Language Assessment Literacy: Task Analysis in Saudi Universities

Abstract

Language assessment literacy is defined as the ‘language instructor’s familiarity with testing definitions and the application of this knowledge to classroom practices in general and specifically to issues related to assessing language’. Recent times have witnessed a phenomenal increase in the role of teachers in language testing and assessment. They are involved in assessing students and evaluating assessment data to improve student learning and their own instructional strategies (Malone, 2013). This highlights the significance of teachers’ assessment literacy in influencing how they construct and implement high-quality assessment instruments that adequately assess students’ specified learning outcomes (e.g. Stiggins, 2002). In Saudi Arabia, research indicates major gaps in EFL teachers’ assessment literacy and therefore this study investigates Saudi EFL teachers’ development of assessment tasks and the extent that these tasks are aligned with student learning outcomes. The study examines the gaps in teachers’ knowledge of assessment practices in classrooms and any incongruity between the tasks and learning outcomes. Suggestions are made for how teachers’ language assessment literacy can be improved through future professional development courses.