CRITICAL REFLECTION

The lesson designed in Task II is to focus on language arts with the integration of reading skill, writing skills and also listening and speaking skills. The assessment conducted in the lesson included reciting a jazz chant, producing their own jazz chants, and producing a creative work based on the jazz chant. According to Chitravelu, N., Sithamparam, S. & Teh, S.C (2005), a test is a yardstick a teacher uses to measure the performance of a student. In other words, teacher uses test to measure the achievement of a student. In Malaysia, in each teaching and learning process, there is an on-going test being carried out by teacher. The on-going test in the class is used to measure pupils performance and to keep track of pupils strengths and weaknesses in mastering the lesson taught.

Performance-based assessment, according to Norris et al. (1998), involves testtakers in the performance of tasks that are as authentic as possible (p.8). In order to judge the outcome of such content-valid tasks, productive and observable skills, such as speaking and writing, are almost always implied (Brown, Hudson, Norris, and Bonk, 2002a,2002b). By saying so, this means that the test designed in Task II falls under performance-based assessment.

In the lesson that has been conducted, there are three tests as what have been mentioned earlier. But, to what extend does the assessment administered in teaching and learning activity in class can be utilized as an effective tool in a Malaysia primary ESL classroom? To answer the question, there are four principles namely validity, reliability, practicality and authenticity that should be taken into consideration to ensure the effectiveness of the lesson.

But before that, I would like to talk about the stages in developing the test instruments. First and foremost, we should identify the purpose of the test. The purpose of an assessment is what Bachman and Palmer (1996,pp. 17-19) refer to as test usefulness or ,very simply put, to what use will you put an assessment. Before designing the test, we should step back and consider the overall purpose of the exercise or task that the students are about to perform. The purpose of the test to the pupils should be significant and would assist them to improve their learning or language skills.

Moving on would be determining the objectives of the test. The objectives of the test are determined based on the standard specifications, pupils previous knowledge, pupils achievement and interest. The objectives of the test should be clearly stated and unambiguous. As a teacher and administer of the test, he or she should be able to know what the students know and what they are able to do based on the lesson conducted daily. By having that information, the teacher would be able to determine the accurate objectives of the test to be employed.

The next stage in developing the test instruments would be drawing up test specifications. According to Brown.H.D, & Abeywickrama.P. (2010), test specifications for classroom use can be an outline of a test what it will look like. After drawing up my own test specifications, I realized that it is important in ensuring the validity of the test. It is a form of specifications where I could see the limitations, boundaries, directions and other details need adhere to.

Next would be devising the test items. At this stage, the teacher plays an important role in devising the appropriate and accurate test items for the pupils. It should be compatible with the time allocation and suit pupils level or proficiency. From my experience, I learned that devising test items require a lot of patience as the test items should be precise and accurately assess specific skills.

Administering the test would come next as the teacher considers some of the measures to take in ensuring the actual administration of the test. Based on the test I designed, the administration of the test took place on-going as it was a performance-based assessment. The test was being assessed from the beginning till the end as there were three forms of tasks that require the pupils to perform. As pre-considerations, the teacher should ensure that the test information is ready and in its best shape. Aspects such as rubrics, time limit and materials should be ready in time. During the administration, the teacher should ensure that the test-takers are all ready and the condition of the administration are comfortable as well.

The last stage in designing the test instrument would be the score or feedback. The assessment I designed comprised of three tasks. The scoring plan reflects the relative weight that placed on each section. Since the test designed is in the form of performancebased assessment, the score to be given is in the form of criteria which specified in the rubrics. Aspects such as content, accuracy, organization and effort are the examples of criteria being assessed. Apart from that, positive feedback should also be given in order to acknowledge pupils effort instantly. These includes Good job!, Well done!, Impressive, I love that! and so on. I learned that giving feedback is important as it motivates the pupils and also giving them opportunity to learn about their mistake and eventually improved.

