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Description
This study investigates how English teachers negotiate their agency in designing and implementing classroom-based assessment (CBA) practices in English for Medical Purposes (EMP) courses. Drawing on the ecological model of teacher agency developed by Priestley, Biesta, and Robinson (2015), the study examines how teachers’ assessment decisions are shaped by the interplay of their professional beliefs, prior experiences, future aspirations and institutional contexts. A qualitative multiple-case study was conducted with eight EMP teachers at a Vietnamese university. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews with the teachers, classroom observations and document analysis using thematic analysis. The findings indicate that the teacher participants enacted their agency by adapting assessment methods, modifying assessment criteria, providing formative feedback and integrating artificial intelligence (AI) into classroom assessment. The study also reveals several challenges facing teachers in adjusting their classroom-based assessment practices. The participants reported that institutional assessment policies, high learning outcome expectations, heavy workloads, time constraints and large class sizes restricted their abilities to design and implement assessment practices. They also faced challenges related to students’ low levels of language proficiency and intricate nature of medical English. These findings suggest that teacher agency in EMP assessment is influenced by teachers’ personal beliefs, institutional requirements and teaching contexts.
Key words: teacher agency; ecological approach; classroom-based assessment; English for Medical Purposes (EMP).
