Arwa Alyami

Bio:

I am Arwa Alyami, currently a third year PhD student working under the supervision of Associate Professor Rosario Hernández in the School of Languages, Cultures and Linguistics, at University College Dublin. I hold an M.Phil. in English Language Teaching from Trinity College Dublin and a B.A. in English Language from the University of Najran, Saudi Arabia. My research interests include classroom-based language assessment, language assessment literacy, professional development of teachers, English language teaching and learning, and curriculum design.

Thesis:

Assessment forms a fundamental component of any educational curriculum. During the last few decades there has been an increasing interest and awareness among many scholars and researchers in the importance of classroom-based assessment towards improving students’ learning and achievement (Stiggins, 1991,1995; Black and William, 1998; Popham,2009). Yet lots of teachers worldwide are found to possess notable weaknesses in the application of effective classroom assessment practices. Thus, the overall purpose of my thesis is to investigate the classroom-based assessment practices of in-service female Saudi English language teachers in Najran, Saudi Arabia and to ascertain the factors that might have an impact on their assessment practices. My thesis focuses on language assessment literacy (LAL) of teachers and the importance of providing more formal, structured and ongoing support to improve the assessment competence of in-service language teachers through continuing professional development programmes (CPD), addressing what should be included in these programmes, potential challenges facing these programmes and how to overcome them.