Although previous studies in the education field have investigated how teachers’ beliefs and prac... more Although previous studies in the education field have investigated how teachers’ beliefs and practices converge or diverge, native English teachers’ (NETs) beliefs and practices remain underrepresented and underexplored, particularly with respect to university-level English speaking instruction in the Chinese context. This qualitative study used interviews and classroom observations over one semester to examine the pedagogical beliefs and actual classroom practices of three NETs instructing a course in oral communication with English as a foreign language (EFL). Based on the data analysis, this multiple case study found that the three native EFL teachers’ practices converged with their beliefs related to language, teaching, and teachers’ roles. However, divergences existed in terms of teaching and student learning. Teachers’ personal, learner-related, and contextual factors modified teachers’ practices and affected their decisions in putting their beliefs into practice. The results ...
International Review of Applied Linguistics in Language Teaching
E-Portfolios in language education have emerged over two decades. Despite their popularity as an ... more E-Portfolios in language education have emerged over two decades. Despite their popularity as an instructional tool, many cast doubt on their usefulness in second language classrooms, especially when scholars are not clear about how e-Portfolio artefacts can be converted into reliable learning evidence by students’ active reflection and validation via multimedia feedback to inform language teaching and learning. This paper examines the usefulness of e-Portfolios by looking into how teachers attempt the tool to connect portfolio evidence, rationalisation, and feedback. Three novice teachers with three-year school experience (Jill, Jamie, and Jackie) undertook action research projects in their secondary schools. They participated in the study by trying out their individual e-Portfolio programmes for a year. Qualitative data, including two classroom observations and three reflective journal entries per teacher were collected by the author. Content analysis of qualitative data (i.e., le...
Although previous studies on teacher agency have examined its manifestations and significance fro... more Although previous studies on teacher agency have examined its manifestations and significance from the socio-cultural perspective, university English as a foreign language (EFL)-speaking instructors’ professional agency has been underrepresented in the Chinese context. Based on a narrative inquiry approach and cross-case analysis, this qualitative multiple case study explores how four university EFL-speaking instructors exercise their professional agency and the key factors facilitating their agency enactment. The study finds that EFL-speaking instructors work as agentic practitioners to translate their career pursuits into concrete teaching duties, teacher learning, and researching. Their different professional agency enactment is closely related to their agency competence, agency disposition, and identity commitment as well as multifarious contextual factors. The findings imply that understanding the trajectories of teachers’ career development and fostering their teacher agency c...
The reflective component of e-Portfolios is said to help students improve second or foreign langu... more The reflective component of e-Portfolios is said to help students improve second or foreign language writing in terms of motivation and academic results. Despite this positive advocacy, scholars remain unclear about how e-Portfolios can develop students’ self-regulatory abilities in writing classrooms, especially when students engage in complex e-Portfolio construction processes with peers, parents, teachers, their community, digital tools, and online resources. Recently, researchers have argued that not only do e-Portfolios promote self-regulated learning, but they also support co-regulation of learning wherein the latter is socially mediated by curriculum design, instructional materials, and in-class interaction patterns. Indeed, students’ inner development of self-regulatory capacity is closely influenced by external forces, which deserve more scholarly investigation. The review fills this gap by emphasizing that besides self-regulated learning, e-Portfolios can support students’...
Portfolio Assessment for the Teaching and Learning of Writing
In this final chapter, I summarize what has been discussed in the previous seven chapters in the ... more In this final chapter, I summarize what has been discussed in the previous seven chapters in the round-up section. Then, I discuss two broad themes, with one about issues in portfolio-based research and the other about future directions of writing portfolio assessment. Under the theme of portfolio-based research, I plan to talk about three key issues, namely writing teacher assessment literacy, meso- and macro-levels contextual constraints and the research–practice divide. Under the theme of future directions, I explore the possibility of promoting learner agency in reflective practices, utilizing multimodal evidence in the portfolio process and creating a collegial portfolio culture which supports teaching and learning of writing. The chapter closes with a reflection task which recapitulates the why, the what and the how aspects of portfolio assessment when applied in L1 and L2 writing classroom settings.
