Jump to ContentJump to Main Navigation
Show Summary Details
More options …

 

Language Learning in Higher Education

Journal of the European Confederation of Language Centres in Higher Education (CercleS)

Editor-in-Chief: Szczuka-Dorna, Liliana / O’Rourke, Breffni

Online
ISSN
2191-6128
See all formats and pricing
More options …

Speaking assessment perceptions and practices of English teachers at tertiary level in the Turkish context

Meryem Özdemir-Yılmazer / Yonca Özkan
Published Online: 2017-10-10 | DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/cercles-2017-0015

Abstract

Teaching speaking is one of the challenging dimensions of teaching English as a foreign language. In the Turkish educational setting, students are exposed to English from second grade at the primary level until the first grade at tertiary level. Although the exposure to English is intensive, it is observed that students are unable to solve language-related problems even at tertiary level. A recent British Council report (2015) revealed that students recruited at Turkish universities have an inadequate level of speaking proficiency relative to the standards of the Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR). The reason may be multi-faceted; however, investigation of assessment practices of English instructors may shed light on this problem. This study aims to investigate tertiary-level English language teachers’ perceptions and practices of speaking assessment. Personal Construct Theory (PCT) forms the basis for this case study. The data was collected via repertory grids, semi-structured interviews, and classroom observation. Focus grid analysis was conducted to analyze and interpret the data. The findings of the study reveal that the participants do have individualized beliefs regarding assessment of speaking, which necessitates training for teachers on classroom assessment to raise their awareness regarding commonality of practice in in-class speaking assessment.

Keywords: teaching speaking; speaking skill assessment; classroom assessment; personal construct theory (PCT); repertory grid

References

  • Assessment Reform Group. 1999. Assessment for learning: Beyond the black box. Cambridge: University of Cambridge.Google Scholar

  • Bannister, Donald, Richard Bell & Fay Fransella. 2004. A manual for repertory grid technique, 2nd edn. Chichester: Wiley.Google Scholar

  • Berg, Jan & Francis Rumsey. 1999. Spatial attribute identification and scaling by repertory grid technique and other methods. Paper presented at the 16th Annual Conference of the Audio Engineering Society, Rovaniemi, Finland, 10–12 April. http://epubs.surrey.ac.uk/563/1/fulltext.pdf (accessed 4 August 2017).

  • Black, Paul & Dylan Wiliam. 1998. Inside the black box: Raising standards through classroom assessment. Phi Delta Kappan 80(2). 139–148.Google Scholar

  • Borg, Simon. 2003. Teacher cognition in language teaching: A review of research on what language teachers think, know, believe, and do. Language Teaching 36(2). 81–109.CrossrefGoogle Scholar

  • British Council. 2015. The state of English in higher education in Turkey. Ankara: Yorum Basın Yayın.Google Scholar

  • Brown, H. Douglas. 2004. Language assessment: Principles and classroom practices. New York: Pearson.Google Scholar

  • Chappuis, Stephen & Richard J. Stiggins. 2002. Classroom assessment for learning. Educational Leadership 60(1). 40–43.Google Scholar

  • Cheng, Liying, Todd Rogers & Hu. Huiqin 2004. ESL/EFL instructors’ classroom assessment practices: Purposes, methods, and procedures. Language Testing 21(3). 360–389.CrossrefGoogle Scholar

  • Chinda, Bordin. 2009. Professional development in language testing and assessment: A case study of supporting change in assessment practice in in-service EFL teachers in Thailand. Nottingham: The University of Nottingham dissertation.Google Scholar

  • Council of Higher Higher Education. 2008. Regulation on principles to obey in foreign language education in higher education and teaching in foreign language. http://www.yok.gov.tr/web/guest/icerik/-/journal_content/56_INSTANCE_rEHF8BIsfYRx/10279/18036.

