Abstract There has been increasing debate about the effectiveness of peer feedback, especially the way learners actively engage with and act upon the feedback (Lam, 2017). Yet research has shown that well-managed peer feedback offers a host of social, cognitive and linguistic benefits (Sun & Doman, 2018). This paper looks at the perceptions of 24 teachers of English from Myanmar who experienced and evaluated a new way of organizing the peer feedback process known as Peer Review Circles (PRCs). In PRCs, learners work in groups of three, with two giving feedback on the work of the third, who listens, reflects on and only then responds to the comments. It was found that teachers perceived this arrangement to increase the quantity, variety and reliability of feedback, create a more conducive feedback atmosphere and aid the development of “soft/transferable” skills. Respondents identified teachers’ and learners’ lack of familiarity with this new approach, time constraints and the possibility of conflicting comments as potential difficulties of PRCs. To overcome these, respondents suggested providing training to teachers and learners, especially through modelling. This paper sheds light on a different way of managing peer feedback, PRCs, highlighting the benefits of working in triadic over dyadic groups and the value of oral observational peer feedback to develop students’ feedback literacy. The key implications relate to peer review training and the need to focus not just on procedural aspects but also on developing learners’ emotional competence to help sustain their language learning within today’s educational landscape.
{"title":"Peer Review Circles: The Value of Working in Triadic Groups and Oral Observational Peer Feedback in the Development of Student Feedback Literacy","authors":"M. Yeo","doi":"10.1515/CJAL-2023-0208","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1515/CJAL-2023-0208","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract There has been increasing debate about the effectiveness of peer feedback, especially the way learners actively engage with and act upon the feedback (Lam, 2017). Yet research has shown that well-managed peer feedback offers a host of social, cognitive and linguistic benefits (Sun & Doman, 2018). This paper looks at the perceptions of 24 teachers of English from Myanmar who experienced and evaluated a new way of organizing the peer feedback process known as Peer Review Circles (PRCs). In PRCs, learners work in groups of three, with two giving feedback on the work of the third, who listens, reflects on and only then responds to the comments. It was found that teachers perceived this arrangement to increase the quantity, variety and reliability of feedback, create a more conducive feedback atmosphere and aid the development of “soft/transferable” skills. Respondents identified teachers’ and learners’ lack of familiarity with this new approach, time constraints and the possibility of conflicting comments as potential difficulties of PRCs. To overcome these, respondents suggested providing training to teachers and learners, especially through modelling. This paper sheds light on a different way of managing peer feedback, PRCs, highlighting the benefits of working in triadic over dyadic groups and the value of oral observational peer feedback to develop students’ feedback literacy. The key implications relate to peer review training and the need to focus not just on procedural aspects but also on developing learners’ emotional competence to help sustain their language learning within today’s educational landscape.","PeriodicalId":43185,"journal":{"name":"Chinese Journal of Applied Linguistics","volume":"46 1","pages":"270 - 288"},"PeriodicalIF":0.7,"publicationDate":"2023-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"44522354","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"教育学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Abstract Formative assessment has become an increasingly popular topic in educational reform since the publication of Black and Wiliam’s (1998) highly influential review article. In China, formative assessment has been promoted by the Ministry of Education in its curriculum standards for over two decades. A lack of implementation in classrooms has been attributed to the lack of assessment literacy among classroom teachers. A 12-week professional development program was designed and implemented for a group of five secondary school EFL teachers in China aiming at developing their classroom-based formative assessment literacy. The program took the form of collaborative action research in which a researcher joined the teachers to form a community of practice for continuing professional development. This paper focuses on one teacher’s growth in assessment literacy for classroom-based formative assessment. Classroom video recordings and interviews were transcribed and coded using NVivo 12. Baseline data indicated that the teacher lacked the knowledge and beliefs needed to conduct formative assessment. She did not have clear targets for teaching, learning and assessment; and she did not make any targets clear to her students. In addition, the teacher’s assessment practices did not aim to improve student subject core competencies as stipulated in the senior secondary English language curriculum. By the end of the program, the teacher’s knowledge, beliefs and practices in formative assessment were significantly enhanced. In particular, her goal setting for classroom teaching, learning and assessment was intentionally aligned with the development of subject core competencies. More cycles of formative assessment practices were found to help students close the learning gaps and achieve their learning goals. These findings lend encouraging support to the feasibility of teachers developing formative assessment literacy within a continuing professional development framework.
