Abdul Mutashobya<\/strong> Koen Van Gorp<\/strong> This study examines how Tanzanian secondary school EFL teachers implemented performance-based assessment (PBA) following a short professional development intervention. Although PBA has gained global traction as a means of promoting communicative competence, little is known about how teachers in resource-constrained settings adapt such practices to their local realities. Data were collected from 16 secondary school teachers through surveys and focus group discussions after they piloted PBA tasks in their classrooms. Data were thematically analyzed using group and interpretive coding. Findings revealed that teachers perceived PBA as beneficial in enhancing students\u2019 spoken English skills, particularly through increased participation, peer collaboration, and learner autonomy. However, they also identified significant challenges, including large class sizes, limited time, uneven student proficiency, and a lack of materials and institutional support. Despite these barriers, teachers developed creative strategies to localize assessment practices, often drawing on collaborative techniques and translanguaging as scaffolds. The study highlights the need for context-sensitive PBA frameworks and sustained professional support that values teachers as adaptive practitioners. These findings contribute to the growing literature on assessment in under-resourced EFL contexts and offer insights into how grassroots innovations can inform broader pedagogical reforms.<\/p>\n Keywords<\/em><\/strong>: Performance-based assessment (PBA); English as a foreign language; promoting speaking skills<\/p>\n In recent decades, there has been a growing emphasis on communicative competence as a core outcome of additional language education worldwide (Salam & Luksfinanto, 2024). Communicative competence encompasses not only grammatical accuracy but also the ability to use language appropriately and effectively to accomplish communicative goals (Bachman & Palmer, 2010). This shift from grammatical accuracy to communicative effectiveness has prompted increased interest in performance-based assessment (PBA), particularly in the teaching of English as a foreign language (EFL), where the goal is no longer simply mastery of grammatical structures but the ability to use language meaningfully in real-world contexts (e.g., Yen & Thao, 2024). PBA is designed to evaluate learners\u2019 communicative ability through tasks that simulate authentic use of language, such as oral presentations, debates, or collaborative projects (Norris, 2016). Proponents argue that such assessments provide more valid and motivating alternatives to traditional pen-and-paper tests, especially for speaking and listening skills (Butler & Zeng, 2014; Inbar-Lourie, 2008).<\/p>\n Despite its pedagogical potential, a central tension exists between the promise of PBA and the realities of its implementation in many resource-constrained environments. In numerous EFL contexts across the Global South, including Tanzania, systemic constraints such as large class sizes, rigid examination-driven curricula, and limited access to instructional materials shape daily teaching practices (Adamson, 2016). Tanzania presents a particularly relevant case for examining these tensions. Although English is the official medium of instruction from secondary school onward, the majority of students enter secondary education with limited exposure to spoken English. This challenge is compounded by a widespread reliance on high-stakes written examinations that de-emphasize oral proficiency in favor of rote memorization.<\/p>\n Within this complex educational landscape, the interactive and individualized nature of PBA, typically regarded as its strength, often becomes a logistical burden for teachers.<\/p>\n This context reveals a critical blind spot in the broader scholarly conversation on PBA. The literature remains heavily concentrated in high-income and East Asian countries, where well-resourced school systems shape implementation models. Consequently, what remains largely unexamined are the ways in which teachers in under-resourced, multilingual settings exercise their professional agency to adopt and adapt innovative assessment practices. This study addresses this blind spot by examining how secondary school EFL teachers in Tanzania engaged with PBA following a short online professional development intervention. By centering the voices and practices of these teachers, this study contributes a context-sensitive perspective on the implementation of PBA, with implications for teacher education, curriculum reform, and language policy in similarly under-resourced environments.<\/p>\n The global shift toward communicative competence as the primary goal of language learning has prompted a widespread reconsideration of traditional assessment practices. Communicative competence encompasses not only grammatical accuracy but also the ability to use language appropriately and effectively to accomplish communicative goals (Bachman & Palmer, 2010; Canale & Swain, 1980). Performance-Based Assessment (PBA) has emerged as a key alternative to traditional language testing, referring to the use of tasks that require learners to actively demonstrate their language abilities in real or simulated communicative contexts. Fundamentally, PBA is grounded in sociocultural theories of language learning, which posit that acquiring a new language is a socially mediated process driven by interaction and collaboration. As Lantolf and Thorne (2006) argue, human mental activity is organized through culturally constructed artifacts and social relationships, making mediation central to learning. From this sociocultural perspective, learners can reach higher levels of performance when supported by teachers and peers, a principle reflected in the collaborative design of PBA.