Spanish - Year 8

How will I be assessed?

In class, you will always get plenty of feedback from your teacher as you go along. Listening and reading activities are self-marked with teacher guidance, whereas as developmental advice on speaking and writing is by the teacher. You will be expected to be able to show that you have learnt your Personal Responses Questions informally in lessons at this stage.

More formal testing (recorded in the teacher's eGradeBook) is done online using  locked, school-managed Chromebooks in strict test conditions. The assessment types are as follows:

• eVocab tests

These are very quick to do but will give you and your teacher a good indication of how well you are taking in new vocabulary. They take place several times a year, according to the topic, and as  they are  entirely computer-based, you will get  your results right away.

• eChallenges

These are different from eVocab tests in that they are about applying words in a context, rather than just knowing how to translate a word. That's why they are a challenge. You can expect to have at least two per year in Year 8. You will also get your results right away  for this kind of assessment.

• eListening

This  is a test  in which the teacher plays some short, Spanish audio recordings twice each, and you answer from a range of five multiple choice answers. There is also a transcription section in which the teacher reads out a sentence in Spanish and you type out what you hear. Spelling and accents do not have to be totally accurate when testing this skill. Your results will be released via email later, following teacher review.  

• eReading

This is another type of short eAssessment, in which you have to answer from a range of multiple choice answers related to very short texts. There is also a  translation sentence, in which you need to translate a sentence from Spanish into English. Your results  will be released via email later, following teacher review. 

• eSpeaking

Most weeks you will complete at least one Personal Response Question or PRQ, in which you will devise an answer using a range of quality, scaffolded material. Twice a year you will be told 4 of these questions in advance that you need to learn carefully, as these will be included in your eSpeaking test.

You will be asked 3 of these in a random order. In addition, you must also ask the teacher a question related to the topic,  which you can prepare in advance. Finally you will also need to read an unseen sentence out aloud.

You will do your eSpeaking via video link from another room to the classroom to give you some privacy and your teacher will talk to you using  headphones. 

• eWriting

For many, this is the most challenging of the four language skills. However it is also based on the same material and you are asked to type out the same four PRQ responses you have revised for your speaking.  In this eAssessment, correct spelling and placement of accents do carry weight. There is also a translation sentence in which you have to translate a sentence from English into Spanish. Your results will be released via email later, following teacher marking.