ELT Journal

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Introduction A case study of students' perceptions of peer assessment in Hong Kong jane Mok Since 200 7, the Education Bureau (ED B) in Hong Kong has been promoting a shift from traditional assessment of learning to assessment for learning, where classroom-based assessment is linked to teaching and learning, with students taking an active role in the assessment process. In particular, secondary schoo l students are encouraged to assess their own and peers' oral E nglish through self- and peer assessment. Whi le peer assessment has been recognized as enhancing student learning if sensitively implemented, it is a new concept to many local students. This paper reports on a case study that investigated students' perceptions of the implementation of peer assessment in their English speaking classes. Through interview and classroom observation, the study reveals that despite the benefits that the participants perceived, they had serious concerns over the new assessment. What these 'averagejweak' students reported was sad but inspiring. Implications are identified for those who plan to conduct peer assessment. The centrality of the student's role in the implementation of peer assessment initiatives is obvious. Students are both the assessed and the assessors in peer assessment. Given that they play such a crucial role, it is important to find out how students perceive the peer assessment innovation. Such a focus would aim to take into account the voice of students, which is consistently ignored in local education reform, in order to facilitate educational change (Cook-Sather 2002). This case study investigated some Hong Kong junior secondary school students' perceptions of the implementation of peer assessment in their oral English classes. The students were aged between 12 and 14 and their level of English was lower-intermediate. Although the students interviewed reported perceived benefits of peer assessment, they all had personal concerns about it, stressing that they were 'not good enough to do so'. The case study, though exploratory, aimed to report faithfully the voices of these students. In the following section, background information about the education reform in Hong Kong and a brief review of peer assessment will be presented. After the methodology section, the reported perceptions of peer assessment will be detailed and discussed. The paper concludes with a brief discussion of the implications of the study. EL T journal Volume Gs/J)uly 2011; doi: 10.109Jfeltfccqo62 © The Author 2010. P ub l ished by Oxford University Press; all rights reserved. Advance Access publication November 10, 2010

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Page 1: ELT Journal

Introduction

A case study of students' perceptions of peer assessment in Hong Kong

jane Mok

Since 200 7, the Education Bureau (ED B) in Hong Kong has been promoting a shift from traditional assessment of learning to assessment for learning, where classroom-based assessment is linked to teaching and learning, with students taking an active role in the assessment process. In particular, secondary school students are encouraged to assess their own and peers' oral English through self- and peer assessment. While peer assessment has been recognized as enhancing student learning if sensitively implemented, it is a new concept to many local students. This paper reports on a case study that investigated students' perceptions of the implementation of peer assessment in their English speaking classes. Through interview and classroom observation, the study reveals that despite the benefits that the participants perceived, they had serious concerns over the new assessment. What these 'averagejweak' students reported was sad but inspiring. Implications are identified for those who plan to conduct peer assessment.

The centrality of the student's role in the implementation of peer assessment initiatives is obvious. Students are both the assessed and the assessors in peer assessment. Given that they play such a crucial role, it is important to find out how students perceive the peer assessment innovation. Such a focus would aim to take into account the voice of students, which is consistently ignored in local education reform, in order to facilitate educational change (Cook-Sather 2002).

This case study investigated some Hong Kong junior secondary school students' perceptions of the implementation of peer assessment in their oral English classes. The students were aged between 12 and 14 and their level of English was lower-intermediate. Although the students interviewed reported perceived benefits of peer assessment, they all had personal concerns about it, stressing that they were 'not good enough to do so'. The case study, though exploratory, aimed to report faithfully the voices of these students.

In the following section, background information about the education reform in Hong Kong and a brief review of peer assessment will be presented. After the methodology section, the reported perceptions of peer assessment will be detailed and discussed. The paper concludes with a brief discussion of the implications of the study.

E L T journal Volume Gs/J)uly 2011; doi:10.109Jfeltfccqo62 © The Author 2010. Published by Oxford University Press; all rights reserved. Advance Access publication November 10, 2010

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Background to the study Education reform in Hong Kong

Peer assessment

The teaching and learning approaches in Hong Kong classrooms have been widely criticized as examination-oriented and teacher-led, encouraging students to adopt primarily a passive and surface approach to learning (Biggs 1995). In 2001, an education reform was formally launched to improve the local education system. The reform, which covered curricula, admission systems, and assessment mechanisms, aimed to move away from the predominantly lower-order learning for exams towards developing students' capacity to deal with the rapid changes in the information age (EDB 2007a).

