Investigating the Writing Skills Alternative Assessment Strategies used in Moroccan ESP Classrooms: Teachers’ Perceptions and Prevailing Practices

Abstract

Assessment is the backbone of the learning-teaching process. Several studies have proven that assessment goes hand in hand with learning. Classroom assessment can be either traditionally of learning or formatively an ongoing process for learning. The current study explores the writing skills alternative assessment strategies used by Moroccan English for Specific Purposes (ESP) teachers in their classrooms. To reach this, the study seeks to explore Moroccan ESP practitioners’ perceptions and prevailing practices of writing skills alternative assessment strategies. Similarly, the study tries to identify possible challenges that impede the proper implementation of alternative assessment pedagogy in the Moroccan ESP context. Following a qualitative research design, the current paper deploys semi-structured interviews to collect data from 10 ESP instructors working in different higher institutes and universities in Morocco. The findings reveal that the participants possess favorable opinions regarding alternative assessment methods of writing skills. Nevertheless, these optimistic viewpoints are not clearly reflected in their assessment practices. The research paper can benefit both practitioners and policymakers in the field of education.