Karna Rana

Introduction: The practice of formative assessment and feedback to scaffold student learning in secondary school English classrooms is either neglected or underestimated in the literature. Purpose: This study reports how secondary English teachers reflect on their practice of formative assessment and feedback in English language teaching. It examines the nexus that teachers make between formative assessments and continuous feedback to promote students' learning. Method: A semi-structured interview was employed to investigate the teachers' implementation of formative assessment and strategies for giving feedback to students' English learning activities. Classroom observation explored how teachers provided immediate feedback to students' classroom activities. This article examines the data through Lajoie's scaffolding framework. Results: Findings indicate that teachers' continuous feedback to students' English learning activities and frequent language assessments have become effective in promoting students' English language learning. Despite the limited training they receive, teachers' motivation to learn innovative teaching techniques is crucial for connecting formative assessments with students' English language learning. Conclusion: The article aims to contribute to the practical understanding of the potentially significant roles of continuous feedback and formative assessment in foreign or second language teaching and learning. It further contributes to the ways the English language is taught in similar contexts.

This paper examines the awareness of artificial intelligence (AI) among school teachers in Nepal. We interviewed twenty teachers from ten urban schools in Nepal over four weeks using a semi-structured interview tool. The analysis of interview data reveals the teachers’ mixed perception of AI, including their understanding of innovative technologies in education, the potential challenges for new-generation teachers, and the opportunities for pedagogical transformations. The findings suggest that although the teachers have limited awareness of how AI can be used in teaching and learning, they possess some level of understanding that has opened up new opportunities for exploring innovative ways of teaching and learning. Notably, participants discussed tools, such as Education Management Information System (EMIS) for record keeping and automated grading and AI-driven chatbots for student tutoring. However, teachers also expressed concerns about the possibility of AI replacing human teachers. These insights provide valuable implications for policymakers and educators regarding the integration of AI into classroom instructions to promote innovative and equitable learning opportunities.

This paper analyses university teachers and students’ experiences of online learning during the COVID-19 pandemic in Nepal and presents post-pandemic implications. Potential ramifications of the findings in a normal setting were suggested by the analysis of data gathered through semi-structured interviews with participants both during and after the pandemic, as well as through observation of online classes during the period. Findings demonstrate teachers' ability to create online learning, an alternative mode to a physical classroom, during the pandemic while having an inadequate level of ICT understanding. Despite limited access to digital technology and no administrative assistance, teachers and students created an online learning environment. Findings, however, show an increasing digital gap between rural and urban areas. The discontinuation of effective online learning techniques in the post-pandemic circumstances produced by the teachers during the pandemic pointed out the issues of reforming higher education in developing countries such as Nepal.