The Development of Blended Assessment Principles in English as a Foreign Language - Research Proposal Example

The Development of Blended Assessment Principles in English as a Foreign Language: A case study of Kuwait college of affiliation: Chapter three Methodology In the previous chapter of literature review, issues related to development of English as a Foreign Language (EFL) have been looked at. The factors leading to development of English as a Foreign Language, the challenges that face the development of EFL, and the characteristic differences EFL and ENL, English as a Native Language, have been looked at. related literature to BL, BLL and BA in EFL have been reviewed and critically evaluated. Accordingly, different gabs have been found and identified and therefore the focus of this study has been narrowed down to determine and develop the principles of blended assessments in EFL. This will contribute in improving blended assessments condition in general EFL context and in the Kuwaiti EFL practice as a case study of this thesis in particular. The main concern of this chapter will be to show the philosophical position, criteria or justification used by the researcher in choosing this qualitative method of research. In addition, this chapter of the research will give details of the research instruments that will be used in conducting the research. The target participants who are the Kuwaiti speakers of EFL shall also be described. This chapter will also give a description of the EFL context in Kuwait. Methodological issues Philosophical foundations The Kuwaiti context shall form a suitable context for this research because of the origin of the researcher who is a Kuwaiti national. This puts the researcher in a better position to carry out the research because the researcher is conversant with the country and understands better the EFL situation in the context. There will also be ease of accessibility as a result of being conversant with the place; and ease of access to materials and resources needed to carry out the research. The researcher being a Kuwaiti national will also put him in a better position to get information from the natives of the country because language factor. The researcher will be flexible enough to communicate to the respondents in either English or their local or native languages. According to the multiliteracies theory, an individual is termed multi-literate if he or she is cognitively and socially literate in using different media in communication. The use of these media is both in the sense of receiving and giving communication using the media (Alqhtani 2007 a). Multiliteracy theory shall guide the researcher in analyzing the language situation (EFL) in Kuwait. Thus, looking at Kuwait, which media are the natives literate about that can help or have helped in the development of English as a Foreign Language in the country? The research shall critically look at the media used in teaching English in the country; and the media in which communication in EFL takes place in the country. The literacy levels of the native of Kuwait wit regards to media of language learning and use shall also be assessed. This shall explain to a greater the EFL situation within the context of Kuwait (Alqhtani 2007 a). The assessment, using multiliteracies theory, shall look at the critical skills that learners and users of EFL have that can help them access information in its current technologically oriented form (Alqhtani 2007 b). The literacy levels of the Kuwaiti EFL speakers with regards to the culture of the English shall be assessed. This is because the literacy of a language begins with literacy of the culture of the native speakers of the language. Language is embedded in a culture. Furthermore, the Kuwaitis digital literacy shall also be analyzed. Thus, the research shall look at their awareness of the use of website and other online resources or media through information flow. The access of these EFL speakers to media, eg radio, television, newspapers and magazines among other media which play an important role in language learning and use; and through which information is disseminated shall also be assessed (Alqhtani 2007 a). The multimodality theory shall also be a very important parameter in the assessment of EFL situation in Kuwait. According to multimodality theory, the resources we choose to communicate with are determined by our communication needs. Language learning requires the use of different resources (Alqahtani 2007 a). However, when choosing these resources (in this case for EFL learners), we must assess the leaning needs and ensure that the resources chosen will meet this needs (Block & Cameron 2003). This research shall assess the different modes of resources used in teaching EFL in Kuwait and link these resources to the EFL situation in the country. It will critically analyze these multi-modal resources to find explanation of the strengths and weaknesses that learners of EFL in Kuwait experience. The research shall further look into the effectiveness of the different modes of EFL resources in the country. These shall explain the ease or difficulty with which EFL is learnt in Kuwait (Ammon 2003). This research shall assess the different media used in teaching EFL in analyzing the situation of English in the country, both spoken and written. Multimodality theory applies to this chapter. This theory will not only help the researcher in understanding the language situation in