Like a bell responding to a striker -- Instruction contingent on assessment

Abstract

This article is concerned pragmatically with how recent research findings in assessment for learning (AfL) can bring about higher quality learning in the day-to-day classroom. The first half of this paper reviews recent studies within Black and Wiliam’s (2009) framework of formative assessment and looks for insights on how pedagogical procedures could be arranged to benefit from and resonate with research findings. In the second half, based on lessons drawn from the review, the findings were incorporated into an instructional design that is contingent on formative assessment. The concept of teacher contingency is elaborated and demonstrated to be central to the AfL pedagogy. Attempts were made to translate updated research findings into an English as a foreign language (EFL) writing instruction to illustrate how teachers may live up to promises offered by recent developments on AfL. This AfL lesson, situated in L2 writing revision, made instruction contingent on and more responsive to learner performance and learning needs. As shown in an end-of-semester survey, learner response to the usefulness of the instruction was generally quite positive.