Review(s) of: Assessing English proficiency for university study, by Read, J. (2015), Basingstoke... more Review(s) of: Assessing English proficiency for university study, by Read, J. (2015), Basingstoke, UK: Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN 9781137495891. (272 pp.).
ABSTRACT This paper explores the approaches and strategies used by secondary school learners of d... more ABSTRACT This paper explores the approaches and strategies used by secondary school learners of different languages in England completing Asset Languages reading tasks at levels A1 and A2 of the Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR). Assessments across languages at the same level of proficiency were designed to a common specification and at comparable levels of functional difficulty following the CEFR. However, as the majority of research in this area has focused on learners of English, little is known about the impact of having a common framework on learners of non-European languages. Does one-size fit all? Findings from think-aloud protocols reveal that different approaches and strategies were used by learners of different languages. In particular, the study shows the impact of learning a new writing system and the variation in ability of community language learners, highlighting limitations in adopting a framework designed for ‘typical’ foreign language learners for learners of all languages.
Abstract Ontological politics has received increasing attention within education policy studies, ... more Abstract Ontological politics has received increasing attention within education policy studies, particularly as a support for the notion of policy enactment. While policy enactment offers serious challenges to traditional approaches toward policy implementation, this paper takes up ontological politics as a concept that extends beyond implementation and holds consequences for policy formation as well. Analysing the different uses of evidence in recent policy documents from Aotearoa New Zealand, this paper argues that an ontological politics of evidence grounds policies in ways that define what can and cannot be enacted, what this paper terms policy enablement. The analyses illustrate an ontological politics of evidence that excludes non-experts in the first instance, and that sanitises the critical elements of enactment in the second. Both analyses highlight the ways policy enablement emerges from ontological politics and offers a supplement to policy enactment. Following these analyses, the paper offers some provisional thoughts on the relationship between enablement and enactment as an approach that attends to context as a constitutive element of policy-making.
ABSTRACT Can-do statements are commonly used in language education to describe the level of a lea... more ABSTRACT Can-do statements are commonly used in language education to describe the level of a learner's proficiency. However, there is little research on whether they represent proficiency and progression for non-European languages, particularly non-Latin script or community languages. A self-assessment can-do survey was developed to investigate and compare secondary school learner self-assessments of reading proficiency in German, Japanese and Urdu for the multilingual assessment scheme Asset Languages in England. Findings show that the same three factors best represent learners' self-assessed reading proficiency across all three languages. However, differences were also found raising the need for further research in the way can-do statements represent progression for learners of Japanese and Urdu. Additionally, and in contrast to the findings for German and Japanese, results indicate that learners of Urdu and their teachers underestimated learner proficiency in relation to test scores. Finally, this research demonstrates that the construct of reading in the current National Curriculum for Modern Foreign Languages is not endorsed by the learners in this study.
10. Nature of collaboration: Research is in agreement with the WG report's emphasis on collaborat... more 10. Nature of collaboration: Research is in agreement with the WG report's emphasis on collaboration. However, research also identifies that different models of collaboration have different effects. Specifically, collaboration that is overly hierarchical risks 'contrived collegiality'. Collaboration that is more lateral and democratic is better capable of responding to student and teacher needs as identified by teachers. 11. Resourcing: Research stipulates that in order for initiatives to be implemented successfully and sustainably, adequate temporal and financial resources must be provided. Moreover, while these resources are necessary, they are not sufficient. Research additionally shows that while attention needs to be paid to all aspects of reform, particular attention should be given to the structural and contextual details of professional development and inquiry time. TEMPLATE Standard bibliographic information
This paper critically examines Indonesia's 2013 national curriculum, implemented in 2019. The mos... more This paper critically examines Indonesia's 2013 national curriculum, implemented in 2019. The most significant change is the mandated use of formative assessment, which we argue is an example of policy borrowing, a trend also seen in many other countries globally. We argue that this policy has been adopted due to global and regional pressure on Indonesia to improve its education system. Alongside this, the 2013 curriculum has a strong emphasis on student attitudes, thereby promoting Indonesian national interests. Taking a holistic approach to our analysis, we follow Priestley et al.'s (2012) conceptual framing of sites of curriculum and draw on a wide range of data including policy texts, existing studies, media texts and teacher voice, to illustrate inconsistencies in the way formative assessment has been interpreted through the policy-making process. Our analysis also highlights tensions between formative assessment and the Indonesian education system and cultural context. As we exemplify, curriculum making is a complex process involving many stakeholders; teachers are not mere enactors of policy and should not be viewed as the source of the 'problem' when issues occur. Our study will be of interest to others in examining the trend of diffused policy borrowing in non-western settings.
