Informal Assessment

 

Informal assessment is the part of assessment that does not include written tests; instead, it collects information about students’ performance during normal every day lessons. This information can be collected by observation, checklists, band scales, portfolios, etc. Not only linguistic factors like reading, listening, fluency, intonation, etc. can be assessed informally, but also non linguistic factors like attitude, group work, project work, homework, participation, and so on. It is important that assessment criteria are clear and that the teacher is objective, so that the resulting information is reliable.

Melanie L.

 

Informal Assessment could be defined as the gathering of information teachers get constantly in everyday classroom activities that involve the four language skills (speaking, writing, listening and reading). To do informal assessment effectively teachers need to do systematic observation. In other words, they must know beforehand what to assess, the value of each area taking into account, and establish reasonable assessment criteria which are teachers’ expectations on students. There are also other factors that teachers can assess. For example, class attendance, citizenship, cooperativeness, creativity, independence, etc. It is very important that teachers and students have a clear understanding of the evaluation criteria since the beginning of the course. This way students will be aware of teacher’s expectations and conflicts could be avoid.

Alfonso L.

Well for what I understood is that informal assessment is very important in the classroom but we also need to have a balance between the informal and the formal assessment. I like also the idea of using both types of assessment because in that way the student doesn't feel too pressured because the assessment will only be formal. Well informal assessment is when the teacher gives a grade to a student only with observation of the teacher, class attitudes, behavior, class activities, etc. without giving any tests.

Sarahi A.