Evaluating EFL Assessment: a study about Language Assessment Literacy of EFL teachers in public schools of Santiago, Chile

Abstract

This study reports the Language Assessment Literacy (LAL) levels of 15 Chilean English as a Foreign Language (EFL) teachers from Santiago Chile. To this purpose, a LAL conceptualisation is operationalised into levels in terms of both declarative and a procedural knowledge and competence. The study also characterises the roles of teachers’ academic and professional backgrounds in their development of LAL. The study first presents a detailed theoretical framework to operationalise LAL into levels. The methodology includes a semi-structured interview targeting at eliciting teachers’ procedural and declarative knowledge from descriptions of assessment experiences and practices for data collection. The interview also includes specific questions about teachers’ academic and professional background information to characterise their role in determining LAL levels. A rubric constructed to assess teachers’ interview responses in terms of LAL indicators is used for analysis. Results indicate that most teachers have a lower level than expected. Findings show that teachers are more competent in assessment contextualisation and ethical practice, while they are least competent in SLA and assessment theory knowledge.