Examining Changing Assessment Practices in Online Teaching: A Multiple-Case Study of EFL School Teachers in China

This paper reports on the results from a multiple-case study of how EFL school teachers in China coped with online assessment for 10 weeks caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. We looked into the online assessment practices of seven teachers from seven regions of China, through individual interview, teachers’ journals, instructional designs for online teaching, and online classroom observation. The findings reveal that the participants went through a transition from neglecting assessment to overdoing assessment in their online teaching process. Whilst they used a range of online assessment methods, they did not systematically incorporate online assessment into their online curricula. Analysis shows that this issue is most likely to result from teachers’ lack of understanding of the nature of online assessment as an intrinsic component of curriculum and a major means of enhancing students’ learning. Implications will be discussed.