In terms of assessment in schools, the education authorities have been strongly promoting a shift from assessment oflearning to assessment for learning, with enhancing student learning through formative feedback a primary focus of the assessment process (ED B 2oo7b). Specifically, secondary school students are increasingly expected to assess their own as well as their peers' oral English (Hong Kong Examinations and Assessment Authority 2009) , which entails substantial changes in students' expectations, assessment knowledge, and skills.

Peer assessment is reported to possess many potential benefits for both learners and assessors (Bostock 2ooo). For instance, if thoughtfully implemented, it can facilitate students' development of various learning and life skills, such as learner responsibility, metacognitive strategies, evaluation skills, and a deeper approach to learning. Although the benefits of peer assessment have, to some extent, been recognized, there are a number of challenges within the classroom practice of the assessment. Yuen (1998) reports that due to school teachers' uncertainty about the feasibility of peer assessment and a lack of guidelines and support for its implementation, peer assessment has rarely been implemented in Hong Kong schools. The teacher involved in this study indeed reiterated Yuen's observation stating that she obtained very little input on peer assessment in the teacher training she received and that the school she was teaching in had not been doing anything to help teachers implement the, to her as well as her students, 'new' assessment.

Apart from teacher support, Dickinson and Carver (198o) and Holec (1981) point out that preparation is needed to help students to assume greater responsibility for their learning, which is essential in the successful implementation of peer assessment. For example,

psychological preparation is done through discussions with the teacher ... [and] by understanding the significance of the approach and what he is required to do, the learner modifies his previous preconceptions and prejudices about language and learning. Methodology preparation involves the acquisition of the necessary knowledge and techniques that will enable the learner to fulfil his role. (Kollath 1996: 3n)

However, Yuen (op.cit.) states that preparing students methodologically or psychologically for peer assessment or developing their oral skills through the assessment had not been the focus of local research.

A case study of students' perceptions of peer assessment

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Methodology

Research questions

In this section, the research questions pursued in the study, the approach adopted, the background of the student participants, and the data collection and analysis methods used are presented.

The case study aimed to address three specific research questions:

What are the student participants' perceptions of the peer assessment form used in their English oral lesson?

2 What are the student participants' concerns regarding the implementation of peer assessment in their junior secondary English speaking classes?

3 What are the student participants' perceived benefits of peer assessment?

Case study approach A case study approach was selected tocapturein detail what happened in the student participants' classrooms. As argued by Nisbet and Watt (1984), case studies can catch the unique features that may be lost in larger scale data. This approach allowed the research team to have a prolonged engagement with the students and teachers who had volunteered to participate in the study and to obtain a detailed account of what was seen and heard in their contexts. For reasons of space, this paper reports only part of the findings of the case study, that is the interview with Kylie, Veronica, Jerry, and Yale (pseudonyms).

Student participants The school where the two boys, Jerry and Yale, and the two girls, Kylie and Veronica, were studying is one of the many schools in Hong Kong using Chinese as the medium of instruction. It was chosen as representative of ordinary secondary schools providing education to teenage students in its area. The genuine support for the study by the four students, all aged between 13 and 14 years old, and by their English language teacher was another important criterion for selecting the cases. Written consent was formally sought from the students, their teacher, and parents or guardians before the data were collected.

Data collection and analysis

Kylie, Veronica, Jerry, and Yale came from two classes in Secondary 2 that were considered 'average' in terms ofboth academic results and discipline. According to the school policy, the students who were weak in English in these two classes, that is to say, who were at an elementary level, were not allowed to have English lessons with their peers who were stronger in English. Instead, they joined together and had their lessons in a different venue. Their English language teacher stressed that the approximately 20

students in this 'averagejweak' group were neither confident in themselves nor their studies, adding that the voices of these students were mostly neglected in the school.

Data were collected from this group mainly through classroom observations and interviews. To avoid the effects of overdoing peer assessment for research purposes, after the establishment phase, three classroom observations were scheduled over a six-month period to observe how peer assessment was conducted in Kylie, Veronica, Jerry, and Yale's English oral lessons. Their English language teacher was advised to integrate the peer assessment tasks into her regular school curriculum and to approach the research team for collaboration regarding lesson design and material

Jane Mok

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Findings Perceptions of the peer assessment form

development. All the observed lessons were video- and audiotaped to enable more effective data analysis.

Immediately after the last observed lesson, Kylie, Veronica, Jerry, and Yale were invited by their teacher to an interview. The interview was semi-structured, encouraging the students to talk about their opinions regarding the implementation of peer assessment in their English speaking classes. The three sets of core questions asked in the interview were:

What did you think of the peer assessment form used in the observed lesson just now? Did you understand it? Do you have any suggestions for improving the form?

