Toward measuring language teachers' assessment knowledge: development and validation of Language Assessment Knowledge Scale (LAKS (original) (raw)
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Teaching English Language Journal, 2021
Teachers need to keep up to date with a set of clear and common expectations and formidable challenges that arise in classroom assessment practices. Defining and conceptualizing of language assessment literacy have been the subject of much debate, especially with regard to detecting and defining the main components of language assessment literacy for language teachers (Levi literacy and define the main components of language assessment literacy based on the EFL teachers' perceptions. The proposed model consists of three elements, namely awareness of language pedagogy, assessment principles and interpretation, assessment policy and local practices. In the second stage of the present study, to ensure reliability and validity of the scale, 203 Iranian EFL teachers with the age range between 22 to 55 were asked to complete the newly-developed instrument. Finally, to measure the EFL teachers' language assessment literacy, 41 five-point Likert-scale items were developed. Based on all validation and statistical procedures, the newly-developed scale can be considered a valuable tool for measuring high school EFL teachers' language assessment literacy.
EFL teachers’ perceptions and practices of their language assessment knowledge
Language Testing in Asia
Research on language assessment knowledge (LAK) of teachers has focused on two major topics: identifying the LAK needs of teachers and developing appropriate LAK tests. Although the prior research findings significantly contributed to our understanding of the parameters of LAK, they were mostly quantitative and did not provide much information about EFL teachers’ perceptions and applications of their LAK in a direct and face-to-face situation. Therefore, this qualitative study was designed to shed light on some key issues related to teachers’ LAK using semi-structured interviews. The issues included EFL teachers’ perception of their LAK and their utilization of LAK in their teaching. The participants were 11 teachers with a high level of LAK and 10 teachers with a low level of LAK determined by their performance on a LAK test. The interviews were recorded, transcribed, and content analyzed. The findings did not reveal significant differences in the responses provided by the two grou...
The purpose of this study is to provide an overall picture regarding general and skill-based Language Assessment Knowledge (LAK) level of English teachers working in Turkish higher education context by using Language Assessment Knowledge Scale (LAKS) developed by Ölmezer-Öztürk and Aydın (2018). The scale including 60 items with four constructs was completed by 542 EFL teachers working at schools of foreign languages. The statistical findings revealed that in terms of LAK level of the teachers, the participants got, on average, 25 out of 60. The results of one sample t-test revealed that the score the teachers got from the scale was significantly lower than half of the total score. It was also found that the teachers were the most knowledgeable in assessing reading whereas they had the lowest score in assessing listening. Besides, except for being a testing office member, no significant impact of demographic features was found on LAK level of the participants. Finally, the present study offers several suggestions both for future studies and for policy makers to improve EFL teachers’ language assessment literacy on assessing each skill.
Developing a Language Assessment Knowledge Test for EFL Teachers: A Data-driven Approach
IJLTR, 2018
Language assessment knowledge (LAK) is essential for EFL teachers in developing sound assessments and making informed decisions about the progress and achievement of students. It is also essential to have sound measures of teachers' LAK to help them improve their professional accomplishments. To address the issue, this study was designed in multiple stages to develop a test to measure EFL teachers' LAK. First, EFL teachers' needs were identified using an already validated questionnaire (Farhady & Tavassoli, forthcoming). Second, the topics identified through needs analysis were crosschecked with the topics in the assessment textbooks to assure appropriate content coverage. Third, based on the data obtained from needs assessment of 246 EFL teachers and the content of popular language assessment textbooks, a scenario-based LAK test with closed-item formats was developed in six parts, each focusing on one major area of language assessment. Fourth, after having the test reviewed by experts, it was revised and piloted with 50 EFL teachers, necessary revisions were made based on the results of piloting, and the test was finalized and administered to 164 EFL teachers. The data analysis revealed that contrary to teachers' claims in needs assessment, the majority of them had low levels of LAK and they showed willingness to improve their LAK. Further, possible relationships between teachers' LAK and their gender, field of study, educational level, teaching context, and teaching experience were investigated. The findings are presented and implications and applications of the study are explained.
Iranian EFL Teachers' Language Assessment Literacy (LAL) under an Assessing Lens
Applied Research on English Language, 2018
Despite being trained in pre-service teacher education programs, most EFL teachers are underprepared when faced with language assessment-related activities. Part of the problem emanates from the fact that Language Assessment Literacy (LAL) as a construct has not been well defined by experts. The purpose of this study was to pinpoint the components of LAL in the Iranian EFL context using an adapted version of Fulchers' (2012) LAL survey with two types of constructed and closed response items. The participants were 280 English language teachers from seventeen different provinces in Iran. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses and cross validation were used to define LAL as a construct. Furthermore, qualitative data analysis procedures were employed to analyze the data obtained from constructed response items. The results indicate that LAL in the Iranian context is comprised of four factors, namely: test design and development, large-scale standardized testing and classroom assessment, beyond-the-test aspects (which mainly includes social and ethical aspects of language testing/assessment), and reliability and validity. Furthermore, the results show that the EFL teachers in this study believe that besides the theoretical issues of assessment, they should also receive hands-on skills-based instruction in language assessment. These results can have direct implications for future teacher education programs with the aim of enhancing EFL teachers' LAL.
