The increasing representation of young language-minority students in school settings around the world and recent insights into multilingualism as a potential resource for language learning and development call for a critical study of theoretical and practical implications for the field of language teaching and assessment (Jessner, 2008;Ortega, 2019;Schissel et al., 2019;Shohamy, 2011). Relatively little attention has been devoted to exploring the assessment of very young students' language proficiency in the context of multilingualism. The current study explores the role of multilingualism in language assessment in the Norwegian school context.The study is based on teachers' perceptions and practices as regards the way centrally and locally mandated language assessment is carried out in EFL and Norwegian (language arts) in a multilingual elementary school in Norway. The results of the study identify factors that impact on the enactment of language assessment at the beginner level and the assumptions underlying these practices. The paper contributes to our understanding of issues of validity and social consequences in connection with assessment in a multilingual education environment (Bailey,

Denne artikkelen presenterer en studie av den type læring praktiserende engelsklærere i norsk grunnskole selv rapporterer etter et års videreutdanningsstudium i engelsk. Et pedagogisk utviklingsprosjekt på egen skole inngikk som en sentral del av studiet. Studien gir et innblikk i hvilke aspekter ved skolefaget engelsk som erfarne lærere definerer som hoved­utfordringer i undervisningen og utbyttet de har hatt av prosjektene sine. Artikkelen bygger på data fra den kritiske refleksjonen som lærerne gir uttrykk for mot slutten av prosjektene sine. På bakgrunn av kvalitativ innholdsanalyse av prosjektrapportene identifiseres vesentlige felles språkdidaktiske elementer i lærernes konseptualisering av sin egen rolle og egne prioriteringer overfor elevenes læring. Denne typen lærerforskning kan få viktige følger for opplæringen i studiefaget engelsk i lærerutdanningen. Relevante forestillinger blant praktiserende lærere kan kanaliseres tilbake til lærerutdanningen for på den måten å mediere studentenes profesjonsforberedelse og deres framtidige arbeid som engelsklærere. Sentrale språkdidaktiske tema blir trukket fram, som i sin tur kan fungere som analytiske begreper og verktøy for engelskstudentene i forberedelsen til de komplekse praktiske utfordringer i klasse­rommet. Kontakt med denne typen forskning på egen undervisning som erfarne lærere har gjennomført med fokus på det de opplever som engelskfaglige utfordringer, kan hjelpe lærerstudentene til å knytte sammen teori og praksis og bidra til å senke deres affektive filter når de starter som lærere. Denne artikkelen munner ut i en diskusjon om hvilke former denne tilbakemeldingen fra praksisfeltet kan ta.Nøkkelord: utdanning av engelsklærere, profesjonsutvikling, læreres forskning, læreres læring, språkdidaktikkAbstractThis article presents a study of the learning reported by practising teachers of English in Norwegian primary and lower secondary schools. The teacher reports were in connection with a year’s further-education course in English, which included a pedagogical development project at their own school. This study provides insights into what aspects of the subject the practising teachers defined as their main instructional challenges in the classroom and what their main learning outcomes were. The data for this article are critical reflections articulated by the teachers at the end of their projects. Based on qualitative content analysis, I identified salient language-pedagogical features and commonalities in the teachers’ conceptualisations of their role and priorities with respect to student learning. This kind of language teacher research can have important implications for the way English is taught in initial teacher education. Relevant teacher cognitions can be channelled back to student teachers to mediate their professional preparation in the teacher education programme and their future work as English teachers. The central language-pedagogical issues identified in their research can be used as analytical and reflective tools for student teachers in their preparation for the complex practicalities of the classroom. Exploring the research that practising teachers have conducted into challenges they identified can help students connect theory with practice as well as contribute to lowering the affective filter of novice teachers. This article ends with a discussion of possible forms that this professional feedback loop can take.Keywords: english language teacher education, professional development, teacher research and development, teacher learning, language pedagogy

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