EXPLORING ENGLISH LANGUAGE ASSESSMENT IN ETHIOPIAN UNIVERSITIES: ASSUMPTIONS, PRACTICES AND CHALLENGES

Abstract

This study aimed to explore assessment assumptions, practices and challenges in the enactment of communicative English language skills course in Ethiopian universities. To this end, a mixed methods research design was employed, and data were collected from EFL instructors and firstyear undergraduate students through questionnaires, interviews and documents. The quantitative data were analyzed through descriptive and inferential statistics whereas thematic and content analysis approaches were applied for the qualitative data. The findings revealed that EFL instructors conducted assessments mainly for accountability purposes and relied on some particular conventional assessment methods to realize this. In addition, although instructors used both written and oral feedback modes frequently, they were found to be the sole source of feedback. These feedbacks often focused on verifying and directly providing correct answers than on scaffolding learners to generate by themselves. The findings also showed that students were highly traditionalists in their assumptions. On the other hand, although EFL instructors seem to hold mixed assumptions (progressive and traditional), most of their assumptions were those underlying traditional assessment approaches. The few alternativist assumptions held by EFL instructors often did not translate into practice due to various external factors such as the established assessment system, students’ language proficiency and overall competence, large class size, and workload. The study suggests the importance of ensuring that the assessment practices in the target course are aligned with the current assessment developments so that students’ English language learning is more supported. Changing EFL instructors’ and students assumptions about assessment and working on barriers that hinder interpreting assumptions into practice are also the other implications of the study.