<\/p>\n This approach generates a positive \u201cwashback effect,\u201d where the nature of the assessment beneficially influences classroom instruction by making authentic communication the object of learning itself. By intentionally blurring the traditional boundaries between teaching, learning, and assessment (Van Gorp, 2021), PBA aims to foster not just language skills but also learner autonomy, motivation, and critical thinking. However, the successful application of PBA hinges on a teacher’s assessment literacy, the knowledge and skills required to design, interpret, and act on assessments that align with communicative goals. This literacy is increasingly viewed as a dynamic and evolving competence that is deeply influenced by the \u201cassessment cultures\u201d and institutional norms in which teachers operate (Fulcher, 2012; Xu & Brown, 2016). As Inbar-Lourie (2008) argues, assessment literacy is not merely a technical skill but a reflective practice, deeply shaped by teachers\u2019 professional identities and their moment-to-moment classroom decision-making. This places the teacher at the center of any meaningful assessment reform, yet realizing PBA’s potential is complex. Studies from diverse contexts, such as Indonesia (Hamid & Susanto, 2022; Makmuroh et al., 2022; Salma & Prastikawati, 2021) and Vietnam (Yen & Thao, 2024), reveal the significant challenges teachers face in translating this theoretical promise into classroom practice. As Banegas and Consoli (2020) emphasize, overcoming these systemic barriers requires a collaborative and ecological approach, where teachers and researchers work as co-agents to generate contextually appropriate pedagogies that are sustainable within their specific social practices.<\/p>\n While the pedagogical promise of PBA is widely acknowledged, its implementation creates a significant divide between different educational contexts. Scholars have consistently raised practical concerns about scoring reliability and the substantial time and expertise required for effective implementation. In high-resource environments, such as the U.S., where professional organizations like ACTFL provide implementation guidance, structures for teacher training and institutional support often exist to mitigate these issues.<\/p>\n This promise, however, stands in stark contrast to the realities of many under-resourced settings across the Global South, where these same challenges are exacerbated by significant systemic barriers. Teachers contend with overcrowded classrooms, limited materials, and curricula driven by summative testing. Indeed, similar struggles to implement communicative assessment amidst large classes and material scarcity have been documented in diverse contexts such as Indonesia (Hamid & Susanto, 2022; Makmuroh et al., 2022; Salma & Prastikawati, 2021). These systemic barriers are not unique to one country, appearing in various forms across different resource-constrained contexts. As Banegas and Consoli (2020) argue, such environments are often shaped by a lack of access to resources and a lack of institutional support, which can make the local context less conducive to teacher-led research and change. In Indonesia, for instance, research on PBA implementation found that while teachers recognize its pedagogical value, they face persistent washback from national exams and practical constraints such as the time-intensive nature of designing and evaluating tasks for large student populations (Salma & Prastikawati, 2021). In rural Indonesia, research has further shown that while PBA can successfully boost students’ analytical skills, teachers often lack the institutional support and time needed to create their own materials (Hamid & Susanto, 2022; Makmuroh et al., 2022). These studies highlight the cultural politics of education reform, where pedagogical ideals often clash with structural realities (Vavrus, 2009). Tanzania presents a particularly compelling context for examining these tensions. The country\u2019s educational system reflects a complex linguistic landscape where the transition from Kiswahili-medium primary education to English-medium secondary education creates significant proficiency gaps and pedagogical friction (Swilla, 2009). These challenges are compounded by overcrowded classrooms that hinder participation and a deep-seated reliance on high-stakes written examinations. As Ross (2005) notes, such systemic assessment structures exert a powerful washback effect, often dictating the curriculum and limiting teachers’ ability to implement innovative, communicative methodologies. In the Tanzanian context, these examinations, which do not test speaking skills, foster a grammar-focused pedagogy that can stifle communicative confidence (Mtallo, 2015). Consequently, while teachers may recognize the theoretical value of PBA, they must navigate a \u201cbottom-up\u201d struggle to reconcile its demands with the rigid institutional and linguistic realities of their classrooms (Banegas & Consoli, 2020; Swilla, 2009).