This qualitative case study examined how foreign language teachers in Finnish general upper secondary schools enhance self-regulated learning (SRL) with self-assessment and teacher feedback. Nine students and ten teachers from six schools were interviewed, and the data were analyzed using content analysis. The results revealed that self-assessment is used in courses but not extensively, and most teachers do not teach their students to self-assess their learning. Most students consider teacher feedback to be useful, but they reported a lack of oral feedback. The participants expressed contradictory perceptions regarding their motivation, as students do not find teacher feedback to be motivating, while teachers believe their feedback is motivating. To a certain extent, teachers enhance SRL with self-assessment and feedback, but their practices could be improved.
Our main aim in this study was to compare encouraging feedback practices in Finnish general upper secondary foreign language classes and examine how students perceive language teachers’ assessment practices. The participants were 160 students of English, 95 students of Swedish, and 27 students of French from six general upper secondary schools. The data comprised one open-ended question and one Likert scale question with nine items. Both qualitative and quantitate methods were used to analyze the data. The results showed that content was the most important feature in feedback that was perceived as encouraging by students. The results further indicated that students considered teacher assessment practices to be primarily summative, but differences were also found between schools. The evidence from this study suggests that students appreciate teacher feedback, but do not perceive it to be an intrinsic part of teacher assessment practices. The importance of formative assessment and feedback should be more heavily emphasized in foreign language teacher education.
As feedback and formative assessment have a substantial effect on learning, the aim with this paper is to report on a study of the perceptions of Finnish general upper secondary school students of feedback in Swedish and English classes, and to compare how the perceptions differ at language proficiency (CEFR) levels. The data were collected by using a survey and were analysed quantitatively. The results show that several differences occur in Swedish: students with higher proficiency levels find feedback more useful, feel that they receive feedback from teachers, and are more willing to correct their own mistakes. There were no differences in perceptions according to language proficiency levels in English. The results indicate that Swedish teachers should pay more attention to their feedback practices to make sure that they cater for students with different levels of proficiency.
Our objective with this study was to investigate students' metacognitive awareness (MA) and its association with course grades in general upper secondary foreign languages, to foster reflective practices. A total of 267 foreign language students at Finnish schools answered an online survey, and the data were analysed quantitatively. Based on the results, the students' levels of MA were high in foreign languages, students at urban schools had higher levels than students at rural schools, and students with high course grades had higher levels of MA. Knowledge of cognition and attitudes about the language predicted the course grade the most. The results indicate that more emphasis should be put on the enhancement of MA at rural schools and with low-achieving students, to enhance their reflective practices.
In this paper, we examine how the Covid-19 pandemic affected the quality of teachers’ assessment and feedback in Finland’s foreign language classes during the remote teaching period in spring 2020. Multifaceted assessment and feedback practices are underscored in Finland’s core curricula, forming a focal aspect of learning. Therefore, we studied teachers’ perceptions of their assessment and feedback practices at different school levels during the remote teaching period and how they considered the remote teaching period in students’ final assessment at the end of basic education. Data were collected through an online questionnaire and analysed using both quantitative and qualitative methods. Most of the 176 respondents felt that assessment and feedback practices were implemented successfully, and the final assessment was realistic and reliable. However, teachers’ perceptions were mixed on several issues, and differences were found in the amount and form of feedback between respondents and school levels or what competence demonstration or assignments to count towards the final assessment. In addition, the remote teaching period usually had less influence on students’ final grades than the last few months of basic education. The results suggest that more attention should be paid to enhancing feedback practices and connecting with students during remote teaching periods.
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