Assessing young learners

Written in a non-academic style for K-6 EFL/ESL teachers, this text outlines about sixty language activities to informally assess the language abilities, attitudes towards learning, and classroom feelings of young learners. Although the book fails to cover basic testing principles in depth, it does provide an interesting hodgepodge of photocopyable materials to supplement EFL/ESL classes for children. The authors contend that young children are often "negatively influenced" by assessment techniques geared to adults (p. 3) and provide an overview of ten common alternative assessment activities such as peer assessment, self-assessment, and portfolio assessment. Ioannou-Georgious and Pavlou's believe in the importance of fostering self-esteem and providing incentives to learning. Assessement, as presented in this book, seems like an afterthought.