  • Davison, Chris. 2004. The contradictory culture of teacher-based assessment: ESL teacher assessment practices in Australian and Hong Kong secondary schools. Language Testing 21(3). 305–334.CrossrefGoogle Scholar

  • Donald, Freeman. 2002. The hidden side of the work: Teacher knowledge and learning to teach. Language Teaching 35. 1−13.Google Scholar

  • İlin, Gülden. 2014. Sendan: A case study. International Jourmal of Language Academy 2(2). 3–13.Google Scholar

  • Inbar-Lourie, Ofra & Smadar Donitsa-Schmidt. 2009. Exploring classroom assessment practices: The case of teachers of English as a Foreign Language. Assessment in Education: Principles, Policy & Practice 16(2). 185–204.Google Scholar

  • Kagan, Dona M. 1992. Professional growth among pre-service and beginning teachers. Review of Educational Research 62. 129−69.Google Scholar

  • Kelly, George Alexander. 1991 [1955]. The psychology of personal constructs (reprint). London: Routledge.Google Scholar

  • Kırkgöz, Yasemin. 2008. A case study of teachers’ implementation of curriculum innovation in english language teaching in Turkish primary education. Teaching and Teacher Education 24(7). 1859–1875.CrossrefWeb of ScienceGoogle Scholar

  • Kothari, C. R. 2004. Research methodology. New Delhi: New Age International.Google Scholar

  • Kozulin, Alex & Erica Garb. 2001. Dynamic assessment of EFL text comprehension of at-risk students. School Psychology International 23. 112–127.Google Scholar

  • Leung, Constant. 2004. Developing formative teacher assessment: Knowledge, practice and change. Language Assessment Quarterly 1(1). 19–41.CrossrefGoogle Scholar

  • Lincoln, Yvonna S. & Egon G. Guba. 1985. Naturalistic inquiry. California: SAGE.Google Scholar

  • Messick, Samuel. 1996. Validity and washback in language testing. ETS Research Report Series 1. 1–18.Google Scholar

  • Poehner, Matthew E. & James P. Lantolf. 2005. Dynamic assessment in the language classroom. Language Teaching Research 9(3). 233–265.CrossrefWeb of ScienceGoogle Scholar

  • Rea-Dickins, Pauline. 2004. Understanding teachers as agents of assessment. Language Testing 21(3). 249–258.CrossrefGoogle Scholar

  • Sendan, Fehmi & John Roberts. 1998. Orhan: A case study in the development of a student teacher’s personal theories. Teachers and Teaching: Theory and Practice 4(2). 229–244.CrossrefGoogle Scholar

  • Shaw, Mildred L. G. 1980. On becoming a personal scientist. London: Academic Press.Google Scholar

  • Shepard, Lorrie. A. 2000. The role of assessment in a learning culture. Educational Researcher 29(7). 4–14.CrossrefGoogle Scholar

  • Teasdale, Alex & Constant Leung. 2000. Teacher assessment and psychometric theory: A case of paradigm crossing? Language Testing 17(2). 163–184.CrossrefGoogle Scholar

  • Torrance, Harry & John Pryor. 1998. Investigating formative assessment: Teaching, learning and assessment in the classroom. Maidenhead: Open University Press.Google Scholar

  • Torrance, Harry & John Pryor. 2001. Developing formative assessment in the classroom: Using action research to explore and modify theory. British Educational Research Journal 27(5). 615–631.CrossrefGoogle Scholar

  • Yin, Muchun. 2010. Understanding classroom language assessment through teacher thinking research. Language Assessment Quarterly 7(2). 175–194.CrossrefWeb of ScienceGoogle Scholar

About the article

Meryem Özdemir-Yılmazer

Meryem Özdemir-Yılmazer is a PhD student in the Department of English Language Teaching at Çukurova University, Adana, Turkey. Her research interests are language assessment, dynamic assessment, in-service and pre-service teacher education.

Yonca Özkan

Yonca Özkan is an associate professor in the Department of English Language Teaching at Cukurova University, Adana, Turkey. She teaches undergraduate and graduate course in teacher education and second/foreign language teaching methodology. Her research focuses on pre-service language teacher education, technology integration into language teacher education, and language assessment.


Published Online: 2017-10-10

Published in Print: 2017-10-26


Citation Information: Language Learning in Higher Education, Volume 7, Issue 2, Pages 371–391, ISSN (Online) 2191-6128, ISSN (Print) 2191-611X, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/cercles-2017-0015.

Export Citation

© 2017 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston.Get Permission

Comments (0)

Please log in or register to comment.
Log in