Assessment Literacy of Foreign Language Teachers: Findings of a European Study

Abstract

Training of pre- and in-service teachers constitutes one of the most important aspects in the quality assurance of language testing and assessment (LTA). For instance, foreign language (FL) teachers have to deal with standardised tests as well as their own classroom-based assessment procedures. This means they need the necessary expertise that can be provided by training measures. To gauge the current level of FL teachers in LTA literacy and identify their training needs in this area, data from seven European countries were collected in a mixed-methods study that used questionnaires (n = 853) and qualitative data from teacher interviews (n = 63) in selected countries across Europe. Despite the small differences across countries, the results show that only certain elements of teachers’ LTA expertise are developed. To compensate for insufficient training, teachers seem to learn about LTA on the job or use teaching materials for their assessment purposes. Teachers overall express a need to receive training across the range of LTA features identified in the study with varying priorities, depending on their local educational contexts.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

This article is dedicated to the memory of Pavlos Pavlou, who passed away before the publication of this article.

The following people have contributed their data to this article: Sehnaz Sahinkarakas, Qatip Afiri, Elizabeth Guerin, Ula Migdal, and Pavlos Pavlou.

Notes

¹ The methodology and findings of this study will be discussed in detail as they form the starting point that motivated the present study.