Tertiary EFL Practitioners' Beliefs, Knowledge base and Practices of Assessment Literacy and Test Development - An Exploratory Study

Abstract

Assessment serves as the backbone of any educational system; however, without the services of appropriately trained assessment literate educators, no educational system can achieve the goals of equipping students with lifelong learning skills necessary to meet the challenges of the modern era. Taking into consideration the importance of teacher assessment literacy, this study pursued the goal of further knowledge and understanding regarding the concept of teacher assessment literacy from various perspectives in the context of Saudi Arabia through exploring tertiary EFL practitioners’ assessment knowledge base, beliefs and practices. Based on sociocultural theory as theoretical background and informed by pragmatism philosophical underpinnings, this mixed method study comprised two phases following explanatory sequential research design. Data were collected and analyzed employing both quantitative and qualitative methods. The findings of the study indicated gaps and somewhat complexity of interconnection among the different aspects of tertiary EFL practitioners’ assessment literacy, i.e., their assessment-related knowledge base, beliefs and practices. For instance, the findings revealed that tertiary EFL teachers’ current assessment knowledge base was very limited and not consistent with the contemporary trends and approaches to educational assessment in terms of their preparation and readiness for the continuously mounting challenges posed by classroom-based assessments. Moreover, the findings revealed diversity, complexity and somewhat uncertainty in terms of their beliefs and personal theories related to the various aspects of assessment and testing. Another significant finding of the study was the complexity of relationship between tertiary EFL teachers’ beliefs and practices because of certain conflicts, incongruities and discrepancies between the two variables, i.e., their assessment-related beliefs and practices. The findings also highlighted that it is not only the teachers’ beliefs conflicting with their knowledge base that influence their assessment-related decision-making, it is the specific contextual and institutional dynamics also that inform their assessment practices. The findings of the study indicating gaps and inadequacies in various aspects of tertiary EFL practitioners’ assessment literacy have strong implications for teacher development in the area of assessment and testing at the level of policy, practice and professional development programs.