Young learners’ voices: Towards a learner-centered approach to understanding language assessment literacy

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dc.contributor.authorButler, Yuko Goto
dc.contributor.authorPeng, Xiaolin
dc.contributor.authorLee, Jiyoon
dc.date.accessioned2021-03-25T16:45:14Z
dc.date.available2021-03-25T16:45:14Z
dc.date.issued2021-02-25
dc.description.abstractLanguage assessment literacy (LAL) has recently gained substantial attention among language educators and other stakeholders. However, existing models focus almost exclusively on teachers, test developers, and administrators, and lack students’ perspectives in their conceptualizations. To address this gap, with this exploratory study we aimed to understand young learners’ LAL. The participants were fourth- and sixth-grade students (ages 9–10 and 11–12, respectively, with 10 participants in each age group) in China. After taking English mock tests, the children participated in individual, semi-structured interviews that covered their understanding of the following: (a) assessment purposes and theories (their knowledge about how assessment works); (b) assessment skills (their views of assessment designs, procedures, and content); and (c) assessment principles (their notion of fairness, cheating, and feedback). The data were analyzed qualitatively in line with current LAL models. The results suggest that the children already had substantial assessment literacy in knowledge, skills, and principles. Although their teachers’ assessment practice remains form-focused, children generally want more communicative-based and diagnostic assessment. They also want more cognitively challenging and enjoyable assessment tasks. Our findings provide solid supporting evidence for the importance of considering students’ perspectives, along with the views of other stakeholders, in order to have a more balanced understanding of LAL.en_US
dc.description.sponsorshipThe authors received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.en_US
dc.description.urihttps://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/0265532221992274en_US
dc.format.extent27 pagesen_US
dc.genrejournal articlesen_US
dc.identifierdoi:10.13016/m2pxnu-bshm
dc.identifier.citationButler YG, Peng X, Lee J. Young learners’ voices: Towards a learner-centered approach to understanding language assessment literacy. Language Testing. February 2021. doi:10.1177/0265532221992274en_US
dc.identifier.urihttps://doi.org/10.1177/0265532221992274
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/11603/21212
dc.language.isoen_USen_US
dc.publisherSAGEen_US
dc.relation.isAvailableAtThe University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC)
dc.relation.ispartofUMBC Education Department Collection
dc.relation.ispartofUMBC Faculty Collection
dc.rightsThis item is likely protected under Title 17 of the U.S. Copyright Law. Unless on a Creative Commons license, for uses protected by Copyright Law, contact the copyright holder or the author.
dc.subjectchildrenen_US
dc.subjectforeign languageen_US
dc.subjectlanguage assessment literacyen_US
dc.subjectlearner-centereden_US
dc.subjectprimary schoolsen_US
dc.subjecttest-taking strategiesen_US
dc.subjectyoung learnersen_US
dc.titleYoung learners’ voices: Towards a learner-centered approach to understanding language assessment literacyen_US
dc.typeTexten_US

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