Exploring Chinese university English teachers’ language assessment literacy: a mixed-method study

Abstract

ABSTRACT As the development of language assessment literacy (LAL) has grown to be a highly regarded and much-researched field of teacher professional education in recent decades, this study seeks to investigate the needs of in-service university English teachers for LAL development, teachers’ current level of LAL as well as factors that facilitate or impede teachers’ development of LAL. The primary aim of the study is to identify areas in which teachers require further knowledge and training in language assessment and to devise effective strategies for enhancing their language assessment competency. By running Principal Component Analysis, four dimensions were identified: assessment in language pedagogy; technical skills; language assessment for learning; and assessment principles and concepts. 871 in-service English university teachers participated in the survey. Descriptive analysis was employed to compare teachers’ assessment knowledge with their actual practice. Moreover, Chi-square test was used to examine the correlation between teacher backgrounds and their development of LAL. Results indicated that the disparities in LAL development needs between different teacher cohorts gradually diminished as teachers gained teaching experience. Teachers demonstrated their confidence in the understanding of LAL, but there was still a need to enhance their knowledge of assessment principles and concepts, as well as psychometric analysis of language assessment.