Exploring Teachers’ Language Assessment Literacy: A Social Constructivist Approach to Understanding Effective Practices

Exploring teachers’ levels of assessment literacy in terms of their previous assessment experiences may help teacher educators to better understand the factors which promote or prevent effective assessment, thus contributing to more targeted and empowering teacher education. The research presented in this paper adopts a social constructivist model of learning and meaning-making, with the language classroom representing the community of practice. The first phase of the project consisted of interviews with teachers, in which they were invited to estimate their understanding of individual components of the assessment process and indicate how much they would like to learn about each. Classroom observations then took place followed by post-observation, reflective interviews. Finally, focus group discussions were conducted with further groups of experienced teachers. Four key findings are presented, highlighting the considerable differences in understanding which exist between teachers and those who research and write about language testing/assessment

Identifying key criteria of written and spoken English at C1: A qualitative study of key language points at C1

This project set out to identify criterial features of written and spoken English at C1 by examining test data to establish which of the language points included at C1 in the British Council – EAQUALS Core Inventory for General English (the Core Inventory) were produced by the test-takers. The test data were also examined to see if there were recurring language points which had not been included in the Core Inventory. The Core Inventory was created to provide a practical inventory of language points that characterise the levels of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages: Learning, Teaching, Assessment (CEFR). It includes functions, grammar points, discourse markers, vocabulary and topics. This project aimed to establish if the features included in the Core Inventory were present in test data. The test had been created to satisfy the requirements of an external validation agency. The target level of the test was C1 and so was the test-takers level of language proficiency. This had been established through IELTS scores and scores on pre-sessional course tests. A total of 36 participants took the test which included tasks focused on grammar, lexis and an extended writing task. A test of spoken English was the second part of the test. Aptis test data were also included to increase the scale of the project. The test data were manually coded using qualitative data analysis software. The occurrences of each feature were counted. The Core Inventory contains 35 language points at C1 and six topic areas. This project found that 15 language points could be described as criterial in written and spoken English. One of the C1 topic areas featured consistently in the test data. This would seem to suggest that limited data-based evidence has been found to support an existing theoretical framework. A significant finding of the project is, perhaps, the identification of an approach of establishing criterial language points through use of the Core Inventory. This approach could be replicated with larger data sets across the full range of the CEFR levels discussed in the Core Inventory

Self-assessment and the common European framework of reference for languages : learning teaching assessment : a case study of the implementation of self-assessment with adult learners of English.

This dissertation is concerned with a conceptual analysis and an empirical investigation of how self-assessment is construed by students, teachers, and institution managers in an English as a Foreign Language (EFL) setting. The conceptual analysis is made by a review of the relevant literature. The empirical work is based on a case study approach to research and focuses on an institution in Italy offering EFL courses for adult students. A multiple methods approach was adopted to investigate the problem and these included the use of focus groups, questionnaires, student compositions, direct classroom observations and a search of the Institution's documents relating to self-assessment and the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages: Learning, teaching, assessment (CEFR). Data were collected in three stages at intervals over a period of nine months.EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo

Assessment: attitudes, practices, needs

This presentation focuses on a project which investigated language assessment literacy practices in the English as a foreign language classroom. We sought to bring teachers more directly into the assessment literacy debate and provide them with training materials which meet their stated needs. Teachers’ attitudes and beliefs are frequently cited as exerting a powerful role in shaping their decisions, judgements and behaviour (see, for example, Borg, 2006). However, an investigation into what is happening in classes may be of little value without exploring why it is happening. A qualitative approach was adopted and methods used included interviews, observations and focus group discussions. The interviews drew on Davies’ (2008) components of assessment literacy which he defined as Skills, Knowledge and Principles. These explored the attitudes to assessment of the teachers. Observations were conducted which focused on teacher assessment practices. Post-observation interviews were conducted with the teachers. The observations and interviews were conducted at the international study centre of a British university. Focus group discussions were held at teaching centres attached to a major international organisation overseas. A workshop was held at an international teacher conference to pilot the online training materials. These explored the training needs of the teachers. The project culminated in the creation of a set of on-line training materials. The presentation will describe the project, its findings and conclude with a discussion of the training materials. Perhaps the significance of this project lies in its adoption of a qualitatively orientated approach to research the topic and its inclusion of observation and interview data. Much of the previous research into assessment literacy has relied on survey data

Exploring teachers’ language assessment literacy: a social constructivist approach to understanding effective practice