the context of Kuwait but the research shall also use different media in carrying out the study or assessing the situation (Ammon 2003). The respondents shall give their response in writing when responding to the questionnaires and orally when responding to the interviews. Their oral and written responses will use different media and these shall be analyzed to assess the difference of language use in the two media in the context of Kuwaiti’s EFL (Ammon 2003). The position of the researcher This research shall use different qualitative research methods in the assessment of the EFL situation in Kuwait. These shall include interviews, observation, focus groups, and literature. a) Interviews Linguistic data shall be obtained using interviews. Using this method, the researcher will ask the respondents both objective and subjective questions and their oral or written response to these questions shall form the linguistic data for analysis (Crystal 1997). The questions that shall be asked shall of the nature of subjective thoughts or reasoning, emotions or experiences of the past which shall be used to assess the EFL situation in Kuwait. From the response of interviewees to these questions for example, their proficiency both in written and spoken English shall be judged. The main advantage of this qualitative research method is that it will give the researcher first hand information from the respondent in whom he is interested. However, their weakness will be that they will be time consuming and expensive if the researcher will have to travel over long distances to meet the respondents (Maxwell 1996). b) Observation Using this qualitative research method, the researcher shall go to the native environment of the EFL speakers from Kuwait, observe them interact using the language and record his observation. The researcher shall be an active observer since he is a Kuwaiti and this make it easy to participate in the linguistic interactions with the natives while recording his observations. This will make it easy for the speakers to freely participate in the conversations. The weakness of this method however, is that the researcher may be biased in recording his observations, letting his preconceptions about the EFL situation in Kuwait into the research (Maxwell 1996). However, the researcher shall try as much to limit subjectivity. c) Focus groups There are different groups in Kuwait which speak or use EFL in very distinctive ways. Their literacy with regards to use of EFL varies and has clear cut variations These different groups shall be the focus groups of this research. The researcher is aware that the population from which he will collect the data is not uniform in knowledge and use of English as a Foreign Language (Gnutzmann 1999). To make the findings more accurate, and to make the research easier to conduct, the researcher shall develop focus groups and ask them questions which shall find out their opinion about the language and knowledge of the language (Gnutzmann 1999). This method shall be suitable in collecting data related to group specific of use of English as a Foreign Language in Kuwait. d) Literature The literature written in Kuwaiti’s EFL variety shall be analyzed in assessment of the status of English as a Foreign Language. Examples of literature that shall be analyzed in this study include journals, newspapers, magazines, books, personal diaries and records. This literature shall provide important data on the grammar, vocabulary, spelling, pronunciation, stylistics among other aspects of language. They shall be compared to the standard variety of English for assessment (Maxwell 1996). Research design This research is designed to develop the principles of blended assessment in EFL. This shall be the aim and scope of this research. The research shall consider purpose, appropriateness, multimodality, and sustainability principles for blended assessment in language pedagogy (Rosmann & Rallis 2003). These principles are based on previous studies which realized them. This study shall verify that these principles are yet to be considered in the blended assessment in the context of EFL as well. These principles were realized by previous studies but were not applied in blended assessment of EFL contexts. The aim of this research is therefore to apply these principles in the specific context of EFL and not language in general. Case study This research shall develop the principles for blended assessment of EFL with Kuwait as its case study. Kuwait is a country in which English has the status of foreign language. English is widely spoken in the country but has not gained official status in the country. Arabic is still the lingua franca of the country as it is used for all official communication. However, the citizens of Kuwait have been instrumental in learning English and this has been occasioned by the country’s global position in trade as an exporter of oil. In addition, the growth of globalization and the new age technology have been factor behind development of English in Kuwait (Alqhatani 2007 b). With globalization and growth of technology for instance, the youth of Kuwait have the perception that it is mandatory for them to learn English. New technology is encoded in English. There is also growth of globalized education and a majority of Kuwaitis go abroad to learn. English is used as the medium of instruction (Dalbani 2004). These are some of the factors these research shall establish using the qualitative methods; as the factors for development of English in Kuwait. Using interview, the focus groups shall be asked what they use English for or why they feel they have to learn English. They will also be observed in both formal and informal contexts to find out how they use English in these contexts. The literature in Kuwait shall also be analyzed to explain the situation of EFL in the country (Dalbani 2004). Research instruments and materials Instruments used in this study were; 1. Digital camera to photograph PD sessions 2. Audio recorder to record interviews. 