Are English Language Teachers Assessment Literate?

Abstract

The study was conducted to bring the language assessment literacy (LAL) of English language teaching (ELT) teachers into focus. It also attempted to investigate how the pre-service education background of ELT teachers, and the departments they graduated from, affected their assessment literacy. The data were obtained from 180 ELT teachers using a mixed-methods research design through a questionnaire and follow-up interviews. The results indicated that the ELT teachers’ LAL was low, but they did not feel any serious need for assessment training. It was also found that the ELT teachers had different academic backgrounds in assessment. As ELT graduates received training in assessment, the graduates of other departments working as English teachers didn’t. Thus, it was observed that pre-service education background has a significant effect on teachers’ assessment literacy.

Keywords

• Language assessment literacy
• English teachers
• English teaching
• Teacher training
• Assessment.

İngilizce Öğretmenleri Yabancı Dilde Ölçme ve Değerlendirmede Okuryazarlar mı?

Abstract

Bu araştırma, İngilizce öğretmenlerinin yabancı dilde ölçme ve değerlendirme okuryazarlığına odaklanmaktadır. Aynı zamanda İngilizce öğretmenlerinin mezun oldukları bölümlerin ölçme ve değerlendirme okuryazarlığını nasıl etkilediği de araştırılmıştır. Veriler 180 İngilizce öğretmeniyle yürütülen anket ve bu anketin içeriğine yönelik müteakip görüşmeler yoluyla karma metot araştırma yöntemi kullanılarak elde edilmiştir. Sonuçlara göre, İngilizce öğretmenlerinin dil ölçme ve değerlendirme seviyelerinin düşük olduğu, ancak ölçme ve değerlendirme ihtiyacı duymadıkları tespit edilmiştir. Ayrıca İngilizce öğretmenlerinin farklı akademik ölçme ve değerlendirme geçmişleri olduğu görülmüştür. İngilizce öğretmenliği bölümü mezunu İngilizce öğretmenleri ölçme ve değerlendirmeye yönelik eğitim almışken, diğer bölümlerden mezun olan İngilizce öğretmenlerin bu eğitimi almadıkları tespit edilmiştir. Böylece, mezun olunan programın öğretmenlerin yabancı dilde ölçme ve değerlendirme okuryazarlığı üzerinde büyük bir etkisi olduğu görülmüştür.

Keywords

• Yabancı dilde ölçme okuryazarlığı
• İngilizce öğretmenleri
• İngilizce öğretimi
• İngilizce öğretmen eğitimi
• Yabancı dilde ölçme ve değerlendirme

References

1. Alderson, J. C., Brunfaut, T., & Harding, L. (2017). Bridging assessment and learning: A view from second and foreign language assessment. Assessment in Education: Principles, Policy & Practice, 24(3), 379-387.
2. Bailey, K. M., & Brown, J. D. (1996). Language testing courses: What are they? In Cumming A & Berwick R (Eds.), Validation in language testing. Clevedon, UK: Multilingual Matters, pp. 236–256.
3. Brown, J. D., & Bailey, K. M. (2008). Language testing courses: What are they in 2007? Language Testing, 25(3), 349-383.
4. Brunfaut, T. (2014). A lifetime of language testing: An interview with J. Charles Alderson. Language Assessment Quarterly, 11(1), 103-119.
5. Coombe, C., Vafadar, H., & Mohebbi, H. (2020). Language assessment literacy: what do we need to learn, unlearn, and relearn?. Language Testing in Asia, 10(1), 1-16.
6. Davies, A. (2008). Textbook trends in teaching language testing. Language Testing, 25(3), 327–347.
7. Fulcher, G. (2012). Assessment literacy for the language classroom. Language Assessment Quarterly, 9(2), 113-132.
8. Gan, L., & Lam, R. (2020). Understanding university English instructors’ assessment training needs in the Chinese context. Language Testing in Asia, 10(1), 1-18.

