Negotiated assessment of efl teacher candidates through onlİne discussions

Abstract

This study reports on the results of the first phase of an action research dealing with problems related to the assessment process of pre-service EFL teachers. Self-assessment at higher levels of education is an up-to-date issue with discussions concerning different aspects of the topic. One of these aspects is negotiated assessment, a process in which learners try to come to terms with their instructors over grading their performances. In this study, this assessment paradigm was used to solve assessmentrelated problems. Not satisfied with the grades they had received in a previous course, a class of 19 third year pre-service teachers participated in the study with an orientation to have a say in their grading system. To this end, an online discussion form was created, and the participants posted their ideas about how they should be assessed in the related course. The instructor contributed to the discussions by helping the participants understand different dimensions of assessment process in general. Through these discussions, a self-assessment scale was constructed, and the participants were asked to grade themselves by using the scale they created collectively. The instructor also graded the participants by taking into account the parameters in the scale. Then the instructor and the participants tried to negotiate over the most reasonable grade for each of them. It was observed that this interaction between the instructor and the teacher candidates had a potential to increase the effectiveness of the assessment process. Most importantly, it seemed that this kind of assessment paradigm was very likely to have positive effects on the overall motivation of the sides involved in the teaching/learning process.