After a refreshing blogging hiatus it is encouraging to report back on my recent research findings on assessment in Oman's General Foundation Programs. I documented my early findings in an earlier post, and am delighted to deliver the final product below.
The core question with assessment is always to understand its purpose. In language learning and teaching, the results of assessment can be a life-or-death matter for students. Yet in the frenzy about marks, the true objective of assessment - and its timing - is easily forgotten. As vital as assessment of students is, good assessment also reflects on the effectiveness of teaching and the validity of the curriculum, and even the assessment mechanism itself. Tomlinson (2005) identifies a further objective, which I thoroughly underwrite: learning.
With these objectives in mind, the value of continuous assessment becomes apparent. By assessing across a broad spectrum of authentic situations throughout a course, ongoing feedback on students' learning, effectiveness of teaching and a well-rounded profile of each individual student is provided. Perhaps most significantly, assessment becomes an opportunity for learning.
That, in a nutshell, is why I support principled continuous assessment, and am delighted that Oman's national policy shares this view. So far so good. What complicates matters, though, is that quality continuous assessment does require highly skilled teachers, as Carroll et al. (2009) point out in their analysis of Oman's GFP. This may be the unspoken assumption underlying the current trend towards traditional, summative assessment, which contradicts the continuous assessment recommendations in national policy documents.
Rather than delve more deeply here, I invite you to unravel the mystery with me in the article Product versus Process?
Continuous Assessment in the Oman General Foundation Programs. The paper is scheduled to appear in the first edition of of the Salalah College of Technology English Language Teaching Journal, due for publication at the end of this year.
What are your views on assessment? Can continuous assessment be viably implemented in Oman? What mechanisms are best? And... are teachers ready?
References
Carroll, M., Razvi, S. & Goodliffe, T. (2009). Using Foundation Program academic standards as a quality enhancement tool. International Network for Quality Assurance Agencies in Higher Education Conference 2009. Retrieved from http://www.inqaahe.org
Oman Accreditation Council. (2009). Oman academic standards for national foundation programs. Muscat: OAC.
Tomlinson, B. (2005). Testing to learn: A personal view of language testing. ELT Journal, 59(1), 39-46.
Image: Ancient Omani Doorway. Marie-Therese Le Roux, 2006.
