This document provides information and ideas for how teachers and students can track and notice progress in language learning. It discusses using tools like tests, feedback, self-assessment, peer support and reflection to demonstrate growth in skills, knowledge and confidence over time. Teachers are also encouraged to track their own progress through activities such as keeping a teaching journal, self-assessment and blogging.

1. Noticing progress
1. What do you know already?
2. Choice of input
3. Share what you’ve learnt
4. How can you apply it?

2. B. How can teachers track student progress?
receptive skills productive skills language use record-keeping
E. How can we notice our progress as teachers? Why bother?
in class outside class over a few weeks/months/years
skills knowledge confidence marketing
C. How can teachers help students notice their progress?
in an activity in a lesson in a unit/across a few lessons
in a year from year to year
young learners (parents?) teens adults 121
elderlyD. How can students track their progress independently?
vocabulary/lexis grammar
speaking writing reading listening
confidence fluency accuracy
A. What is ‘progress’? Why make progress explicit?
What problems can there be with communicating progress?
to students to parents to teachers (about students/teaching)
psychology business
Whatdoyoudoalready?Whatdoyouwanttoinvestigate?

3. WHY do we focus on the sense of
Progress in teaching?
It’s a pain point.
Teachers see the progress, but students often need help to see it.
3
A.
FromKatherineMartinkevich–ThePurplePenofProgress,IATEFL2019

4. Customer Feedback
From a dropout questionnaire:
4
Price
Sense of progress
Teacher support
A.
FromKatherineMartinkevich–ThePurplePenofProgress,IATEFL2019

5. Sense of Progress: WHY
5
Sense of
progress
Student
satisfaction
Value for
money
High net
promoter
score
Sustainability
A.
FromKatherineMartinkevich–ThePurplePenofProgress,IATEFL2019

6. Evaluation results: Students
What would help you feel more progress?
• Test results
• E-learning
• More feedback
www.britishcouncil.org 6
FromKatherineMartinkevich–ThePurplePenofProgress,IATEFL2019

7. The power of small wins and
the progress principle
The progress principle: we found that the most common event
triggering a “best day” was any progress in the work by the
individual or the team. The most common event triggering a
“worst day” was a setback.
If you facilitate their steady progress in meaningful work, make
that progress salient to them, and treat them well, they will
experience the emotions, motivations, and perceptions
necessary for great performance.
Catalysts are actions that support work. They include setting
clear goals, allowing autonomy, providing sufficient resources
and time, helping with the work, openly learning from problems
and successes, and allowing a free exchange of ideas.
When people realize that they have clear and meaningful goals,
sufficient resources, helpful colleagues, and so on, they get an
instant boost to their emotions, their motivation to do a great
job, and their perceptions of the work and the organization.
A.
FromTheHarvardBusinessReviewhttps://hbr.org/2011/05/the-
power-of-small-winsbyTeresaAmabileandStevenJ.Kramer(a
managementperspectivethatcouldbeadaptedintheclassroom,
including‘TheDailyProgressChecklist’

8. A.
C.
E.
How to track progress
If you want to feel progress, you have to track it.
Most of us make advances small and large every
single day, but we fail to notice them because we
lack a method for acknowledging our progress. A
pervasive sense of overwhelm is common.
Whenever I’m feeling overwhelmed, I ask myself:
• How can I create a feeling of progress?
• Is it possible to break this project down into
smaller pieces?
• What are the metrics & milestones that really
matter?
Some ideas: a roadmap, a post-it grid, a daily
calendar, a diary
Fromhttps://jkglei.com/progress/byJocelynK.Glei(fullarticle
includesexamplesofsomeoftheseprogresstrackersandwhyit’s
worthusinganalogue,notdigital,methods)

9. A.
B.
C.
Evaluation + in-company training:
A suggested procedure
1. Needs analysed by training manager/superior in
hierarchy, in consultation with trainee.
2. Target performance levels are established for each
language skill, with prose descriptors and timescales.
3. Placement test gives profile of trainee’s language level.
Identify training gap(s) between this and (2).
4. Draw up training programme based on (2) and (3).
5. Do the training, including progress tests. Modify course
as necessary.
6. Administer a final achievement test based on (2). Was
the course effective?
Adaptedfrompage27-30of‘EvaluationandIn-CompanyLanguage
Training’byPeterStruttintheTESOLFranceEvaluationandAssessment
Journal,Vol6,1999(thereisafullerarticlewithexampleofdescriptors)

10. B.
C.
D.
Assessment for learning
for young learners
• Showing standards and ‘unpacking’ them
for learners to understand them
• Suggesting or showing ways in which your
learners can proceed to reach the aims or
standards
• Teaching autonomy, self-control and self-
discipline
• Students who know how to self-regulate
know when to ask for and get feedback
from others
Frompage40-45of‘AssessmentforLearningforYoungLearners’by
CarolBurghoutintheYoungLearnersandTeenagersSIGjournalC&TS,
Autumn2013(fullarticleshowsexamplesofstandards,howtounpack
themandchecklistsusedinclass)