Welcome to issue 19 of Research Notes, our quarterly publication reporting on matters relating to... more Welcome to issue 19 of Research Notes, our quarterly publication reporting on matters relating to research, test development and validation within Cambridge ESOL. The theme of this issue is the development and validation of new assessment products and the opportunities for collaboration these bring. We report on products under development which take Cambridge ESOL for the first time into primary, secondary, tertiary and higher education sectors in the UK with multilingual tests within the Asset Languages project; into the Adult ESOL curriculum with Skills for Life tests, as well as reporting on the development of the Teaching Knowledge Test, which will assess teachers' professional knowledge about the teaching of English to speakers of other languages in a worldwide context. This issue also focuses on developing frameworks for describing and introduce Asset Languages, an assessment system being developed by UCLES to implement the Languages Ladder, a voluntary recognition system ...
This chapter, drawing on my personal experience as the project manager for a large-scale survey –... more This chapter, drawing on my personal experience as the project manager for a large-scale survey – the European Survey on Language Competences – reflects on the aspects that influence my own research most strongly, namely the limitations of the methodology used in such surveys to produce data that can feed into policy formation and positively impact what goes on inside classrooms around the world. Future trends and directions for research in comparative education are then explored, where I suggest practical case studies focusing on comparative pedagogy within a policy learning approach as a possible way forward in providing a rich and robust supplementary source of evidence for policymakers.
International Journal of Inclusive Education, 2021
A refugee crisis is taking place as an unprecedented number of people, half of whom are under the... more A refugee crisis is taking place as an unprecedented number of people, half of whom are under the age of 18, become displaced following conflict and persecution in their home countries. In the Aote...
ABSTRACT This study explores six secondary school English as a Foreign Language (EFL) teachers’ v... more ABSTRACT This study explores six secondary school English as a Foreign Language (EFL) teachers’ views on classroom-based assessment at an Islamic boarding school in Lombok, Indonesia. Researching teacher views is important as a significant curriculum reform which mandates teachers’ use of formative assessment practices within the classroom is planned for implementation by the Indonesian government in 2020. Results from this study found that teachers tended to view classroom-based assessment from summative rather than formative perspectives. A strong emphasis was placed on assessing students’ attitudes and behaviour in classrooms alongside their academic ability. Grades and test scores were also seen as a way to hold students accountable to their teachers and parents for their learning and achievement. This article highlights the challenges of implementing formative assessment practices within the classroom in a traditional, hierarchical society.
Innovation in Language Learning and Teaching, 2017
ABSTRACT What approaches are used in the multi-level language class and what influences a teacher... more ABSTRACT What approaches are used in the multi-level language class and what influences a teacher's choice of approach? Multi-level language classes, the combining of two or more senior year levels into a single class, is a relatively recent phenomenon and one that is becoming increasingly common in New Zealand secondary schools as a consequence of a decline in student numbers. Drawing on survey and interview data, this article discusses the pedagogical approaches that are used by New Zealand language teachers in responding to this challenge and change to their role. The findings show that three very different approaches are used by teachers: 1) completely separate programmes for each year level, 2) common topics across year levels with differentiated materials, and 3) a ‘future-focussed’ programme drawing on self-directed technology assisted learning to free up teacher time to work individually with learners. A range of factors appear to influence choice of approach including teacher experience and knowledge of the curriculum, desire for the class to be ‘a group’, focus on communication, availability and inclination to use technology, and preparing students for end of year assessments. This study has practical implications for teacher professional development and initial teacher education programmes where mentoring and support for teachers in differentiated practices and resources is needed, particularly for early career teachers. While this study was conducted in a New Zealand secondary school context, it also has implications for broader language learning contexts where increased diversity of student cohorts is becoming increasingly common.
Abstract Ontological politics has received increasing attention within education policy studies, ... more Abstract Ontological politics has received increasing attention within education policy studies, particularly as a support for the notion of policy enactment. While policy enactment offers serious challenges to traditional approaches toward policy implementation, this paper takes up ontological politics as a concept that extends beyond implementation and holds consequences for policy formation as well. Analysing the different uses of evidence in recent policy documents from Aotearoa New Zealand, this paper argues that an ontological politics of evidence grounds policies in ways that define what can and cannot be enacted, what this paper terms policy enablement. The analyses illustrate an ontological politics of evidence that excludes non-experts in the first instance, and that sanitises the critical elements of enactment in the second. Both analyses highlight the ways policy enablement emerges from ontological politics and offers a supplement to policy enactment. Following these analyses, the paper offers some provisional thoughts on the relationship between enablement and enactment as an approach that attends to context as a constitutive element of policy-making.
