A Qualitative Study of Language Assessment Literacy of Iranian EFL Teachers with TEFL and Non-TEFL Background and Challenges in Their Students’ Assessment

Subject Areas : All areas of language and translation

kaveh Jalilzadeh ¹ , Sayyed Mohammad Alavi ² , Masood Siyyari ³

1 - English Department, Science and Research Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran
2 - Professor, English Department, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran
3 - English Department, Science and Research Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran

Received: 2022-02-05 Accepted : 2022-04-28 Published : 2023-11-01

Keywords: Assessment Literacy, Components of Assessment Literacy, Novice and Experienced Teachers, TEFL/Non-TEFL Background,

Abstract :

The present study was an attempt to investigate language assessment literacy among EFL teachers inthe Iranian context aiming at studying the implications of assessment literacy for TEFL teacher educationreform. For this purpose, 20 EFL teachers in Iranian language institutes (Bayan, Azmoon, Zaban Sara,and Marefat institutes) were randomly picked for an extensive semi-structured examination. All themeetings were categorized and transcribed and after being analyzed, they were recorded on a DigitalVoice Recorder (DVR). The results revealed that Iranian instructors were found well-acquainted withassessment literacy components. Likewise, it turned out that novice teachers with a TEFL backgroundwere more aware of assessment literacy and its significance in teacher education. However, in termsof other assessment components such as test administration, selecting the best assessment methods,and communicating assessment results experienced teachers with a TEFL background presented moreto-the-point concepts compared to their counterparts in the non-TEFL group, indicating that theteachers with a TEFL background could perceive the aforementioned teacher assessment literacycomponents better than their non-TEFL counterpart. The findings imply that EFL language instituteinstructors` literacy in educational assessment particularly in especially in communicating assessmentresults to others and valid grading of the learners’ assessment is found insufficient.

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