Case Analysis of the Assessment Practices of Oral Communication Teachers in a Private School in the Philippine Setting

Abstract

With the recent entry of the Senior High School program in the Philippines, success of it maybe viewed to lie in the teachers‟ ability to manage the whole teaching-learning process, including their means of assessing their students. It is for this reason that a focus on teachers‟ Language Assessment Literacy (LAL) comes essential. Hence, the present study aimed at conducting a case analysis of the assessment practices of three Senior High School teachers in one of the private schools in the Philippines. Recognizing the crucial role classroom assessment has in a language classroom, the case analysis sought to provide focus on the purposes of assessment realized by oral communication teachers, the belief towards assessment that they hold, and their unique assessment practices. The case analysis employed interview and document analysis to gather data. After careful analysis and reflection, it was concluded that, first, despite the individuality observed on the primed purposes of assessment of the teacher-participants, the influence of the institutional character of assessment to the teachers were still observed. Second, the teachers‟ beliefs and attitude towards assessment were noted to follow a personal stance, realizing their personal interpretive framework. Lastly, the two prior conclusions generated provided explanations to the observed cornerstone violations in the practices of teachers. Hence, the paper highlights the need for an understanding of teachers‟ beliefs, attitudes, and perceived purposes of assessment to make sense of the actual assessment practices they employ. In turn, this understanding may be used to effectively design a program for teachers‟ continuous LAL development.