TEACHER ASSESSMENT IDENTITY AND CLASSROOM ASSESSMENT BELIEFS

Abstract

Assessment reforms in Vietnam and other countries places a substantial demand on the part of English-language teachers to follow classroom-based assessment (CBA). The practice of CBA, however, varies. This paper aims to explore EFL (English as a Foreign Language) teachers’ beliefs about CBA, using the qualitative approach. Data were collected from interviews with four EFL teachers. Results show that the core category “Teachers’ beliefs about CBA” was centred around three emerging sub-categories: “Beliefs and Feelings”, “Knowledge and Skills” and “Perception of Roles”. The findings suggest that the underlying complexity of the teachers’ decision-making process in CBA should be understood by a model known as Teacher Assessment Identity. Pedagogical implications include the need to account for teacher identity to bridge the gap between policy and practice of assessment.