11. B.
C.
Vocabulary progress in a single
lesson using AnswerGarden
Toseehowtodothisgotohttps://www.cristinacabal.com/?p=9206

12. B.
C.
D. R is for Results (including learner
notebooks)
To feel progress, it is useful to provide some
evidence of learning: comparison of ‘before’ and
‘after’ results, focused reflection activities, tangible
results of time and effort spent. All kinds of pre-
and end-of-course tests could help here, as well
as diaries and portfolios, vocabulary notebooks and
progress charts.
WatchKatherineMartinkevichtalkaboutwhythisisimportant(1-
minutevideo):https://drive.google.com/open?id=1HAR-
9BhV3skRuT7rBvgQS84tf_ckyQMX

13. B.
C.
D.
The “purple pen of progress”
Are you providing time and support for pupils
to respond to the feedback you provide?
Does each piece of feedback provide specific
details about how to improve?
One innovative way to maximise the impact
of feedback is the “purple pen of progress”.
Provide students with purple pens to
complete their improvements based on your
feedback. This provides powerful evidence of
pupils’ ongoing progress over time: the more
pupil changes and additions in purple, the
more effective you know your feedback is.
Readthefullarticlewithmorethinkingpoints:
https://osiriseducational.co.uk/staffroom/article/how-to-demonstrate-
progress/

14. B.
C.
D.
Is it possible to demonstrate pupil
progress during a 20-minute lesson
observation? (a question from OFSTED
inspections)
Absolutely, however, this is not about adopting a range of brand
new and artificial progress checking systems merely for the sake of
it. We need to remember that, in most classrooms, progress is
taking place. Try this for an enormously-reassuring thought: how
hard would we have to work in order to prove that progress was not
taking place? Feel better? I thought so.
Worrying research suggests that the average lesson is made up of
70% teacher input. This fact alone means that pupils are very short
of opportunities to demonstrate what they really can do: it is very
hard to demonstrate progress whilst sitting passively listening to the
teacher.
Readthefullarticlewithmorethinkingpoints:
https://osiriseducational.co.uk/staffroom/article/how-to-demonstrate-
progress/

15. C.
10 ways to demonstrate progress
within a lesson (from primary schools)
• Progress clocks
• Mr. Wrong paragraphs
• Novice, Apprentice, Expert
• KWL charts
• …and more!
Readallofthemhere:https://www.pedagoo.org/ten-easy-ways-to-
demonstrate-progress-in-a-lesson/

16. C.
Using task-based learning
The first aspect to consider is the "Goal" where students reflect upon
their final understanding of the task. On the second aspect students
analyze their performance during the task cycle. Following that, students
choose what the best way to work is for them (individually, pair work or
group work). On the fourth aspect, students think about their linguistic
and functional learning, and finally, students have the opportunity to
give their opinions, suggestions and recommendations based on the task
developed.
Task-basedlearningisexaminedindepthhere:
http://www.scielo.org.co/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S1657-
07902010000200011

17. C. How can you get students reusing
emergent language from the lesson?
Alloftheslidesarehere,withlotsmoreideasandexamples:
https://teacherdevelopmentlab.wordpress.com/2017/02/10/moving-
from-feedback-to-feeding-forward/(tip:usefullscreenmode)

18. Using a learning log
Froma10-minutepresentationbyEstelleHelouin:‘Progress:shallwe
talkaboutit’http://ihtocmay2014.blogspot.com/2014/05/progress-
shall-we-talk-about-it-estelle.html(youcanseetheslidesorwatchthe
fullpresentation)
B.
C.
D.

19. C.
D. Reflective video
Question to students: What did you find
useful about using video to help you
develop your oral skills?
• ‘We were able to check our mistakes by
ourselves.’
• ‘We could see how to make changes.’
• ‘We talked and compared our videos with
our classmates.’
Frompage64-65of‘ReflectiveVideo2:Benefits’byKatRobbinEnglish
TeachingProfessionalIssue109,March2017(readthefullarticlefora

20. C.
D.
L is for Learner Autonomy
If progress means different things to different
people, it makes sense to let each student chart
their own course in learning. All those learner
autonomy principles can in fact help increase the
sense of progress: self-assessment through
various taxonomies and the CEFR scale, reflective
diaries and blogs, focusing on personal goals and
learning pathways, using adaptive learning
systems…
WatchKatherineMartinkevichtalkaboutwhythisisimportant(2-
minutevideo):
https://drive.google.com/open?id=1xopKPqhgGhnfBVhA8MVYw--
x8Yn0mKQA

