classroom assessment

Although grades are the most ubiquitous currency of educational measurement around the globe, their meaning, particularly in understudied settings as in Iran, is still shrouded in mystery. The purpose of this study was to investigate EFL teachers’ class grades by focusing on the less verbalized aspects of grading to see what a grade means. Five Iranian English language teachers working part-time in a private EFL institute were interviewed using the repertory grid interviewing technique, Kelly’s (1955) unique data collection instrument used extensively in personal construct theory (PCT). The results of the content analysis revealed that of the 92 elicited constructs, over 70% were categorized as non-academic, pointing to a heavy reliance on such criteria for grading, and consequently leading to the invalidity of assigned grades. Further, the results of principal component analysis (PCA) of each teacher’s elicited constructs endorsed hodgepodge grading by demonstrating single main components that accounted for the most variation in teacher grading and that comprised both academic and non-academic factors. However, this phenomenon was interpreted slightly differently when seen from the PCT perspective. Implications of this study for teacher professional development and teacher education programs are discussed.

The current study attempted qualitatively to explore and compare the qualities that native and Iranian English teachers (with and without related educational backgrounds) attend to while rating their students' oral productions in the classroom context. In doing so, the perceptions of 19 native English teachers (9 graduates in TEFL and 10 graduates in other majors) along with 18 Iranian English teachers (10 graduates in TEFL and 8 graduates in other majors) were sought through semi-structured interviews. The data were collected after the outbreak of Coronavirus (COVID-19) disease in 2020, which gave the researchers no choice but to look for haphazard cases with specific features in social networks. The recorded interviews were analyzed attentively through content analysis. The findings indicated that although all native and non-native respondents focused intensively on the structural features of language in general while rating oral interviews, they had notably different views regarding some sub-features within each category. Further results showed that the native and non-native TEFL-graduate teachers, unlike their peers with unrelated educational backgrounds, also gave credits to several message-based and pragmatic aspects of oral production. The findings have practical implications for researchers, pre-service and in-service teachers, and teacher educators.

English language teachers’ assessment ability to assess all areas of pupils’ learning is important for comprehending how learners advance across the curriculum and guiding them in their development (Livingston & Hutchinson, 2016). The educational system of Iran decided to shift from traditional teaching methodologies toward communicative approaches. This conversion would not turn into reality unless teachers could apply it in practice. However, teachers have certain needs such as expanding and broadening contextual-related knowledge, cooperating with their colleagues, and developing their assessment literacy (Coombe, Vafadar, & Mohebbi, 2020). To identify the teachers’ understandings of, practices in, and challenges of assessment, 15 English language headteachers (English language teachers who are responsible for moderating the group of the teachers’ activities) participated in the interviews of this study, followed by questionnaires for exploring teachers’ needs. The interviews were coded and content analyzed independently by the researcher and an expert in assessment. The main themes and needs were derived from the interview analyses and are presented in eight pivots. The findings of the questionnaires manifested the priorities that teachers felt concerning assessment literacy and classroom-based assessment needs. The paper will discuss the findings concerning assisting teachers’ professional development in assessment literacy. Implications are also provided.

The significance of fairness in assessment is not a subject of doubt for educationalists even with fundamentally contrastive perspectives, but the study of methodological means for safeguarding this concept in educational classroom contexts has only received the scant attention of the researchers and educationalists. On this basis, this study intended to conceptualize foreign language (FL) classroom assessment fairness from EFL teachers' perspective. For this purpose and as a part of a larger enterprise, the researchers first strived for the creation and validation of a Classroom Assessment Fairness Scale (CAFS). This process was informed by the related literature and applied a critical incident technique. To verify the scale's validity and reliability, it was first expert viewed and modified accordingly; next pilot-tested on a group of 250 teachers, and finally, the amassed data were subjected to exploratory and confirmatory factorial analyses and internal consistency measures. The validated scale was taken by 120 Iranian EFL teachers. Descriptive analyses indicated that the EFL teachers were familiar with fairness principles in classroom assessment practices. They were aware of the significance of the opportunity to learn, the opportunity to demonstrate learning, the no-harm principle, the constructive classroom environment, and transparency as the constructive elements of classroom assessment practices' fairness. However, the same familiarity and awareness were not guaranteed for the score pollution component. The results further demonstrated that the teachers' gender, educational degree, teaching experience, and teaching context led to statistically significant differences among EFL teachers' attitudes to classroom assessment fairness.

Learning-oriented assessment (LOA) has recently gained increasing attention among language researchers. It has been found momentous for both teaching and learning. However, its practical domain has remained under-researched and the current literature has mostly focused on its practicality. Nevertheless, the role of teachers’ assessment strategies in the implementation and success of LOA has been overlooked, to date. Moreover, there is a dearth of research on how English as a foreign language (EFL) teachers capture moments of spontaneous LOA. To fill these gaps, the present case study explored an Iranian EFL teacher’s questioning strategies as an aspect of spontaneous LOA. Utilizing Conversation Analysis (CA) and Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA), this study attempted to uncover the instances of LOA practice represented through questioning strategies during classroom interactions at a basic level. The findings revealed that two types of questioning strategies, namely metacognitive questions and designedly incomplete utterances (DIU), occurred when the teacher extended the main assessment task to focus on the earlier learning goals. In so doing, the teacher sought evidence of student learning status already elicited to take the next step. The study has insightful implications for EFL teachers and trainers concerning metacognitive questions and DIU as useful tools to practice LOA in L2 education.

Classroom assessment practices play an important role in increasing students' learning. These practices are also key to the success of curriculum reforms. In line with this importance, the current study aimed to explore Iranian EFL teachers' classroom assessment practices following the new curriculum reform introduced in 2011. It also examined whether there were differences in teachers' practices based on variables such as gender, teaching experience, and educational degree through qualitative and quantitative approaches. A total of 28 EFL teachers at public high schools from three provinces in Iran (Lorestan, Kermanshah, and Ilam) participated in the semi-structured interviews. After transcribing the interviews, recurrent themes were identified by thematic analysis. The results revealed that English teachers used primarily assessment for learning or formative assessment, yet their assessments were still exam-based. The frequency of assessment practices indicated that oral questioning during instruction (60.7%), test after each lesson or unit of lesson (50%), written exams (35.7%), and group activity (32.1%) were the most frequently used assessment practices among teachers. The findings revealed that there is a discrepancy between teachers' classroom assessment practices and the curriculum reform. Across gender, there was a significant difference between participants in terms of role play, assigning summaries of lessons, and playing audio files. Regarding teaching experience and academic degree, there was no significant difference between participants. The findings would have implications for teacher education programs and EFL teachers.Key Words: Classroom assessment; EFL teachers; Formative assessment; Practices