In today’s foreign language (FL) education, teachers universally recognise the importance of fostering students’ ability to communicate in the target language. However, the current assessments often do not (sufficiently) evaluate this. In her dissertation, Charline Rouffet aims to gather insight into the potential of assessments to steer FL teaching practices. Communicative learning objectives FL teachers fully support the communicative learning objectives formulated at national level and embrace the principles of communicative language teaching. Yet, assessments instead primarily focus on formal language knowledge in isolation (e.g., grammar rules), disconnected from real-world communicative contexts. This misalignment between assessment practices and communicative objectives hampers effective FL teaching. CBA toolbox The aim of this design-based PhD research project is to gather insight into the potential of assessments to steer FL teaching practices. To this end, tools for developing communicative classroom-based assessment (CBA) programmes were designed and implemented in practice, in close collaboration with FL teachers. Rouffet's dissertation consists of multiple studies, in which the current challenges of FL education are addressed and the usage of the CBA toolbox is investigated. Findings reveal that assessing FL competencies in a more communicative way can transform teaching practices, placing communicative abilities at the heart of FL education.
Formative Use of Assessment to Foster Self‑Regulated Learning: the Alignment of Teachers’ Conceptions and Classroom Assessment Practices Journal of Formative Design in Learning (AECT)
A regular short physical activity break in the classroom may improve classroom behavior. The current study reports on the results of the implementation of a daily 10-min Just Dance break in the classroom. A total of 31 Dutch primary school teachers agreed to participate in the study. We collected data on the frequency of the use of the Just Dance breaks via an online registration system. Data on the long-term barriers and facilitators of the implementation were collected using two online questionnaires. In addition, we held five interviews with teachers to elucidate data on barriers and facilitators. The results show that none of the teachers maintained the Just Dance breaks on a daily basis, and only 19% (n = 6) of the teachers on a weekly basis (i.e., one to three times a week). According to all participating teachers, a lack of time was the primary barrier to implement Just Dance breaks on a daily basis. Teachers who did not maintain Just Dance breaks on a weekly basis also experienced difficulties in 1) keeping all pupils engaged during the full 10-min Just Dance break or 2) getting the pupils focused again after the Just Dance break. Teachers who maintained the Just Dance breaks on a weekly basis provided several practical recommendations for a more sustainable implementation process. This study shows that the implementation process of daily Just Dance breaks is challenging. We recommend providing teachers with professional support when implementing physical activity breaks in their daily program.
MULTIFILE