Jones and Saville (2016) assert that the two key purposes of assessment are to promote learning and to measure and interpret what has been learned. In terms of classroom assessment, this implies that teachers have a central role to play in planning and/or implementing appropriate assessment procedures to monitor and evaluate student progress in their classrooms. But teachers’ attitudes and beliefs, based on their own experiences of assessment, exert a powerful role in shaping their decisions, judgements and behaviour (Borg, 2006). Exploring teachers’ levels of assessment literacy in terms of their own assessment experiences may help teacher educators to better understand the factors which promote or prevent effective assessment, thus contributing to more targeted and empowering teacher education. The research to be discussed in this presentation adopts a social constructivist model of learning and meaning-making, with the language classroom representing the community of practice. Drawing on Davies’ (2008) components of assessment literacy Skills, Knowledge and Principles, Phase 1 of the project consisted of interviews with teachers in which they were invited to estimate their understanding of the individual components of the assessment process and indicate how much they would like to learn about each. Classroom observations then took place which focused on teachers' actual assessment practices, followed by post-observation, reflective interviews. Finally, focus group discussions were conducted with further groups of experienced teachers, which confirmed the findings from Phase 1. Four key findings will be presented relating to teachers’: 1) previous training in assessment; 2) attitudes to language testing and associated theory; 3) understanding of assessment in its broader sense; 4) understanding of ‘language assessment literacy’. It would seem that there are considerable differences in understanding between teachers and those who research and write about language testing/assessment, which may have important implications for the development of future teacher education courses

Beyond surveys: An approach to understanding effective classroom assessment practices

The aim of this project was to provide teachers with training materials that meet their actual, specified needs, based on interviews, classroom observations and focus-group discussions. Findings from the study reveal there are large differences in understanding between teachers and those who research and write about teachers’ language assessment literacy. We conclude by showing an example of materials produced, which were specifically requested by teachers to develop their understanding of the CEFR and its levels

Assessment: attitudes, practices and needs.

This presentation focuses on a project which investigated language assessment literacy practices in the English as a foreign language classroom. We sought to bring teachers more directly into the assessment literacy debate and provide them with training materials which meet their stated needs. Teachers’ attitudes and beliefs are frequently cited as exerting a powerful role in shaping their decisions, judgements and behaviour (see, for example, Borg, 2006). However, an investigation into what is happening in classes may be of little value without exploring why it is happening. A qualitative approach was adopted and methods used included interviews, observations and focus group discussions. The interviews drew on Davies’ (2008) components of assessment literacy which he defined as Skills, Knowledge and Principles. These explored the attitudes to assessment of the teachers. Observations were conducted which focused on teacher assessment practices. Post-observation interviews were conducted with the teachers. The observations and interviews were conducted at the international study centre of a British university. Focus group discussions were held at teaching centres attached to a major international organisation overseas. A workshop was held at an international teacher conference to pilot the online training materials. These explored the training needs of the teachers. The project culminated in the creation of a set of on-line training materials. The presentation will describe the project, its findings and conclude with a discussion of the training materials. Perhaps the significance of this project lies in its adoption of a qualitatively orientated approach to research the topic and its inclusion of observation and interview data. Much of the previous research into assessment literacy has relied on survey data. Borg, S (2006) Teacher cognition and language education: Research and practice. London: Continuum Davies, A (2008) Textbook trends in teaching language testing. Language Testing 25/3: 327–34

Women over 40, foreigners of color, and other missing persons in globalizing mediascapes: understanding marketing images as mirrors of intersectionality

Media diversity studies regularly invoke the notion of marketing images as mirrors of racism and sexism. This article develops a higher-order concept of marketing images as “mirrors of intersectionality.” Drawing on a seven-dimensional study of coverperson diversity in a globalizing mediascape, the emergent concept highlights that marketing images reflect not just racism and sexism, but all categorical forms of marginalization, including ableism, ageism, colorism, fatism, and heterosexism, as well as intersectional forms of marginalization, such as sexist ageism and racist multiculturalism. Fueled by the legacies of history, aspirational marketing logics, and an industry-wide distribution of discriminatory work, marketing images help to perpetuate multiple, cumulative, and enduring advantages for privileged groups and disadvantages for marginalized groups. In this sense, marketing images, as mirrors of intersectionality, are complicit agents in the structuration of inequitable societies

The geographic distribution of breast cancer incidence in Massachusetts 1988 to 1997, adjusted for covariates

BACKGROUND: The aims of this study were to determine whether observed geographic variations in breast cancer incidence are random or statistically significant, whether statistically significant excesses are temporary or time-persistent, and whether they can be explained by covariates such as socioeconomic status (SES) or urban/rural status? RESULTS: A purely spatial analysis found fourteen geographic areas that deviated significantly from randomness: ten with higher incidence rates than expected, four lower than expected. After covariate adjustment, three of the ten high areas remained statistically significant and one new high area emerged. The space-time analysis identified eleven geographic areas as statistically significant, seven high and four low. After covariate adjustment, four of the seven high areas remained statistically significant and a fifth high area also identified in the purely spatial analysis emerged. CONCLUSIONS: These analyses identify geographic areas with invasive breast cancer incidence higher or lower than expected, the times of their excess, and whether or not their status is affected when the model is adjusted for risk factors. These surveillance findings can be a sound starting point for the epidemiologist and has the potential of monitoring time trends for cancer control activities

Assessment: attitudes, practices and needs

This presentation was delivered as a webinar. The webinar was organised by British Council Wider Europe and was available in 15 countries across the region