Review(s) of: Assessing English proficiency for university study, by Read, J. (2015), Basingstoke... more Review(s) of: Assessing English proficiency for university study, by Read, J. (2015), Basingstoke, UK: Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN 9781137495891. (272 pp.).
ABSTRACT This paper explores the approaches and strategies used by secondary school learners of d... more ABSTRACT This paper explores the approaches and strategies used by secondary school learners of different languages in England completing Asset Languages reading tasks at levels A1 and A2 of the Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR). Assessments across languages at the same level of proficiency were designed to a common specification and at comparable levels of functional difficulty following the CEFR. However, as the majority of research in this area has focused on learners of English, little is known about the impact of having a common framework on learners of non-European languages. Does one-size fit all? Findings from think-aloud protocols reveal that different approaches and strategies were used by learners of different languages. In particular, the study shows the impact of learning a new writing system and the variation in ability of community language learners, highlighting limitations in adopting a framework designed for ‘typical’ foreign language learners for learners of all languages.
Abstract Ontological politics has received increasing attention within education policy studies, ... more Abstract Ontological politics has received increasing attention within education policy studies, particularly as a support for the notion of policy enactment. While policy enactment offers serious challenges to traditional approaches toward policy implementation, this paper takes up ontological politics as a concept that extends beyond implementation and holds consequences for policy formation as well. Analysing the different uses of evidence in recent policy documents from Aotearoa New Zealand, this paper argues that an ontological politics of evidence grounds policies in ways that define what can and cannot be enacted, what this paper terms policy enablement. The analyses illustrate an ontological politics of evidence that excludes non-experts in the first instance, and that sanitises the critical elements of enactment in the second. Both analyses highlight the ways policy enablement emerges from ontological politics and offers a supplement to policy enactment. Following these analyses, the paper offers some provisional thoughts on the relationship between enablement and enactment as an approach that attends to context as a constitutive element of policy-making.
ABSTRACT Can-do statements are commonly used in language education to describe the level of a lea... more ABSTRACT Can-do statements are commonly used in language education to describe the level of a learner's proficiency. However, there is little research on whether they represent proficiency and progression for non-European languages, particularly non-Latin script or community languages. A self-assessment can-do survey was developed to investigate and compare secondary school learner self-assessments of reading proficiency in German, Japanese and Urdu for the multilingual assessment scheme Asset Languages in England. Findings show that the same three factors best represent learners' self-assessed reading proficiency across all three languages. However, differences were also found raising the need for further research in the way can-do statements represent progression for learners of Japanese and Urdu. Additionally, and in contrast to the findings for German and Japanese, results indicate that learners of Urdu and their teachers underestimated learner proficiency in relation to test scores. Finally, this research demonstrates that the construct of reading in the current National Curriculum for Modern Foreign Languages is not endorsed by the learners in this study.
10. Nature of collaboration: Research is in agreement with the WG report's emphasis on collaborat... more 10. Nature of collaboration: Research is in agreement with the WG report's emphasis on collaboration. However, research also identifies that different models of collaboration have different effects. Specifically, collaboration that is overly hierarchical risks 'contrived collegiality'. Collaboration that is more lateral and democratic is better capable of responding to student and teacher needs as identified by teachers. 11. Resourcing: Research stipulates that in order for initiatives to be implemented successfully and sustainably, adequate temporal and financial resources must be provided. Moreover, while these resources are necessary, they are not sufficient. Research additionally shows that while attention needs to be paid to all aspects of reform, particular attention should be given to the structural and contextual details of professional development and inquiry time. TEMPLATE Standard bibliographic information
This paper critically examines Indonesia's 2013 national curriculum, implemented in 2019. The mos... more This paper critically examines Indonesia's 2013 national curriculum, implemented in 2019. The most significant change is the mandated use of formative assessment, which we argue is an example of policy borrowing, a trend also seen in many other countries globally. We argue that this policy has been adopted due to global and regional pressure on Indonesia to improve its education system. Alongside this, the 2013 curriculum has a strong emphasis on student attitudes, thereby promoting Indonesian national interests. Taking a holistic approach to our analysis, we follow Priestley et al.'s (2012) conceptual framing of sites of curriculum and draw on a wide range of data including policy texts, existing studies, media texts and teacher voice, to illustrate inconsistencies in the way formative assessment has been interpreted through the policy-making process. Our analysis also highlights tensions between formative assessment and the Indonesian education system and cultural context. As we exemplify, curriculum making is a complex process involving many stakeholders; teachers are not mere enactors of policy and should not be viewed as the source of the 'problem' when issues occur. Our study will be of interest to others in examining the trend of diffused policy borrowing in non-western settings.