3. NVivo software will be used to analyze spoken data. 4. Microsoft office suite for thesis editing and writing. A brief description for these instruments and a rationale for its use are outlined in the following table Instrument description Rationale for use Digital camera Will be used to photograph PD sessions; both still and motion pictures The photographer must have the skills of focusing, capturing, storing and retrieving images in and from the camera. Audio camera Will be used to record sound alone during interviews The operator must know how to capture sound, store and retrieve it. NVivo software Shall analyze spoken data; can analyze pronunciation of words The user must know how to use the software- possess the operational skills. Microsoft office suite Has programs that will be used for writing and editing the thesis. The user must have the skills of using Microsoft office for the purposes of printing and editing. As a material, I used online websites for participants’ interaction in order to get better ideas of how blended language assessments could be designed and delivered. This is an image of the site: www.englishtown .com. through this site, learners can learn English online. The site has different hyperlinks that categorize users, eg students, teachers and school right below the logo. The orange hyperlink enables the user to have a free trial. Below the free trial hyperlink, there are hyperlinks such as “learn English faster”, “speak to a teacher now” “Learning reinvented” and “new offers”. The site demonstrates to the user how to start using the facility and allows the reader to “test your English”; demonstrates what the reader shall learn from the program and another hyperlink: “start your course” (www.englishtown.com). This is a screen shot of the website www.learndirect.org which is arrived at by clicking the hyperlink of Cute FTP. The website at first insight just gives the hyperlinks that can be used to access tutorials which include coffee cup, composer (Netscape), cute FTP, IE, Microsoft publisher and WS-FTP. Using these hyperlinks, users can access different tutorials for learning and testing their English. The photo above is the initial screen of Cute FTP. To upload and proceed using the website tutorial, the user clicks the connect button which is the second button from top left, labeled with a lightning bolt (www.learndirect.org). As another material, paper prototypes for speaking and writing assessments were used. a) Prototype for reading/ speaking: Speaking directive: in this section of the test, you will read the text on the screen aloud. You will have 30 seconds to prepare and 45 seconds to read the text aloud. Now that you are ready, could you please read the text aloud? (Liz & Soars 2011). “If I have to stay at my uncle’s home over the holiday, there are things I have to consider for me to have a peaceful stay. I have to be at home in time. My uncle hates the habit of people coming home late in the night as he says this is risky. Uncle also enjoys company of those who respect him and his family. He loves humble people. If I do these, he will buy presents for me at the end of the holiday.” b) Prototype for writing assessment Writing directive: the following text is poorly written please rewrite it by rearranging the words to make sense (Liz & Soars 2011). “Last evening Dennis is sick. He be very sick and did not say in good times. Dennis father realize that he is sick when he start breathing heavy. He call the friend who drive for the company where he work. The friend came in time to save Dennis from illness. The parents thank God for the driver. He was treated and discharged back home.” Participants of the study The following are the numbers of participants that shall be interviewed in the research and the number of each focus group that shall participate in PD sessions. 2 administrators shall be interviewed. Of the two, one administrator shall participate in PD sessions. 9 EFL instructors shall be interviewed. Of the nine, 3 administrators shall participate in PD sessions. 3 EFL students shall be interviewed. All three shall participate in PD sessions. Procedure To achieve the objectives of this study, data will be gathered through a qualitative case study of English as a Foreign Language EFL policymakers, instructors and students. The data gathered in this study in three different means; 1. Disseminating surveys to the selected participants. The survey sheet shall require the participant to give his or her code, demographic information, teaching experience (for instructors); and the experience in computer aided teaching. 2. Conducting face-to-face interviews. 3. Working with a number of English as a Foreign Language (EFL) practitioners within focus groups through Participatory Design (PD) sessions. Data collection materials 1. Surveys and questionnaires: Surveys and questionnaires shall be written and require the respondents to respondent by writing within the provided spaces. The surveys and questionnaires shall use both structured and open ended questions. 