In this penultimate chapter, I intend to discuss the evaluation approaches to writing portfolios.... more In this penultimate chapter, I intend to discuss the evaluation approaches to writing portfolios. To begin with, I foreground my discussion by introducing what norm-referenced and criterion-referenced assessments are referred to in educational assessment. Then, I introduce the formative, summative and evaluative purposes of writing portfolio assessment when used in both classroom and large-scale testing contexts. Subsequently, I describe three major options in scoring writing portfolios, namely holistic, analytical and primary trait scoring methods, followed by a discussion on the issues of reliability in portfolio scoring. Next, I demonstrate how to construct and apply scoring rubrics in average portfolio-based programmes. To end the chapter, I include two hands-on, practice-oriented activities, with the first one about the development of portfolio assessment rubrics and the second one about trialing portfolio marking.
Research on EFL teachers’ beliefs and practices is significant for teaching effectiveness. This p... more Research on EFL teachers’ beliefs and practices is significant for teaching effectiveness. This paper investigated and compared the convergences and discrepancies between an EFL teacher’s stated beliefs and observed classroom practices related to teaching an L2 speaking-oriented Topical Debates course. In mainland China, Topical Debates is a credit-bearing course that focuses on addressing both sides of an issue, as well as the associated different views. It is a compulsory course for English majors and an optional course for non-English majors. A qualitative case study with interviews and classroom observations was applied over two months. The findings indicate that the teacher generally practiced what she believed in the classrooms. Although some discrepancies existed, the reasons are related to the context of the teaching as well as learner factors, including their lack of preparation and their language proficiency level. The findings also demonstrate that this teacher held many ...
Teaching and evaluating writing is a professionally exacting process. Despite the global assessme... more Teaching and evaluating writing is a professionally exacting process. Despite the global assessment reform movements, most teachers probably remain unfamiliar with related knowledge and skills to assess pupil writing formatively and summatively. Hence, this chapter aims to review whether the government rhetoric and teacher classroom assessment practices diverge or converge and why. It further looks into how writing assessment policies and practices have implications for literacy development. To review the writing assessment development in Hong Kong secondary schools, I adopted a documentary analysis approach by looking into the three major curriculum guides published in different decades, and the narrative frames composed by four English teachers in two secondary schools. Results of the review are presented, followed by a discussion on insightful pedagogical implications.
In Hong Kong, pupils at Grades 3, 6 and 9 are required to take the Territory-wide System Assessme... more In Hong Kong, pupils at Grades 3, 6 and 9 are required to take the Territory-wide System Assessment (TSA). TSA is a low-stakes standardized assessment, tracking pupils’ attainment of the basic competence levels in English, Chinese and Mathematics. By design, TSA does not constitute part of individual pupils’ school results, but generates assessment information which monitors teaching and learning in school as a quality assurance mechanism. Despite its low-stakes nature, key stakeholders remain skeptical about its rationale, purpose and usefulness, especially when it comes to ranking school performance. Because of this, this paper examines the extent to which the Grade 3 TSA could serve its purpose to enhance teaching and learning and promote constructive alignment of assessment and learning. The paper begins with an overview of the international assessment arena, followed by a discussion on the Hong Kong assessment reform landscape. Then, the paper reviews three issues in TSA, namely pedagogical, societal and political concerns. Next, it addresses whether TSA has become a high-stakes test; whether it brings about drilling; and whether it facilitates positive learning. Lastly, three sustained recommendations as to how the Grade 3 TSA could concurrently serve its evaluative, pedagogical and learning purposes are provided.
ABSTRACT Feedback is central to successful teaching and learning. Despite extensive research on t... more ABSTRACT Feedback is central to successful teaching and learning. Despite extensive research on the relationship between feedback, pedagogy and learning, there remain no conclusive answers as to how feedback can be effectively utilized by learners. Recently, there is emerging research exploring how feedback is conceptualized as dialogic processes to facilitate provision and uptake of feedback; and how feedback utilization is best supported by learner active involvement in the iterative feedback process for future learning. Drawn from this knowledge base, this article aims to review four aspects of feedback scholarship including nature, paradigms, issues and trends which serve as a theoretical basis, together with instructors’ interviews, to inform how five common assessment tasks in one social sciences faculty could be strategically revamped to promote feedback utilization. The article concludes with pedagogical insights to suggest three conditions wherein feedback could be made sustainable to support learning through a redesigning of conventional assessment tasks in the higher education contexts.
