International Journal of English Language Studies (IJELS) ISSN: 2707-7578 DOI: 10.32996/ijels Website: https://al-kindipublisher.com/index.php/ijels Page | 52 Formative Assessment: The Malaysian English Language Primary School Teachers’ Pedagogical Beliefs and Values Dr. Stephania Albert Jonglai 1 , Professor Dr. Mark Pike 2 and Dr. Martin Lamb 3 1 Phd, Faculty of Education, University of Leeds, West Yorkshire Leeds, United Kingdom 2 Head of School, Faculty of Education, University of Leeds, West Yorkshire Leeds, United Kingdom 3 Senior Lecturer, Language Education, Faculty of Education, University of Leeds, West Yorkshire Leeds, United Kingdom Corresponding Author: Dr. Stephania Albert Jonglai, E-mail: stephaniaalbert76@gmail.com ARTICLE INFORMATION ABSTRACT Received: March 08, 2021 Accepted: April 15, 2021 Volume: 3 Issue: 4 DOI: 10.32996/ijels.2021.3.4.5 This study investigated the beliefs and practices of primary school English language teachers in eastern Malaysia with regards to the country’s School-Based Assessment (SBA) reform. The study also investigated the contextual factors affecting the teachers’ beliefs and practices, aiming to understand the effects of these beliefs on their practice of SBA in order to extend our understanding of teachers’ interpretations of SBA, the challenges influencing these interpretations and thus, what affects the implementation process. After preliminary interviews with seven teachers, the study selected three who had an understanding of and knowledge about SBA and examined their claims to be implementing it. The study conducted classroom observations and then, using post-observation interviews, explored the reasons behind the teachers’ practices. The teachers interpreted and implemented SBA using their pedagogical knowledge and beliefs and incorporating existing teaching–learning practices, and they showed awareness of the goals and aims of the SBA initiatives. However, contextual factors affected their implementation process, and thus, their practices deviated from some of the underlying principles and objectives of the SBA policy. The study pointed to a limited uptake of the SBA policy and provided evidence of the importance of studying both the teachers’ prior or existing beliefs about assessment and the contextual factors, to understand the motives behind the teachers’ actual assessment practices and their attitudes towards assessment reforms. KEYWORDS Formative Assessment, Pedagogical Beliefs and Values, classroom observations 1. Introduction 1 1.0 The study of teachers’ pedagogical beliefs and values The study of teachers’ beliefs emerged in the mid-1990s, and since then, there have been many reviews of research into what second language and foreign language teachers think, know and believe about language teaching (Borg, 2006). Literature about teachers’ pedagogical beliefs and assessment instructions also gradually emerged at about the same time (e.g. Bleim and Davinroy, 1997). Spillane et al. (2002) and a number of other researchers suggested that teachers’ pedagogical beliefs can shape what they actually do (e.g. Stipek et al., 2001; Kuzborska, 2011), because people have their own sets of ideas which help them determine how they should understand their experiences and how they should value certain educational goals (Pring, 2004). Belief is also often described as a lens through which one looks when interpreting the world (Philipp, 2007). Similarly, other studies have shown the importance of values to teaching (e.g. Clark and Peterson, 1984; Pajares, 1992). A number of studies have also identified differences between beliefs and values. For example, Bishop et al. (2003) found beliefs to be associated with true/false dichotomies, whereas values are associated with desirable/undesirable dichotomies. To further distinguish between beliefs and values, researchers such as Rokeach (1973, cited in Philipp, 2007) viewed values as enduring beliefs, while Clarkson and Bishop (1999) viewed values as beliefs in action. Bishop et al. (2003) contended that values influence, rather than determine, the choice of possible actions available. Bishop and his colleagues also pointed out that the similarities Published by Al-Kindi Center for Research and Development. Copyright (c) the author(s). This open access article is distributed under a Creative Commons Attribution (CC-BY) 4.0 license