2 What are your concerns regarding the implementation of peer assessment in the English oral lessons? Why?

3 What do you think are the benefits of peer assessment? Do you think it helps to develop students' thinking? Why?

Follow-up questions, such as how and why, were sometimes asked to encourage the students to elaborate their answers. The interview was conducted in Cantonese and was translated, transcribed, and coded. During the coding process, the students' opinions about the peer assessment form used and the perceived benefits and reported concerns regarding peer assessment were identified. The findings are presented in the next section.

Although the four students were shy and reluctant to express themselves at the beginning of the interview, Kylie and Yale had concrete suggestions on how to improve the peer assessment form that they had tried out in the last observed lesson. An important comment from them was that students should be allowed to comment freely on their classmates' oral performance.

The focus of the last observed lesson was on group interaction, and the topic for discussion was shopping. After going through the different types of shops with her students and teaching them the related vocabulary in the previous lesson, the teacher began the lesson by going through the peer assessment form (see Appendix) with her students. She first explained to the class the eight categories listed in the form. She then moved the students into groups of four, and assigned an identity, A, B, C, and D, to each member in each group. She told the class briefly that they would be assessing their peers' oral performance by filling in the assessment form. Then, the students discussed in groups their favourite shopping malls.

After the first round of group discussion, the teacher invited three groups of students to conduct their discussions again. During the discussions, the students in the audience were required to assess the performance of their counterparts in the presenting groups, for example, students A in the audience assessing students A in the presenting groups. They had to grade their peers' oral performance based on the categories listed in the form by choosing a smiley, neutral, or sad face for each one.

As revealed in all the observed lessons, students in this averagejweak group were not given any examples for reference before their peer assessment. Also, the teacher was not seen to explain the reasons for or benefits of conducting peer assessment. For example, in the last observed lesson, she only told the class to give the presenting group a big hand after their

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Reported concerns regarding peer assessment

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discussion and then reminded the class to fill in the assessment form before moving on to the next group. The teacher never elicited peer student feedback from the class or built on the response from students in the speaking lessons. The classroom data reveal that this group of students was prepared neither methodologically nor psychologically for the new assessment role and process.

In the interview, when asked if they understood the peer assessment form used in the last observed lesson, Kylie, Veronica, Jerry, and Yale reported that they had no problem understanding the form. However, immediately, Kylie and Yale expressed some concerns about it. Kylie first pointed out a problem with the form, that is, that the 'smiley-faces' system was not detailed enough to truly reflect students' oral performance. Below is what she told the interviewer:

Kylie: But, I think the smiley faces given in the form [Only three faces are given in the form for students to choose from, i.e. happy, neutral, and sad.] make the assessment difficult.

Interviewer: Why?

Kylie: I think the categories are not fine enough [to truly reflect the performance of students], say like the one in the middle [meaning the neutral face] , you know, for some students, their performance is not so good in some aspects but [in general] they are not that bad, and it would be really unkind for you to give them the neutral face.

Yale then suggested that instead of requiring students to grade their peers' oral performance, the teacher could include some questions for students to answer. Kylie agreed with this.

Yale: I think it would be better to list out some questions for us to answer.

Interviewer: So, you prefer answering questions instead.

Yale: Ask us what we think of the performance and we can write down how we feel. I think that would be better. The evaluation could be more detailed.

Kylie:

Yale:

[Our evaluation would be] more detailed if we are allowed to write down what we think directly. I think it's better not to ask us to grade each other.

I agree.

The data show that despite the difficulties that these four students faced regarding peer assessment as discussed in the following subsection, they hoped to take the new assessment seriously and conduct it in a detailed and thorough way.

Kylie, Veronica, Jerry, and Yale all expressed serious concerns regarding peer assessment. They reiterated in the interview that they were 'not good enough to assess their peers'. Kylie explained that their English proficiency was too low to conduct peer assessment effectively, stressing that as

jane Mok

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s~dents , they were not competent enough to take up the new assessment role. Jerry added that student peer assessment would only make things worse.

Kylie:

Jerry:

Kylie:

It's because our English proficiency is very low and we can't really assess the performance of others, for example, [we don't know] whether their grammar is good or not. (Then Jerry joined in.)

That [meaning peer assessment] would only make things worse.

You know, we are only students.

