Goal: 16-20 Easy-to-Use Generic Multi-Level Assessment Tools in 24 months.

Welcome to Heather’s PBLA, a monthly blog that hopes to help Canadian ESL Instructors implement PBLA in a multi-level classroom as painlessly and productively as possible.

As Citizenship and Immigration Canada’s PBLA (Portfolio-Based Language Assessments) system is fairly new to us as a sector, with 2016-2018 being identified as our official transition period, I thought it might be useful to have a place were we could share generic assessment tools that could be used to assess various activities demonstrating any one competency, for any skill, across a minimum of three levels.

I might only post one or two items per month, but over two years… with time to experimentation … we should end up with at least 16 -32 solid, easy-to-use handouts that almost anyone can use to meet CIC requirements AND help students achieve their goals.   

Yikes. I think the butterflies have turned into pterodactyls.