Integrated Performance Assessment (IPA) in Chinese language classrooms: Pre-service instructors’ perception of IPA implementation in the Chinese-English DLI program

• In Event: Ensuring Equitable and Quality Education and Assessment (I)

Proposal

Over the decades, research on Integrated Performance Assessment (IPA) has primarily emphasized students’ performance and reflections on conducting IPA (Adair-Hauck & Troyan, 2013; Davin et al., 2011; Troyan, 2007). On the contrary, there is a small number of studies that address instructors’ concerns and perceptions of implementing IPA to evaluate students' language development (Eddy & Bustamante, 2020; Martel & Bailey, 2016). This study intends to investigate language teachers' perceptions of IPA and their attitude towards it, such as their understanding of the main characteristics of IPA, their acknowledgment of IPA as an integrated assessment to measure students' learning progress, and the benefits and challenges they consider when implementing IPA in a Chinese-English dual language (DLI) program. The study seeks to answer the following research questions: (a) What are pre-service Chinese instructors’ perceptions of IPA? (b) Are pre-service teachers willing to implement IPA into DLI programs? Why or why not? The study will adopt content-based instruction (CBI) as the theoretical framework as it provides an idea that language learning can merge with content and suggests language instruction should be around meaningful themes, texts, topics, and tasks (Crandall & Tucker, 1990; Stoller & Grabe, 1997). The study adopted case study as the methodology based on its ability to “exemplify larger processes or situations in a very accessible, …, personal manner” (Duff, 2012, p. 96). The researchers recruited four pre-service Chinese language teachers who conducted intern teaching at DLI public schools in a middle western state of the U.S. We collected data through semi-structured interviews, mentor-intern collaborative discussions, and intern independent reflections. All the data, including audio and written ones, were transcribed and read verbatim and analyzed through thematic analysis (Saldaña, 2013). Two major themes emerged from the data analysis: (a) general attitudes toward IPA. (b) challenges in implementing IPA. The article concludes with the limitations of the study and implications for language teachers in DLI programs. The research fulfills the need for investigating language instructors’ attitudes toward IPA implementation and the appropriateness of IPA for Chinese learners of different ages and different proficiency levels.

Authors

• Meiheng Chen, Michigan State University

• Zheng Gu, Emory University