Yale and Veronica agreed with them and described to the interviewer the difficulties they faced when giving peer feedback. What they said was that they even had difficulty completing their own English sentences, not to mention giving others comments, which was in line with the intense feelings of inadequacy and helplessness towards peer assessment that they showed in the interview. Below is an excerpt from the interview that highlights the problem they described:

Yale: [When giving feedback] You will have to think about how to translate what you want to say into English and say it. If not, you will be wasting a lot of time. But, sometimes you don't even know how to pronounce the word that you want to use. What can you do then?

Veronica: We have difficulties even completing our own sentences.

Veronica then shared how she handled the feedback problem: she just copied from her teacher phrases like 'body language' and 'eye contact'. She stressed that in terms of ability, they were not good enough to assess others' oral performance, and the other three students strongly agreed. Kylie then reiterated that they were not good enough to peer assess their classmates' oral performance.

Veronica: So, I mainly write down things like body language and eye contact because I think, in terms of ability, we are not good enough to assess others' performance. (The other three students agreed strongly with Veronica.)

Kylie: We are not good enough to do so.

Despite the concerns that these four students had regarding peer assessment, all of them perceived peer assessment positively and talked about its benefits in the interview.

Perceived benefits of Although Kylie at first could not see any benefits of peer assessment for the peer assessment class, towards the end of the interview, all four of them reported perceived

benefits of the new assessment, especially in enhancing student thinking. Looking at peer assessment from the assessor's perspective, Jerry explained why he believed peer assessment could facilitate students' thinking and reflection on their own performance.

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Discussion

Jerry: It can enhance students' thinking. That's because when you try to identify the problem of others you are likely to identifY your own problem as well. You can also give others suggestions, suggestions that can help them improve.

Similarly, Veronica explained that as assessors, students would also learn from the peer feedback they gave others, for example by reflecting on others' performances they could avoid the problem themselves. Below is what Veronica shared with the interviewer when talking about this:

Veronica: If you point out a problem of your classmate in a particular area, you would tend to perform better in that particular area in the subsequent task.

Kylie agreed with Veronica that peer assessment could achieve two important functions: helping students set learning targets and prompting future actions. Looking at peer assessment from the perspective of the assessed, she also talked about the perceived benefit of peer assessment.

Kylie: I also think that peer assessment can enhance our thinking. I agree with what they said before. It can help us identifY our own weaknesses and strengths, and think about what we can do in the future.

Before ending the interview, Yale pointed out that he was aware that the peer evaluation he got from his classmates could be wrong. However, he would still consider it carefully and improve himself.

Yale: Although the feedback given by others could be wrong, if I think the feedback is true for me, I will also listen to it, that is, improve myself accordingly.

The data show that Kylie, Veronica, Jerry, and Yale had serious concerns about peer assessment. The psychological concerns that the four students reported were very real and, in fact, they have been widely documented in the literature, especially in areas such as learner autonomy and training (Dickinson and Carver op.cit.; Holec op.cit.). In order to help students fulfil the primary aim of peer assessment, that is to advise their peers where they can further improve their performance, Dickinson and Carver (op.cit.) stress that 'psychological preparation' (p . 2) for students is needed. This preparation should aim to help learners make the psychological leap from being dependent on the teacher to being independent, to 'build up their self-confidence in their ability to work independently of a teacher, and perhaps to change their negative attitude towards their role in language learning' (Yuen op.cit.: 16). According to Holec (op.cit. : 22) , this 'deconditioning process' is crucial yet gradual.

In terms of the preparation that Kylie, Veronica, Jerry, Yale, and their class needed, the strategies that Hargreaves and Pullan (1998) report concerning taking advantage of the power of emotional resources to help students learn in the context of educational change could well be applicable in preparing students for peer assessment. These include getting students motivated by helping them understand the underlying principles of the new assessment, using different support strategies to raise their comfort level and involving

jane Mok

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Conclusion

References

them as much as possible in the change process, for example, by creating a safe place for them to express their ideas freely regarding the change. In the case of the four students, their teacher could consider talking explicitly about the benefits and principles of peer assessment in class, eliciting and building on positive peer feedback from students, especially at the early stage of implementation, allowing students to give peer feedback in Chinese if necessary, and inviting them to voice their opinions regarding the new assessment. Their teacher later told the research team that with the little experience and knowledge of peer assessment she had, she did not know how to ease her students' psychological concerns even though she believed that these were the primary reasons preventing them from conducting the assessment effectively.

