Relevant factors to the evaluation of non-Spanish speaking Haitian students’ written production in Chilean public schools

ABSTRACT

This work examines the factors that are considered relevant by in-service Spanish Language and Literature teachers for the assessment of the writing skills of non-Spanish-speaking Chilean secondary school students. The theoretical underpinnings that drive this study are related to evaluation as a learning tool, the principles for an effective assessment and the evaluation of writing skills in a foreign language. Namely, for this case study we interviewed two secondary in-service teachers to understand the factors that influence the evaluation of the writing skills of their Haitian students. The interviews were transliterated and analyzed using content analysis, which allowed for the emergence of thematic categories as well as the most relevant factors considered for assessment of written skills. These factors were analyzed in the light of the assessment literature and in relation to the Chilean educational context. The results point to the need to observe the strategies in-service teachers intuitively use to assess the written texts of their non-Spanish-speaking students and the necessity of incorporating teachers trained in multilingual education into multicultural classrooms, that can promote evaluation as a learning tool.

Keywords:
assessment; foreign language; immigration; multicultural classrooms; writing