A Study Of College English Teachers’ Stated Language Assessment Literacy And Practices

A critical understanding and enactment of assessment is one of the most essential aspects of the job of a classroom teacher.In order to use assessment effectively to evaluate and improve student learning,there are growing interest in examining teachers’ mastery and application of language assessment literacy(LAL).Since in 2008 the journal Language Testing has systematically reviewed the development of assessment literacy in the field of language testing and assessment,in recent years,language assessment literacy has already become the hotspot in the language testing research.Against this backdrop,in China many researchers made literature reviews of foreign studies,appealing for imperative study and improvement of English teachers’ language assessment literacy.However,a few empirical study has been made to explore language assessment literacy levels of Chinese college English teachers.The present study aimed at researching into language assessment literacy of college English teachers,whether teaching experience,teaching English majors or non-English majors have any effect on their levels of LAL and to what extent teachers’ LAL is reflected in their practices.To achieve this goal,this study is a mixed-methods study consisting of quantitative and qualitative approaches during three phases,trying to make comprehensive argument through triangulation of multiple sources of empirical evidences.In the first phase,the data was collected by a questionnaire survey of 126 college English teachers in Jiangxi.As for the second phase the study used the classroom observation method in five college English teachers’ classroom teaching.In the third phase,these 5 college English teachers were conducted semi-structured interviews after lessons in order to clearly answer questions of specific teaching and assessing situations.It was found that college English teachers in Jiangxi province had limited level of LAL.And teaching experience and student types had no significant effect on their LAL levels.From classroom observation,it was found that college English teachers did organize formative assessment and tried their best to timely give students feedback.However due to poor understandings and acknowledgement of language assessment,assessment methods are limited and the quality of assessment cannot be ensure.And the follow-up interviews revealed possible reasons of their performances.This study suggests that college English teachers should get access to substantial support and guidance to improve knowledge and skills of language assessment,and integrate them into practice.In order to develop in-service teachers’ LAL,the teaching of assessment knowledge and skills should be contextualized with the consideration of teachers’ individualized needs.Also,with the more learner-centered approach,in-service training should provide more “hand-on” experience of those assessment knowledge and skills.