<\/p>\n This gap between the promise of PBA and the constraints of its practice reveals a critical blind spot in the literature: the active, agentic role of teachers in navigating systemic barriers. While targeted professional development has shown promise in improving teachers\u2019 confidence with PBA, these interventions are often quite intensive. For instance, while many studies in the Global South have documented how intensive, multi-week professional development programs can improve teachers’ assessment literacy, the focus of such research is often on the effectiveness of the training itself rather than the grassroots innovations triggered by the participants. Building on this, the present study explores how a targeted, four-hour professional development program can similarly catalyze teacher adaptation. What remains largely unexamined are the context-sensitive adaptations and pedagogical shifts that can be unleashed by much briefer, more focused interventions. Following Banegas and Consoli (2020), we argue that teachers must be viewed as \u201creflective insiders\u201d and agents of change who possess the unique ability to generate contextually appropriate pedagogies within their immediate classroom life. By framing these grassroots innovations as a form of social and symbolic mediation (Lantolf & Thorne, 2006), this study addresses a critical gap: it examines how a limited yet strategic training session empowered teachers to navigate systemic constraints and innovate within their specific resource-constrained classrooms<\/p>\n To address this gap, the present study uses a brief, hands-on PD intervention as a catalyst to explore this very process of teacher adaptation. By centering the voices and adaptive practices of these Tanzanian teachers, our work seeks to contribute a vital perspective from the Global South, advocating for reforms that recognize and build upon local strengths and teacher agency. To this end, this study was guided by the following research questions:<\/p>\n RQ1:<\/strong> What challenges do Tanzanian secondary EFL teachers face in implementing PBA in their classrooms?<\/p>\n RQ2:<\/strong> What strategies do Tanzanian secondary EFL teachers use to adapt PBA practices in their classroom context?<\/p>\n RQ3:<\/strong> How do Tanzanian secondary EFL teachers perceive the effectiveness of PBA in promoting student speaking following their implementation experiences?<\/p>\n This study employed a generic qualitative design, an approach well-suited for an in-depth exploration of teachers\u2019 perceptions, experiences, and adaptive practices related to PBA (Merriam & Tisdell, 2016). Given that the research questions focus on understanding the nuanced challenges teachers face and the creative strategies they develop, a qualitative approach was deliberately chosen for its strength in capturing the rich, context-specific details of classroom realities. Grounded in a constructivist perspective, which assumes that meaning is socially constructed by individuals in interaction with their world, this design enabled us to document complex teacher narratives and diverse perspectives. Data were gathered through pre- and post-intervention surveys and semi-structured focus group discussions, which were subsequently analyzed thematically to identify patterns and key insights related to the research questions.<\/p>\n Participants were selected using a purposeful sampling strategy. The goal of this approach is not to generalize findings but to intentionally select \u201cinformation-rich\u201d participants who can provide deep insight into the phenomenon of study (Merriam & Tisdell, 2016). For this study, the selection criteria were as follows: participants had to be (a) experienced EFL teachers actively teaching in public secondary schools, (b) serving as Regional Coordinators for a national English language teachers’ association, and (c) have the necessary technological access for online participation.<\/p>\n Sixteen EFL teachers representing 15 different regions in mainland Tanzania met these criteria and participated in this study. Being Regional Coordinators was also considered valuable due to their potential role in disseminating pedagogical practices within their respective regions. While these coordinators often work in townships within typically rural or under-resourced regions, their roles ensured a minimum level of technological access, making their participation in the online components of this study feasible. Table 1 provides an overview of the demographic information for all participants.<\/p>\n The study received Institutional Review Board (IRB) approval from Michigan State University (IRB Log #: STUDY00007277). Furthermore, all participants were provided with detailed information about the study’s purpose and procedures, and they provided written informed consent before any data were collected.<\/p>\n The research was conducted in three distinct chronological phases: (1) a set of initial professional development workshops, (2) a classroom implementation period, and (3) a final collective reflection session. This multi-stage format was adopted due to practical considerations, primarily scheduling workshops after the teachers’ regular working hours.<\/p>\n Table 1.\u00a0Participant Demographic Information<\/strong><\/p>\n
\nMichigan State University, East Lansing, USA
\n<mutashob![\"atmark\"](\"http:\/\/www.tesl-ej.org\/atmark.png\")
msu.edu><\/p>\n
\nMichigan State University, East Lansing, USA
\n<vangorpkmsu.edu><\/p>\nAbstract<\/h3>\n
Literature Review<\/h3>\n
The Theoretical Promise: PBA as a Catalyst for Communicative Learning<\/h4>\n
The Implementation Divide: Promise vs. Reality in High- and Low-Resource Contexts<\/h4>\n
The \u201cBlind Spot\u201d: Centering Teacher Agency and Adaptation<\/h4>\n
Methodology<\/h3>\n
Research Design<\/h4>\n
Participants<\/h4>\n
Professional Development and Implementation Structure<\/h4>\n