Abstract
Peer assessment is increasingly being emphasized as part of formative assessment due to its rich nature in developing independent and autonomous learners. However, in Malaysia, the practice of peer assessment is still limited. While past studies have indicated that conceptions predict classroom practices, and studying teachers' conception on peer assessment are important especially now that the transformation of assessment practice is a major item in the national educational agenda. Hence, this study aims to explore peer assessment experiences in the lower primary ESL classroom among teachers in the state of Selangor. The study adopted the qualitative research method, with three primary ESL teachers who were purposefully selected as the participants of the study. Data were collected through in-depth interviews and were analyzed for emerging themes. The findings revealed that participating teachers in this study viewed peer assessment as an interpersonal, intrapersonal and active, cognitive process. In implementing peer assessment, teachers generally engaged in several processes before and while implementing the activity. In the planning stage, the teachers decided on the activity and strategy, presented success criteria and specified feedback forms to be used by the students and while during the activity, teacher oriented the task clearly and facilitated the process through monitoring. This study contributed to a better understanding of teachers' perspectives on implementing peer assessment in the lower primary ESL classrooms in Malaysia.
Highlights
Assessment is an important component in learning
Unlike summative assessment which concerns itself with collecting information on how much learning has taken place, formative assessment encompasses “all those activities undertaken by teachers, and/or by their students, which provide information to be used as feedback to modify the teaching and learning activities in which they are engaged” (Black & William, 1998, p. 140)
In the Malaysian English Language Education Reform or what is commonly referred to as “The Roadmap 2015-2025”, the assessment aspect has become a focus of transformation, alongside with the curriculum and the teaching and learning process, in the effort to produce quality student outcomes in English learning by 2025 (Ministry of Education, 2015)
Summary
Assessment is an important component in learning. Over the last thirty years, there has been growing evidence on the ability of assessment to improve student learning (William, 2017). The implementation of formative assessment, which includes self-assessment and peer assessment, is strongly emphasized in the new curriculum This type of assessment, when being planned instantaneously with the teaching and learning, serves as a connecting bridge that can accelerate learning (William, 2017). Previous studies in Malaysia revealed limited evidence of peer assessment in the primary ESL classroom (Sidhu, Kaur & Chi, 2016; Sardaneh, 2018) and teachers’ inadequate knowledge and skills in implementing such type of assessment are cited as one of the contributing factors for the lack of peer assessment occurring in Malaysian classrooms (Sardaneh, 2018, Mohamad Uri & Abd. Aziz, 2018, Veloo et al, 2016). Research which focuses on teachers’ conception and experience in implementing peer assessment in lower primary ESL context is scarce. Two research questions that guided the study are: (1) what is the ESL teachers’ understanding of the meaning of peer assessment in ESL context? and (2) how do ESL teachers implement peer assessment in the lower primary ESL classroom?
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