SACE Stage 2 ESL and ESL Studies Subject Information Session, February 2012. Focuses on applying the assessment design criteria through task design, based on lessons from moderation and marking in 2011.

1. Aiming for teaching and learning excellence

2. Learning intentions
By the end of this workshop you:
 Will have an understanding of the inter-relationships
between assessment design criteria, task design and
performance standards in Stage 2 ESL and ESL Studies
 Will be able to refine your assessment tasks so that
your students have the best opportunity to achieve the
A standard
…and a small disclaimer...

3. Assessment
design criteria
EVIDENCE OF
LEARNING
Performance
Task design
Standards

4. Assessment
ESL Stage 2 ESL Studies
1. Communication 1. Issue analysis
Study 2. Text Production
2. Text Production 3. Investigation
3. Language Application 4. Examination
4. Investigation

5. Exploring the interrelationships
1. What do the Assessment design criteria really mean?
UNPACK
2. What do they look like in a task?
TASK DESIGN ANALYSIS
3. How do I elicit them?
TASK DESIGN ANALYSIS
4. How do I enable the opportunity to reach the A
standard?
UNPACKING THE PERFORMANCE STANDARDS

6. Assessment design criteria
1. Knowledge and Understanding
2. Analysis
3. Application
4. Communication

7. Knowledge and Understanding
KU1: ideas, concepts and issues in texts
 List, describe, locate, recognise, recall
 Interpret, evaluate, classify, summarize, infer,
compare, explain, predict
 Broad topic and detail of issues

8. KU1: ideas, concepts and issues in texts
ESL Studies/ESL
A. Report on the problems, causes and solutions of your
investigation topic
B. Discuss different points of view of your investigation
topic and reach a justified conclusion
Which task could elicit stronger evidence of learning?
Why?

9. Knowledge and understanding
KU2: relationship between context and texts
 The context that a text occurs affects the language
choices (Field, Tenor and Mode)
 Describe, explain or demonstrate particular
language choices for the context
 Aim for a clearly defined and specific context

10. KU2: relationship between context and texts
ESL ESL Studies
A. Give a formal speech to A. Present a tutorial which
the class explains the main
points of your topic to
the class
B. Give a formal speech
B. Lead a tutorial which
at your good friend’s
helps a small group of
18th birthday party
students develop an
informed opinion of
your topic
Which task could elicit stronger evidence of learning?
Why?

11. Knowledge and understanding
KU3: ways that texts are composed for
specific purposes and audiences
 This relates to an overall understanding of
genre/text types and associated language
features
 Is the student ‘reporting, instructing,
discussing, evaluating or persuading?’
 Important to consider C2,C3

12. KU3: ways that texts are composed for
specific purposes and audiences
ESL ESL Studies
A. Write a newspaper A. Exam: Write a letter
report on passive to the editor giving
smoking your opinion
B. Write an article for the B. Write a letter to the
school newsletter that head of the
explains the dangers of environmental
passive smoking to committee calling for
parents a clean up
Which task could elicit stronger evidence of learning?
Why?

13. Knowledge and Understanding
KU4: Context-specific, technical
vocabulary
 Context specific includes formulaic phrases e.g.
“please hold your applause until the end of the
presentation”
 Consider C2,C3
 Consider the level of technical vocabulary a topic has

14. KU4: Context-specific, technical vocabulary
ESL
ESL Studies
A. Write an article for the
A. Summarise the film and
school magazine about
explain how the
your first day in
characters felt about
Australia arranged marriage
B. Write an article for your B. Using evidence from the
school magazine that film, argue for or against
explains how culture arranged marriages
shock affects
international students
studying at your school
Which task could elicit stronger evidence of learning? Why?

15. Knowledge and understanding
 Critically analyse your task
 Does the task assess the assessment design criteria
specified?
 Does the task direct students to demonstrate their
learning of the specified assessment design criteria?
 Does the student have the best opportunity to achieve
an A performance standard?
 What scaffolding is required outside the task sheet?

