Language and Education Network - Research Seminar - Louise Palmer Overstepping the mark or knowing the score?: Rater decision making in EAP oral presentation assessments and the role of insider knowledge

Overstepping the mark or knowing the score?: Rater decision making in EAP oral presentation assessments and the role of insider knowledge 

Academic oral presentation (AOP) tasks increasingly feature as part of assessment suites on English for Academic Purposes (EAP) courses at UK Higher Education institutions. These oral presentations often function as gateway assessments which have the power to grant or deny access to tertiary education. To date, little research exists which unpacks how teacher assessors reach score decisions linked to EAP AOP events, particularly in settings where teachers and students have had prolonged prior interaction. In this talk, I share data from interviews and rating discussions captured through qualitative fieldwork inspired by principles of ethnography and constructivist grounded theory. The fieldwork findings demonstrate that teacher assessors draw on their previous knowledge of the students in their score-reaching talk alongside the marking criteria in complex ways to reach the high-stakes assessment decisions. The talk prompts reflection on validity considerations associated with the use of assessment opportunities inside and outside formal AOP summative assessment events. What use of evidence is justified, and what may be overstepping the mark given the ultimate assessment purposes and outcomes?