Perceived need for a teacher education course on assessment literacy development: insights from EAP instructors

Abstract

Classroom assessment, as a crucial element of the teaching journey, plays a significant part in enhancing student achievement, student learning, and teacher instruction. As such, teachers should possess a good grasp of assessment literacy. This study aimed to explore the EAP teachers’ perceptions regarding the demand for in-service training in various areas of language assessment, in particular, examining how a language testing and assessment (LTA) teacher education course would impact the EAP instructors’ Language Assessment Literacy (LAL). In this qualitative study, pursuing a descriptive narrative design, 60 EAP instructors were selected through purposive sampling from those who have been working in state universities in Tehran. From these participants, 30 EAP teachers were asked to write narratives regarding their needs for training on LAL, and the other 30 participants were involved in an online semi-structured interview to determine how such a course could promote or inhibit their perceptions and practices of LA and LAL. Using MAXQDA to do content and thematic analysis, the research findings revealed that EAP instructors highly perceived a need for further training especially a practice-based one. In particular, the instructors thought of teacher education courses as contributing to their theoretical and practical knowledge of LAL. Hence, teacher education courses with a specific focus on LAL are highly required, changing EAP teachers’ perspectives on LTA, from being taught solely in theory to being taught practically in real classroom environments.