Investigating Language Assessment Literacy Of College Teachers Of Chinese As A Second Language

Language assessment literacy(LAL)generally refers to the competence that teachers are able to develop language assessments and interpret assessment results appropriately to inform students of their proficiency,provide feedback,and make instructional decisions.Previous research has elaborated on the construct definition of LAL,evaluation,training,and development of teachers’ LAL.Literature on LAL from home and abroad has been fruitful,while studies on teachers of Chinese as a second language(CSL)are deficient.This study is designed from the perspective of CSL education in universities in China,by means of a survey including questionnaires and interviews,in order to have a grasp of the CSL teachers’ current LAL and the room for improvement.Under the circumstances that a large part of CSL education is currently online,and that Chinese Proficiency Grading Standards for International Chinese Language Education is just issued,which is a milestone in international Chinese education,this study expects to provide information on the current situation and contributive suggestions on the cultivation and professional development of CSL teachers’ LAL.The construct of LAL in this study is mainly based on the framework proposed by Jin(2018).Adapted from validated measurements of teachers’ assessment literacy,a questionnaire for CSL teachers’ language assessment literacy is developed to align with the research context.The questionnaire is composed of the evaluation of LAL,a self-rating scale,and an improving priority scale.67 Chinese language teachers in universities in China participated in the survey,and 8 of them also took part in the interview.The result from the questionnaire shows that the LAL of Chinese language teachers is at a relatively low level,and the need for improving LAL is relatively high.The experience of taking training courses on language testing has a positive influence on LAL,and the teaching experience has a positive influence on the self-rating scale.The interview investigates how CSL teachers’ LAL is reflected by language assessment practice.We find that the online mode of teaching and testing has a major influence on teachers’ assessment practice and principles,and teaching experience contributes to LAL mainly by improving the accuracy of judging students’ language proficiency.The result also shed light on the directions and ways to promote CSL teachers’ LAL,teachers need to learn more about standards and syllabus of language ability,the principle and practice of Assessment for Learning,language testing theories and data analysis,and digital awareness and literacy by means of the implementation of teacher standard,training,and research practice.