Teachers' Conceptions of Language Assessment: Theoretical Knowledge and Attitudinal Dimensions of Language Assessment Literacy Model

Mohammadkhah, Ebrahim; Kiany, Gholam Reza; Tajeddin, Seyed Zia; ShayesteFar, Parvaneh

doi:10.22034/ijlt.2022.146986

Teachers' Conceptions of Language Assessment: Theoretical Knowledge and Attitudinal Dimensions of Language Assessment Literacy Model

Document Type : Original Research Article

Authors

Ebrahim Mohammadkhah ¹

Gholam Reza Kiany ²

Seyed Zia Tajeddin ¹

Parvaneh ShayesteFar ³

¹ English Department, Faculty of Humanities, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, Iran

² English Department, Faculty of Humanities, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, Iran.

³ English Department, Farhangian Teacher Education University, Tehran, Iran.

10.22034/ijlt.2022.146986

Abstract

The contemporary era of learning-oriented assessment demands for teacher professional efforts to appropriately and accurately assess learners' attainment and use the assessment results for the enhancement of learning. In second/foreign language (L2) teaching discipline, this has recently brought language assessment literacy (LAL) to the forefront, with an increasing emphasis on teachers' professionalism of this concept. Given this, L2 teachers' mastery of practical and technical skills, as prescribed by the exiting LAL models, could not be entirely complete nor enhanced without their conceptions of assessment and beliefs system. To illuminate these dimensions, the present study aimed to develop and validate a LAL scale which could have relevance to L2 localized contexts. Exploratory and confirmatory analyses of data from a sample of L2 teachers (N=213) provided empirical evidence supporting the utility and validity of the scale. The paper concludes with the importance of teachers' conceptions of LAL and implications of the findings.

Keywords

Teacher Professionalism, Teacher Knowledge

Language Assessment Literacy

Attitudinal and Beliefs Dimensions