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Article published In:
Emerging Assessment Needs and Solutions in EMI in Higher Education
Edited by Slobodanka Dimova and Joyce Kling
[Journal of English-Medium Instruction 1:2] 2022
► pp. 204–231

EMI programs and formative assessment

Implications for the assessment literacy of content lecturers

ORCID logo | Tel Aviv University

Research and discussion on assessment in English Medium Instruction (EMI) programs, specifically on formative on-going assessment theory and practice, is scant. This is despite the shift in education towards assessment for learning paradigms, and the potential contribution of on-going feedback-led assessment for coping with the challenges that the EMI content/language framework presents. This paper attempts to account for the absence of formative assessment from EMI programs by examining EMI as an international construct, situated in higher education institutional organizational and assessment cultures. It emphasizes the need for training in assessment for EMI content lectures, and concludes by identifying four areas relevant to their EMI assessment literacy (EMIAL): contextual and policy literacies; the role of language in facilitating content learning; formative assessment for learning orientations; and awareness and understanding of students’ linguistic and content needs.

Keywords: EMI, formative assessment, assessment in higher education, EMI content lecturers, assessment literacy, multilingual assessment
Article outline
  • Introduction
  • The assessment paradigm shift
  • EMI and internationalization: Curricular and assessment models
  • EMI assessment as part of higher education assessment cultures
  • EMI and assessment: The content-language merge
  • Content EMI lecturers’ assessment literacy
  • EMIAL competencies
    • Contextual and policy literacies
    • The role of language in facilitating content learning
    • Formative assessment for learning orientations
    • Awareness and understanding of students’ linguistic and content needs
  • Conclusions and future directions
  • Acknowledgements
  • References
Published online: 25 August 2022
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/jemi.21014.inb
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