Teaching and Testing Grammer through Learning Oriented Assessment: An Action Research

As an influential area of education, language teaching has undergone various changes in its theoretical and practical frameworks during the last decades. The common purpose of all research studies has been to optimize the instruction process. Since language learning does not happen in vacuum, and some information is required for examining its quality, language tests are used. Yet, the question still remains as to whether language tests are just simple tools for assessing the content of materials that have been instructed or they can be used for formative goals as well. In the present study, we attempted to examine the utility of language tests in enhancing students’ grammar acquisition. The action research reported in this paper sought to investigate whether and to what extent the implementation of Learning-oriented Assessment )LOA) can facilitate the acquisition of grammar by intermediate second language )L2) learners. In our classes at a university in the north east of Iran, where we were both teaching grammar to students of English Language and Literature, we faced students who were struggling not only with the acquisition of the grammar points but also the actual use of what they had learnt in the grammar exams. Typically, in grammar classes, we teach a set of grammar items in their book through using examples and performance tasks during the semester. Having the fact in mind that students’ performance is highly dependent on the method of our instruction, we tried to use new methods for improving their learning output. In the beginning stages of our trial for teaching grammar innovatively, we observed little change in the learners’’ performance while gradually by the continuation of the new instructional method students’ performance showed a significant improvement as a results of our LOA grammar instruction. Pedagogically, the findings of our study call for a shift in the assessment procedures that provide simultaneous learning and testing opportunities.