Now, I would like to talk about the four basic principles I took into consideration while constructing the assessment. They are mainly: Validity According to Chitravelu, N., Sithamparam, S. & Teh, S.C (2005), a test is said to have validity when it tests what it claims to be testing. For the test that I have conducted in Task II, I believe that the test is valid because I am testing pupils reading skills, listening and speaking and also writing skills in a language arts lesson. During the lesson, pupils are able to perform the jazz chant with enjoyment and able to read it accurately. They are also very creative in producing their own creative works based on the jazz chant by writing the jazz chant on the manila card. This test is also effective because it is designed for mixed ability classes. In terms of face validity, in my opinion, the test that I designed contains an expected format with familiar tasks. Pupils know that they have to rewrite the jazz chant and produce their own based on the pictures given. The test is testing what they have learnt earlier. Besides that, the test can be completed within time limit given to the pupils. This might be because the test is designed for mixed ability classes. As a result, the difficulty level of the test is compatible to pupils. This result also influenced the objectives taught that we want to test. The test is valid because the objectives of the lesson are achieved. In short, the validity of the test is high because of its effectiveness to be used as a tool in Malaysia primary ESL classroom.

Reliability I believe that the pupils in the class that I have been tested can score almost the same result if they were to be tested for the second time. A test is considered as reliable if the test-

takers able to get the same score no matter where or when they take the test. There are also some factors that can influence the reliability of a test. For example, during the test that I have conducted, the pupils enjoyed the lesson very much. They love to recite the jazz chant and getting to know sea creatures. As they love to chant and get to know the sea creatures, they are more eager and motivated to produce their work. They have the will to complete the task because what is taught is about something that they like. As a result, if the test is conducted in other places or other time, pupils achievement or scores in producing the jazz chant would almost be the same. Besides that, test administration reliability deals with the conditions in which the test is administered. During the test, I believe that the pupils are sitting in comfortable position. The situation outside the class is also not very noisy. This enabled pupils to complete their task comfortable. The condition of the chairs and tables that they used are also good. In short, pupils completing the task during the lesson were in a good mood and thus, it resulted high reliability to the result of the test. If the test is conducted in other schools in Malaysia that have almost the same surrounding as SK Batu 4, I believed that the pupils from other school are also able to score almost the same score with pupils from SK Batu 4.

Practicality According to Brown H. D. and Priyanvada Abeywickrama (2010), practicality refers to the logistical, down-to-earth, administrative issue involve in making, giving and scoring an assessment instrument. The statement that has been stated by Brown and Priyanvada should be considered significantly while designing a test. It would not be practical if the test required hours of the teachers time to prepare and correct. It is no use to give the test to pupils if there is no feedback from teacher. Other than that, I found out that I was able to carry out the assessment smoothly and able to get the pupils to present their work where feedback was given. This indicates that the marking or evaluation procedure of the test is time-efficient. In addition to that also, the time allocated for the student to complete the task is appropriate to its level of difficulties. Pupils can contextualised and relate the jazz chant with real life. They are able to spell and identify the sea creatures. Other reason which indicates that the assessment was practical was that the production of the assessment is inexpensive. Teacher does not need to spend much money to prepare the assessment as the materials needed were only papers and manila card. In conclusion, as a result of its practicality, the assessment is concluded as an effective tool that can be utilized in a Malaysia primary ESL classroom.

Authenticity The tested item in Task II is closely related to the topic taught. The authenticity of the test is undeniable because the test was a performance-based assessment and contain natural language that got the pupils to use the language. As teacher knows their pupils background, it is easier for teacher to decide the difficulty of the test ,which was the jazz chant. According to Stiggins R. J. as cited in Mueller J. (n.d), performance assessments call upon the examinee to demonstrate specific skills and competencies, that is, to apply the skills and knowledge they have mastered. For example, in the assessment conducted in Task II, pupils are required to perform the jazz chant. While pupils performing the jazz chant, teacher were able to analysed pupils competencies in reciting the jazz chant. Jazz chant recital is one of the activities in language arts. When pupils already know the lyric of the jazz chant, pupils are required to perform a role play based on the same jazz chant. Here, pupils are applying the skills and competencies they acquired earlier. This made the test can be contextualized by the pupils. They are able to relate the task with what they have learnt before. The test is also considered as a real-world task. It involves chanting, role play and being creative by producing jazz chant. All of these tasks are relevant to pupils. Thus it made the test more meaningful to pupils. In short, pupils will learn in a fun, meaningful, and purposeful way because of the authenticity of the assessment used in the lesson. This indicates that the lesson is effective to be used in a primary ESL classroom in Malaysia.

In conclusion, the assessment administered in Task II can be utilized as an effective tool in any primary ESL classroom in Malaysia. The assessment was constructed wisely based on four principles of language assessment. Teachers should take note on the principles of language assessment in order to construct a good test. A good assessment would help teachers to measure pupils achievement and also to evaluate own teaching and learning preparation.