TEACHERS’ BELIEFS AND PRACTICES ABOUT ESP ASSESSMENT: A PHENOMENOGRAPHIC STUDY

Abstract

This paper outlines the qualitative research method and results of an investigation of the beliefs about ESP assessment held by six teachers of ESP courses at four universities in Taiwan. Analysis of these interviews indicated that the orientations that teachers adopt to conceptualize curricula for ESP instruction appear to influence the ways in which they assess their students’ achievement. This distinction was especially prominent with respect to the methods of assessment the teachers said they utilized and the types of achievements in ESP courses they perceived their students as making. The subject teachers took a Hymesian view of communicative competence by considering language proficiency in terms of real world criteria which, as subject teachers, they felt well-qualified to assess. The English teachers on the other hand veered towards the ‘weaker’ (and arguably more conservative) approach by focusing more closely on what they are trained to assess, that is, the quality of the language sample elicited through the teaching task. The analysis illustrates how teachers’ unique positions, experiences and perspectives affect their implementation of ESP assessment within their classrooms.