ERIC Number: EJ1453594
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2024
Pages: 18
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: N/A
EISSN: EISSN-2331-186X
Available Date: N/A
University Teachers' Underlying Assumptions about Assessment in English as a Foreign Language Context in Ethiopia
Dagim Endale; Adinew Tadesse; Abera Admasu; Alemayehu Getachew
Cogent Education, v11 n1 Article 2335748 2024
This study investigated EFL teachers' underlying assumptions about assessment and how these assumptions are congruent with current perspectives in assessment. Informed by interpretivist philosophical underpinnings, the study adopted qualitative research approach. Nine teachers from three universities located in western Ethiopia participated in the semi-structured interviews, and the data were analyzed using thematic and content analysis approaches. Generally, the findings revealed complexity and diversity in teachers' assumptions, which centered on four emergent themes: knowledge/content, valid approach to assessing knowledge, values and judgements, and power relations. Most of the teachers' assumptions are contradictory with current perspectives and the expectations of the recent reforms on classroom assessment. A few modernist assumptions that teachers held even could not always translate into practice, suggesting the influences of contextual and institutional factors that should be further studied. The need to help EFL teachers develop contemporary assumptions in foreign language assessment is the primary implication of the study. Findings of this study can be considered as one of the necessary steps towards developing a new measure of assumptions about assessment that can be used to assess the underlying assumptions embedded in EFL teachers views and practices of assessment.
Descriptors: Foreign Countries, Teacher Attitudes, Second Language Learning, Second Language Instruction, English (Second Language), College Faculty, Student Evaluation, Evaluation Methods, Pedagogical Content Knowledge, Power Structure, Context Effect, Language Teachers, Educational Change
Cogent OA. Available from: Taylor & Francis, Ltd. 530 Walnut Street Suite 850, Philadelphia, PA 19106. Tel: 800-354-1420; Tel: 215-625-8900; Fax: 215-207-0050; Web site: http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Higher Education; Postsecondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Ethiopia
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
Author Affiliations: N/A