TEACHERS BELIEFS ABOUT EVALUATION IN SECOND LANGUAGE TEACHING.

During the last yearsevaluation practice has been gaining importance increasingly in the education field due to the fact thatit is a necessity for teachers to know if students have reached the achievements proposed by the course they teach. Also, it provides information which is analyzed and interpreted in order to make final decisions about each student. In the words of Spandel&Stiggins, Evaluation is the culminatingacts of interpreting the information gather for purpose of making decisions or judgments about students learning and needs(1990 p.105). Therefore, it may be said that evaluation is used to collect data; such data is later analyzed and interpreted whit the purpose of making appropriate changes in the process of teaching and learning. The evaluation process, according to Scriven, has two roles which contribute to a better follow-up of students progress in their learning process, such processes are;formative evaluation and summative evaluation (as cited in Lopez,

2010.p.113). The former has to do with the information collected that enables teachers and students to give feedback so as to assess themselves and each other with the purpose of modifying the teaching and learning activities in which they are involved, as a result the teaching work is adapted to fulfill learning needs (as cited in Black, 2007).Whereas, the latter one is considered as an accountability measure that is usually used as part of the grading process, given at a certain time, generally at the end of a term, so as to find out what students know and do not know (Garrison, C., &Ehringhaus, M. 2007). So that, in one hand the information permits teachers to realize what students are able to do as a basis to make future decisions about the course. On the other hand, it helps teachers to measure with grades students performance.

Nowadays, these two roles of the evaluation process are expected to

be

implemented by teachers in many educational institutions. However, in someColombian schools, specifically in the department of Crdoba, at

InstitucinEducativaEscuela Normal Superior de Monteria, it could be observed that many English teachers are still using traditionalpractices that are not in accordance with currentpractices (carried out summative and formative evaluation, equally and partially). Briefly, it may be said that their focus is on grading pupils rather than providing feedback and using self-evaluationin order to involve students in their own learning process.

Consequently, the evaluation processhas been affected not just by the way teachers use it, but also by the manner they perceive it taking into account their experiences as teachers as well as learners. Hence, it becomes crucial to sink into the teachers cognition world, in which beliefs -in terms of research-, are formed by complex networks of knowledge, thoughts, and learning that not only have a psychological nature, but also a sociocultural one, as a result of the interaction with others (Hashweh, 2005). All in all, it may besaid that beliefs play an important role in the teaching practice since it influences teachers performance, then it becomes interesting to identify some of the ways in which such beliefs impact on teaching performance concerning to evaluation.

Bearing the aforementioned in mind, this research aims to explore what teachers consider evaluation is and how this conception influences their practices.in this sense the research questions are as follows: What are the teachers beliefs about evaluation? How do these beliefs influence on their practices?

This research is important because it makes a contribution to the beliefs research field, more precisely, beliefs about evaluation. Besides, it highlights the importance evaluation should be given at universities in second language teaching degrees in order for pre-service teachers to avoid future problems in assessing students

appropriately. Additionally, this study will contribute to have a better conceptions about what evaluation is and how to put it into practice adequately, which will also serve students to be more conscious about their improvements and take an active part in their learning process.

LITERATURE REVIEW. Following an overview about beliefs will be given, then teachers beliefs will be tackled, after that teachers beliefs about evaluation will be approached, in the same way the team will deal with the definition of evaluation, formative and summative evaluation. In this study the team will use the terms evaluation and assessment interchangeably

1. Beliefs There have been numerous definitions about beliefs in the research field trying to deeply understand teaching performance, its implications and the aspects that nurture such belief. Namely, Eisenhart, Shrum, Harding, and Cuthbert (1988) stated that a belief is a way to describe a relationship between a task, an action, an event or another person and an attitude of a person towards it (p.53). Virginia Richardson (1996) said: beliefs are also defined as a psychological held understandings, premises, or propositions about the world that are felt to be true (p.102).It is also thought that beliefs are the meanings connected to psychological objects or phenomena that are used as a a culturally defined lens through which sense is made of events people and interactions (Pratt, 1992). In the same vein, it is claimed that beliefs are understood as a cognitive aspect not necessarily structured and with remarked personal dimension (camps, 2001). In this regard, it may be said that beliefs are constructed as a result of personal experiences, culture, and peoples perceptions among other factors.

