Assessment and Feedback in ELT

Assessment and Feedback in ELT

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Why is this local issue relevant?

• Chilean teachers often rely on traditional assessment methods due to a misconception about the nature and purpose of assessment (Ref 12).

• As a result, the effectiveness of these strategies may be unclear if teachers lack a full understanding of how assessment and feedback impact pupils’ performance and motivation (Ref 1).
• Providing feedback after tasks is essential for learners' development as it significantly affects the teacher-student relationship (Ref 4).

• The National Curriculum emphasizes that English teaching should adopt a communicative approach, concentrating on the ability to learn English in a contextualized and meaningful setting (Ref 7).
• Evidence suggests that teachers should focus more on developing students' productive skills rather than merely producing outcomes to achieve results. Therefore, it is relevant to provide learners with communicative and practical tasks (Ref 6).

What does teacher research suggest to support EFL teaching and learning in LATAM contexts?

What do we know from teacher research on this topic?

• Traditional and alternative assessments should be seen as complementary tools to measure language ability (Ref 11).

• Combining tests, portfolios, and projects fosters a positive washback effect, encouraging peer feedback, critical thinking, and autonomy within a supportive learning community (Ref 8).

• In Chile, assessment practices should be tailored to communicative goals while addressing the specific needs of each school (Ref 2)

• Feedback should be constructive, specific, and encouraging, and using a variety of strategies to support improvement without discouraging learners (Ref 6).

• While Chilean ELT professionals tend to favour traditional assessment methods, some schools use oral performance assessments that promote communicative skills and enhance student motivation (Ref 2; Ref 11; Ref 12).
• Project-based alternative assessments have a stronger positive impact on student motivation than traditional methods, despite both being valued (Ref 8).

• Although students tend to focus on the negative aspects of feedback, they find it helpful, particularly when it is implicit or includes metalinguistic clues (Ref 4)

What practical recommendations can we make from this?

Assessments

Glossary of key topics

Feedback

List of consulted articles

Reference List

Project Team Bios