A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF TEACHERS' BELIEFS ABOUT THE ASSESSMENT OF 4TH GRADE-EFL STUDENTS IN TURKEY, ITALY AND FINLAND

Nilay Ceylan Çakır, Zübeyde Sinem Genç

Abstract


The aim of this study is to find out the beliefs of the foreign language teachers about the ways and types of assessment tools, assessment activities and exercises used for 4th grade-EFL students in Turkey, Italy and Finland. A total of 170 English language teachers (89 in Turkey, 40 in Italy and 41 in Finland) constituted the sample of the study. For data collection, a questionnaire with two parts was used. The quantitative data collected through the questionnaire were analyzed using descriptive statistics (frequency, percentage, mean, standard deviation) and one-way ANOVA. The results of the study revealed important points about assessing foreign language skills at primary school level. Turkish, Italian and Finnish teachers believed that more student-centered and formative-based assessment procedures should be used for 4th grade-students who learn English as a foreign language. The results also showed that teachers’ beliefs about the types of assessment, the content/skills-focus and the need for different kinds of exercises to assess 4th-graders did not differ significantly in terms of the country. However, teachers’ general beliefs about the assessment of 4th-grade students’ foreign language differed significantly in terms of the country. The post-hoc analysis showed that Italian teachers’ general beliefs about the assessment procedures for 4th grade students’ foreign language was significantly higher than Finnish and Turkish teachers’ general beliefs.

 

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assessment, learners of English as a foreign language, teachers’ beliefs, Turkey Finland, Italy

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References


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DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.46827/ejfl.v5i6.4104

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