{"title":"Developing Classroom-Based Formative Assessment Literacy: An EFL Teacher’s Journey","authors":"Jiayi Li, Peter Yongqi Gu","doi":"10.1515/CJAL-2023-0204","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1515/CJAL-2023-0204","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract Formative assessment has become an increasingly popular topic in educational reform since the publication of Black and Wiliam’s (1998) highly influential review article. In China, formative assessment has been promoted by the Ministry of Education in its curriculum standards for over two decades. A lack of implementation in classrooms has been attributed to the lack of assessment literacy among classroom teachers. A 12-week professional development program was designed and implemented for a group of five secondary school EFL teachers in China aiming at developing their classroom-based formative assessment literacy. The program took the form of collaborative action research in which a researcher joined the teachers to form a community of practice for continuing professional development. This paper focuses on one teacher’s growth in assessment literacy for classroom-based formative assessment. Classroom video recordings and interviews were transcribed and coded using NVivo 12. Baseline data indicated that the teacher lacked the knowledge and beliefs needed to conduct formative assessment. She did not have clear targets for teaching, learning and assessment; and she did not make any targets clear to her students. In addition, the teacher’s assessment practices did not aim to improve student subject core competencies as stipulated in the senior secondary English language curriculum. By the end of the program, the teacher’s knowledge, beliefs and practices in formative assessment were significantly enhanced. In particular, her goal setting for classroom teaching, learning and assessment was intentionally aligned with the development of subject core competencies. More cycles of formative assessment practices were found to help students close the learning gaps and achieve their learning goals. These findings lend encouraging support to the feasibility of teachers developing formative assessment literacy within a continuing professional development framework.","PeriodicalId":43185,"journal":{"name":"Chinese Journal of Applied Linguistics","volume":"46 1","pages":"198 - 218"},"PeriodicalIF":0.7,"publicationDate":"2023-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"44792855","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"教育学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Abstract While teachers’ language assessment literacy (LAL) development has been researched exponentially, little is known about the construction of teachers’ assessment identity in their LAL development. The current study attempts to fill this gap by exploring how two novice university English teachers constructed their assessment identity in the Chinese context. Data were collected over three semesters through narrative frames, interviews, and field observations. The data revealed that the two teachers experienced a shift from not identifying themselves to be an assessor to being an assessor, along with their LAL development. They constructed their assessment identity with different trajectories. Specifically, one informant proactively made sense of her identities as an unswerving assessment practitioner and an ardent assessment explorer but preferred to label herself as a guide and “a stumbling novice assessor.” The other developed his identities as a confident feedback giver and a lenient marker, preferably identifying himself as “a life mentor.” These idiosyncratic construction trajectories were mainly influenced by teachers’ conceptions of assessment, prior assessment experiences, personal dispositions (e.g., self-efficacy, agency, reflection) and institutional requirements. Findings of this study offer insights into the under-researched area of teacher professional identity in language assessment and provide implications on how to become effective language assessors.
{"title":"A Tale of Two Teachers: Construction of Novice University English Teachers’ Assessment Identity","authors":"L. Gan, Ricky Lam","doi":"10.1515/CJAL-2023-0205","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1515/CJAL-2023-0205","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract While teachers’ language assessment literacy (LAL) development has been researched exponentially, little is known about the construction of teachers’ assessment identity in their LAL development. The current study attempts to fill this gap by exploring how two novice university English teachers constructed their assessment identity in the Chinese context. Data were collected over three semesters through narrative frames, interviews, and field observations. The data revealed that the two teachers experienced a shift from not identifying themselves to be an assessor to being an assessor, along with their LAL development. They constructed their assessment identity with different trajectories. Specifically, one informant proactively made sense of her identities as an unswerving assessment practitioner and an ardent assessment explorer but preferred to label herself as a guide and “a stumbling novice assessor.” The other developed his identities as a confident feedback giver and a lenient marker, preferably identifying himself as “a life mentor.” These idiosyncratic construction trajectories were mainly influenced by teachers’ conceptions of assessment, prior assessment experiences, personal dispositions (e.g., self-efficacy, agency, reflection) and institutional requirements. Findings of this study offer insights into the under-researched area of teacher professional identity in language assessment and provide implications on how to become effective language assessors.","PeriodicalId":43185,"journal":{"name":"Chinese Journal of Applied Linguistics","volume":"46 1","pages":"219 - 236"},"PeriodicalIF":0.7,"publicationDate":"2023-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"47439933","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"教育学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Abstract For pre-service teacher education, it would be helpful to know how difficult certain aspects of language testing and assessment are for students. Such information could serve different pedagogical purposes including program design and lesson sequencing. This paper, situated in the context of pre-service teacher education at the University of Vienna, Austria, presents an approach to developing language assessment literacy (LAL) which takes account of the difficulty of language assessment. To obtain empirical difficulty estimates, the items of a LAL test for pre-service teachers of English were converted into statements of ability, knowledge, and understanding and then calibrated by means of multi-facet Rasch analysis based on performance data from 420 students. Qualitative content analysis was used to identify clusters among the calibrations, thus characterizing the difficulty continuum. The findings show a clear progression which can offer a basis for the design of teacher education programs. I first report on the process of generating the difficulty estimates. Then I describe the resulting difficulty continuum with particular emphasis on classroom-based assessment. Finally, I suggest design principles for difficulty-informed assessment courses, illustrating how they could be implemented in the teacher education program at the University of Vienna.
