But who trains the language teacher educator who trains the language teacher? An empirical investigation of Chilean EFL teacher educators’ language assessment literacy

Abstract

Research has shown that language teachers typically feel underprepared for assessment aspects of their job. One reason may relate to how teacher education programmes prepare future teachers in this area. Research insights into how and to what extent teacher educators train future language teachers in language assessment matters are scarce, however, as are insights into the language assessment literacy (LAL) of the teacher educators themselves. Additionally, while increasingly research insights are available on components that constitute LAL, how such components interrelate is largely unexplored. To help address these research gaps, we investigated the LAL of English as a Foreign Language teacher educators in Chile. Through interviews with 20 teacher educators and analysis of their language assessment materials, five LAL components were identified (language assessment knowledge, conceptions, context, practices, and learning), and two by-products of LAL (language assessor identity and self-efficacy). The components were found to interrelate in a complex manner, which we visualized with a model of concentric oval shapes, depicting how LAL is socially constructed (and re-constructed) from and for the specific context in which teacher educators’ practices are immersed. We discuss implications for LAL conceptualisations and for LAL research methodology.