Understanding of ESL teachers’ assessment procedures: a contextual study of Saudi Arabia

Abstract

A total of 32 questions were used to probe the attitudes of 95 Arab, 98 Natives English teachers, and of Asian (South Asian) origin ESL/EFL educators toward the assessment and evaluation of their students. The results showed more agreement than disagreement between the instructors in the three settings, although the teachers' views were inconsistent throughout the three situations. While there was a positive correlation between instructors' stated goals for using assessment and evaluation and their actual implementation of these tools, there was no such correlation between instructors' perceptions of assessment and evaluation's value in the classroom and their students' learning gains. Teachers' perceptions of the time they spent on assessment, their knowledge of and preparation for assessment, and their actual assessment practises were only moderately connected.