{"title":"A Difficulty-Informed Approach to Developing Language Assessment Literacy for Classroom Purposes","authors":"A. Berger","doi":"10.1515/CJAL-2023-0209","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1515/CJAL-2023-0209","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract For pre-service teacher education, it would be helpful to know how difficult certain aspects of language testing and assessment are for students. Such information could serve different pedagogical purposes including program design and lesson sequencing. This paper, situated in the context of pre-service teacher education at the University of Vienna, Austria, presents an approach to developing language assessment literacy (LAL) which takes account of the difficulty of language assessment. To obtain empirical difficulty estimates, the items of a LAL test for pre-service teachers of English were converted into statements of ability, knowledge, and understanding and then calibrated by means of multi-facet Rasch analysis based on performance data from 420 students. Qualitative content analysis was used to identify clusters among the calibrations, thus characterizing the difficulty continuum. The findings show a clear progression which can offer a basis for the design of teacher education programs. I first report on the process of generating the difficulty estimates. Then I describe the resulting difficulty continuum with particular emphasis on classroom-based assessment. Finally, I suggest design principles for difficulty-informed assessment courses, illustrating how they could be implemented in the teacher education program at the University of Vienna.","PeriodicalId":43185,"journal":{"name":"Chinese Journal of Applied Linguistics","volume":"46 1","pages":"289 - 307"},"PeriodicalIF":0.7,"publicationDate":"2023-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"42596662","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"教育学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Abstract Assessment has had an enduring influence on teaching and learning English as a Foreign Language (EFL). The conceptualization and enactment of formative assessment as an integral foundation of learning-oriented assessment (LOA) has become the focus of recent studies, reflecting the mandated role of formative assessment in educational policies such as the national curriculum in China. However, it remains largely unexplored how junior high school EFL teachers in China understand and interpret formative assessment in response to policy imperatives and the enactment of learning-oriented assessment practices in classes that often focus on test preparation. To address the gap, this article reports a case study of three junior high school EFL teachers in a southwest city in China in order to explore their assessment beliefs and learning-oriented classroom assessment practices. The data collected included 15 audio-recorded classroom observations and three semi-structured audio-recorded interviews. The three teachers interpreted the concept of LOA in different ways and their classroom practices reflected these understandings. Despite working in a heavily exam-oriented context, the teachers were observed to provide contingent oral feedback to their learners, help learners develop their understanding through learner-centered tasks and interactions where learners were positioned as resources for each other through grouping and peer-assessment opportunities, and encourage learner autonomy. These findings point to ways in which LOA can be realized within exam-oriented English language learning contexts.
{"title":"Understanding and Implementing Learning-Oriented Assessment: Evidence From Three Chinese Junior High School EFL Teachers","authors":"Ruijin Yang, Lyn May","doi":"10.1515/CJAL-2023-0210","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1515/CJAL-2023-0210","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract Assessment has had an enduring influence on teaching and learning English as a Foreign Language (EFL). The conceptualization and enactment of formative assessment as an integral foundation of learning-oriented assessment (LOA) has become the focus of recent studies, reflecting the mandated role of formative assessment in educational policies such as the national curriculum in China. However, it remains largely unexplored how junior high school EFL teachers in China understand and interpret formative assessment in response to policy imperatives and the enactment of learning-oriented assessment practices in classes that often focus on test preparation. To address the gap, this article reports a case study of three junior high school EFL teachers in a southwest city in China in order to explore their assessment beliefs and learning-oriented classroom assessment practices. The data collected included 15 audio-recorded classroom observations and three semi-structured audio-recorded interviews. The three teachers interpreted the concept of LOA in different ways and their classroom practices reflected these understandings. Despite working in a heavily exam-oriented context, the teachers were observed to provide contingent oral feedback to their learners, help learners develop their understanding through learner-centered tasks and interactions where learners were positioned as resources for each other through grouping and peer-assessment opportunities, and encourage learner autonomy. These findings point to ways in which LOA can be realized within exam-oriented English language learning contexts.","PeriodicalId":43185,"journal":{"name":"Chinese Journal of Applied Linguistics","volume":"46 1","pages":"308 - 325"},"PeriodicalIF":0.7,"publicationDate":"2023-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"49633843","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"教育学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Abstract This is qualitative research on the development of learner identity (Norton, 2013) via “dialogic learner”—a newly-constructed teaching model. Research subjects were two groups of English majors in 2015 and 2016, each respectively in their first year at a university for liberal arts. Data collection includes learning reflections, interviews and questionnaires. Research findings demonstrate two trajectories of identity changes: The first, found in the first and second groups, was from being one-dimensional learners to becoming multi-dimensional ones; the second, emerging among the second group, was from being passive learners to becoming more active and adequately-prepared ones. This trajectory might further encourage the students in their exploration of multidimensional thinking—the early stage in the evolution of the symbolic competence (Kramsch, 2009), with the possibility of life-long self-education (Gao, 2001).
