A Study On The Language Assessment Literacy Training Needs Of Pre-Service English Teachers

Language assessment literacy is recognized as essential literacy for English teachers to carry out English teaching assessment practice,and also is an integral part of professional development for English teachers.Correspondingly,it has become the hotspot language assessment research in the recent decade,and a plethora of theoretical and empirical studies have been conducted in this field at home and abroad.Based on the domestic relevant literature,it is obvious to note that studies mainly focus on the in-service English teachers,especially those working in the middle school and college.However,research related to the pre-service English teachers’ language assessment literacy is rarely explored,and very few empirical studies exist.As the fresh force in English education,pre-service English teachers should develop their language assessment literacy to meet the new requirements of education reform.Therefore,it is of vital significance to conduct related research on the language assessment literacy of pre-service English teachers.This study intends to clarify the language assessment literacy level of preservice English teachers,identify their training needs with regard to language assessment and further explore its influential factors.To achieve the research objectives,this study adopted a mixed-methods design that involved both qualitative and quantitative components.The quantitative data were administered from questionnaires of 92 respondents,and for the qualitative aspect,semi-structured interviews were conducted with 8 pre-service English teachers.Based on data analysis and discussion,the results indicate that: Firstly,the overall level of pre-service English teachers’ language assessment literacy is relatively underdeveloped,and it is observed that the majority of them seldom receive related trainings with respect to language assessment;Secondly,pre-service English teachers have strong training needs in classroom-focused language assessment practices and related contents and concepts,especially in giving feedback and using formative assessment,and the knowledge about reliability,validity and analyzing the quality of assessment;Finally,the results suggest that there is significant difference in training needs among pre-service English teachers with different teaching experience,but pre-service English teachers’ educational context and course-related experience have no effect on their training needs of language assessment literacy.This study helps to enrich the related empirical study on pre-service English teachers’ language assessment literacy.In view of research findings mentioned above,several implications of the present study are proposed to serve as a reference for improving their language assessment literacy.It suggests that education department should formulate standard of teachers’ assessment ability,and compulsory assessment courses and more systematic training programs should be offered for pre-service English teachers.Meanwhile,pre-service English teachers themselves should take initiative to learn related knowledge and participant in language assessment practices.