ABSTRACT
The Malaysian government has over the decades devised various assessment policies in its attempt to promote a learning culture and to mitigate the status quo testing culture in schools. This chapter zooms in on the recent English language assessment reform at the lower-secondary level in Malaysia. It also discusses a potential obstacle in the form of “perspective crises” that may debilitate the possible benefits of learning-oriented assessment like school-based assessment, which amalgamates both the formative and summative approaches. A representative group of stakeholders were interviewed for their insights. The findings of this study reported a combination of both positive and negative washback in relation to teaching content, teaching methods, and assessment activities.
