Hi! I’m Mohamed Alsawadi. I’m based in Japan. I’m an ESL teacher with 7+ years of experience at various educational contexts. I’m also an assessment specialist at Cambridge University Press & Assessment Japan. I examine and evaluate the speaking portion of a range of Cambridge English exams levels: Pre-A1 ~ C1. I have a master’s degree in ELT, Cambridge CELTA, and I’m currently pursuing my master’s degree in Education at Cambridge University. In addition, I have just completed a Postgraduate Advanced Certificate in Educational Assessment at Cambridge University. I can truly say that it has marked the start of an exciting adventure to become an assessment expert. Given that assessment is an integral part in instruction, I have found that it is the only tool that can determine whether or not the education goals are met.
Why did I choose to specialise in assessment?
Language testing in Japan is not yet fully understood by the audience outside the charmed circle of its practitioners, and even those inside the charmed circle normally do not receive sufficient training to recognise the purposes and uses of language tests. I chose to specialise and become an expert in assessment to help teachers of English and stakeholders understand the primary purpose(s) of assessment. In addition, specialising in educational assessment helps to direct the efforts into switching from a teach-to-the-test style to a more inclusive pedagogy in which the required knowledge and skills for any English proficiency test constitute a small unit of the entire English curriculum.
I’m interested in assessment design and evaluation, particularly designing nationwide high-stakes English proficiency tests and investigating their impact on the environment in which they operate. Besides, given that classroom formative assessment has received less attention, I’m interested in developing and implementing assessment strategies and methods to evaluate students’ progress and create an intellectual learning environment in classroom.