Tracing Policy in Practice. Exploring the Interactional Exercise of Oral Assessment

Abstract By empirically zooming in on oracy as an area of educational reforms, this chapter illuminates how a new oral assessment phenomenon that has been observed practice meets, overlaps, and, more recently, challenges policy the Norwegian context. Conducted three lower secondary schools, study draws audio-recorded materials capturing authentic teacher–student dialogues group subject talk tests. exploring practices, analyzes (1) which aspects competence students are made accountable for and (2) introduction learning outcomes one five core skills can challenge interactional exercise practice. The results illustrate evaluation practices through organization social groups go beyond assessing terms criteria or scales. situation becomes setting where teachers share professional judgments approve specific initiatives students. In nexus talks recent skill, become competent contributors retrospective evaluations their own performance, making themselves group’s community, subject-specific knowledge, norms rules reasoning talks. findings raise several questions about we understand actors coconstructors when certain seem to be front uptake nexuses conflict, overlap, meet.