Supplement 1: Glossary – PBLA Practice Guidelines

PBLA Background

Supplement 1: Glossary

This is a glossary of terms frequently used in discussions about PBLA, including discussions about ESL curriculum planning, teaching and learning English, and assessment.

Action-Oriented Feedback	Feedback that provides students with a way forward to close the gap between current and desired performance. Action-oriented feedback focuses on what students are doing that they should continue to do, what they need to do more of, what they might consider doing, and what they should stop doing.
Adequate (criterion descriptor)	There is no confusion in meaning, it is good enough to be understood by others just the way it is even though the spoken or written text lacks accuracy and details.
Analytic Criteria	Criteria related to appropriateness, sufficiency, and accuracy of specific factors related to communication, such as grammar, pronunciation, vocabulary.
Anecdotal Evidence	Recorded comments relating to skills and strategies a learner has developed during the course that demonstrate personal growth and learning, such as the learner’s ability to self-correct or their new independence from an electronic translator. Anecdotal evidence is not an artefact used in evaluation; it is used in reviewing progress toward personal goals.
Appropriate (criterion descriptor)	Demonstration of the ability to correctly adapt spoken or written text to specific audiences or purposes, such as by using the correct level of formality or cultural references that would be made by L₁ speakers and writers of English, etc.
Artefact	A skill-using or assessment task added to the portfolio section of a learner portfolio and reviewed during portfolio evaluation.
Assessment	The process of collecting information about student learning. Throughout the learning process, assessment is used to inform teaching and student learning. As a result of assessment, teachers can adjust their teaching. Students also benefit from assessment. They need to receive a considerable amount of descriptive feedback to enable them to continue or adjust what they are doing to be effective learners.
Assessment of Learning	Summative assessment: assessment after learning to determine what has been learned
Assessment for Learning (AfL) Strategies	Five key strategies that are particularly effective in promoting learning in the classroom by Leahy et at.: Clarify and share learning intentions and criteria for success. Engineer effective classroom discussions, questions and learning tasks. Provide feedback that moves learners forward. Active students as the owners of their own learning. Activate students as instructional resources for one another.
Assessment Task (AT)	A task that is designed to assess learning, is aligned to specific CLB performance conditions and competencies, has predetermined criteria for success, and is administered under consistent, test-like conditions
Awareness-Raising activities	Learning activities intended to engage students in a topic, determine what they already know, and focus their attention on specific features of a task or text.
CALL	Computer Assisted Language Learning) Any process in which a learner uses a computer, i.e. computer, network, peripheral devices, PDAs, MP3 players, mobile phones, SMART Boards, etc. and, as a result, improves his or her language.
Class Profile	A chart with intake CLB levels of learners in the four different language skill areas that allows teachers to see a snapshot of the actual CLB levels represented in each skill area. A class profile assists teachers in planning for assessment across more than one level.
Classroom-Based Assessment	Assessment in which teachers plan for and implement their own assessment instruments and procedures to monitor and evaluate student progress in their classrooms. Also referred to as “teacher-based assessment” or “authentic assessment.”
Communication Event	A series of language tasks carried out to accomplish a particular social purpose: for example, getting a medical check-up comprises many tasks – locating a doctor’s phone number, calling to book the appointment, announcing one’s arrival, filling in a health history, and so on. Also called a “language event.”
Communicative Competence	The ability to communicate or understand messages effectively and appropriately in specific social situations.
Context	The social situation in which a message occurs, such as workplace, library, school medical clinic, or store. Each context has different expectations and conventions, which inform communication choices.
Criteria	Indicators of successful performance by which an assessment task will be judged. Also called “performance criteria.”
Criteria Checklist	A list of CLB-aligned criteria by which a task will be assessed.
Criteria-Referenced Assessment	Assessment based on specified criteria.
Curriculum	An outline of instructional goals, principles, standards, approach to instructional practice, needs assessment, learning objectives (intended outcomes), assessment tasks, learning activities, resources, and materials.
Descriptors	A word or expression used to describe or identify performance in assessment criteria. The CLB document frequently uses adequate, appropriate, good and very good as descriptors of ability.
Discourse	A piece of spoken language. Discourse may consist of one word (e.g., “Careful!”) or may be of considerable length. Also referred to as “text.”
Document Observation	Recorded observation of a learner’s completion of a CLB-aligned listening or speaking task (e.g. greetings, making requests, apologies) as part of everyday activities of the classroom. Documented observations can be included as artefacts if the tasks are consistent with CLB expectations at the level being assessed.
ESL Literacy Learners	Adult immigrants who need to learn English, and are not functionally literate in their L₁.
Expository Text	Spoken or written language whose intention is to set forth or explain.
Evaluation	The process of reviewing collected evidence and making a judgment about whether students have learned what they need to learn and how well they have learned it. Evaluation is used to tell students how well they have performed as compared to a set of standards. Typically, evaluative feedback is encoded: that is, it is reported using numbers, letters, checkmarks, and so on.
