Here is my PowerPoint presentation, which was presented at the 2012 SITE conference.

1. How Do You Appropriately
Assess English Language
Learners?
Integrating Voxopop Into Classroom
Assessment
Sarah H. Shipley
Department of Educational Studies
St. Mary’s College of Maryland
shshipley@smcm.edu
Lin Muilenburg Ph.D.
Department of Educational Studies
St. Mary's College of Maryland
lymuilenburg@smcm.edu

2. English Language Learners
in America
• Rapidly increasing population in the United
States (Genessee, Lindholm-Leary, Saunders &
Christian, 2005; Hill & Flynn, 2006)
• According to the 2000 census
• 9 Million US children speak a language other than
English at home
• By 2030 ELLs will make up 40% of the
American school population (Flynn & Hill,
2005)

3. Stages of Language Development
Stage Characteristics:
The Student…
Approximate Time
Frame
Preproduction • Has little comprehension
• Does not verbalize
• Nods “yes” and “no”
0-6 months
Early Production • Has limited
comprehension
• Produces on or two
word responses
6 months- 1 year
Speech Emergence • Can produce simple
sentences
• Makes Grammatical and
punctuation errors
1-3 years
Intermediate Fluency • Has very good
comprehension
• Makes few grammatical
errors
3-5 years
Advanced Fluency • Near-Native speech
production
5-7 years
Adapted from: Hill & Flynn, 2006

4. How ELLs Test Best
• Oral language is acquired before writing or reading
skills.
• If you give a student in the Early Production stage a
written test they would fail. But if you sat down with
that student and orally asked them questions they
would orally be able to answer your questions. Because
at the Early Production stage students can take in oral
language and give a one to two word response to a
question.
• Problem: We know that testing orally is time
consuming, and is not as valid (readers intonation
and emotion can give away answers) etc.

5. Voxopop
• Free online e-Learning tool that functions much
like a message board; however, instead of posting
text your posts are voice recordings.
• The site allows the teacher to post a written as well
as an oral question and then the students can
respond orally and have their answer recorded on
the site for later playback and listening by the
teacher.

6. Voxopop
• www.voxopop.com

7. Voxopop

8. Voxopop

9. Voxopop

10. Voxopop
• Simple technology to integrate into your classroom
• Also use if you want your students to record a
speech and then their peers could listen to them and
give them oral feedback.
• Could also be used in foreign language classrooms
for assessment since these students acquire a second
language in the same way ELLs do

11. References
• Abedi, J., Hofsetter, C. H., & Lord, C. (2004). Assessment accommodations for English language learners: Implications for policy-
based empirical research. Review of Educational Research, 79(1), 1-28. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/3516059
• Figueroa, R. A., & Newsome, P. (2006). The diagnosis of LD in English learners: Is it nondiscriminatory?. Journal of Learning
Disabilities, 39(3), 206-214.
• Genessee, F., Lindholm-Leary, K., Saunders, W., & Christian, D. (2005). English language learners in U.S. schools: Overview of
research findings. Journal of Education for Students Placed at Risk, 10(4), 363-385.
• Harry, B., & Klingner, J. K. (2005). Why Are So Many Minority Students in Special Education?: Understanding Race & Disability in Schools.
Teachers College Press.
• Flynn, K. & Hill, Jl (2005). English language learners: A growing population. Mid-Continent Research for Education and Learning, 1-11
Retrieved from http://www.mcrel.org/pdf/policybriefs/5052pi_pbenglishlanguagelearners.pdf.
• Hill, J. D., & Flynn, K. M. (2006). Classroom Instruction that Works with English Language Learners. Alexandria, VA: Association for
Supervision and Curriculum Development.
• Horwitz, E. K. (2008). Becoming a language teacher: A Practical Guide to Second Language Learning and Teaching. Pearson.
• Oxford, R. (2006). Effects of technology-enhanced language learning on second language composition. Hispania, 89(2), 358-361.
Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/20063313 .
• Solano-Flores, G., & Trumbull, E. (2003). Examining language in context: The need for new research and practice paradigms in the
testing of English-language learners. Educational Researcher, 32(2) 3-13. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/3700051.