Teacher Involvement in High-Stakes Language Testing
Description
This book advocates that teachers should play an active role in high-stakes language testing and that more weight should be given to teacher judgement. This is likely to increase the formative potential of high-stakes tests and provide teachers with a sense of ownership. The implication is that the knowledge and skills they develop by being involved in these tests will feed into their own classroom practices. The book also considers the arguments against teacher involvement, e.g. the contention that teacher involvement might entrench the practice of teaching to the test, or that teachers should not be actively involved in high-stakes language testing because their judgement is insufficiently reliable. Using contributions from a wide range of international educational contexts, the book proposes that a lack of reliability in teacher judgement is best addressed by means of training and not by barring educators from participating in high-stakes language testing. It also argues that their involvement in testing helps teachers to bolster confidence in their own judgement and develop their assessment literacy. Moreover, teacher involvement empowers them to play a role in reforming high-stakes language testing so that it is more equitable and more likely to enhance classroom practices. High-stakes language tests that adopt such an inclusive approach facilitate more effective learning on the part of teachers, which ultimately benefits all their students.
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Persons
Patricia Vella Briffa currently teaches at the University of Malta Junior College. She hastaught English to learners at various stages of language learning for general, specific,examination, or academic purposes. She holds a PhD from the University of Nottingham.Her research interests include language teaching and assessment. She was engaged in thedesign of a speaking component in the MATSEC 'A' level English examination, which wasawarded the Innovation in Assessment Prize by the British Council in 2014.
Content
1. Introduction.- PART 1: Benefits and Challenges of Teacher Involvement in High-stakes Language Testing.- 2. The Role of Classroom Teachers in Standard Setting and Benchmarking.- 3. A Critical Analysis of Teacher Involvement in the English Language Paper of the First School Leaving Certificate Examination (FSLC) in Cameroon.- 4. Potentials and Challenges of Teacher Involvement in Rating Scale Design for High-stakes Exams.- 5. Am I Just Stupid? Key Issues for Teachers Involved in High-stakes Testing with Children who have Dyslexia.- PART 2: Assessment Literacy for/through Teacher Involvement in High-stakes Language Testing.- 6. Are Teachers Given Sufficient Tools as Examiners in the New Foreign Language Speaking Component of the French Baccalauréat?.- 7. Assessment Literacy for Teachers: A Pilot Study Investigating the Challenges, Benefits and Impact of Assessment Literacy Training.- 8. Teachers as Testers: The Case of EOI Teachers in Galicia, Spain.- 9. Teachers Setting the Assessment (Literacy) Agenda: A Case Study of a Teacher-Led National Test Development Project in Luxembourg.- 10. Fostering Language Assessment Literacy Through Teacher Involvement in High-stakes Test Development.- PART 3: Perceptions and Beliefs in Relation to Teacher Involvement in High-stakes Language Testing.- 11. Teacher-examiners' Explicit and Enacted Beliefs about Proficiency Indicators in National Oral Assessments.- 12. Expatriate High School English Teachers' Experiences with Entrance Examination Creation in Japan: Opportunities and Challenges.- 13. English Language Teachers' Perceptions of Involvement in High-stakes Testing in Turkey.- 14. Teacher Involvement in the Russian National Exam in Foreign Languages: Experience and Perspectives.- 15. Teachers' Voices in the Decision to Discontinue a Public Examination Reform: Washback Effects and Implications for Utilizing Tests as Levers for Change.- 16. A Survey of English Language Testing Practices in China: Students' and Teachers' Perspectives.- 17. An Experienced EFL Teacher's Perception of High-stakes English Language Tests and Beliefs about Language Teaching: A Case Study.- 18. Examining Washback in EFL Multi-exam Preparation Classes in Greece: A Focus on Teachers' Teaching Practices.- 19 . Conclusion.