Pages: 10

This chapter introduces the three sections of the edited volume by overviewing relevant published research. The chapter then also highlights possible gaps and states the central contribution from each of the volume chapters; the chapter then ends with guiding questions to help readers navigate the book.

Pages: 64

No chapter abstract available.

Pages: 18

This article discusses the creation of a set of online training materials for English language teachers in Vietnam focusing on classroom-based assessment practices. The sociocultural approach informed all stages of the project, from data gathering and topic selection to the format of the materials. Adopting a sociocultural approach facilitated the attention to the context which is a key strength of the project. Data were collected through focus group discussions and individual semi-structured interviews. Context-specific issues identified during data analysis include: the challenges of competence-based assessment, inequalities in English language provision, and the issues of large class size and heavy workloads. Participants' answers indicate the materials provide teachers with assessment knowledge, which is tailored to their institutional context, the Vietnamese context, and to their circumstances. This study of Vietnamese teachers' assessment practices and beliefs indicates that language assessment literacy is a socially constructed system which is both context-specific and context-dependent.

Pages: 23

Research shows that language teachers do not receive adequate assessment training. Although online video instruction offers a potential solution, it is uncertain to what extent teachers are able to recall, comprehend, apply, and share presentation content. Consequently, the purpose of this study was to explore the impact of embedding assessments throughout video instruction about innovative assessment approaches on teachers' abilities to recall, comprehend, apply, and share instructional content. To investigate the impact, 57 language teachers watched the presentation, answered embedded assessments, and completed a final task. Pearson product-moment correlation coefficients demonstrated statistically significant relationships between embedded assessments and the final task. Descriptive statistics and Many-facet Rasch measurement results indicated that assessment performance was modest; however, results also revealed that teachers performed best on the final task. Furthermore, a paired samples t-test showed a significant difference between the average mean scores of the background knowledge assessments and final task, and Cohen's d indicated a moderately large effect size. These results suggest embedded assessments may enhance teachers' ability to recall, comprehend, apply, and share instructional content. Therefore, to advance language assessment pedagogy, enriching professional development events by adding embedded assessments is recommended.

Pages: 21

While professional development (PD) initiatives for LAL have been established in language testing and assessment, the field is still grappling with LAL pedagogy for pre-service language teachers. This study investigates what PD initiatives are suitable for pre-service teachers' LAL development needs. To this end, a mixed-methods study was carried out with a pre-course questionnaire and a series of post-course questionnaires, document analysis of course artefacts, and focus group interviews. The results of the study help identify relevant factors of pedagogies, e.g. hands-on, authentic tasks to minimize a theory–practice gap or reflective activities that consider pre-service teachers' lack of experience.

Pages: 67

No chapter abstract available.

Pages: 25

Research in Colombia, Mexico, Israel, China, Chile, and the US has found that language assessment stakeholders do not have sufficient or adequate opportunities to improve their language assessment skills and knowledge. However, research has yet to identify how online assessment training can benefit stakeholders. This paper discusses the perceptions of two online language assessment training course instructors and two participants of this course regarding the nature of the course, and its usefulness to the improvement of their classroom language assessment. Data from semi-structured interviews revealed that the training triggered in course participants more self-reflections as well as an improvement in their creation/adaptation of assessment tools. Teachers and instructors agreed that more needs to be done to 1) contextualize the course, 2) efficiently manage textbooks, and 3) create a healthier environment among teachers and decision-makers. The paper ends by discussing these results and providing a description of its implications.

Pages: 16

This chapter discusses language assessment literacy development from the perspective of thought experiments. It argues that thought experiments can provide teachers and teacher educators with reflective tools to account for assessment issues in local settings and foster the development of communities of practice. The chapter provides an example of a thought experiment and discusses data on pre-service teachers' perceptions of thought experiments' contribution to their language assessment literacy during a delivery session. The chapter concludes that language assessment literacy can benefit from thought experiments' potential to support individual and collaborative reflection and promote professional development.

Pages: 24

Assessment literacy is recognized as an important, but costly, aspect of language teacher training. This chapter reports on a free-of-charge “Language Assessment in the Classroom” MOOC for language teachers and other key stakeholders. Using a mixed methods approach employing both corpus-based and qualitative analyses, we investigate the key assessment terms in educator and participant comments and analyse which types of educator interventions participants valued, measured by the number of “Likes” these received. We also analyse the issues discussed in end-of-week videos to gain insights into areas that participants found challenging. This data is triangulated with open-ended post-course questionnaire data to reveal areas participants found useful and wanted to implement in their classrooms. The findings suggest that educator comments requesting further information and encouraging interaction were most common. Still, the comments that attracted the most “Likes” were those which provided explanations or examples, or additional resources and references to support the contents. Course topics that participants found challenging were understanding key terms, differentiating between types of assessment, and assessing reading and speaking. The latter was a particular challenge due to limitations on time and resources. We discuss the implications for LAL courses and make recommendations for future practice.