This case study reveals that although the four student participants could see important benefits of peer assessment, such as facilitating student's thinking development, and they hoped to take the assessment seriously, they felt inadequate about the implementation of the new assessment in their junior secondary English speaking classes. The findings point to the need for helping teachers to understand the concerns that students could have regarding the new assessment and the significance of the psychological preparation that could be needed for students to carry out peer assessment effectively (Dickinson and Carver op.cit.; Holec op.cit.). Also, it is crucial to align teacher professional development with the assessment reform so that school teachers can be equipped with the knowledge, awareness, experience, and strategies needed to maximize the learning potential of peer assessment. Although the study was exploratory and only involved four students and a teacher, it has successfully opened up a tiny window for people to understand how these four averagejweak school students perceived peer assessment. The research team suspects that their concerns and perceptions could be shared by some of the many other 'average' or 'weak' students. We hope that the voices ofKylie, Veronica, Jerry, and Yale are heard and that the study facilitates further exchanges of ideas and reflections on students' genuine concerns and needs regarding peer assessment.

Final revised version received May 2010

Biggs, J. 1995. ' Learning in the classroom' in J. Biggs and D. Watkins (eds.). Classroom Learning:

Dickinson, L. and D. Carver. r98o. 'Learning how to learn: steps towards self-direction in foreign language learning in schools'. ELT ]ournal35/r: r-7. Education Bureau (EDB). 2007a. 'Education reform highlights'. Available at http:/ jwww.edb.gov.hkj index.aspx?nodeiD= 88&langno= 1 (accessed on

Educational Psychology for the Asian Teacher. Singapore: Prentice Hall. Bostock, S. 2000. 'Student peer assessment'. Available at http:/ /74-I25.ISJ.I32fsearch?q= cache: 4BgLRE49JAMJ:www.keele.ac.ukjdeptsjaajlandtj ltjdocsjbostock_peer_assessment.htm+Review+of+ student+peer+assessment, +formative+and+ summative.&cd= r&hl= en&ct= clnk&gl= hk (accessed on I7 August 2009). Cook-Sather, A. 2002. 'Authorizing students' perspectives: towards trust, dialogue and change in education' . Educational Researcher 31/4: 3-14.

3 March 2009). Education Bureau (EDB). 2007b. 'Assessment for learning'. Available at http:/ jwww.edb.gov.hkj index.aspx?langno= r&nodeid= 24IO (accessed on 3 March 2009). Hargreaves, A. and M. Fullan. 1998. What's Worth Fightingfor Out There? New York: Teachers College. Holec, H. r98r. Autonomy and Foreign Language Learning. Oxford: Pergamon.

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Hong Kong Examinations and Assessment Authority. 2009. 'Hong Kong diploma of secondary education examination 2012 english language school-based assessment teachers' handbook'. Available at http:f J www.hkeaa.edu.hkJDocLibrary JSBAJHKDSEJ SBAhandbook·2012-ENG-240709.pdf (accessed on 12 August 2009). Kollath, K. 1996. 'The importance oflearner training as a tool to develop autonomous learners'. Available at http:j jelib.kkf.hujokt_publjszf_o6_33-Pdf (accessed on 14 September 2009). Nisbet, J. and J. Watt. 1984. 'Case study' in J. Bell, T. Bush, A. Fox, J. Goodey, and S. Goulding (eds.).

Conducting Small-Sale Investigations in Educational Management. London: Harper and Row. Yuen, H. M. 1998. 'Implementing peer assessment and self-assessment in a Hong Kong classroom'. Unpublished MA dissertation. The University of Hong Kong.

The author Jane Mok is a post-doctoral fellow in the Faculty of Education, The University of Hong Kong. Her research interests include assessment for learning, teacher language awareness, teacher professional development, and critical thinking. Email: [email protected]

Appendix Your name: __________ Name of student _______ _

Peer and self­assessment form

(A/B/CfD) .. Hisjher voice was loud enough Hejshe could pronounce English sounds and words clearly

Hejshe had friendly body language and made eye contact Hejshe could join in the discussion and encourage others to speak

- --

Hejshe could use the right words to explain hisjher ideas Hejshe could use grammatically correct language

Hisfher ideas were relevant to the topic of discussion Hejshe paid attention to others' ideas and responded to them

The things I liked most about hisfher discussion were:

Total smiley faces for himfher:

jane Mok

.. .. ... ~

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Individual reflection Based on your discussion andjor peer assessment earlier, write down what you think you have done well (as well as not very well!) in your discussion and what you can do to improve your performance in future discussions.

A case study of students' perceptions of peer assessment 239