The Attitudes of the English Language TeachersToward Using Formative Evaluation in Improving EFL Learning in Tulkarm District

The Attitudes of the English Language TeachersToward Using Formative Evaluation in Improving EFL Learning in Tulkarm District

Thabet Mohammad Nader The purpose of this study was to investigate the attitudes of the English language teachers toward using formative evaluation in improving EFL learning in the governmental schools in Tulkarm District and also to find the differences in teachers attitudes with regard to four independent vanables (teacher's gender, qualification, experience, and school location) and three dependent vanables (the instructional method, student's performance, and the curriculum design). Furthermore, the study attempted to answer the following questions: -What  are the attitudes of the English language teacher toward using formative evaluation in improving EFL learning? -Is there any difference in teachers' attitudes toward using formative evaluation in improving EFL learning due to the gender variable? -Is there any difference in teachers' attitudes toward using formative evaluation in improving EFL learning due to qualification? -Is there any difference ul teachers' attitudes toward using formative evaluation in improving EFL learning due to experience? -Is there any difference in teachers' attitudes toward using formative evaluation in improving EFL learning due to school location? To achieve the purposes of the study and to answer the research questions, the researcher administered a questionnaire to all the English language teachers in Tulkarm District. The questionnaire was constructed by the researcher himself and validated by five specialists in the field of the English language and education before its distribution. Also, the reliability of the questionnaire was tested by applying it to a pilot study on a randomly selected sample consisting of ten female teachers from four female schools and other ten male teachers from four male schools. After that, the reliability of the questionnaire was calculated using Cornbach Alpha formula. It was about 0.89. The population for this study consisted of 152 English language teachers and the sample was the same as the population. The data collected by using the questionnaire provided information that enabled the researcher to detemme whether the teachers' attitude for each item was positive or negative and the total attitude of response for each domain as well. Interesting findings regarding the teachers' attitudes toward using formative evaluation in improving EFL learning were reached: -The English language teachers had positive attitudes concerning the three domains of formative evaluation (teacher's instructional method, student's performance, cturictdum design) except on some items. However, their total attitudes for the three domains were positive. -The female teachers had more positive attitudes than the males. (There was a difference in teachers' attitudes due to the gender variable in favor of female teachers). -Teachers who hold less than BA had more positive attitudes than those who hold BA degree or more. -Teachers who had more than 10 years of experience and the teachers who had less than 5 years of experience had extremely similar attitudes but with a slight difference in favor of the teachers who had more than 10 years experience; whereas those teachers whose experience was between 5-10 years had less positive attitudes. -The teachers whose schools were located in villages had more positive attitudes than the teachers whose schools were located in cities. At the end, the researcher recommends that further research is needed in the field concerning the formative evaluation techniques included in the curriculum, students' performance, and teachers' instructional method. Thabet Mohammad Nader Supervisor Dr. Fawaz Aqel 1999 Zajel / An-Najah National University