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Educators and researchers in the field of education consider assessment as a core pillar of the teaching and learning processes (Karim, 2015). According to Cohen (2001), assessment is

one of the least understood areas of teaching and learning. There is a substantial body of research on assessment that examines aspects of assessment design and implementation, practicality, accuracy and availability, rating scale, rating processes and rater training

(Brown, 2003; Downing & Haladyna, eds, 2006). However, the majority of this research has focused on large-scale and often high-stakes exams. Little research has been conducted on teachers’ cognition with regard to assessment and their role in constructing assessment tasks (Qian & Cumming, 2017). Therefore, it is the aim of this study to investigate teachers’ beliefs related to assessment and how these beliefs are connected to their practices, specifically when designing assessment tasks.

As mentioned earlier, assessment is of central importance in education, and yet there is a lack of common agreement in defining this term (Taras, 2005). According to Brown (2003, p. 15), ‘assessment is sometimes a misunderstood term in current educational practices’. The terms ‘assessment’, ‘evaluation’ and ‘testing’ seem to be used interchangeably in some educational circles (Brown, 2003; Taras, 2005). However, some researchers in the field of language assessment prefer to make clearer distinctions between these terms (Purpura, 2016; Hughes, 2011; Bachman & Palmer, 2010; Linn & Miller, 2005). Accordingly, there are a number of definitions that differentiate what each term means.

Evaluation:

‘(It) involves making value judgments and decisions on the basis of information’ (Bachman & Palmer, 2010, p 21).

This is arguably a very broad category, since such judgments might be based on either objective information or quite subjective and unreliable information, such as personal

recollection of students’ class performances. Furthermore, evaluation can be done by a learner by him/herself and does not necessarily have to be done by a teacher/examiner. Assessment:

‘It is a broad term referring to a systematic procedure for eliciting test and non-test data for the purpose of making inference or claims about....characteristics of an individual’ (Purpura, 2016, p. 191).

‘It refers to a judgement which can be justified according to specific weighted set goals, yielding either comparative or numerical ratings (Scriven, 1967, p. 40 as cited in Taras, 2005, p. 467).

‘…the collection of information, both quantitative and qualitative, obtained through various tests, observations, and many other techniques (e.g., checklists, inventories), that is used to determine individual or group performance’ (Doran, Lawrenz, & Helgeson, 1994 as cited in Wang, 2004).

‘A systematic approach to collecting information and making inferences about the ability of a student or the quality or success of a teaching course on the basis of various sources of evidence’ (Schmidt, 2010, p 35–36, as cited in Mansory, 2016, p. 29).

All these definitions refer to some objective and systematic form of evidence being used as a basis for evaluation, whether it is quantitative or qualitative. Assessment, then, refers not only to formal tests, such as the TOEFL or an end-of-chapter evaluation, but also to other methods of obtaining information about KSAs (knowledge, skills and abilities), such as by observing

L2 performance during pair-work or by asking learners to report their understandings and uncertainties (Purpura, 2016, p. 191). Hence, students can assess each other (peer-

assessment) or themselves (self-assessment), instead of being evaluated by teachers or testers. Testing:

‘An instrument for measuring a sample of behaviour’. (Linn & Miller, 2005, p. 26)

‘Tests are prepared administrative procedures that occur at identifiable times in a curriculum when learners muster all their faculties to offer peak performance, knowing that their responses are being measured and evaluated.’ (Brown, 2003)

‘(It) is a particular type of assessment that typically consists of a set of questions administered during a fixed period of time under reasonably comparable conditions for all students’. (Doran, Laurenz, & Helgeson, 1994, as cited in Wang, 2004. p. 15)

This seems to be the most specific term, as it implies an objective and systematic form of evaluation, normally conducted by a teacher or tester, which is not only quantitative but also involves multiple measurements from each student (a test typically has multiple items to yield a score from each student on a sample of information, and it does not rely on a single response from each).

Based on the definitions listed above, it is possible to say that tests comprise a subset of assessment. The relationship among test, assessment, evaluation and teaching process can be illustrated by the following figure.

Evaluation (measure teaching- learning process) Teaching Assessment (documentation) Testing (measure skill or knowledge)

Figure 4. The relationship among testing, assessment, evaluation and teaching.

With the lexical conundrum disentangled by distinguishing among tests, assessments, and evaluations, I now consider some key issues of assessment and their relation to this study.

2.4.1.1 Informal and formal assessment.

According to Brown (2003), assessment falls into two main categories: informal and formal assessment. Informal assessment is usually embedded in teachers’ classroom practices, with the purpose of eliciting performance without recording results and making fixed judgments about each student’s competence. Forms of informal assessment may include incidental, unplanned comments and responses, along with coaching and other spontaneous feedback to students; e.g. ‘Nice job!’ Formal assessments, on the other hand, ‘are exercises or procedures specifically designed to tap into a storehouse of skills and knowledge’ (Brown, 2003). They are often taken periodically in any given educational course; tests are thus formal

assessments. However, not all formal assessments take the form of tests; other forms may include students’ journals or portfolios and oral presentations.

2.4.1.2 Norm-referenced and criterion-referenced tests.

Further classifications need to be done to sort out the common terminology related to assessment. It is essential here to make a distinction between norm-referenced and criterion- referenced assessments. The former ranks students based on test scores, usually targets large number of students and takes a long time to be completed (e.g. IELTS or TOEFL). The latter focuses on measuring the skills and knowledge that a group of students has mastered in a certain domain and usually lasts for a class period (e.g. midterms, quizzes and final exams).

2.4.1.3 Formative and summative assessment.

Another useful distinction to bear in mind is the function of an assessment. In the relevant literature, two major functions of assessment are often identified: summative assessment, which is also called the assessment of learning, and formative assessment, also known as the assessment for learning (Büyükkarcı, 2014; Purpura, 2016; Taras, 2005). Both refer to assigning scores or grades to learners after imparting some instruction (i.e., teaching). However, summative assessment, which is also described as sequential, is where teachers assess how well learners have succeeded in achieving the set educational goals and objectives of a course only after the instruction is completed, hence is assessment of learning. This is typically done to certify to the authorities whether each learner has reached a threshold standard or not, which in turn informs whether a student can progress and ultimately graduate. Formative assessment, on the other hand, refers to the assessment of ongoing learning that occurs at some point during a course (Fulcher, 2010). According to Büyükkarcı (2014), formative assessment provides information and feedback to help inform teacher

instruction and improve student learning over the remainder of a course, hence it is for learning. In other words, the information shared in the course can benefit both teachers and learners, rather than other authorities.

Earl (2003) acknowledged these two approaches and introduced a third approach, ‘assessment as learning’.

In this type of assessment, the student is actively engaged in making sense of information and relating it to his or her prior knowledge and in mastering the skills involved. Making sense of the process is called metacognition. It occurs when students personally monitor what they are learning. They use the feedback from this monitoring to make judgments, adaptations and even major changes in what they understand (Earl, 2003, as cited in Thomas, 2012, p, 105).

This type of assessment, however, falls outside the scope of the present study as it does not involve teachers or exams.

The ongoing discussion intends to grasp some of the common assessment aspects and terms. On its part, this study focuses on classroom-based assessment – midterm exams, quizzes and final exams written by English grammar teachers, which take place within the context of a course. Classroom-based assessment has been referred to in the relevant literature by several terms: ‘traditional assessment’, ‘classroom-oriented assessment’ (Brown, 2003) and ‘in-class assessment’ (Neumann, 2010). It is classified as a formal, norm-referenced and summative assessment that is the preferred assessment procedure of the higher-educational institutions mentioned in this study (further details provided in chapter 4).