AUTHOR Purdue University TITLE High School Students’ beliefs about Assessment in EFL context Hyun Jin Cho Educational Psychology, Purdue University Preliminary questions 1. Task value of Learning English 1) Intrinsic value (e.g., I enjoyed learning English because I found that my skill improved over the time.) 2) Utility value (e.g., I believed English was an international language that I could use anywhere.) 3) Cost value (e.g., I gave up my hobby and leisure time for leaning English in high school. ) 2. Task value of English Assessment 1) Attainment value (e.g., English test was very important because it helped me to improve my language skill.) 2) Utility value (e.g., It was very important because the test result influenced my future university.) 3) Cost value (e.g., Whenever I wanted to take a break, I had studied more.) 3. Goal Orientations 1) Mastery goal (e.g., For me the sense of achievement was important so I studied English hard.) 2) Performance goal (e.g., It was important how other classmates thought about me based on my English grade.) 4. Attribution (effort) (e.g., The reason I had good grades in English tests was that I had thoroughly reviewed what I had learned in class and studied hard. ) 5. English Assessment is helpful. (e.g., English tests gave me an opportunity to improve my English and pushed me to study hard regularly.) Purpose of the Study Method 1.Task Value (Wigfield & Eccles, 2000 ) 1) Attainment value 2) Intrinsic value 3) Utility value 4) Cost value 2. Goal Orientations (Wolters, Yu, and Pintrich, 1996) 1) Mastery goal 2) Performance goal 3. Attribution (Weiner, 1985) 1) Locus of control 2) Stability 3) Controllability 1. To explore secondary Korean students’ perceptions of assessment in second language classes 2. To examine students’ perceptions of assessment focusing on task value, goal orientations, and attributions 3. To provide implications for teachers to inform students’ motivational variables in assessment context Theoretical Background 1.What motivational factors do high school students hold in English class in EFL context? 2.Which task values, goal orientations, and attributions are reflected on students’ perception of assessment? Research Questions 1. Participants 12 Korean undergraduate students who learned English as a foreign language in Korean high school and study at a university in the mid-west of the USA 2.Procedure 1) Retrospective research to recall learning English experiences in high school 2) Semi-structured Interview using interview protocol 3. Data Analysis Thematic analysis to identify and analyze patterns of themes within data (Braun & Clarke, 2006) 4. Validity and Reliability Peer review and debriefing sessions 1. Post-positivism 2. Phenomenological study Qualitative Research Design Introduction 1.Perception of Assessment 1) Perceptions of assessment significantly influence students’ learning strategies and academic achievement (Brown, Irving, Peterson, & Hirschfeld, 2009). 2) Understanding students’ perceptions of assessment helps us understand how students approach learning (Struyven, Dochy, & Janssens, 2005). Results Interview Questions Examples 1. Task Value of Learning English -Was learning English enjoyable? -Was learning English useful? In what ways? 2. Task Value of Assessment - Were the English tests important for Korean students like you? Why? - Were the English achievement tests useful? In what ways? -Did you have to give up other things to dedicate time to preparing the test? If you did, what did you give up and why? 3. Goal Orientation -What were your goals in English classes? -Was it important that other students in your class or your teacher think that you are good at English? 4. Attribution -How do you explain your success or failure in English tests? 5. Perception of Assessment -Did your past experiences in relation to English tests influence your view on assessment? If so, how? -Did the results from the tests influence what you did for next test? If so, how did it influence your learning strategies? Preliminary Finding 2. English Education in Korea 1) English as a Foreign Language (EFL) 2) An important subject in the Korean version of the Scholastic Aptitude Test (KSAT) to influence university selection and application (Kim, 2010) -High achiever high school students tend to hold higher utility value, mastery goal, and performance approach goal. -Achievement is attributed to students’ effort which is an internal and unstable factor over which they can exercise a great deal of control.