16. Analysis
An1: Relationship between purpose,
structure and language features
 Requires students to be meta-cognitive about their
analysis
 Explicit vs implicit evidence
 Why particular language features/structures are
appropriate for a particular text purpose
 Requires reflecting-on-action
 Critical thinking

17. An1: Relationship between purpose,
structure and language features
ESL ESL Studies/ESL
A. How has the purpose of A. Discuss with your
the text influenced its teacher the main ideas
organisation, formality and and your research
language features? process
B. Describe the purpose of B. Discuss the usefulness
your text. Explain why the and effectiveness of your
language and layout you sources in helping you
chose suited the text’s develop your opinion
purpose.
Which task could elicit stronger evidence of learning? Why?

18. Analysis
An2:Location, recording, analysis and
synthesis of ideas, information and
opinions from a range of texts
Analytical processes:
 Breaking information down into parts, determining how
the parts relate
 Comparing, contrasting
 Distinguish between relevant and irrelevant
 Synthesis: reorganising information to suit purpose

19. An 2:Location, recording, analysis and synthesis of
ideas, information and opinions from a range of texts
ESL ESL Studies
A. Report the findings of your A. In the exam essay, use
investigation in no more evidence and quotes from
than 500 words the text to support your
B. Find sources, summarise the argument
information, break down the B. In the exam essay, combine
information into relevant ideas from different texts
parts to write your own ideas and explain them in your
about your topic. own words to create your
argument
Which task could elicit stronger evidence of learning?
Why?

20. Analysis
 Critically analyse your task
 Does the task assess the assessment design criteria
specified?
 Does the task direct students to demonstrate their
learning of the specified assessment design criteria?
 Does the student have the best opportunity to achieve
an A performance standard?
 What scaffolding is required outside the task sheet?

21. Application
Ap1: Selection and use of information
from a range of sources
 “Use” refers to summarising and synthesising
information
 Use information purposefully as evidence
 Selection of sources, and of information

22. Ap1: Selection and use of information from a
range of sources
ESL ESL Studies
A. Report on the findings of A. Based on your research,
your investigation using at write a report on the
least 3 primary/secondary different types of
sources renewable energy
B. Select relevant information B. Based on your research,
from 3 P/S sources to write a discussion essay
formulate your own examining whether or
opinion or communicate not homeowners should
your knowledge of the install solar panels
topic
Which task could elicit stronger evidence of learning?
Why?

23. Application
Ap2: Meaning that is conveyed and exchanged
in familiar and unfamiliar contexts
 Applying language to make meaning-should be
appropriate to the purpose of the text
 Logical structure, systematic
 Most tasks involve an unfamiliar context for students

24. Ap2: Meaning that is conveyed and exchanged in
familiar and unfamiliar contexts
ESL ESL Studies
A. Choose to conduct a sport
report, news report, a A. Write a diary based on
lifestyle report or a report The Princess and the Pea
on a social event…….
B. Recount an event (sporting,
social or political). Present B. Write an online hotel
your recount as a Television review based on The
report for the 6.00pm news Princess and the Pea
to the year 8 class
Which task could elicit stronger evidence of learning?
Why?

25. Application
Ap3: Use of text-appropriate language
features to make meaning
 Cohesive devices important
 Certain language features are necessary in order for the
text to make meaning
 E.g Modal verbs in persuasive texts

26. Ap3: Use of text-appropriate language features to
make meaning
ESL ESL Studies
A. Write an essay
A. Write a response to the summarising the story and
issue of apartheid from the explaining Ana’s personal
perspective of Steve Biko. journey
B. Using examples from the
B. Take the role of Steve Biko.
film, write an exposition
Write a letter to the
essay arguing for or against
president of the United
the statement, “family is
Nations, calling for an end more important than
to apartheid career”
Which task could elicit stronger evidence of learning? Why?

27. Application (ESL)
Ap4: Interaction with other people in order
to convey information and opinions
 Interactions in stage 2 must be more than a simple IRF
exchange
 Must be more than recounting
 Teacher’s role is to pose questions that enable the
student to exemplify, expand, justify, clarify

28. ESL Ap4: Interaction with other people in order to
convey information and opinions
ESL
A. Convey information and express your opinion of the
issue in the text with your teacher
B. Have a debate with your teacher to express and justify
your opinion on the issue. Challenge the opinion of your
teacher using your knowledge and understanding of the
issue
Which task could elicit stronger evidence of learning?
Why?