Teacher learning is a slippery, complex, and multileveled concept. Scholars argue that how the co... more Teacher learning is a slippery, complex, and multileveled concept. Scholars argue that how the concept can be theoretically and epistemologically defined remains inconclusive. Some studies support the benefits of initial teacher education training in writing assessment, whereas others advocate teacher-initiated and collaborative school-based projects. Despite empirical evidence, we have little knowledge of how individual EFL writing teachers learn and develop new classroom assessment practices such as portfolio assessment of writing. Drawing upon teacher interviews, classroom observations and narrative frames, the study investigated two teachers’ perspectives of how teacher learning had an impact on the trial of portfolio assessment and what school-related contextual factors influenced the teachers’ experiences when attempting a portfolio approach. Findings reveal that if the teachers failed to encounter and resolve issues arising from the tryout, they were less likely to successfully master the underlying rationale and skills of a tried and tested assessment practice. Three school-related contextual factors appeared to facilitate and inhibit the implementation of portfolio assessment. They included the teacher evaluation system, school cultures, and opportunities for collaboration. The chapter ends with pedagogical implications, discussing which form of teacher learning is most appropriate for promulgating wider application of portfolio assessment in the Hong Kong context.
In response to global assessment reforms, using assessment for learning (AfL) in various educatio... more In response to global assessment reforms, using assessment for learning (AfL) in various education jurisdictions is on the rise. However, using assessment as learning (AaL) appears to enjoy a low profile in language learning in general and in L2 writing in particular. To this end, the paper intends to describe what AaL is in relation to AfL, argue for its pedagogical values when applied in L2 writing classrooms, and propose suggestions on how to include AaL into existing curriculum and policy. The paper has three constructive outcomes. First, it provides scholars with a unifying and explicit notion of AaL. Second, it adds new insights to research that AaL is theoretically sound and pedagogically viable in the writing assessment landscape. Third, AaL is considered a much-needed twenty-first century study skill for life-long learning. The paper is structured into five sections. The first part introduces the origin, features, purposes of AaL in relation to AfL, followed by the aim of t...
Although previous studies in the education field have investigated how teachers’ beliefs and prac... more Although previous studies in the education field have investigated how teachers’ beliefs and practices converge or diverge, native English teachers’ (NETs) beliefs and practices remain underrepresented and underexplored, particularly with respect to university-level English speaking instruction in the Chinese context. This qualitative study used interviews and classroom observations over one semester to examine the pedagogical beliefs and actual classroom practices of three NETs instructing a course in oral communication with English as a foreign language (EFL). Based on the data analysis, this multiple case study found that the three native EFL teachers’ practices converged with their beliefs related to language, teaching, and teachers’ roles. However, divergences existed in terms of teaching and student learning. Teachers’ personal, learner-related, and contextual factors modified teachers’ practices and affected their decisions in putting their beliefs into practice. The results ...
International Review of Applied Linguistics in Language Teaching
E-Portfolios in language education have emerged over two decades. Despite their popularity as an ... more E-Portfolios in language education have emerged over two decades. Despite their popularity as an instructional tool, many cast doubt on their usefulness in second language classrooms, especially when scholars are not clear about how e-Portfolio artefacts can be converted into reliable learning evidence by students’ active reflection and validation via multimedia feedback to inform language teaching and learning. This paper examines the usefulness of e-Portfolios by looking into how teachers attempt the tool to connect portfolio evidence, rationalisation, and feedback. Three novice teachers with three-year school experience (Jill, Jamie, and Jackie) undertook action research projects in their secondary schools. They participated in the study by trying out their individual e-Portfolio programmes for a year. Qualitative data, including two classroom observations and three reflective journal entries per teacher were collected by the author. Content analysis of qualitative data (i.e., le...
Although previous studies on teacher agency have examined its manifestations and significance fro... more Although previous studies on teacher agency have examined its manifestations and significance from the socio-cultural perspective, university English as a foreign language (EFL)-speaking instructors’ professional agency has been underrepresented in the Chinese context. Based on a narrative inquiry approach and cross-case analysis, this qualitative multiple case study explores how four university EFL-speaking instructors exercise their professional agency and the key factors facilitating their agency enactment. The study finds that EFL-speaking instructors work as agentic practitioners to translate their career pursuits into concrete teaching duties, teacher learning, and researching. Their different professional agency enactment is closely related to their agency competence, agency disposition, and identity commitment as well as multifarious contextual factors. The findings imply that understanding the trajectories of teachers’ career development and fostering their teacher agency c...