Even though, various definitions of believe have been given, in this study the teamwill emphasize on the one given byHashweh(op.cit)in which he

stresses on the importance of the sociocultural nature of belief, highlighting the relevance of interacting with others. In this sense, it is important to bring up Diaz, Alarcon and Ortizs (2012) thought as they said that teachers social interactions with their colleagues and students are the basis to construct their beliefs (p.17). Such beliefs impact on goals procedures, materials, and daily decisions on the teaching-learning process (Spratt, Pulvernes, & Williams, 2005). In general, beliefs are conceived as the way people understand events, their relationships with others and personal experiences in a subjective manner.

In the educational field beliefs play an important role since they influence in the way teachers perform, just as Pajares (1992) stated it, few would argue that the beliefs teachers hold influences their perceptions and judgments, which in turn, affect their behavior in the classroom (p.307). In addition, Kagan (1992) gave some evidence supporting the relationship between teachers beliefs and teachers practices : empirical studies have yielded quit consistent findings: a teachers beliefs tends to be associated with a congruent style of teaching which often evidences across different classes and grades levels(p.66). In this view, it can be asserted that teachers performance, decisions, and teaching style are highly affected by their beliefs.

1.1

Teachers beliefs.

Teachers beliefs has become recently an issue of interest for the academic community, which have searched about it in different areas. For example, Woods (1996) study of ESL teachers in North America, and Borgs (1998) case study of a practicing EFL teachers beliefs about, and knowledge of, grammar teaching. The influence of teachers beliefs on both pre-service

and in-service teacher education programmes has also been a focus of research, for example, that carried out by Richards and Pennington (in Richards, 1998) writing on the impact of a BA degree on Hong Kong teachers first year of teaching, and by Lamb (1995) on the impact of an inservice teacher training programme in Indonesia (as cited in Borg, 2001). Moreover, it is worth highlighting as well some other studies that have shown the fashion teachers beliefs are linked to their practices, for instance some studies (Cronin-Jones; Haney & McArthur; Haney et al., 1996, 2002; Hashweh; Levitt) found that teacher beliefs are consistent with classroom practice. These studies also indicate that teacher beliefs should be considered within context because of the context-dependent nature. (Hashweh.op.cit ). Besides, Bleim and Davinroy(1997) study on teachers cognitions demonstrated that their thought process influences in their action in the classroom. Teachers thinking, planning, interactive decision making (the very act of instructing and assessing their students) and implicit beliefs are interwoven facets that impact their classroom practices everyday (p. 3). In brief, it can be said that the abovementioned researches have demonstrated that; firstly, researching on beliefs is a wide topic and has not reached its point of total understanding yet; secondly, teachers beliefs are shaped by their previous sociocultural experiences(interaction with others) and thirdly; teachers actions inside the classroom are strongly influenced by their beliefs. 1.2. Teachers beliefs about evaluation. Even though teachers beliefs are determining when evaluating students, much research has not been done in order to go deep into this issue. Just as Bleim and Davinroy (1997) confirm it that although little research has addressed teachers beliefs about assessment practices, it stands to reasonthat their evaluative practices are likewise influences by their conceptions of what constitutes a proper classroom assessment. Also,it is

reassured in Prietos (2008) work as she stated that sin embargo, y no obstante su importancia, han sido relativamente pocoreconocidas y/o investigadas lo que ha impedido develar y solucionar y controversias asociadas alos resultados y consecuencias del proceso evaluativo. In the spite of that, it is strongly felt that teachers beliefs about evaluation are una construccin social a partir de las experiencias escolares compartidas entre pares. Han sido configuradas por sus funciones y sentidos definidos externamente, como por lo que ellos mismos han percibido desde sus intercambios cotidianos escolares pasados y presentes(Prieto, 2008).In other words, teachers conceptions about evaluation are based on their relationship with colleagues and present as well as past school exchanges.

