Validating a Measure of Formative Assessment Practices in University English as a Foreign Language Classrooms
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While formative assessment has been greatly promoted worldwide, a lack of a valid and reliable instrument for gauging learner-perceived teacher formative assessment practices in subject-specific classrooms may hinder formative assessment research. This study presents the development and validation of the Teacher Formative Assessment Practices Scale (TFAPS) in a College English course context through a series of rigorous validation procedures. Data were collected from 737 non-English major undergraduate students enrolled in a College English course. Confirmatory factor analysis and multi-group confirmatory factor analysis supported a 22-item five-factor structure of the TFAPS: 1) Sharing learning objectives and assessment criteria; 2) Engaging students in questioning and discussion; 3) Providing feedback; 4) Activating students as instructional resources for one another; and 5) Activating students as the owner of their learning. In addition, correlations between the five TFAPS factors and autonomous motivation,reading engagement, and willingness to communicate supported the concurrent validity of the TFAPS. Measurement invariance analysis further showed that the five-factor structure of the TFAPS remained invariant across gender. These results suggest that the TFAPS is a valid and reliable measure of student perceived formative assessment practices in the College English teaching context. Pedagogically, teachers can use the TFAPS to survey students’ satisfaction with these assessment practices while researchers can employ the TFAPS to examine the relationship between formative assessment practices and student academic outcomes.
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