ASSESSING AND EVALUATING THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE SKILLS OF GRADE 10 ENGLISH FIRST ADDITIONAL LANGUAGE LEARNERS IN THE RURAL SECONDARY SCHOOLS OF LIMPOPO PROVINCE WITHIN CURRICULUM AND ASSESSMENT POLICY STATEMENT

Assessment and Evaluation are inextricably intertwined and linked to teaching and learning. Assessment as part of learning measure the future and quality of learning while Evaluation measure the outcomes of learning and make judgement about quality. English Language skills assessment has been a challenge to most teachers such that it affected learner performance in the past curricular periods. The movement from the traditional way of assessing learners to outcomes based assessment was a real challenge .This study was argued from the Constructivist Theory were Scaffolding is seen as a dynamic factor to improve learner performance. The purpose of this study is to establish whether teachers in the rural secondary schools od Limpopo Province are able to assess learners in (EFAL). For purpose of this study the researcher used the mixed method research which employs both qualitative and quantitative methods respectively. The explanatory and exploratory mixed method designs were used to capture data. 97 (EFAL) educators in the districts of Vhembe, Capricorn and Mopani were randomly selected and concluded questionnaires on the study. Six schools were purposively selected and six EFAL teachers who are teaching English in grade 10 teachers were interviewed and observed. 30 learners concluded English language tests which were followed by standardised language tests. Data was analysed through quantitative and qualitative data analysis method and mixing was done at data analysis stage. The study revealed that teachers need intensive training, a number of challenges including poor teacher workshops, competency of subject advisors and district officials were raised as serious and understanding of taxonomies during setting of tests was discovered .The study recommends that in service training must resume as workshops do not help teachers in comparison to the three periods of teacher training in the past.