engleski

Assessment Practices of EFL Teachers in Croatia: How Do We Go About Young Learners?

Assessment of YL has been recognized as a distinct topic within the field of language assessment (Bailey 2017 ; McKay, 2006). However, assessment practices of FL teachers in YL classrooms remain relatively unknown (Nikolov and Timpe-Laughlin 2020). Experts recommend the use of formative assessment through diagnostic measures to track YLs’ progress (Edelenbos and Kubanek-German 2004). Contrary to recommendations, existing research into assessment of YLs points to more traditional, language-focused assessment practices (Inbar-Lourie and Shohamy 2009). For example, Greek and Cypriot teachers’ traditional beliefs about assessment lead to testing vocabulary, grammar and writing (Tsagari 2016), whereas Croatian, Czech and Slovenian teachers are reported to apply oral interviews and tests either individually designed or taken from the textbook used in their language lessons (Brumen, Cagran and Rixon 2009). In the present study, assessment practices of teachers of English to YLs in Croatia were explored by means of a questionnaire (Papadopoulos and Savić 2019). One hundred and thirty-six participants reported about the frequency of use of 17 different assessment practices. First, preferable practices emerging from descriptive analysis are discussed. Next, the influence of several background variables was explored. The variables included in the comparisons of teacher groups were a) years of teaching experience, b) number of in-service seminars attended in the past three years, and c) participants’ attitude towards continuous professional development (CPD) support for their language assessment literacy. Similar to results obtained in other contexts, the findings pointed at a preference for more traditional assessment procedures. Years of teaching experience emerged as important, but CPD failed to impact the participants’ choices. Implications of the findings are discussed in light of current understandings of early instructed English language learning that emphasize importance of more natural and authentic assessment practices for optimal YL’s progress in EFL.

young learners, assessment practices, traditional assessment, alternative assessment, alternative assessment, teaching experience, CPD

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