Classroom-based assessment and its relationship with students’ self-efficacy: The case of English language learning in Rwandan lower secondary schools

This study was conducted to explore the classroom assessment practices, specifically the forms of assessment and methods of providing feedback used by the teachers of English in lower level of secondary schools in Rwanda. It also aimed to investigate the students’ perceptions of the teachers’ assessment practices, the students’ self-efficacy for the four English language skills and how such self-efficacy was related to the teachers’ assessment practices. Quantitative and qualitative approaches were used to collect and analyse data from both teachers and students. The results indicated that controlled assessment, commonly known as paper and pencil was the most prevalent form that teachers used for assessment. The results also showed that the students reported relatively high positive perceptions for their teachers' classroom assessment practices and high self-efficacy in all the four English language skills except for listening. The Spearman correlation analysis indicated that the use of some performance assessment correlated with higher levels of students’ self-efficacy for productive skills. These results tend to support findings from previous studies that some assessment practices can affect the students’ self-efficacy. They expand the literature and deepen our understanding of the teachers’ assessment preferences in English as a Foreign Language (EFL) context and highlight the complexity of the influencing factors of the students' self efficacy. Major implications of the findings are discussed.