Evaluation Results	CLB levels assigned as the result of reviewing sufficient evidence (8 to 10 artefacts) in a skill area. Guidelines for what to assign to new learners vs continuing learners who are not successful in a skill area (i.e. NA, IE) can be found in the document Reporting Progress in iCARE and PBLA.
Feedback	Information that results from formal or informal assessment and that is used by teachers and students to enhance teaching and learning.
Formative Assessment	The ongoing collection of information and feedback about the effectiveness of teaching and learning activities in order to inform or modify instruction.
Functional Knowledge	Knowledge of language functions or speech acts.
Genre	A socially recognized, staged, goal-oriented way of using language: for example, a report, lecture, or letter. A genre typically has common features, text-structure, or moves.
Global Performance Descriptors	A brief account of a student’s general English language ability: that is, the typical characteristics of a student’s language at a particular level. In the CLB document, these characteristics are described under the Profile of Ability, in the section ‘demonstrating these strengths and limitations’.
Goal Statement	A personal learning intent achievable within a specific time frame.
Good (criterion descriptor)	Better than acceptable or adequate; enough accuracy and details for meaning and intent to be communicated through speaking or writing even though improvements could be made.
Holistic Criteria	Criteria related to overall effectiveness of communication; measures whether the listener or reader would understand the speaker or writer enough to take action. Not a summary of the performance on analytic criteria.
Inter-rater reliability	The level of agreement attained between independent raters of student performance, often expressed as a percentage of agreement or as a correlation between the scores of two raters on the same group of students.
Interlocutor	A person actively engaged in a conversation. Also called an “interactant.”
L₁	A person’s first language or mother tongue.
L₂	A person’s second or additional language.
Language Task	The communicative real-world use of language to accomplish a specific purpose (language function) in a specific social situation.
Lead Teacher	A classroom teacher who assists other classroom teachers in PBLA implementation by providing orientation, support, recommendations for resources and professional development sessions.
Learning Activity	An activity designed by the teacher to raise awareness, build or practise skills, use skills to negotiate meaning in a simulation of a real-world task, or transfer skills and knowledge to a new situation. Also referred to as a “learning task.”
Learning Reflection	A metacognitive strategy employed by a student to monitor and reflect on the process of learning. It may include reflection on what was learned, what was easy or difficult, what helped learning, what hindered learning, or next steps.
Lesson Plan	A description or outline of the series of learning activities and procedures a teacher uses to achieve learning objectives. It often also identifies the materials and resources that will be used.
Levels of Comprehension	Levels at which listeners and readers comprehend text. In PBLA, three main levels are considered and implemented in crafting comprehension questions for listening and reading tasks: literal (understanding specific information in the text), interpretive (integrating information and making inferences) and applied (using information in the text to express opinions and form new ideas).
Linguistic Knowledge	Knowledge at the sentence level of grammar, vocabulary, and pronunciation (including rhythm, stress, and intonation) or, in written text, graphology and orthography. Also known as “grammatical knowledge.”
Main Competency Area	The CLB competency area that reflects the main purpose of the communication. Real-world tasks often reflect more than one competency area, but skill-using and assessment tasks usually address only the main competency area in order to focus the learning and keep the criteria for assessment manageable.
Measure of Success	The score and/or key CLB criteria needed for successful completion of the task in the real world and for the CLB level. In PBLA, all assessment tasks require a measure of success; skill-using tasks do not include a measure of success as only evaluative comments are given.
Moderate (v.)	The process of ensuring consistency of assessment among teachers, aligned to a specific standard. Also referred to as “calibrate.”
Module Plan	A description or outline of the content, skills and strategies that will be the focus of instruction in a unit or series of lessons. Focuses on what will be taught.
Multilevel Class	A class in which more than one CLB level is assessed. These classes may be designated across two or more benchmark levels (for example, CLB 1-2), or they may be single level classes (for example CLB 4) that include learners with benchmarks levels higher or lower than the designated CLB level in one or more language skills.
Needs Assessment	An investigation to determine the needs, interests, learning styles, circumstances, and goals of the learner.
Norm-Referenced Assessment	An assessment designed to measure and compare individual students’ performances or test results to those of an appropriate peer group (that is, a norm group) at the classroom, local, or national level. Students with the best performance on a given assessment receive the highest grades.
Observational Record	A record kept by the classroom teacher of any documented observations of student abilities. Observational records are considered after skill-using tasks in a portfolio evaluation.
Outcome	The result of an intervention, program, or instruction.
Outcome Assessment	Assessment of the results of instruction.
Peer Assessment	Feedback on a task from a peer or classmate that is aligned to specific criteria.
Performance Conditions	The specific conditions that establish the purpose of communication: setting/place, audience, topic, time constraints, length of task, supports allowed, and so on.
