An investigation into efl teachers’ assessment of young learners of english: does practice match the policy?

Abstract

On the grounds that assessment stands for a mirror of teaching and learning practices, itsvalue cannot be ignored in teaching English as a Foreign Language (EFL) programmes as allthose involved in foreign language teaching in non-native settings need constant feedbackabout the effectiveness of their ventures. Assessment of young learners of English has beenalso receiving rising attention as this group of language learners at the preliminary stages oflearning a foreign language differ from adult learners in nature and thereby their assessmentrequires great care. While there exist continuous amendments in foreign language teachingpolicies nationally to improve the quality of EFL teaching and its assessment, it is significantto look inside the classrooms to realize whether the actual assessment practices reflect theperformance outcomes expected by the policy documents. This paper, therefore, attempts toinvestigate the consistency between the ELT policy and EFL teachers’ in-class practices ofassessment of young learners in middle schools in the Turkish context. The study wasconducted at the end of the spring term of 2017-2018 academic year with 152 EFL teachersworking in middle schools in the central districts of Denizli province. The study employed bothquantitative and qualitative research methods: the quantitative method provided informationabout EFL teachers’ preferences of item types in terms of traditional and alternative assessmenttypes with the help of a questionnaire while the qualitative method provided information abouthow frequently EFL teachers assessed four skills through exam papers they used in theirclassrooms. Results showed inconsistency between the policy and assessment practices of EFLteachers in the study: EFL teachers tended to design traditional paper and pencil tests based onlanguage structures and vocabulary rather than the assessment of learners’ communicativecompetence or language skills through alternative assessment methods.