Despite the crucial role that students play in formative assessment practices, student perspectives on such practices are relatively under-researched. Through a qualitative analysis of 128 reflection notes written by student teachers of English, this article investigates the students' perceptions of formative feedback as part of portfolio assessment at two teacher education institutions in Norway. As such, it contributes to bridging the gap between research and practice. Students received peer and teacher feedback on assignments and wrote reflection notes during the semester. Findings show that students are positive towards teacher feedback and highlight the significance of teacher praise. Main objections raised against peer feedback concern the lack of constructive criticism. However, positive attitudes towards peer discussion groups suggest that they may be a more effective way of implementing peer assessment than formalised written peer commentary. Student reflections suggest that a failure to understand the task and the feedback is a possible hindrance to successfully revising assignments. Overall, students' positive attitudes towards the portfolio process, which includes multiple drafting, suggest that students in higher education would benefit from more opportunities to revise and resubmit their work, yet they need adequate practice in providing peer feedback, and interpreting and implementing feedback in general.

This article investigates how student teachers of English at two different teacher education institutions perceive and use a new digital tool, OneNote Class Notebook. The intervention study explores student responses to and use of a specific digital tool implemented for a specific pedagogical purpose, namely to enhance formative assessment. The data consist of 128 reflection notes written by 40 student teachers during a semester and a focus group interview with three of the students. The results show that the students' attitudes towards the new tool varied considerably. Both the attitudes and the reported use were overwhelmingly related to the perceived ease of use, rather than the learningrelated potential of digital technology. On the other hand, the interview data show that at least some students are aware of the affordances provided by the digital tool for enhancing formative assessment. The article highlights that the transformational potential of digital artifacts rests on teachers and learners alike. The students need to be made aware of the pedagogical, and not just the practical, aspects of digital technology, and be willing to exploit it. The article concludes that more fundamental changes in students' working habits and their expectations of higher education may be required to truly harness the transformational power of digital technology .

Reading in the English subject in both primary and secondary school often involves studying course book texts in detail. Therefore, pupils are rarely exposed to longer texts which require reading for meaning, a skill needed in higher education and working life. With the right reading material, extensive reading (ER) should start already in primary school. This article reports on a study of primary school pupils from three different schools and their perceptions of an extensive reading and writing project, as well as their responses to the reading material offered. The study was designed to address the following research questions:1. Which types of reading material appeal to the pupils in the study?2. What is the role of gender in the pupils’ evaluation of the reading material?3. Are there differences between the pupils’ evaluation of the reading material offered, depending on their previous academic achievement?4. What are the pupils’ attitudes towards (extensive) reading?Two sets of questionnaire data were collected in the course of the project. First, during the reading, the learners were asked to answer a questionnaire about each book they had read or attempted to read. At the end of the project, the learners were asked to complete a questionnaire about their overall perception of the project. The study shows that there was a significant difference between the schools in the evaluation of the reading material, and there was also a significant difference between boys and girls in the perception of the reading material. More¬over, the study shows that the learners valued the chance to select the reading material themselves highly. When carrying out ER with pupils, it is essential to be aware of gender differences in reading preferences and ensure that there are enough books to cater for both boys’ and girls’ particular interests. Moreover, fostering a reading culture in both the Norwegian and English subjects is important.Keywords: extensive reading, gender differences, choice of books, the impor-tance of self-selection of books, motivation for readingEkstensiv lesing i engelsk som fremmedspråk i barneskolenSammendragLesing i skolefaget engelsk i både barne- og ungdomsskolen betyr ofte at elevene må gjøre rede for lærebokteksten på detaljnivå. Derfor møter elevene sjelden lengre tekster som krever forståelse av meningen med teksten, en ferdighet det forventes at de behersker i høyere utdannelse og i arbeidslivet. Med det rette utvalget av tekster burde elevene øve seg på ekstensiv lesing allerede i barneskolen. Denne artikkelen legger frem resultater fra en studie av elever fra tre forskjellige barneskoler og deres oppfatninger av et ekstensivt lese- og skrive-prosjekt i tillegg til deres respons på utvalget av tekster. Forskningsspørsmålene i studien er som følger:1. Hvilke typer lesestoff appellerer til elevene i studien?2. Hvilken betydning har kjønn i elevenes evaluering av lesestoffet?3. Har elevenes tidligere akademiske resultater betydning for deres evaluering av lesestoffet?4. Hvilke holdninger har elevene til ekstensiv lesing?To typer spørreskjema-data ble samlet inn i løpet av prosjektet. Først, i løpet av leseperiodene, ble elevene bedt om å svare på et spørreskjema om hver bok de hadde lest eller prøvd å lese. Når prosjektet var avsluttet, ble elevene bedt om å fylle ut et spørreskjema om deres totale opplevelse av prosjektet. Studien viser at det var en signifikant forskjell mellom skolene i elevenes vurdering av tekstene som ble tilbudt som lesestoff, og det var også en signifikant forskjell mellom gutter og jenter. Dessuten viser studien at elevene satte stor pris på muligheten til å velge lesestoff selv. Når man gjennomfører ekstensiv lesing med elever, er det viktig å være klar over kjønnsforskjeller i elevenes lesepreferanser og forsikre seg om at utvalget av bøker er stort nok til å ivareta både gutters og jenters spesielle interesser. Dessuten er det viktig å utvikle en kultur for lesing i både norskfaget og engelskfaget.Nøkkelord: ekstensiv lesing i engelsk, kjønnsforskjeller, elevers valg av bøker, betydningen av å velge bøker selv, motivasjon for lesing