”Kenelle tämä kuuluu?” Opettajien toimijuus kehittyvän suomen kielen taidon arvioinnissa peruskoulussa

In both basic education and preparatory education, it is essential to assess the development of students’proficiency in the language of instruction in order to provide appropriate teaching and support. Thecurrent national curriculum and recent research on language-aware teaching emphasize that languageaware instruction and assessment are the responsibility of all teachers, regardless of their role in theschool. However, classroom and subject teachers who are not specialized in Finnish language pedagogyoften receive limited training in language didactics. Therefore, this study explored how teachers invarious roles exercise agency in assessing students’ developing Finnish language skills. Based on surveydata, we examined teachers’ experiences and practices in language assessment and the use of assessmentinformation. The respondents (n = 163) generally considered language proficiency assessmentimportant, but not all teachers perceived it as primarily their own responsibility. Furthermore, theyoften lacked assessment tools suitable for their specific roles, such as teaching disciplinary languages.The study highlights the need to develop appropriate assessment materials and teacher training, aswell as to strengthen collaboration between classroom or subject teachers and Finnish as a secondlanguage teachers. This would ensure that diverse assessment data supporting language-aware teachingis accessible to all educators.