Performance Criteria	Indicators of successful performance by which an assessment task will be judged.
Persuasive Text	Spoken or written language intended to persuade or convince.
Placement Assessment	A low-stakes assessment to get a snapshot of a person’s general language proficiency in order to place him or her in the appropriate language class.
Portfolio	A collection of samples of tasks or products.
Pragmatics	The ability to use appropriate language in a given communicative situation. It comprises functional, paralinguistic (gestures, eye contact, interpersonal space, etc.), and sociolinguistic knowledge.
Rating scale	A set of categories (e.g., Not at all, Somewhat, Often, Always) designed to elicit information about a quantitative or a qualitative attribute. In the social sciences, common examples are the Likert scale and the 1 to 10 scale, in which a person selects the number that is considered to reflect the perceived quality of something.
Real World Task	Authentic language tasks aimed at communicating or understanding a message and achieving a communicative purpose in the real world, outside of classroom tasks for learning or practicing English.
Realia	Refers to real materials: that is, materials not made specifically for ESL students, such as library card forms, prescription labels, school notices, hydro bills, flyers, catalogues, recipes, and traffic signs.
Reliability	The degree to which an assessment yields consistent results.
Register	A specific application of a genre: for example, a report is a genre; a weather report is a register.
Rubric	A fixed scale with specific performance characteristics arranged in levels (0-3 correct, 4-7 correct, 8-11 correct, etc.) that describe each score in a range for a particular outcome.
Scale	An assessment tool that involves marking on a continuum. Each of two end points is assigned a meaning, and performance is rated in relation to the extremes.
Self-Assessment	Checking one’s own performance: that is, what one can do and how well one’s abilities align with a specific standard or set of criteria.
Skill-Building Activities	Learning activities focused on developing accuracy of form and use of a specific, discrete aspect of language use.
Skill-Using Tasks (SU)	Real world tasks that require learners to approximate, in class, the kind of language required of them beyond the classroom. These tasks can be thought of as practice or rehearsal for real world tasks and may include some scaffolding before execution.
SMART Goals	Goals that are specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and time-bound.
Social Situation	The context in which communication occurs, such as workplace, library, medical clinic, or school. The expectations and conventions of a particular social situation inform communication choices.
Sociolinguistic Knowledge	Knowledge of the relationship between language use and society. It encompasses knowledge of how situational variables such as the relationship or status of speakers impacts communication. It includes pragmatic knowledge.
Speech Act	An utterance that serves a function in communication, such as an apology, a greeting, or a request. A speech act may be one word or may require a series of “moves,” or smaller units of discourse.
Standardized Test	A test that has been developed from tryouts and experiments to ensure that it is reliable and valid and that is administered under uniform procedures.
Strategic Competence	The ability to use effective strategies to manage the selection, integration, and application of various aspects of language to understand or communicate a message in a specific context. It includes compensatory, repair, and enhancement strategies.
Summative Assessment	Information and feedback collected at the end of a learning unit or program to document progress and achievement of communicative proficiency.
Task Analysis	The breakdown of a task into discrete steps and texts. Also referred to as a “communication event analysis.”
Task-Based Instruction	Instruction focused on the language tasks that students need to carry out in specific social situations or settings.
Teacher-Based Assessment	Assessment in which teachers plan for and implement their own assessment instruments and procedures to monitor and evaluate student progress in their classrooms. Often called “classroom-based assessment” or “authentic assessment.”
Text	A piece of spoken or written language. A text may consist of one word (e.g., “DANGER!”) or may be of considerable length.
Text Analysis	A systematic breakdown of the various aspects of communicative competence in a written or oral text.
Text Type	The category to which a text belongs depending on its purpose: to inform, persuade, describe, and so on. Whole or parts of texts with specific features – such as patterns of language, structure, or vocabulary – that help to achieve the purpose may belong to the same text type.
Text Structure	The method used by the author or speaker to organize text, such as sequencing, compare and contrast, cause and effect, or problem and solution.
Textual Knowledge	Knowledge of genre and text-type features, including coherence and cohesive devices for building longer or extended discourse or texts. Also known as “discourse knowledge.”
Traditional Assessment	The administration of exit or standardized tests developed by outside “experts” at the end of a term or course for evaluation purposes.
Transfer	The carrying over of learned behaviour from one situation to another.
Utterance	What is said by one person before or after another has spoken. An utterance may be one word, one sentence, or many sentences.
Validity	The reliability of an assessment in measuring performance on an assessment task; validity measures include ensuring that learners respond to the assessment independently, without using inappropriate means or help from others.
Very Good (criterion descriptor)	Better than good; very little that requires improvement in terms of accuracy or details for meaning and intent to be communicated through speaking or writing.
Willingness to Communicate (WTC)	The probability that one will choose to initiate communication, given the opportunity to do so.