9. Hasselgreen, A., Carlsen, C., & Helness, H., (2004). European survey of language testing and assessment needs. Part one: General findings. Available at: http://www.ealta.eu.org/resources.htm
10. Hill, K. (2017). Understanding classroom-based assessment practices: a precondition for teacher assessment literacy. Papers in Language Testing and Assessment, 6(1), 1-17.
11. Hill, K., & McNamara, T. (2011). Developing a comprehensive, empirically based research framework for classroom-based assessment. Language Testing, 29(3), 395–420.
12. Inbar-Lourie, O. (2017). Language assessment literacies and the language testing communities: A mid-life identity crisis? In: 39th Language Testing Research Colloquium, Universidad de los Andes, Bogotá, Colombia.
13. Isik, A., & Isik, B. (2020). Where Do the Problems in the Turkish Foreign Language Education Stem From? International Journal of Languages’ Education and Teaching, 8(1), 1-19.
14. Jiang, J. (2017). Language assessment: Critical issues—an interview with Antony John Kunnan. Language Assessment Quarterly, 14(1), 75-88.
15. Jin, Y. (2010). The place of language testing and assessment in the professional preparation of foreign language teachers in China. Language Testing, 27(4), 555–584.
16. Kremmel, B., & Harding, L. (2020). Towards a comprehensive, empirical model of language assessment literacy across stakeholder groups: Developing the Language Assessment Literacy Survey. Language Assessment Quarterly, 17(1), 100-120.
17. Lam, R. (2015). Language assessment training in Hong Kong: Implications for language assessment literacy. Language Testing, 32(2), 169-197.
18. Leung, C. (2009). Developing formative teacher assessment: Knowledge, practice, and change. Language Assessment Quarterly, 1, 19–41.
19. Levi, T., & Inbar-Lourie, O. (2020). Assessment literacy or language assessment literacy: Learning from the teachers. Language Assessment Quarterly, 17(2), 168-182.
20. McNamara, T. (2014). 30 years on—evolution or revolution? Language Assessment Quarterly, 11(2), 226-232.
21. Malone, M. E. (2013). The essentials of assessment literacy: Contrasts between testers and users. Language Testing, 30(3), 329-344.
22. Mede, E., & Atay, D. (2017). English language teachers’ assessment literacy: The Turkish context. Dil Dergisi, 168(1), 43-60.
23. Menken, K., Hudson, T., & Leung, C. (2014). Symposium: Language assessment in standards-based education reform. TESOL Quarterly, 48(3), 586-614.
24. Olmezer-Ozturk, E., & Aydın, B. (2018). Toward measuring language teachers’ assessment knowledge: development and validation of Language Assessment Knowledge Scale (LAKS). Language Testing in Asia, 8(1), 20.
25. Purpura, J. E. (2016). Second and foreign language assessment. The Modern Language Journal, 100(S1), 191-208.
26. Rea–Dickins, P. (2004). Understanding teachers as agents of assessment. Language Testing, 21, 249– 258.
27. Scarino, A. (2013). Language assessment literacy as self-awareness: Understanding the role of interpretation in assessment and in teacher learning. Language Testing, 30(3), 309-327.
28. Shohamy, E., Inbar-Lourie, O., & Poehner, M. (2008). Investigating assessment perceptions and practices in the advanced foreign language classroom. Report no. 1108.
29. Taylor, L. (2009). Developing assessment literacy. Annual Review of Applied Linguistics, 29, 21–36.
30. Tsagari, D. (Ed.) (2016). Classroom-based assessment in L2 contexts. Cambridge Scholars Publishing.
31. Tsagari, D. (Ed.) (2020). Language assessment literacy: From theory to practice. Newcastle, UK: Cambridge Scholars Publishing.
32. Tsagari, D., & Vogt, K. (2017). Assessment literacy of foreign language teachers around Europe: Research, challenges and future prospects. Papers in Language Testing and Assessment, 6(1), 18-40.
33. Vogt, K., & Tsagari, D. (2014). Assessment literacy of foreign language teachers: Findings of a European study. Language Assessment Quarterly, 11(4), 374-402.
34. Vogt, K., Tsagari, D., & Csépes, I. (2020). Linking learners’ perspectives on language assessment practices to teachers’ assessment literacy enhancement (TALE): Insights from four European countries. Language Assessment Quarterly, 17(4), 410-433.
35. Vogt, K., Tsagari, D., & Spanoudis, G. (2020). What do teachers think they want? A comparative study of in-service language teachers’ beliefs on LAL training needs. Language Assessment Quarterly, 17(4), 386-409.
36. Wall, D., & Taylor, C. (2014). Communicative Language Testing (CLT): Reflections on the “Issues Revisited” from the perspective of an examinations board. Language Assessment Quarterly, 11(2), 170-185.
37. Xu, Y., & Liu, Y. (2009). Teacher assessment knowledge and practice: A narrative inquiry of a Chinese college EFL teacher's experience. TESOL Quarterly, 43(3), 493-513.