EFL Teachers’ Multiple Assessment Practices: The Case of Three Government Secondary Schools in Addis Ababa
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Date
2014-06
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Addis Ababa University
Abstract
The main objective of this thesis was to describe and portray EFL teachers’ classroom
assessment practices in three government secondary schools in Addis Ababa. A total of 29 EFL
teachers and 330 students participated in this case study. The study adopted a range of data
collection methods including: classroom observation, teacher interview, document analysis,
student focus group discussion and questionnaire. The research has addressed three main
questions. These were how secondary school EFL teachers assess their students; what aspects of
learning they assess; and for what specific purposes they use multiple classroom assessments.
The main findings of the study are categorized in relation to these research questions. Regarding
the first research question, the study found that sample EFL teachers frequently practiced less
beneficial informal assessment actions such as, asking display oral questions, correcting and
judging rather than more beneficial ones like observing process and metacognitive questioning.
Their informal assessments also lacked student engagement. Moreover, formal assessments were
not frequently administered in the sample schools and such assessments lacked to reflect an
integral part of the material being taught. Both formal and informal classroom assessments also
lacked to provide various feedback possibilities to students. In relation to the second research
question, the study found that sample EFL teachers assessed only few non-cognitive factors.
They commonly assessed students’ motivation for learning and their personal details. They were
not fully informed about their students’ learning style preferences, their learning strategies, their
self esteem and their classroom social behaviors. They also assessed only students’ lower order
cognitive skills (particularly their remembering and understanding abilities). In answering the
third question, the study found that EFL teachers emphasized some formative purposes more
than others. They mainly employed informal assessments for monitoring, motivating, managing
behavior and providing feedback. In addition, they practiced formal assessments for three main
purposes: to determine the final grades for their students; to encourage students to work harder;
and to prepare students for the national exam. Lastly, the implications of such findings for EFL
learning and recommendations are forwarded.
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Keywords
EFL Teachers’ Multiple Assessment Practices;