No abstract

No abstract

In this study we are concerned with the informal dimension of formative assessment (FA) in an L2 classroom. We examine those instances that are embedded into everyday learning activities and that emerge in and through classroom interaction contingently, continuously and flexibly. Drawing on the methodological underpinnings of Conversation Analysis (CA), we uncover the emergence of instances of reference to a past learning event (RPLE) in L2 classroom interaction and highlights its relevance to informal FA. Data from a corpus of video-recordings of an EFL classroom in a preparatory school at tertiary level are presented. It is seen that RPLEs occur when the teacher contingently extends the main instructional activity to focus on what was presented interactionally earlier. In this way, the teacher seeks evidence of student knowledge and understanding and/or acts on the negative evidence already elicited in order to enhance learning and shape instruction. The analysis of RPLE instances also brings evidence for the relation between learning and assessment together with the tracking of language learning behaviour in subsequent learning events from the perspective of CA-SLA. As a result, this study bridges a gap between language assessment and classroom research by suggesting that teachers’ ability to informally assess for formative purposes is an integral part of their classroom interactional competence.

This study aims to reveal the situation about proverb instruction in EFL classrooms by seeking future English teachers' opinions. It is based on the argument that proverbs are an important part of cultural references, figurative, functional and formulaic language; thereby, they lend themselves well to enhancing communicative competence. This study investigates what EFL student-teachers think and feel about English proverb instruction, how they conceptualize proverbs, how they define their knowledge and use of English proverbs, and what they think about the extent to which their English teachers and coursebooks at high school taught English proverbs. In doing so, a questionnaire was designed and administered to freshman EFL student-teachers and semi-structured interviews were conducted with volunteers. The findings revealed that despite those student-teachers' positive attitudes towards proverb instruction, they did not view their knowledge of English proverbs as well as the teaching of proverbs by their English teachers and coursebooks at high school sufficient enough. Furthermore, traditional definitions were reflected in the participants' conceptualization of proverbs. The study has important implications for curriculum and syllabus design in which knowledge of phraseology in general and proverbs in particular should be incorporated as an important component of learners' language competence.

No abstract