English language learning
Masoomeh Estaji; Farhad Ghiasvand
Abstract
High-stakes tests exert impacts on teachers’ perceptions, methodology, practices, and materials used in the classroom. However, previous research studies have overlooked the role of teachers’ past experiences in the tests and their instructional planning prior to, during, and after the preparation ...
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High-stakes tests exert impacts on teachers’ perceptions, methodology, practices, and materials used in the classroom. However, previous research studies have overlooked the role of teachers’ past experiences in the tests and their instructional planning prior to, during, and after the preparation courses. This study inspected the washback effect of IELTS examination on Iranian EFL teachers’ instructional planning considering their IELTS related experiences. Through a mixed-methods research design, two sets of questionnaires were distributed among 120 Iranian IELTS instructors to examine the IELTS washback effect on their perceptions of instructional planning. Afterward, a semi-structured interview was held with 15 instructors, selected from among 120 initial participants, to supplement the previously collected data. The results of one sample t-test and Wilcoxon signed-ranks test indicated that the current level of Instructional planning at item and total score level was beyond average. Likewise, the results of Spearman rho indicated a positive and significant relationship between instructors’ instructional planning and their past IELTS related experiences. It was also found that the IELTS examination made the instructors develop exam-oriented plans by focusing on the students’ test performance. The results are invaluable for IELTS instructors in that they can raise their knowledge and awareness about the nature and scope of IELTS washback effect and ways to develop exam-oriented plans.
Masoomeh Estaji; Saeedeh Fassihi
Volume 8, Issue 18 , December 2016, , Pages 65-86
Abstract
This study sought to examine the relationship between the use of formative assessment strategies and the Iranian EFL teachers’ sense of self-efficacy. Moreover, this study investigated the relationships and interactions between the EFL teachers’ use of formative assessment strategies, their ...
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This study sought to examine the relationship between the use of formative assessment strategies and the Iranian EFL teachers’ sense of self-efficacy. Moreover, this study investigated the relationships and interactions between the EFL teachers’ use of formative assessment strategies, their gender, level of experience, and sense of self-efficacy. This is a descriptive ex post facto design study which employed a three-part questionnaire, including demographic information, teachers’ formative assessment strategies, and teachers’ sense of self-efficacy. In order to collect data, sixty-one EFL teachers, including thirty-one female and thirty male participants who were selected through convenience sampling, completed the questionnaire. Multiple statistical strategies were employed to analyze the research questions of the study. The findings of Pearson’s and Spearman Rho correlation indicated that the EFL teachers’ use of formative assessment strategies was positively correlated with their sense of self-efficacy. However, the results of eta correlation coefficients revealed that there was no statistically significant relationship between the teachers’ implementation of formative assessment strategies and two other variables of gender and level of experience. Finally, the results of a three way factorial Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) evinced that there was no statistically significant interaction between the teachers’ use of formative assessment strategies, teachers’ sense of self-efficacy, their gender, and level of experience. Therefore, when the teachers become more aware of the ways to implement formative assessment strategies to inform instruction, their sense of self-efficacy can increase. This study has some implications in language testing, English pedagogy, and syllabus design and materials development.
