Mirror, mirror on the wall: identifying processes of classroom assessment

Rea-Dickins, Pauline

doi:10.1191/026553201682430120

Cited by 39 publications

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“…Studies have been carried out on primary classroom assessment (Rea-Dickins 2001, Pryor and Lubisi 2002, O'Sullivan 2004, Jane, 2012 but the present study seeks specifically to find out teachers' approaches to language classroom assessment in the primary school in Cameroon. One way to check on the language learning progress of children is by examining the approaches to classroom assessment.…”

Section: Researching Classroom Assessment: Gaining a Teacher's Perspementioning

confidence: 99%

Teachers’ approaches to language classroom assessment in Cameroon primary schools

Tante

2013

EIRJ

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Assessment has a huge impact on ESL primary pupils, in part, because on the curriculum English is both a subject and also a language of learning all the other subjects. For children still acquiring L1 it is daunting sometimes to be expected to understand concepts in L2. It may be difficult then to gather information to make an impartial judgement with regards to a pupil's language level. This study is a preliminary inquiry that attempts to find out teachers' approaches to classroom assessment in Cameroon primary schools.Using a qualitative open-ended question the researcher finds out three main categories of assessment approaches used by teachers. From the categories extrapolations on possible assumptions that guide teachers' choices of assessment procedures are described and suggested for future study. Keywords Classroom assessment approach, Cameroon, scheme of work, ESL/EFL, Young Learners Language learning in a bilingual contextCameroon has maintained a bilingual policy since re-unification between West Cameroon (English-speaking) and East Cameroon (French-speaking), in 1961. In spite of attempts to harmonise both systems of education and develop a "Cameroonised" version, it has never reached a satisfactory conclusion because it is a delicate political issue. Therefore, English-speaking Cameroon followed its own system of education until the 1998 when Law No. 98/004 of 14 th April was passed organising the Cameroon educational system into two subsystems, English-speaking and French-speaking. Francophones from pre-school to university (Kouega, 2002, Bobda, 2004.To Englishspeaking primary school pupils, then, English is taught as a second language (ESL)unlike French-speaking pupils who learn English as a foreign language (EFL).Broadly, ESL would try to access the transactional and practical side of English as in EFL plus the whole range of skills, abilities, cognitive processes and the cultural nuances of the language through space and time. The primary school pupil has to learn the language as subject and as language for accessing the other subjects on the curriculum. English language syllabusThe primary school syllabus for English language informs the framework in the process of teaching, learning and assessment. The objectives in the Preamble to the English language syllabi state that after six years of study:[T]he primary pupil must acquire good command of the language at four levels: listening, speaking, reading and writing. All four language skills should be developed to avoid training pupils who could master reading and writing well but not be able to express themselves orally with efficiency. This English syllabus tries to cater for the three domains of learning i.e. the cognitive, the psychomotor and the affective and also specifically to find out teachers' approaches to language classroom assessment in the primary school in Cameroon. One way to check on the language learning progress of children is by examining the approaches to classroom assessment. The assumption is that the syllabus objecti...

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Section: Researching Classroom Assessment: Gaining a Teacher's Perspementioning

confidence: 99%

Teachers’ approaches to language classroom assessment in Cameroon primary schools

Tante

2013

EIRJ

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“…FA originally emerged in mainstream education (Black & Wiliam, 1998) and is gaining momentum in language assessment research. It is now recognized that formative language assessment is dynamic, locally situated and co-constructed in classroom interaction; thereby, it involves not only formal but also informal processes (Leung, 2004;McNamara, 2001;Rea-Dickins, 2001). Thus, it has been reconceptualized as a 'part of everyday practice by students, teachers and peers that seeks, reflects upon and responds to information from dialogue, demonstration and observation in ways that enhance ongoing learning' (Klenowski, 2009, p. 264).…”

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“…This reconceptualized definition highlights the informal and dynamic nature of assessment by stating that it is a part of everyday practice and by marking the informal ways of eliciting evidence for student knowledge and understanding (i.e., dialogue, demonstration and observation). Likewise, several studies have also acknowledged the informal dimension of assessment by viewing it as a continuum of practices ranging from formal to informal (Davison & Leung, 2009;Hill & McNamara, 2012;Rea-Dickins, 2001;Ruiz-Primo, 2011;Turner & Purpura, 2016). These studies have mainly discussed the extent to which assessment practices are planned, embedded or graded and/or have considered the form and source of the assessment (e.g., teaching activities, interaction, etc.)…”

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confidence: 99%

“…Drawing on the several classifications of assessment practices along the formal-informal continuum and following Ruiz-Primo (2011) and Rea-Dickins (2001) in particular, in this study, we use the term informal and rely largely on the form and source of the assessment to identify it as informal rather than on whether it is planned or not. The reason for selecting this criterion is that this study focuses on classroom interaction as the form and source of assessment, and planning cannot always be observable in the analysis of interaction.…”

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Reference to a past learning event as a practice of informal formative assessment in L2 classroom interaction

Daşkın

Hatipoğlu

2019

Language Testing

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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.

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“…Classroom assessment is varied and includes different teacher-constructed assessment tasks used for both summative and assessment purposes, with formal and informal dimensions of practice (Rea-Dickins, 2001). Classroom assessment is varied and includes different teacher-constructed assessment tasks used for both summative and assessment purposes, with formal and informal dimensions of practice (Rea-Dickins, 2001).…”

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The promise and reality of formative assessment practice in a continuous assessment scheme: the case of Trinidad and Tobago

Lisle

2014

Assessment in Education: Principles, Policy & Practice

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Continuous Assessment (CA) systems are externally directed, curriculum-based assessment schemes used for both summative and formative purposes within classrooms. CA has been implemented as national policy in several postcolonial developing countries and is believed to hold great promise for improving education outcomes. This theory-driven evaluation (TDE) used a mixed methods research design to interrogate the nature of CA practice. The focus was on stakeholders' understanding and practice of formative assessment in the CA Programme (CAP) of Trinidad and Tobago. The integrated findings suggest that the programme planners' formative intent was often not fulfilled. Instead, teachers routinely recorded assessment marks without using the data. There is evidence that formative assessment practice was not congruent with teachers' pedagogical beliefs and practices. Although the design of CA schemes suggests the possibility of synergy between formative and summative purposes, in reality this ideal is rarely achieved in these particular contexts.

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Mirror, mirror on the wall: identifying processes of classroom assessment

Cited by 39 publications

References 0 publications

Teachers’ approaches to language classroom assessment in Cameroon primary schools

Teachers’ approaches to language classroom assessment in Cameroon primary schools

Reference to a past learning event as a practice of informal formative assessment in L2 classroom interaction

The promise and reality of formative assessment practice in a continuous assessment scheme: the case of Trinidad and Tobago

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