2. EVALUATION Good evaluation practice is determining because it may give the teacher grounded information to realize whether or not course objectives are being reached, it allows as well teachers to know if adjustments are needed. According to Black &Wiliam (1998), and Crooks.(1988) The major premise of the improvement conception is that assessment informs the improvement of students own learning and improves the quality of teaching. In this sense, Brown (2003) said that This improvement is associated with two important caveats; (a) assessment describes or diagnoses the nature of student achievement or performance and (b) the information provided by assessment is of sufficient quality to be considered valid, reliable, and accurate description of student performance. In this way, it may be said that evaluation plays an important role on the teaching- learning process since it allows teachers to know students learning process and to make some changes if they are necessary.

Evaluation measures the teaching-learning process; it serves as a tool to collect data, as the point of departure for making future decisions in order to make improvements on such process. As Stufflebeam, Kellaghan, &Alvarez (1982) argued that La evaluacin se define como el conjunto de operaciones que tiene por objeto determinar y valorar los logros alcanzados por los alumnos en el proceso de enseanza aprendizaje, con relacin a los objetivos planteados en los programas de estudio(as cited in Gmez, Cruz, Acosta & Martnez, 1998). Also, evaluation is a process for enhancing knowledge and decision making, whether the decisions are for improving and refining a program, process, product, system, or organization or for determining whether or not to continue or expand a program (RussEft&Preskill, 2001). Besides, Mancovsky (2007) suggested that evaluation is Una prctica intencionada que realiza un sujeto con el propsito de indagar, conocer y comprender un objeto determinado (prcticas, sujetos, objetos) a partir de la formacin de un juicio de valor (p.6). In a few words, it could be said that evaluation is a process in which it can be seen to what extent students are fulfilling the course expectations so as to realize whether or not the program needs changes. tool to measure the teaching

Evaluation should not only be seen as a

learning process, but also as a help to take notice if students are understanding rather than reproducing knowledge and if new knowledge is built on the base of existing knowledge. In this sense, Duran (2001) said that the evaluation process Constituye una oportunidad para realizar una

mirada introspectiva sobre la propia docencia, orientan y determinan el curso de sus prcticas revelando aspectos formativo del proceso evaluativo, enfatizando la comprensin ms que la reproduccin y fomentando la posibilidad de construir y reconstruir el conocimiento con los estudiantes desde lo aprendido. In a more general definition, Prieto (2008) stated that La evaluacin se podra definir como la construccin de conocimientos sobre una situacin escolar determinada, a partir de su medicin,

comparacin, compresin, y planteamientos de interrogantes tanto acerca de los aprendizajes, como de las practicas docentes desarrolladas, juzgando la viabilidad de los contenidos, estrategias e instrumentos, como una manera de mejorar la enseanza y, en consecuencia, de la calidad de los aprendizajes (p.128). In this view, evaluation allows teachers to have reliable information about their performance and students learning rhythm, bearing in mind the components that influence, positively or negatively, the teaching learning process, such as; context, contents, teaching strategies, and learning styles.

2.1 FORMATIVE EVALUATION

Lately, the literature on formative evaluation has given much relevance to formative evaluation practices. Song & Koh (). In order to have a better understanding of this, it becomes essential to have a clear definition of formative evaluation. In this regard, Guthier (2005) assured that in theory, formative assessment evaluates how well children fulfill the teacher's and children's learning intentions. It enables the teacher to provide feedback to the pupil, but also informs subsequent planning of learning outcomes for the individual (p.8). Additionally, McMillan (2007) defines formative evaluation as la retroalimentacin que se le da al estudiante para que tome acciones correctivas sobre su desempeo, encaminadas hacia el mejoramiento. Esta retroalimentacin puede incentivar la motivacin y aprendizaje de los estudiantes ya que sta se da segn sus necesidades. Futhermore, Dunn, Karee, Mulvenon, & Sean W (2009) defined it as the evaluation of assessment-based evidence for the purposes of providing feedback to and informing teachers, students, and educational stakeholders about the teaching and learning process. All in all, formative evaluation seeks to gather information about students performance and provide some advices to contribute to their improvement.

