In the academic year 2010/2011, I taught the Language Testing and Evaluation module on the National University of Singapore’s Master of Art (MA) in Applied Linguistics programme. Coincidentally, all the seven candidates who took my
module were Singaporean teachers. Our discussion in class on AfL piqued me to design a prototype assessment for listening and viewing. Given “the importance of developing information, media and visual literacy skills” (English Language Syllabus 2010, p.16), I chose authentic materials from the internet: a) “an advertisement within an advertisement” video clip: the scene of a lady wanting to buy a burger in a wrong context is juxtaposed with the classic features of a prestige car; and
b) a song with much angst about the world we live in and made famous by American idol, Adam Lambert, that students would readily identify.