CURRICULUM RENEWAL AND LEARNER ASSESSMENT: A SURVEY OF ASSESSMENT PRACTICES

This paper has a twofold purpose: 1) to give some background on the formation of a curriculum renewal in a tertiary EFL institute in Tokyo, Japan and 2) to report on a survey of assessment practices of classroom teachers in that institute. The survey was carried out to identify the teachers ' perceptions of the purposes for assessment, methods used for assessment, how frequently the methods were used, and finally how useful the methods were in assessing learners. A survey instrument modeled after Grierson's (1995) was adapted and modified, which served to elicit both quantitative and qualitative data. The survey was undertaken one year after the implementation of a trialling phase of a new curriculum at the school, and therefore can be seen as an indication of how curricular goals have trickled down to the classroom level. The data reveal that while curricular goals are reflected through the responses on the survey, that there is a link between purposes of assessment and methods used for assessment, there are persistent concerns about how well curricular goals and objectives are being met by the assessment framework design. In conclusion, it is recommended that questions to formulat