2. Semi-structured interviews: these shall involve the use of both structured and open ended questions. Structured questions shall require specific answers from the respondents while open ended questions shall require the opinion of the respondents. 3. Scenario-based approach: this approach shall focus on a particular context as opposed to being general 4. Focus groups (Participatory Design): the population shall be divided into different groups characterized by homogeneity of language use. The procedure is further explained in the following table; Data collection method Time (mins) Number of participants Goal Phase One DESIGN Stage 1 Entry survey 10-15 14 To identify the suitability and appropriateness of participating in the study Stage 2 Semi-structured interview 20-30 14 To situate the research in a context Stage 3 Designed patterns interaction 20-30 14 To familiarize participants with prototype designs and analyse these patterns Stage 4 Semi-structured interview 20-30 7 For participants to reflect on previous stage experience Stage 5 PD-Prototype development (refinement sessions) 20-40 7 To design blended assessments prototypes emerged from the study aims and from previous stages Phase Two EVALUATION/ ITERATION Stage 1 PD-Prototype evaluation session 20-40 7 To evaluate and analyse the final refined prototype from phase one Stage 2 Semi-structured interview 20-30 7 To find out more about the evaluation and analysis from previous stage Stage 3 PD-Prototype iteration session 20-40 7 To iterate the final designed prototype(s) Data collection summary Phase one- stage one and two: The researcher shall start his data collection by inviting potential participants who shall join the study and this shall be a good number of 14 EFL stakeholders who shall include 9 instructors, 2 administrators and 3 students. They will complete entry surveys and will be interviewed for the purpose of situating the research in its proper context. Participants will be asked clear and direct questions about their language skills which they think should be assessed using the blended assessment approach in EFL. As shall be seen, participants shall prefer the use of productive skills of English (speaking and writing) than receptive skills (eg hearing). Participants believe that speaking and writing are skills that simply have to be produced and performed by the students themselves (Dalbani 2004). For this reason, they perceive that it will be easy for the instructors to determine the validity of the assessment. The implication of this is that instructors already know the level of performance of their learners of English, the cheating factor in assessing speaking and writing online shall be limited (Alqhtani 2007 b). Phase one- stage three The participants shall be divided into three groups which are groups of students and instructors. The researcher understands that it would have been better to have the respondents all in a group but since students do not usually feel comfortable to discuss in front of the instructors, they will be divided into the to groups. The students’ group shall constitute of the same four students in the first two stages of this phase. The group of instructors shall constitute of the three instructors and one administrator. The researcher finds it necessary to keep all the stakeholders present throughout the study and therefore, one administrator who shall be selected and three instructors shall be among those participating in the first two stages and shall also join the PD sessions. Since the aim of this stage is to familiarize those participating in the study with formative blended assessments of speaking and writing, the researcher shall ask the participants to check and interact with popular online English teaching/learning websites like www.learndirect.org – www.englishtown.com Phase one – stage four; for this second round of interviews, 3 students – one admin – 3 instructors shall be interviewed. This will provide them with an opportunity to reflect on their experience from the previous stage. The researcher will also use the scenario-based approach before interviewing each one of the participants. The researcher finds it more beneficial to combine both ways; one is asking participants to interact with an online website (stage three) and the other is providing them with a scenario at the beginning of this second round of interviews. This will provide the researcher with a clearer image of how they really want to assess/be assessed (in) speaking and writing in their own institution. The scenario was something like: "A professional EFL instructor at your institution teaches writing/speaking to a group of intermediate students. The instructor and his students have the ability and an adequate access to online resources. They all prefer to have their formative type of assessments online and they all have previous experience with it. Your institution supports such form of assessment and provides tech assistance. How would you think this will be established/conducted and what are your considerations?" A modified scenario was given to the students. Phase one – stage five; this is the design stage and the two groups of students and structures shall be asked to join. The participants (4 students) shall join joined two sessions and they all have agreed on final