Developing Classroom Assessment Literacy of Teachers of Teaching Chinese to Speakers of Other Languages
Rowena Liu
MEd Candidate, Queen’s University
Context: The past two decades have witnessed a growing
number of non-Chinese speakers learning Chinese as a Foreign/Second Language
(CFL/CSL). This has placed a great need in the number of qualified teachers of Teaching Chinese to Speakers of Other Languages (TCSOL).
The Office of Chinese Language Council International (Hanban,
2007) published 10 Standards for these TCSOL teachers, in which Standard 7
listed detailed requirements for language teachers in regard to assessment.
Assessment, Classroom-Based Assessment (CBA)especially,
plays an important role in teaching and learning (e.g. Johnson and Johnson,
1998; Rupp, 2008). Unfortunately, previous studieshave
demonstrated that there are a considerable number of teachers who do not have
sound knowledge base to implement appropriate CBA practices (e.g. Bachor, & Baer, 2001; Popham,
2009).Thus, by reviewing literatures, the current study will be making efforts
in constructing aclassroom-based assessment knowledge
framework of TCSOL teachers.
Rationale: CBA, compared with standard large-scale
assessment, serves a crucial role in teaching and learning. It provides
teachers with the most updated and instant feedback about the effects of
teaching methods and students’ learning outcomes. Well-designed CBA could also
motivate, guide and promote students’ learning. On the contrary, if conducted
in an inappropriate way, or poorly designed, CBA not only could not play a
supportive role to teachers and students, but also may undermine the process of
teaching and learning. To ensure the supporting role of classroom assessment
for learning, teachers should be well equipped with assessment knowledge and
related issues to develop sound assessment knowledge before they conduct
assessment in classrooms. A number of studies have been done in describing and
exploring teachers’ CBA knowledge and practices in the past few years (e.g. Hu, Cheng, & Rogers, 2004; Mertler,
2005, 2009; Newfields, 2007; Siegel, &Wissehr, 2011; Yang, 2007), however, less research has been
found in teachers in CFL/CSL context. Obviously, TCSOL teachers’ CBA knowledge
and skills comprise layers of CBA literacy skills in other contexts, e.g.
English as a Foreign/Second Language (EFL/ESL), but require additional
competencies in light of the characteristic of Chinese language. Thus, it is
needed to constructa knowledge framework of CBA of
these TCSOL teachers.
Procedure and Conclusion: The construction of TCSOL teachers’ CBA
knowledge framework will be based on the previous studies in teachers’ CBA
literacy, with a strong emphasis on CFL/CSL context. The framework will be
composed byseveral aspects, e.g. teachers’ knowledge
about the purposes, appropriate methods, and procedures of conducting CBA in
teaching CFL/CSL, teachers’ awareness of predicting the potential problems
which might occur in CBA, teachers’ ability to interpret CBA results, and
teachers’ ability on how to motivate students to learn through CBA.
Significance of the Study: This study will not only provide a CBA
knowledge framework for TCSOL teachers, which is the
basis of implementing effective CBA, but also inform theeducators
in TCSOL teacher training programs and other stakeholders to better prepare and
equip TCSOL teachers with a sound CBA knowledge base.