{"title":"Dialogic Learner and Identity Changes in the English Majors at a University for Liberal Arts","authors":"Y. Bian","doi":"10.1515/CJAL-2023-0103","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1515/CJAL-2023-0103","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract This is qualitative research on the development of learner identity (Norton, 2013) via “dialogic learner”—a newly-constructed teaching model. Research subjects were two groups of English majors in 2015 and 2016, each respectively in their first year at a university for liberal arts. Data collection includes learning reflections, interviews and questionnaires. Research findings demonstrate two trajectories of identity changes: The first, found in the first and second groups, was from being one-dimensional learners to becoming multi-dimensional ones; the second, emerging among the second group, was from being passive learners to becoming more active and adequately-prepared ones. This trajectory might further encourage the students in their exploration of multidimensional thinking—the early stage in the evolution of the symbolic competence (Kramsch, 2009), with the possibility of life-long self-education (Gao, 2001).","PeriodicalId":43185,"journal":{"name":"Chinese Journal of Applied Linguistics","volume":"46 1","pages":"31 - 47"},"PeriodicalIF":0.7,"publicationDate":"2023-02-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"47771975","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"教育学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Abstract While the past few decades have witnessed a growing body of research on peer feedback and student engagement, little attention has been paid to student engagement with peer feedback in the secondary school classrooms. Based on multiple qualitative data including semi-structured interviews, stimulated recall, original, revised and final writing drafts as well as peer discussion recordings, this case study investigated how secondary school students engaged with peer feedback in behavior, cognition, and affect from both the feedback giver’s and receiver’s perspectives and what factors may influence their engagement with peer feedback. Data analysis showed that 1) student engagement with both giving and receiving peer feedback demonstrated dynamic and complex interactions among three dimensions; 2) students were engaged with peer feedback in different ways while playing the roles of feedback givers and receivers, showing deep engagement as a giver and superficial engagement as a receiver, and vice versa; 3) factors such as language proficiency, self-efficacy, personality and teachers’ guidance were found to influence student engagement with peer feedback. By shedding light on the multi-dimensional characteristics of students’ engagement from bidirectional perspectives, the study offers suggestions for educational practitioners to improve English learners’ engagement with peer feedback in L2 writing classes.
{"title":"Student Engagement With Peer Feedback in L2 Writing: A Multiple Case Study of Chinese Secondary School Students","authors":"Qiuyan Yan, Chen Tang","doi":"10.1515/CJAL-2023-0108","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1515/CJAL-2023-0108","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract While the past few decades have witnessed a growing body of research on peer feedback and student engagement, little attention has been paid to student engagement with peer feedback in the secondary school classrooms. Based on multiple qualitative data including semi-structured interviews, stimulated recall, original, revised and final writing drafts as well as peer discussion recordings, this case study investigated how secondary school students engaged with peer feedback in behavior, cognition, and affect from both the feedback giver’s and receiver’s perspectives and what factors may influence their engagement with peer feedback. Data analysis showed that 1) student engagement with both giving and receiving peer feedback demonstrated dynamic and complex interactions among three dimensions; 2) students were engaged with peer feedback in different ways while playing the roles of feedback givers and receivers, showing deep engagement as a giver and superficial engagement as a receiver, and vice versa; 3) factors such as language proficiency, self-efficacy, personality and teachers’ guidance were found to influence student engagement with peer feedback. By shedding light on the multi-dimensional characteristics of students’ engagement from bidirectional perspectives, the study offers suggestions for educational practitioners to improve English learners’ engagement with peer feedback in L2 writing classes.","PeriodicalId":43185,"journal":{"name":"Chinese Journal of Applied Linguistics","volume":"46 1","pages":"120 - 139"},"PeriodicalIF":0.7,"publicationDate":"2023-02-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"42241964","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"教育学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Review on Languaging in Language Learning and Teaching: A Collection of Empirical Studies","authors":"Ruiying Niu","doi":"10.1515/CJAL-2023-0109","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1515/CJAL-2023-0109","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":43185,"journal":{"name":"Chinese Journal of Applied Linguistics","volume":"46 1","pages":"140 - 149"},"PeriodicalIF":0.7,"publicationDate":"2023-02-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"43263109","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"教育学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
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