Enhancing Language Assessment Skills among Faculty Members in Saudi EFL Context

Mohammed Nazim,Abduljalil Hazaea

doi:10.17323/jle.2020.10124

Abstract

In Saudi higher education, assessment has shifted to incorporate intended learning outcomes rather than merely textbook content. Subsequently, faculty members unwillingly participate in high-stakes competitive and harmonized assessment in English as a Foreign Language (EFL) courses during the preparatory year (PY). These challenges emphasize the importance of need-based training for faculty members. Accordingly, this context-specific study scrutinized faculty members’ needs as well as the impact of a training program on engaging the participants and on fostering language assessment skills (LASs) among them. In so doing, an action research design used pre- and post-questionnaires and included a training portfolio to collect data from 31 faculty members. The study first identified those needs as instructional skills, design skills, and educational measurement skills. In the context of professional development, the researchers designed a training program based on those reported needs. During training, the participants expressed their satisfaction with the language assessment. After the training, the participants greatly improved their LASs. The paired tests indicated that the faculty members increased their instructional skills, design skills, and skills of educational measurement. Further research is recommended for enhancing LASs among EFL students.

Highlights

In Saudi higher education, assessment has shifted to be based on intended learning outcomes rather than only on textbook content
Employing an action research design, this study addresses these three research questions: 1. What is the average level of language assessment skills (LASs) knowledge among faculty members in a preparatory year (PY) English as a Foreign Language (EFL) context? 2
These participants were curious about some of the assessment terms. When they were asked about ‘language assessment literacy’, it was observed that there were no responses, which indicates that the term seemed to be new to them

Summary

Introduction

In Saudi higher education, assessment has shifted to be based on intended learning outcomes rather than only on textbook content. In a Saudi university preparatory year (PY), the context of the present study, English as a Foreign Language (EFL) assessment has become harmonized, responsibility is shared, and it is based on learning outcomes. These shifts have led to several reasons for fostering language assessment among faculty members. The authors experienced poor representations of learning outcome-based assessment in the submitted exam proposals of many test writers For these reasons, the researchers are interested in conducting a training program for faculty members teaching courses in a Saudi university PY program

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Discussion

Conclusion