Welcome to issue 19 of Research Notes, our quarterly publication reporting on matters relating to... more Welcome to issue 19 of Research Notes, our quarterly publication reporting on matters relating to research, test development and validation within Cambridge ESOL. The theme of this issue is the development and validation of new assessment products and the opportunities for collaboration these bring. We report on products under development which take Cambridge ESOL for the first time into primary, secondary, tertiary and higher education sectors in the UK with multilingual tests within the Asset Languages project; into the Adult ESOL curriculum with Skills for Life tests, as well as reporting on the development of the Teaching Knowledge Test, which will assess teachers' professional knowledge about the teaching of English to speakers of other languages in a worldwide context. This issue also focuses on developing frameworks for describing and introduce Asset Languages, an assessment system being developed by UCLES to implement the Languages Ladder, a voluntary recognition system ...
This chapter, drawing on my personal experience as the project manager for a large-scale survey –... more This chapter, drawing on my personal experience as the project manager for a large-scale survey – the European Survey on Language Competences – reflects on the aspects that influence my own research most strongly, namely the limitations of the methodology used in such surveys to produce data that can feed into policy formation and positively impact what goes on inside classrooms around the world. Future trends and directions for research in comparative education are then explored, where I suggest practical case studies focusing on comparative pedagogy within a policy learning approach as a possible way forward in providing a rich and robust supplementary source of evidence for policymakers.
International Journal of Inclusive Education, 2021
A refugee crisis is taking place as an unprecedented number of people, half of whom are under the... more A refugee crisis is taking place as an unprecedented number of people, half of whom are under the age of 18, become displaced following conflict and persecution in their home countries. In the Aote...
ABSTRACT This study explores six secondary school English as a Foreign Language (EFL) teachers’ v... more ABSTRACT This study explores six secondary school English as a Foreign Language (EFL) teachers’ views on classroom-based assessment at an Islamic boarding school in Lombok, Indonesia. Researching teacher views is important as a significant curriculum reform which mandates teachers’ use of formative assessment practices within the classroom is planned for implementation by the Indonesian government in 2020. Results from this study found that teachers tended to view classroom-based assessment from summative rather than formative perspectives. A strong emphasis was placed on assessing students’ attitudes and behaviour in classrooms alongside their academic ability. Grades and test scores were also seen as a way to hold students accountable to their teachers and parents for their learning and achievement. This article highlights the challenges of implementing formative assessment practices within the classroom in a traditional, hierarchical society.
Innovation in Language Learning and Teaching, 2017
ABSTRACT What approaches are used in the multi-level language class and what influences a teacher... more ABSTRACT What approaches are used in the multi-level language class and what influences a teacher's choice of approach? Multi-level language classes, the combining of two or more senior year levels into a single class, is a relatively recent phenomenon and one that is becoming increasingly common in New Zealand secondary schools as a consequence of a decline in student numbers. Drawing on survey and interview data, this article discusses the pedagogical approaches that are used by New Zealand language teachers in responding to this challenge and change to their role. The findings show that three very different approaches are used by teachers: 1) completely separate programmes for each year level, 2) common topics across year levels with differentiated materials, and 3) a ‘future-focussed’ programme drawing on self-directed technology assisted learning to free up teacher time to work individually with learners. A range of factors appear to influence choice of approach including teacher experience and knowledge of the curriculum, desire for the class to be ‘a group’, focus on communication, availability and inclination to use technology, and preparing students for end of year assessments. This study has practical implications for teacher professional development and initial teacher education programmes where mentoring and support for teachers in differentiated practices and resources is needed, particularly for early career teachers. While this study was conducted in a New Zealand secondary school context, it also has implications for broader language learning contexts where increased diversity of student cohorts is becoming increasingly common.
Abstract Ontological politics has received increasing attention within education policy studies, ... more Abstract Ontological politics has received increasing attention within education policy studies, particularly as a support for the notion of policy enactment. While policy enactment offers serious challenges to traditional approaches toward policy implementation, this paper takes up ontological politics as a concept that extends beyond implementation and holds consequences for policy formation as well. Analysing the different uses of evidence in recent policy documents from Aotearoa New Zealand, this paper argues that an ontological politics of evidence grounds policies in ways that define what can and cannot be enacted, what this paper terms policy enablement. The analyses illustrate an ontological politics of evidence that excludes non-experts in the first instance, and that sanitises the critical elements of enactment in the second. Both analyses highlight the ways policy enablement emerges from ontological politics and offers a supplement to policy enactment. Following these analyses, the paper offers some provisional thoughts on the relationship between enablement and enactment as an approach that attends to context as a constitutive element of policy-making.
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Papers by Karen Ashton