Pages: 76

No chapter abstract available.

Pages: 21

Although Brazilian educational policies state that the goal of assessment is to promote learning, in many contexts its summative function prevails, meaning teachers tend to use only end-of-the-term tests to assess student achievement. This is mainly due to the lack of opportunities in teacher education programs for developing language assessment literacy (LAL). LAL entails the theoretical, practical, and ethical aspects required to conduct sound assessment. Therefore, this research study aimed to promote, by means of an online workshop, Brazilian English teacher educators' LAL, aiming at a positive impact on these educators' praxis. For this critical qualitative methodological framework, research tools were a questionnaire, learning artifacts, and transcribed workshop sessions. Results show that the community of practice and the promotion of theoretical aspects helped develop educators' LAL the most, which differs from research with pre- and in-service teachers, who tend to prefer practical tasks. The main implications of participants' LAL development were the broadening of theoretical and ethical aspects. Besides that, educators declared actions or desire to promote other stakeholders' LAL. We therefore advocate in favor of more collaborative and context-based LAL development with teacher educators, as this development might have a cascading effect on other stakeholders.

Pages: 14

This article reports the implementation of an online 45-hour language assessment course for teachers of English to young learners in Brazil. The participants were pre-service and in-service English language teachers without any training to teach young learners. Data from the participants' reflexive diaries were analysed with Atlas.ti (Version 9.0) software with categories based on guiding questions focused on course impact and classroom-based assessment. The findings suggested that the course exerted a positive impact on the participants' assessment knowledge which then contributed to their language assessment literacy. Four lessons emerged from this experience. First, teachers are eager to learn about assessment and develop professionally; second, teachers recognize the need to learn about how to assess young learners; third, language assessment knowledge seemed to impact teachers' classroom practice as soon as they started the course due to reflexive processes triggered by the diaries; four, it is important to make online courses available so that teachers who teach or would like to teach young learners and cannot attend face-to-face courses have access to assessment knowledge.

Pages: 20

Teachers' language assessment literacy (LAL) and its development through teacher education courses have been investigated in numerous studies. Despite profound insights provided by these studies, language teachers' literacy of critical language assessment (CLA) has received scant attention. To bridge this gap, this chapter provides evidence of the impact of a CLA-focused teacher education course held in 10 sessions of 90 minutes (a total of 15 hours) on English language teachers' CLA literacy. The chapter begins with a short introduction to LAL research, particularly studies that have explored the status of LAL in teacher education programs and the effect of interventions on enhancing teachers' LAL. The course sessions were allocated to both the conceptual and practical dimensions of CLA and manifestations of critical and social issues in LAL. Interviews were conducted to assess the teachers' CLA literacy before and after the course. Four themes showing the impact of the course emerged out of the thematic analysis of the interviews: 1) assessment objectives, scopes, and types; 2) assessment use consequences; 3) test fairness; and 4) micro- and macro-political and educational assessment policies. The findings have implications for the promotion of teachers' CLA literacy.

Pages: 8

In this reflection article, we explore the issue of social justice in general assessment and in language assessment, especially regarding teachers' assessment literacy. The chapter starts by defining social justice in general educational assessment and then discusses how this dimension has been addressed in descriptions of teachers' assessment literacy. The chapter then explores social justice in classroom language assessment and highlights the limited attention that social justice has received in courses and programs to advance teachers' language assessment literacy. We end the chapter with some ideas on how social justice can be addressed in teachers' LAL training.

Pages: 11

This conclusion chapter reiterates the evolving landscape of language assessment literacy (LAL) and highlights the critical need for pedagogically grounded approaches to its development. Upon reflection on the contributing chapters, we emphasize that the volume addresses gaps in current LAL research by focusing on practical, teacher-centered methodologies that integrate technology, professional development, and critical assessment perspectives. This conclusion will synthesize the key topics covered in the volume along with emerging recommended practices related to LAL development and training. By bridging theory and practice, this chapter also provides suggestions for future research and practice on fostering effective and sustainable LAL training programs that respond to the changing demands of language education.