29. Application (ESL Studies)
Ap4: Use of evidence from a range of sources to
build logical and coherent texts or arguments
 Restructuring of information to be appropriate and
logical in new text/context
 Paraphrasing
 Evidence supports arguments in text

30. ESL Studies Ap4: Use of evidence from a range of sources
to build logical and coherent texts or arguments
ESL Studies
A. In your discussion, explain the key points you found in
your research
B. In your discussion with the teacher, give and justify your
opinion based on your research
Which task could elicit stronger evidence of learning?
Why?

31. Application
 Critically analyse your task
 Does the task assess the assessment design criteria
specified?
 Does the task direct students to demonstrate their
learning of the specified assessment design criteria?
 Does the student have the best opportunity to achieve
an A performance standard?
 What scaffolding is required outside the task sheet?

32. Communication
C1: clarity and coherence in written and spoken
communication, appropriate vocabulary
 Coherence = coherent
 A quality of sentences, paragraphs, and texts
(spoken or written) when all parts are clearly
connected
 Achieved by text connectives, conjunctions, theme
and rheme choices
 Clear purpose – knowing which ‘parts’ are required
for the purpose

33. C1: clarity and coherence in written and spoken
communication, appropriate vocabulary
ESL Studies/ESL
A. Discuss your issue with the teacher, talking about main
ideas and your opinion
B. In the role of an expert explaining key ideas and giving your
opinion, discuss your issue with your interviewer
Which task could elicit stronger evidence of learning?
Why?

34. Communication
C2: Demonstration of grammatical control
and complexity
 Nominalisation, passive voice, complex sentences,
embedded clauses, complex nominal groups,
foregrounding
 Punctuation, spelling

35. C2: Demonstration of grammatical control and
complexity
ESL ESL Studies
A. Demonstrate a recipe of
your choice A. Retell the story from
B. Instruct, demonstrate and Donkey’s point of view
explain the importance of
each step in a recipe of B. Choose one significant
your choice. Include an event from the film and
evaluation of the create a sensational news
ingredients and final report about the event
product
Which task could elicit stronger evidence of learning?
Why?

36. Communication
C3: Use of formal and objective language
 Important that this is only assessed if relevant to the
context, purpose and audience of the text
 Consider the social distance between real or
imagined reader/author

37. C3: Use of formal and objective language
ESL ESL Studies
A. Write a letter from one A. Write a letter from Anh to
film character to another Khoa reflecting on their
childhood
B. Write a formal letter of
B. Write a letter to one of the support from one of his
actors in the film teachers supporting Khoa’s
explaining why his/her nomination as Young
character was impressive Australian of the Year
Which task could elicit stronger evidence of learning?
Why?

38. Communication
C4: Use of interpersonal language to sustain
spoken interaction
 Language that ‘opens up’ dialogue and gives room for
negotiation (modality)
 Paraphrases, summarizes the other person
 Open-ended questions

39. C4: Use of interpersonal language to sustain
spoken interaction
ESL ESL Studies
A. Use your discussion
A. Choose something that activity to check the
interests you and teach it to audience’s
a younger student understanding of your
B. Choose an activity or game topic
that requires two people to B. Lead the group in a
participate. Explain how to discussion of their
play the game to another opinion on the issue
person
Which task could elicit stronger evidence of learning?
Why?

40. Communication
 Critically analyse your task
 Does the task assess the assessment design criteria
specified?
 Does the task direct students to demonstrate their
learning of the specified assessment design criteria?
 Does the student have the best opportunity to achieve
an A performance standard?
 What scaffolding is required outside the task sheet?

41. General advice on task design
 Use the language of the performance standards in your
task
 Make assessment design criteria visible

42. 2 Groups
 Assessment reports
 Performance standards and task design
 Questions

43.  Thank you for your participation
 Please collect your certificate