guidelines to be considered when designing the speaking and writing prototypes. The final designed prototypes will be completed by the instructors group and later will be presented to students at phase two – stage two. The purpose of this is to include students voice in this design stage. The group of instructors included three teachers and one admin and they contributed for the design of the two prototypes for the speaking and writing assessments. They also contributed for the design of the rubrics the marking criteria for these assessments. Phase two – stage one; In this stage of the second phase, 3 instructors, 1 administrator and 3 students will be called for this evaluation session. Hey will form two separate groups. One is the instructors’ group and the other were the students’ group. The researcher shall start the evaluation session by sitting with the students first in order to take their voice and feedback to the instructors. Phase two – stage two; at this stage, 3 instructors, 1 admin and 3 students were interviewed in this last round of the study interviews. Phase two – stage three; again the same participants in the last stage will participate in this final stage of the iteration of the assessment prototype: a) Prototype for reading/ speaking: Speaking directive: in this section of the test, you will read the text on the screen aloud. You will have 30 seconds to prepare and 45 seconds to read the text aloud. Now that you are ready, could you please read the text aloud? (Liz & Soars 2011 sec. 5, p 19). “If I have to stay at my uncle’s home over the holiday, there are things I have to consider for me to have a peaceful stay. I have to be at home in time. My uncle hates the habit of people coming home late in the night as he says this is risky. Uncle also enjoys company of those who respect him and his family. He loves humble people. If I do these, he will buy presents for me at the end of the holiday.” b) Prototype for writing assessment Writing directive: the following text is poorly written please rewrite it by rearranging the words to make sense (Liz & Soars 2011 sec. 5 p20). “Last evening Dennis is sick. He be very sick and did not say in good times. Dennis father realize that he is sick when he start breathing heavy. He call the friend who drive for the company where he work. The friend came in time to save Dennis from illness. The parents thank God for the driver. He was treated and discharged back home.” Method of analysis A process of content analysis through data reduction, data display and analysis as described by Block and Cameron (2002) shall be used to analyze data from the interviews. The responses to questions will be recorded into categories (Maxwell 1996) which will reflect the objectives of the study. A subsequent fine-tuning data reduction process will involve grouping responses into identifiable factors. Data display will involve representing the results in a way in which conclusions can be derived, within the overarching framework of the research question and objectives. The NVivo software shall be used for data analysis. Chapter summary In this chapter, the researcher has discussed the methodology of the project. In discussing the methodology of the project, the researcher has looked at the methodological issues where philosophical foundations of the research have been given. Here, the researcher has discussed how the two theories: the multiliteracies theory and the multimodality theory will be used in the research. The researcher has also discussed the qualitative methods of data collection that the research shall use. The researcher has also discussed the research design, the case study for the research and the data collection instruments that shall be used. The researcher has also discussed the participants of the study, the procedure of data collection. The chapter has also looked at the data collection summary and the methods of analysis. In the next chapter, Data Analysis, a comprehensive analysis of the data collected shall be given and the findings of the research discussed. References Alqhtani, A. (2007a). An Exploratory. Study of Students Expectations of Different Academic Programs: English language-related programs as a case studv. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, Virginia Tech., USA. Alqhtani, A. (2007b). Social psychological factors in English in Kuwait: Some empirical data. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, University of London, England. Ammon, U. (2003). Global English and the nonnative speaker. In Tonkin, H. & Reagan, T. Eds.), Language in the 21st century (pp. 2334). Amsterdam, Philadelphia: Benjamins Publishing. Block, D. & Cameron, D. (Eds.). (2002). Globalization and language teaching. London: Routledge. Crystal, D. (1997). English as a global language. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press. Dalbani, H. (2004). Bridging the cultural gap in EFL materials. In Damascus University Journal for Arts and Humanities, 20, 19-35. Gnutzmann, C. (ed.) (1999). Teaching and learning English as a global language: Native and non-native perspectives. Tubingen: Stauffenburg. Liz & Soars J. (2011). Headway plus. London: Oxford university Press. Maxwell, J. A. (1996). Qualitative research design. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. Rossman, G. B., & Rallis, S. F. (2003). Learning in the field: An introduction to qualitative research. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Read More