Language Assessment Literacy for Pre-service Teachers: Course Expectations from Different Stakeholders

Abstract

In the field of applied linguistics, for the past fifteen years, there have been discussions about language assessment literacy (LAL) —the knowledge, skills, and principles related to assessing language ability— (Davies, 2008; Fulcher, 2012). However, the field lacks research on the professional development of language teachers, particularly pre-service language teachers, through training in language assessment. Our paper focuses on the preliminary findings of an action research study whose goal is to identify the impact of a language assessment course for pre-service teachers in a language teaching program in a state university in Colombia. Data collection for the diagnostic stage of the action research cycle used a multiple-choice questionnaire for student needs and wants, an open questionnaire for professors, an interview with an expert, and researchers’ journals. Preliminary findings indicate that there is a need to combine theory and practice of language assessment, with an emphasis on current methodologies for language teaching, assessment in bilingual education, and local policies for assessment. The paper highlights recommendations and challenges when designing a language assessment course based on insights from existing literature and includes implications for professional development.

A Post-Positivist and Interpretive Approach to Researching Teachers’ Language Assessment Literacy

“…As Fulcher states, the fact that the respondents were self-selected may account for this result. This sentiment is also observed in the studies by Vogt and Tsagari (2014) and Yan, Fan, and Zhang (2017) with in-service teachers in Europe and China respectively; and Giraldo and Murcia (2018) with preservice teachers in Colombia. The results then beg the question of whether these teachers do indeed think all of the items they see in questionnaires are truly important for their lal.…”

“…On the one hand, teachers are expected to possess quite a wide array of knowledge, skills, and principles, as several authors have emphasized (Fulcher, 2012;Giraldo, 2018b;Inbar-Lourie, 2013a;Stabler-Havener, 2018). On the other hand, research has consistently shown that pre-and in-service language teachers need and want training across the board (Fulcher, 2012;Giraldo & Murcia, 2018;Vogt & Tsagari, 2014). Additionally, current studies have started to shed light on the complexity of lal in its sociocultural milieu, that is, language teachers' institutional contexts of assessment (Hill, 2017;Scarino, 2013;Sultana, 2019).…”

“…Data from these studies tap into the before (i.e., prior training in lal) and the now (their current needs). One expansion of the lal construct that emerged as unexpected in Giraldo and Murcia (2018) was to elicit information about local policies for general assessment. In these authors' study, the open-ended items in the survey made it clear that the different stakeholders who responded wanted to know about general policies for assessment in Colombia, or what is known as the "decreto 1290" (decree 1290) (Ministerio de Educación Nacional de Colombia, 2009).…”

“…A clear research gap concerns the lack of information as regards the education of pre-service teachers' lal, as Giraldo and Murcia (2018) pointed out. The authors invite teacher educators to share their experiences so other practitioners can benefit from the way lal is taught at the pre-service education level, where professional education in lal is expected (Herrera & Macías, 2015;López & Bernal, 2009).…”

Statistics for Classroom Language Assessment: Using Numbers Meaningfully

“…In ideal circumstances, when an assessment instrument is given to students, there should be no glitches: Sound systems should work properly, there are enough test copies for students, seating arrangements deter cheating, and there exist no background noises that can annoy students, among others. Even though teachers seem to discourage test administration as an important dimension of language assessment (see reports by Fulcher, 2012;Giraldo & Murcia, 2018;Vogt & Tsagari, 2014), administration is a key moment in the assessment enterprise.…”