Voices Of EFL Teachers as Assessors: Their Opinions and Needs Regarding Language Assessment
Journal of Qualitative Research in Education - JOQRE , 2019
Employing a qualitative research design, this study aims to investigate the opinions of EFL teachers regarding their language assessment knowledge and identify their general and skill-based needs in this domain. The participants included 11 EFL teachers who were determined through purposeful sampling and working at different universities in Turkish higher education setting. The data collection process included the participants’ responses to seven open-ended questions that focused on their evaluations regarding the findings of a larger study investigating the language assessment knowledge of EFL teachers in Turkey and asked their needs in language testing and assessment. The data were analysed based on the qualitative content analysis by code-labelling and identifying the emerging themes. The findings indicated the insufficiency of trainings in both pre-service and in-service teacher education as the major reason of the low level in language assessment knowledge of EFL teachers. The teachers preferred hands-on trainings given by testing practitioners, and designed to improve them in assessing each skill separately. In the light of these findings, the study offers several suggestions for pre-service and in-service teacher education programs on language testing and assessment.
EFL Teachers’ Assessment Literacy: A Contextualized Measure of Assessment Theories and Skills
Language Teaching Research Quarterly
Teachers from different sectors of education have always been involved in the process of assessing learners’ academic performance. In the language teaching discipline, this has highlighted the significance of language assessment literacy (LAL), reflecting its significance to language teachers across various settings. In the wake of recent theoretical bourgeoning, development of a contextualized framework that proves helpful in conceptualization and measurement of English as a foreign language (EFL) teachers’ LAL is required. To this aim, the present study gained insights from Fulcher’s (2012) LAL framework into validation and examination of a LAL scale that could be considered for its applicability and usefulness as a LAL measure and help EFL teachers self-evaluate their LAL levels (in particular, their LAL theoretical and practical components). For this purpose, a mixed-methods approach was used to synthesize interview data from six national and international experts with questionn...
Profile: Issues in Teachers' Professional Development, 2022
This study sought to develop and validate a classroom-based language assessment literacy scale to measure teachers’ perceived classroom-based assessment knowledge and practice. Exploratory factor analysis revealed that the scale items clustered around four factors: (a) purposes of assessment and grading, (b) assessment ethics, (c) student involvement in assessment, and (d) feedback and assessment interpretation. Moreover, the scale was administered to 348 Iranian English as a foreign language teachers. The findings showed that the majority reported to be literate in classroom-based language assessment and agreed to the allocation of more space to classroom-based language assessment in teacher education courses. The findings suggest that the newly-developed scale can serve as a valid and reliable tool to explore language teachers’ classroom-based assessment literacy.
Proceedings of the Third International Conference on Sustainable Innovation 2019 – Humanity, Education and Social Sciences (IcoSIHESS 2019), 2019
Language Assessment Literacy (LAL) refers to language teachers' knowledge, skills and principles on language assessment and evaluation. This paper has investigated the LAL of teachers in a higher education context in Indonesia. The three components of language assessments were the focus of the inquiry in this study. To conduct the research and collect the required data, a self-rated survey LAL and semi-structured interviews were employed. The survey questionnaire was distributed to 30 (N=30) language teachers, while the interview was carried out to five participants. The findings showed that teachers' LAL level was in fair category, meaning that they had sound understanding on knowledge, skills, and principles on language assessments. The study also revealed that the teachers' understanding on and awareness of language assessment principles were the highest compared to their understanding on knowledge and skills on language assessments.
Developing Items to Measure the Assessment Literacy of ESL Teachers
Journal of Higher Education Theory and Practice
This study aims to develop a reliable instrument measuring the assessment literacy of ESL teachers through Exploratory Factor Analysis based on five constructs. A survey was administered to 200 secondary school ESL teachers. The study revealed that only 78 items with a cut-off point of above .60 from the factor loading are retained. Cronbach’s Alpha showed that the items retained are reliable. This study developed and validated an instrument to measure ESL teachers’ assessment literacy in the Malaysian context. An assessment literacy framework can be developed based on this research which will benefit the education field in Malaysia.