EMI programs and formative assessment
Implications for the assessment literacy of content lecturers
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.
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
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