Language Assessment Literacy: Insights for Educating English Language Teachers through Assessment

Abstract

At some point, language teachers need to be engaged in language assessment in their profession. Because language assessment is such a primary task for teachers, the field of language testing is encouraging research around the knowledge, skills, and principles that are foundational for sound assessment. In this paper, I provide a definition of Language Assessment Literacy (LAL), especially when it comes to teachers, by reviewing existing models. I then discuss ongoing issues in this area and end the paper by offering language teacher educators suggestions for fostering LAL among pre- and in-service teachers. In the article, I argue that, if more LAL initiatives take place, we are collectively raising the status and nature of language assessment and its impact on teachers’ professional development.

Language assessment literacy of teachers in an English medium of instruction university: Implications for ELT training in Pakistan

“…Echoing these findings, Wiliam and Thompson (2007) emphasised that effective teacher training is related to the teaching context, and happens in sustainable and extensive courses, rather than in one-day workshops. The long-term impacts of short-term teacher training programs have been questioned by researchers such as Giraldo (2021). Furthermore, the training should actively involve teachers as participants, not just as an audience.…”

“…Teachers' prior language learning experiences as students, together with their experiences as teachers, influence their literacy, principles and philosophies, as well as their decisions about what to do in the classroom and how to do it (Crusan et al, 2016). LAL is being refined as a construct that explores what language teachers want and need to know about CBLA to develop their assessment literacy (e.g., Giraldo, 2021;Levi & Inbar-Lourie, 2020;Tsagari, 2020). A working definition for LAL involves the knowledge of language and language methodologies; skills for designing, using, and interpreting tests or assessment tasks; and principles of ethical use of assessment information, such as fairness in assessing language abilities.…”

Situation actuelle de l'évaluation de l'anglais comme langue étrangère en Colombie

“…This teacher cognition, as referred to by Borg (2003), explains a literacy that supports and guides teachers' practices and influences their beliefs, which in turn affect their practices. This language assessment literacy refers to the different levels of knowledge that stakeholders in a language acquisition process have about the principles, instrument design, application, and other features of testing and assessment (Giraldo, 2021). As teachers are exposed to more spaces to learn and discuss about assessment, they see the complexity and the rigor needed for a successful application of language assessment processes (Giraldo et al, 2023).…”

English Teachers' Perceptions of a Language Assessment Literacy Course

“…As we stated earlier, as a construct, LAL is composed of knowledge, skills, and principles. In Table 1 below, we synthesize discussions on each one of these components of LAL, based on the work of various scholars (Davies, 2008;Fulcher, 2012;Giraldo, 2021b;Herrera & Macías, 2015;Inbar-Lourie, 2008;Stabler-Havener, 2018;Taylor, 2013). We must indicate, however, that LAL is a rather recent discussion in language testing.…”