The mediating role of curriculum configuration on teacher’s L2 writing assessment literacy and practices in embedded French writing

Abstract

This qualitative study explores the influence of curriculum configuration as an instructional context on teachers’ L2 writing assessment literacy and practices. Specifically, the study examined how a group of university French language teachers in China drew on their assessment literacy to assess student’s embedded writing situated in an integrated language course for beginning French learners. Findings show that the curriculum configuration that prioritised student’s language knowledge acquisition over writing development seemed to cause the teachers to adjust their writing assessment to reconcile student’s acquisition of language knowledge and development of writing skills. Whilst teachers’ assessment literacy did not seem to be affected, their assessment practices showed a sequenced “split” between assessments on language issues and writing issues, which were separated and then ordered according to their perceived importance. Teachers’ beliefs about learners’ general learning needs, rather than those for learning L2 writing, seemed to determine how teachers navigated the sequence of the split assessments to order their priorities.