A Sociocultural Perspective on Assessment for Learning: The Case of a Malaysian Primary School ESL Context

Social constructivists believe that formative assessments of students' learning are of great worth to the learners. So, they consider assessment for learning (AFL) as an interactive process in which teachers and peers help learners use their zone of proximal development (ZPD) to progress to the next step in their learning. Based on Vygotsky's socio-cultural perspective, AFL is an interactive process in which teacher and learners discuss about learning intentions and how best to improve teaching and learning performance and accomplish success. This study presents an investigation carried out in a Malaysian primary school ESL context to suggest how AFL is viewed from sociocultural perspective. The results suggested that AFL from sociocultural perspective put a great emphasis on authentic tasks and social interaction between teacher and learners. (C) 2012 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. Selection and/or peer-review under responsibility of the LSP 2012 Committee, Language Academy, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia