What is Enacted Curriculum

The chapter compares the assessment paradigms of summative and formative assessments of English for academic purposes literacies (EAPL) as experienced by teacher candidates in a national pedagogical institute in the Middle East region. EAPL assessments are mapped at different distances utilizing Bronfenbrenner's bioecological model to describe the assessment continuum, which ranges from microsystem to macrosystem, and is defined by the distance from the enacted curriculum. Proximal processes of EAPL formative assessments taking place in the microsystem are ecologically sound in socializing students in their academic discipline. The persistent interactions in the classroom assessment environment enhance the gradual development of academic literacies over time. Teacher candidates encounter tensions that arise between formative and summative assessment paradigms. First, in their teacher training, and second, in their teaching. Similar research findings from other educational contexts have been reported about the tensions between the two types of assessment.