Abstract

CALDERON MORA, Roxy  and  MORA ORDONEZ, Yinnia. English teachers' professional development in language assessment. Rev. Actual. Investig. Educ [online]. 2015, vol.15, n.2, pp.109-130. ISSN 1409-4703.

The present article is the result of an investigation of a professional development project in English Assessment carried out under a cooperation agreement between MEP and CONARE during 2010-2011. Under MEP sponsoring, a group of professionals from all four public universities designed and develop an activity to train teachers in language assessment and teaching methodologies. The article depicts a conceptual mapping of the curricular field and assessment in English as a foreign language and its impact in professional development. The methodological variables associated with the study population are presented as well as the description of instruments used to collect qualitative and quantitative data. The relationship between theory and execution of well-developed practices in assessment contributed to a good and positive experience to in-service teachers, who had the opportunity to update their knowledge in the area of assessment and also practice the language in an all English environment. The study's main conclusión is that English teachers' professional development is meaningful only if the acquired knowledge is applied in their working environment.

Keywords : Professional development; Language assessment; English teaching; Costa Rica.

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