Other authors have also added some concepts about formative evaluation. For instance, Neesorn (2000) has attempted to define formative assessment as something that "... happens all the time in the classroom. It is rooted in self-referencing; a pupil needs to know where s/he is and understand where she wants to be but also how to fill the gap ". This involves both the teacher and the learner in a process of continual reflection and review. The teacher provides quality feedback to the learner. Moreover, McMillan (2007) stated that la evaluacin formativa puede entenderse como la recoleccin, la evaluacin y el uso de informacin que ayuda a los profesores a tomar decisiones para mejorar el proceso de enseanza y aprendizaje. Besides, Black et al. (2002) affirmed that an assessment activity can help learning if it provides information to be used as feedback, by teachers, and by their [students] in assessing themselves and each other, to modify the teaching and learning activities in which they are engaged. Such assessment becomes formative assessment when the evidence is actually used to adapt the teaching work to meet learning needs. To summarize, formative evaluation takes place during the teachinglearning process so as to provide teachers with the necessary resources to make indispensable adjustments which allow them to tailor their teaching to their students needs, which in turn permits learner to become aware of what they have learnt and what they are expected to learn.

All these definitions of formative evaluation have shown how necessary it is to carry out proper formative evaluation practices since the lack of its implementation have some consequences the depicted by Black and William (1998) as they pointed out that when there is deficiency of meaning making in learning it may lead to the lack of transfer in learning. Second, the overuse of grades (traditional summative assessment) as the only way to give feedback arises lack of self confidence on low achieving students, also it may lead to both ends; make students feel they are unable to learn and eventually, brings up competition among students who are informed their

performance relative to others. As well, collaborative learning may be affected due to the fact that heterogeneous group formation may be reduced by the follow-up of students homogeneous abilities, which increases the lack of motivation and self-esteem on learners. In this sense, it is worth bringing up Black and Williams thought (1998) who have highlighted that assessment only becomes formative "... when the evidence is actually used to adapt the teaching work to meet the needs", or when students use feedback pro-actively to improve ( p. 2). To sum, formative evaluation is considered as a useful tool at the moment of carrying out evaluation processes during a course since it can help teachers and students to know their needs and improve their performances.

2.2 SUMMATIVE EVALUATION

This role of the evaluation process is the one most frequently encountered in common teaching practices owing to the fact that this type of evaluation has to do with the measurement of students performances with grades, generally at the end of the term or course, just as Muoz, Palacio & Escobar stated that summative assessment is usually conducted at the end of a course or unit. It is done through formal testing techniques and is aimed at measuring learners knowledge and skill (p.145). Besides, Stiggins (2002) said that summative assessments are those assessments designed to determine a students academic development after a set unit of material (i.e., assessment of learning). In this sense, summative evaluation is consider by Dunn et al.(2009) as the evaluation of assessment based data for the purposes of assessing academic progress at the end of specified time period (i.e., a unit of material or an entire school year) for the purposes of establishing a students academic standing relative to some established criterion. Furthermore, Coffey (2009) defined summative assessments as the cumulative evaluations used to measure student growth after instruction and are generally given at the end of a course in order to determine whether

long term learning goals have been met. High quality summative information can shape how teachers organize their curricula or what courses schools offer their students. In brief, summative evaluation helps teachers to know if their students achieved all the objectives proposed by the course, most of times at the end of this, so as to gauge the students development and teaching efficacy.

In spite of the fact that clear definitions of summative evaluation are wellstated, sometimes some tools (test, standardized test, high-stakes testing and examinations) used for summative evaluation in classrooms are misused, given that they are applied to punish or threaten students, just as Lopez (2008a) argued that tests are also used to provide rewards or sanctions for schools, teachers, and students. For instance, tests are used to determine who passes or fails a course, to control discipline, to threaten students, among other things. On the other hand, Johnson & Jenkins (2003) claim that summative assessments can provide critical information about students' overall learning as well as an indication of the quality of classroom instruction, especially when they are accompanied by other sources of information and are used to inform practice rather than to reward or sanction. In a few words, it may be said that even though summative evaluation has received, in some cases, a negative connotation, its original purpose remains clear since it always seeks to determine the effectiveness of programs, school improvement goals, alignment of curriculum, or student placement in specific programs.

By Juan Pablo Suarez Ruiz

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