BC TEAL is proud to present our 2025 Annual Conference: Disruptive Educational Practices: Strategies for Transformation.
Educators shine in times of change to face unexpected challenges. This is when creativity flourishes by combining proven practices with fresh and innovative ideas. These times call for transformation which can be rooted in tradition or experience, or it can arise through unexplored approaches. The synthesis of old and new ideas drives meaningful progress. Join other insightful and creative educators as we flourish within the power of our community.
Disrupting Assessment: Formative Joy and Summative Strategies While a small percentage of second-language learners embrace an additional language for social reasons, most study English and other languages to complete academic requirements and/or as a necessity for employment (Patel, Solly, & Copeland, 2023). The resulting reality, in both academic and employment contexts, is that, for many learners’, the foremost goal is not to learn a language, but to pass tests. Government standardized tests in particular can be challenging for English-language learners (Coltrane, 2022; Erum, 2023).
This creates two problems for language teachers, both closely tied to learner motivation, and through motivation, retention: How can we inject joy into the formative assessment process to creatively motivate learners to acquire a language? and, What do we need to do to prepare learners for a variety of summative language assessments with confidence?
This interactive presentation focuses on joy by exploring innovative ways learners can show what they have learned in open-ended ways. It then shares practical strategies for teachers to help learners succeed when confronted with a range of standardized test types. The purpose of the talk is to help teachers shift learners’ perspectives away from a short-term hardship to pass academic and employment tests, and instead motivate them to learn language as an enjoyable lifelong commitment.
Coltrane, B. (2002, November). English language learners and high-stakes tests: An overview of the issues. Center for Applied Linguistics Erum, M. (2023, April 24). Standardized tests are failing English language learner students, according to educators and academics. New Canadian Media. www.newcanadianmedia.ca/standardized-tests-are-failing-english-language-learner-students-according-to-educators-and-academics/ Patel, M., Solly, M. & Copeland, S. (2023). The future of English: Global perspectives. British Council
