AN INVESTIGATION INTO THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN TEACHERS’ PERCEPTIONS OF TEST BIAS AND THEIR WORKING AND TRAINING BACKGROUND

Abstract

This paper aims to explore the relationship between how language teachers perceive test bias and where they are working, how long they have been working, and where they were professionally trained. The data were collected from 19 in-service English teachers from Eastern and Western settings. They completed a questionnaire in which they were asked to respond to test bias stimuli and answer questions related to their teaching background and training. The stimuli contained either of two forms of bias, unfair penalization and offensiveness. Qualitative and quantitative analysis showed teachers were not fully informed of possible forms of test bias and possible ways potential biases unfairly penalize or offend students. They were better able to recognize biases of unfair penalization than offensiveness. Statistical analyses revealed teachers with over 10 years of experience were better able to recognize potential test bias than those with less experience (at 90% confidence level). The findings contribute to the current limited literature on bias in classroom language testing and assessment, leading to implications for bias review in teacher-developed assessments and teacher training.