Unbalanced Marking

The data revealed that the majority of the participants were not happy with the mark distribution. According to the rubrics of the ELI, the marks are distributed as follows:

Table 4: ELI Assessment Overview Assessment Type of Assessment Component Percent of Grade Total Grade Computer-Based Mid-Module Examination Summative 20% 80% Computer-Based Final Examination Summative 40%

One Speaking Examination Summative 10%

One Writing Examination Summative 10%

Supplementary Reading Programme Continuous 5% 20% Supplementary Writing Programme Continuous 5% Supplementary Speaking Programme Continuous 5%

Independent practice Continuous 5%

Wadee reflected on the issue of mark distribution and indicated that continuous assessment is only given 20% of the whole mark. This is the first statement that clearly quantified the level of control of the teacher over assessment and it is very limited, as he indicated in his interview:

However, the teacher only controls 20% of the mark. Five marks in the reading and five marks in the writing there is also five marks for speaking and five marks for LMS. Can you imagine having only five marks under your control during the whole module? It is very difficult to motivate students with this kind of marks distribution… Of course, the students are not going to be interested. It's only five marks!

To support this assertion further, Raj’s quote is a good example of how teachers were unhappy with the low percentage allocated to continuous assessment and stated that:

In fact, we are supposed to share and we are asked to share the rubrics with the students and we explain to the students how we are going to mark their essays in all different language skills we assess them in. To be frank that is one of the problems you see as soon as they know how little they are going to get for class

participation and continuous assessment in the classroom, they are immediately uninterested. They start asking about the final exam and the mid module exam as they hold 60% of the Mark This unbalanced mark distribution can lead to further problems as Haroon

highlighted the issue of everyone in the classroom getting the full mark, and how little allocation to important aspects of assessment can lead to a skewed academic performance and skill development:

Yes, students need to write their answers in the reading booklet, I mean, when we finish then I calculate the marks. Most of them get the full Mark. Keep in mind that it's only five marks and we answer together in the classroom. Therefore, everybody is going to get the correct answers. You see they have the questions at home and they just need to answer the questions in the classroom

Wadee also saw himself as a ‘facilitator’ in the reading component of continuous assessment. He explained that he can put his students in groups to work on a reading passage while he supervises the students as they look up words in dictionaries and discuss difficult words among themselves and with the teacher. Saeed and Haroon both indicated that when it comes to continuous assessment of reading, the students are not really involved due to two reasons. The first reason was reading was only allocated 5% of the whole mark so students did not give it much attention. The second reason was that if the students attend the reading classes, they basically get the full mark.

Saeed raised the issue of only having 5% of the students’ grade –five marks– allocated to the continuous assessment of reading played an important role in students losing interest in the reading practices in the classroom, as he clarified in his interview:

in my case students need to read something at home and then come present and answer some questions in class, however, you need to keep one thing in mind that anything without marks or any immediate kind of, you know, compensation will not help students to participate or learn anything

Ali continued and mentioned some limitations of his role as a teacher in the reading assessment practices. He complained that simply attending the reading

assessment sessions does not qualify students to get marks, as he clarified in his interview:

I feel that it's new way of assessment where students are

assessed based on attendance and completion of the task given. Of course all of them, all those who attended and sometimes who didn't attend would come at the end giving you the exercise and the tasks related to or relevant to the story with all the questions answered, you know, the copy and paste culture not only here in I would say all the Arab world, students think that when they copy and at the end they come they are somehow entitled to get the marks. But really giving them marks just for attending I don't think that is assessing... I really don't think it is teaching also