The reflective component of e-Portfolios is said to help students improve second or foreign langu... more The reflective component of e-Portfolios is said to help students improve second or foreign language writing in terms of motivation and academic results. Despite this positive advocacy, scholars remain unclear about how e-Portfolios can develop students’ self-regulatory abilities in writing classrooms, especially when students engage in complex e-Portfolio construction processes with peers, parents, teachers, their community, digital tools, and online resources. Recently, researchers have argued that not only do e-Portfolios promote self-regulated learning, but they also support co-regulation of learning wherein the latter is socially mediated by curriculum design, instructional materials, and in-class interaction patterns. Indeed, students’ inner development of self-regulatory capacity is closely influenced by external forces, which deserve more scholarly investigation. The review fills this gap by emphasizing that besides self-regulated learning, e-Portfolios can support students’...
Portfolio Assessment for the Teaching and Learning of Writing
In this final chapter, I summarize what has been discussed in the previous seven chapters in the ... more In this final chapter, I summarize what has been discussed in the previous seven chapters in the round-up section. Then, I discuss two broad themes, with one about issues in portfolio-based research and the other about future directions of writing portfolio assessment. Under the theme of portfolio-based research, I plan to talk about three key issues, namely writing teacher assessment literacy, meso- and macro-levels contextual constraints and the research–practice divide. Under the theme of future directions, I explore the possibility of promoting learner agency in reflective practices, utilizing multimodal evidence in the portfolio process and creating a collegial portfolio culture which supports teaching and learning of writing. The chapter closes with a reflection task which recapitulates the why, the what and the how aspects of portfolio assessment when applied in L1 and L2 writing classroom settings.
In this penultimate chapter, I intend to discuss the evaluation approaches to writing portfolios.... more In this penultimate chapter, I intend to discuss the evaluation approaches to writing portfolios. To begin with, I foreground my discussion by introducing what norm-referenced and criterion-referenced assessments are referred to in educational assessment. Then, I introduce the formative, summative and evaluative purposes of writing portfolio assessment when used in both classroom and large-scale testing contexts. Subsequently, I describe three major options in scoring writing portfolios, namely holistic, analytical and primary trait scoring methods, followed by a discussion on the issues of reliability in portfolio scoring. Next, I demonstrate how to construct and apply scoring rubrics in average portfolio-based programmes. To end the chapter, I include two hands-on, practice-oriented activities, with the first one about the development of portfolio assessment rubrics and the second one about trialing portfolio marking.
Research on EFL teachers’ beliefs and practices is significant for teaching effectiveness. This p... more Research on EFL teachers’ beliefs and practices is significant for teaching effectiveness. This paper investigated and compared the convergences and discrepancies between an EFL teacher’s stated beliefs and observed classroom practices related to teaching an L2 speaking-oriented Topical Debates course. In mainland China, Topical Debates is a credit-bearing course that focuses on addressing both sides of an issue, as well as the associated different views. It is a compulsory course for English majors and an optional course for non-English majors. A qualitative case study with interviews and classroom observations was applied over two months. The findings indicate that the teacher generally practiced what she believed in the classrooms. Although some discrepancies existed, the reasons are related to the context of the teaching as well as learner factors, including their lack of preparation and their language proficiency level. The findings also demonstrate that this teacher held many ...
Teaching and evaluating writing is a professionally exacting process. Despite the global assessme... more Teaching and evaluating writing is a professionally exacting process. Despite the global assessment reform movements, most teachers probably remain unfamiliar with related knowledge and skills to assess pupil writing formatively and summatively. Hence, this chapter aims to review whether the government rhetoric and teacher classroom assessment practices diverge or converge and why. It further looks into how writing assessment policies and practices have implications for literacy development. To review the writing assessment development in Hong Kong secondary schools, I adopted a documentary analysis approach by looking into the three major curriculum guides published in different decades, and the narrative frames composed by four English teachers in two secondary schools. Results of the review are presented, followed by a discussion on insightful pedagogical implications.
