PE 35

Iranian language instructorsʹ perceptions of speaking assessment

كارشناسي ارشد

آموزش زبان انگليسي

25/10/92

شهين شيخ

محمد آقاجانزاده

instructors perception , Speaking assessment , Communicative competence

شيخ،شهين , آقاجانزاده،محمد

Research on instructors’ perceptions of assessment is of great importance in determining the way they perceive and organize the teaching and assessment of language skills. This issue has remained largely unexplored in the Iranian context, which requires an urgent attention. Thus, this study aims to explore Iranian language instructors’ perceptions of assessment of learners’ speaking performance. A representative sample of 39 EFL experienced instructors was selected based on cluster random sampling across a wide range of Iranian teaching contexts. They listened to two different learners’ speaking performances in KET and IELTS and made their comments on the assessment of the learners’ performance in reflection sheets. A reflection sheet was used to collect participants’ comments on learners’ performances. Two coders read, analyzed, and then categorized the qualitative data of reflection sheets into nine criteria by coding. An inter-rater reliability analysis using the Cohen’s Kappa statistic was performed to determine consistency of decisions among coders. Multivariate extension of McNemar indicated that there was a significant difference in instructors’ perceptions of assessment of two different speaking tasks. Furthermore, several chi-square tests showed that there was no significant difference between collegiate and institutional instructors’ perceptions of assessment. Moreover, findings indicated that pronunciation and content richness respectively were the most and least important criteria of two speaking tasks. Finally, based on the findings, the study discusses a range of suggestions, future directions for research, and pedagogical implications.

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