21. C.
D.
3-2-1 speaking
and peer feedback
After the activity, I asked students to tell
me whether they thought they had
improved by the third time. Almost all said
they did, though one or two said they
actually added more detail rather than
becoming more precise. They also said
they felt their grammar definitely
improved and the feedback was useful.
Readaboutthefullactivityandhowtosetit
up:http://www.anthonyteacher.com/blog/3-2-1-speak-combining-peer-
feedback-accuracy-fluency-and-academic-speaking

22. C.
D.
Success criteria
and self-assessment in writing
Fromhttps://eltplanning.com/2017/06/28/creative-displays-success-
criteria/byPeterClements(blogpostexplainswhat’shappeninginthe
pictures)

23. C.
D. Visual marking codes
Forafullexplanation,
seehttps://eltplanning.com/2017/05/30/assessment-capable-learners-
primary/byKirstenAnneand
https://eltplanning.com/2017/06/28/creative-displays-success-criteria/
byPeterClements

24. Adding reflection to teen classes
C.
ReadmoreandseeexamplesofwhatHelenChapman’steensdid:
https://sandymillin.wordpress.com/2019/04/30/adding-choice-and-
reflection-to-teen-classes-guest-post/

25. C.
Exit tickets
Before students leave (for recess, lunch, the end of
the day, their next class, or are transitioning to
another subject area), they have to hand you a
“ticket” filled out with an answer to a question, a
solution to a problem, or a response to what
they’ve learned. Exit Tickets help you assess if
students have “caught what you taught” and plan
for the next lesson or unit of instruction.
D.
Fora1-minutevideoandafullerexplanation,visit
http://www.theteachertoolkit.com/index.php/tool/exit-ticket

26. C.
Listening and metacognition
Use a listening text as a basis for a text reconstruction
activity, then encourage learners to compare their
reconstruction with the transcript. Give learners a list of
potential difficulties they might have had understanding the
text. Have them circle words/phrases in the transcript that
they had difficulty with and identify what it was that caused
them difficulty. This helps raise their awareness of what
they struggle with, enabling them to target these elements
in any out of class listening work they do. You could also
target difficulties that are common to the majority of
learners, for example doing some receptive pronunciation
work to overcome difficulties in handling the
elisions/assimilations etc. associated with connected
speech. (This idea, I must attribute to Vandergrift and Goh,
2012!)
Formoreideasonmetacognitionintheclassroom,seeLizziePinard’s
fullpost:
https://reflectiveteachingreflectivelearning.com/2013/05/23/bringing-
metacognition-into-the-classroom/

27. D.
P is for Peer support
When organised well, peers can become
real ‘nourishers’ for each other and help us
create the positive feedback loop.
From motivational pairs to peer assessment
activities, there are a lot of ideas that can
help use the group power.
WatchKatherineMartinkevichtalkaboutwhythisisimportant(2-
minutevideo):https://drive.google.com/file/d/1sRARbB-
juEwoy2FAsi7zzhJTPIycOYgC/view?usp=sharing

28. E.
Teacher self-assessment
CompletetheBritishCouncilteacherself-assessment(ittakes15-30
miuntesandyoucansaveitasapdf):
https://teachingenglish.english.britishcouncil.org/assess-my-skills

29. E.
Keep a teaching journal
• Make regular entries.
• Set aside a certain time of the day or week to
make journal entries.
• Anything goes.
• Record your growth and look at small
successes.
• Try to target different aspects of your
teaching to study in more detail.
• Keep track of your time allocations, both
academic and non-academic.
• Reread your journal entries occasionally.
Inmoredetail:
http://www.scholastic.com/browse/article.jsp?id=3749717

30. E.
Blogging for teachers
Reflect on your own learning and teaching by
engaging in the best thinking activity – writing!
What kind of a teacher are you? What kind of a
learner? What is your teaching philosophy or style?
What are your beliefs and preferences? Blogging
will reveal your own story to you! Also, blogging
will help you clear up the head and make sense of
your own thinking, organize and visualize your
ideas, and record your progress.
Reasonfromhere:https://www.edutopia.org/discussion/9-reasons-
why-teachers-should-blogandwhatmakesasuccessfulblog:
https://sandymillin.wordpress.com/2014/04/04/what-makes-a-
successful-blog/(two8-minuteinterviews)

31. E.
C.
D. Language flowers
Findoutwhatthisisandhowitworks
athttps://reflectiveteachingreflectivelearning.com/2014/06/11/helping
-language-learners-visualise-their-linguistic-development/byLizzie
Pinard

32. Sharing
What have you learnt from the input
you read/watched?
What questions do you have?

33. What’s next?
For example:
• 2 things you will do with your (group/YL/121)
students to help them notice their progress
• 1 way you will change how you record progress
• 1 way you will start to track your progress as a
teacher
• 1 idea you will read/watch more about, with 3
questions you want to answer about it
Decide: exactly what, when, how you will do this