English as an Additional Language Assessment Framework: Filling a Void in Policy and Provision in School Education in England

ABSTRACT

The language assessment issues discussed in this paper are set against the backdrop of the English as an additional language (EAL) provision for students from ethnic and linguistic minority communities in the publicly funded school education system in England. We will first provide a background description of the educational response to linguistic minorities in the school system in England from a historical perspective. In the second section the discussion is focussed on the relationship between educational needs and assessment, paying particular attention to the situated affordances of formative and summative assessments in relation to the EAL provision in school. After that we will give an account of some of the key conceptual and empirical issues associated with the research and development of an EAL assessment framework for school education. In the concluding remarks we will comment on a number of theoretical, design and usability matters that have emerged from practical application.

以英语为附加语的测试框架: 填补英国学校教育政策与实践中的一项空白

摘要

本文所探讨的语言测试问题以英格兰公立学校教育体制内为少数族裔学生提供的辅助英语教学为依托。首先, 我们从历史的角度就英格兰公立学校如何应对少数族裔学生进行背景描述。第二部分则集中探讨教育需求与测试的关系, 并特别关注在英语为附加语教学过程中终结性和形成性评估的即时效应。之后, 我们对在研发适用于中小学的英语为附加语测试框架过程中出现的主要概念和实证方面的问题进行进一步阐述。在结语中, 我们将对在应用中出现的理论、设计和适用性等问题进行评论。

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Correction Statement

This article has been republished with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article.

Notes

¹ EAL was then labelled variously as English as Foreign Language (EFL) and English as a Second Language (ESL).

² Due to the devolved nature of the polity in the UK, publicly funded schooling education in Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales have their own national/regional administrations and policies.

³ ‘[T]he current minimums for EAL are set at £466 per primary student and £1,130 per secondary student.’ (House of Commons Library (https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-briefings/cdp-2015-0016/).

⁴ An example of this concern can be seen in government actions in 2020. The 2020 summer ‘Advanced’ level examinations (matriculation) in England were cancelled due to the pandemic. Schools were asked to report teacher assessment grades for confirmation by the government agency, the Office of Qualifications and Examinations Regulation (Ofqual). In the event Ofqual downgraded 39.1% of the teacher assessment grades (adjusted downwards in line with past school examination performance, Office of Qualifications and Examinations Regulation (2020). After some sustained political pressures resulting from protests from students, parents and educational professionals, the government reversed its decision and endorsed teacher assessment grades. Also see https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-53759832 and https://www.theguardian.com/education/live/2020/aug/13/a-level-results-day-2020-live-students-teachers-government-ucas-mock-exams-triple-lock-nick-gibb

⁵ The research and development team of the Framework comprised: Michael Evans, Neil Jones, Constant Leung and Yongcan Liu. The project was funded by the Bell Foundation, a registered charity in England. The authors of this paper would like to acknowledge the contributions made by Neil Jones in the R&D process of this project.

⁶ The EAL assessment frameworks reviewed during the 18-month research and development period included: AERA, APA, NCME, 2014); Breen et al. (1997, Vol 1 and 2); Council of Europe (2001); Curriculum Corporation (1994); Department for Education, England (2016); Department for Education and Child Development, South Australia (2016); Hasselgreen (2003); McKay (2007); The Northern Association of Support Services for Equality and Achievement (NASSEA) (2015); National Languages and Literacy Institute of Australia (1994); Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) (1996,); World-class Instructional Design and Assessment (WIDA) (2012); Qualifications and Curriculum Authority, England (Qualifications and Curriculum Authority, 2000).

⁷ At the time the Government required schools to report students’ EAL proficiency assessment on a 5 level scale (DfE, 2016). So this served as a ready-made convenient reference point. In any case it is understood that rating scales with a large number of levels are difficult to operate (see Pollitt & Elliot, 2004).

⁸ The comparative judgement method, particularly rank ordering of grades, is used by the British national examination authorities. The most recent application can be seen in Office of Qualifications and Examinations Regulation (2020).

⁹ We adopted the term ‘band’ for ‘level’ in order to be in line with the widely circulating professional terminology.

¹⁰ This booklet is scheduled to be published in 2021 by the Bell Foundation.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the The Bell Foundation, Red Cross Lane Cambridge CB2 0QU United Kingdom. [Charitable organisation - R&D project].