Assessment of Young Language Learners: Perceptions and Practices of Turkish EFL Pre-service and In-Service Teachers

Year 2018, Volume: 8 Issue: 2, 127 - 149, 30.06.2018

Seray Tanyer Zafer Susoy

Abstract

Reporting on perceptions and practices of Turkish EFL teachers regarding young
language learners’ assessment, this study addresses the deficiency in the body of
knowledge of pre-service and in-service EFL teachers’ understandings regarding
young language learners’ assessment and the lack of clear guidelines in the assessment
of 2nd and 3rd graders. It holds two main purposes; a) to explore fourth-year pre-service
EFL teachers’ perceptions about the assessment of young EFL learners; b) to
understand the nature of young learners’ assessment at 2nd and 3rd grades. A
qualitative research paradigm was adopted to analyze 13 Turkish EFL teachers’
responses to semi-structured interviews. The findings revealed insights and
comparisons of how the young language learners’ assessment was viewed by pre-
service teachers and how it was being tackled in reality by in-service teachers. With
this respect, related suggestions and comments have been presented. 

Keywords

Young language learners, Foreign language teachers, Assessment, Practices, Perceptions

References

• Bayyurt, Y. (2014). 4+4+4 eğitim sisteminde erken yaşta yabancı dil eğitimi. In A. Sarıçoban & H. Öz (Eds.), Türkiye’de Yabancı Dil Eğitiminde Eğilim Ne Olmalı? (pp. 117-127). Ankara: Hacettepe University Press.