In Hong Kong, pupils at Grades 3, 6 and 9 are required to take the Territory-wide System Assessme... more In Hong Kong, pupils at Grades 3, 6 and 9 are required to take the Territory-wide System Assessment (TSA). TSA is a low-stakes standardized assessment, tracking pupils’ attainment of the basic competence levels in English, Chinese and Mathematics. By design, TSA does not constitute part of individual pupils’ school results, but generates assessment information which monitors teaching and learning in school as a quality assurance mechanism. Despite its low-stakes nature, key stakeholders remain skeptical about its rationale, purpose and usefulness, especially when it comes to ranking school performance. Because of this, this paper examines the extent to which the Grade 3 TSA could serve its purpose to enhance teaching and learning and promote constructive alignment of assessment and learning. The paper begins with an overview of the international assessment arena, followed by a discussion on the Hong Kong assessment reform landscape. Then, the paper reviews three issues in TSA, namely pedagogical, societal and political concerns. Next, it addresses whether TSA has become a high-stakes test; whether it brings about drilling; and whether it facilitates positive learning. Lastly, three sustained recommendations as to how the Grade 3 TSA could concurrently serve its evaluative, pedagogical and learning purposes are provided.
ABSTRACT Feedback is central to successful teaching and learning. Despite extensive research on t... more ABSTRACT Feedback is central to successful teaching and learning. Despite extensive research on the relationship between feedback, pedagogy and learning, there remain no conclusive answers as to how feedback can be effectively utilized by learners. Recently, there is emerging research exploring how feedback is conceptualized as dialogic processes to facilitate provision and uptake of feedback; and how feedback utilization is best supported by learner active involvement in the iterative feedback process for future learning. Drawn from this knowledge base, this article aims to review four aspects of feedback scholarship including nature, paradigms, issues and trends which serve as a theoretical basis, together with instructors’ interviews, to inform how five common assessment tasks in one social sciences faculty could be strategically revamped to promote feedback utilization. The article concludes with pedagogical insights to suggest three conditions wherein feedback could be made sustainable to support learning through a redesigning of conventional assessment tasks in the higher education contexts.
Teacher learning is a slippery, complex, and multileveled concept. Scholars argue that how the co... more Teacher learning is a slippery, complex, and multileveled concept. Scholars argue that how the concept can be theoretically and epistemologically defined remains inconclusive. Some studies support the benefits of initial teacher education training in writing assessment, whereas others advocate teacher-initiated and collaborative school-based projects. Despite empirical evidence, we have little knowledge of how individual EFL writing teachers learn and develop new classroom assessment practices such as portfolio assessment of writing. Drawing upon teacher interviews, classroom observations and narrative frames, the study investigated two teachers’ perspectives of how teacher learning had an impact on the trial of portfolio assessment and what school-related contextual factors influenced the teachers’ experiences when attempting a portfolio approach. Findings reveal that if the teachers failed to encounter and resolve issues arising from the tryout, they were less likely to successfully master the underlying rationale and skills of a tried and tested assessment practice. Three school-related contextual factors appeared to facilitate and inhibit the implementation of portfolio assessment. They included the teacher evaluation system, school cultures, and opportunities for collaboration. The chapter ends with pedagogical implications, discussing which form of teacher learning is most appropriate for promulgating wider application of portfolio assessment in the Hong Kong context.
In response to global assessment reforms, using assessment for learning (AfL) in various educatio... more In response to global assessment reforms, using assessment for learning (AfL) in various education jurisdictions is on the rise. However, using assessment as learning (AaL) appears to enjoy a low profile in language learning in general and in L2 writing in particular. To this end, the paper intends to describe what AaL is in relation to AfL, argue for its pedagogical values when applied in L2 writing classrooms, and propose suggestions on how to include AaL into existing curriculum and policy. The paper has three constructive outcomes. First, it provides scholars with a unifying and explicit notion of AaL. Second, it adds new insights to research that AaL is theoretically sound and pedagogically viable in the writing assessment landscape. Third, AaL is considered a much-needed twenty-first century study skill for life-long learning. The paper is structured into five sections. The first part introduces the origin, features, purposes of AaL in relation to AfL, followed by the aim of t...
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