Assessment Literacy for the Language Classroom

Abstract

Language testing has seen unprecedented expansion during the first part of the 21st century. As a result there is an increasing need for the language testing profession to consider more precisely what it means by “assessment literacy” and to articulate its role in the creation of new pedagogic materials and programs in language testing and assessment to meet the changing needs of teachers and other stakeholders for a new age. This article describes a research project in which a survey instrument was developed, piloted, and delivered on the Internet to elicit the assessment training needs of language teachers. The results were used to inform the design of new teaching materials and the further development of online resources that could be used to support program delivery. The project makes two significant contributions. First, it provides new empirically derived content for the concept of assessment literacy within which to frame materials development and teaching. Second, it uncovered methodological problems with existing survey techniques that may have impacted upon earlier studies, and solutions to these problems are suggested.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The research reported in this article was funded by a Leverhulme Research Fellowship (http://www.leverhulme.ac.uk/). I am also grateful to the anonymous reviewers for their generosity in providing stimulating constructive feedback that has greatly improved this article.