TEACHERS’ BELIEFS TOWARD ASSESSMENT
IN EXTENSIVE READING COURSE
Chandni Devi Septiana
ABSTRACT
It is often assumed that Extensive Reading, which may be offered as a course in an education institution, can increase students’ awareness toward reading. In the context of Extensive Reading as a course, the need for assessment is inevitable since the students need the result of their study in the form of a grade. A problem may arise when the teachers develop some assessments for Extensive Reading due to the tension between the principles of Extensive Reading and the obligation to assess the students’ work for grading purposes. One crucial issue related to this is the teachers’ beliefs towards assessment for the course, which this study attempts to find out about since they affect these teacher decisions and actions in the classroom. The instrument used was a semi-structured interview with eight participants who have some background knowledge of Extensive Reading. Throughout the study the researcher obtained three findings and those were (i) how testing is different from assessment and why it is less appropriate for Extensive Reading, (ii) the reasons behind the necessity of assessment, and (iii) several kinds of assessments which more appropriate for Extensive Reading as a course.
