TY - JOUR
T1 - Understanding university English instructors’ assessment training needs in the Chinese context
AU - Gan, Ling
AU - Lam, Ricky
N1 - Acknowledgements:
We would like to thank Dr. CHEN Meilin from the Language Center, Hong Kong Baptist University, who kindly proofread the first version of this manuscript and Dr. JIANG Changsheng at Zhongnan University of Economics and Law, who shared his critical comments in the manuscript revision. We would also like to thank all participants for their devotion to this study.
Funding Information:
The study was supported by “the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities”, Zhongnan University of Economics and Law (2722019JCG042).
Publisher copyright:
© The Author(s). 2020
PY - 2020/12
Y1 - 2020/12
N2 - In the past decade, language assessment training has increasingly become a key research agenda in language testing and assessment, particularly within the Chinese context. Studies have explored the training of language instructors who provide language testing and assessment courses, the efficacy of assessment training courses, and assessment training needs of secondary school teachers. However, little attention has been paid to assessment training needs of university English instructors. To address the gap, we adopted a mixed-methods study to examine university English instructors’ assessment training status, their training needs, and the factors that influence these needs. Based on the data from 68 questionnaire respondents, eight interviewees, and two national English course syllabi, we found that a majority of university English instructors lacked sufficient assessment training in classroom-based practices to meet the requirements set by the official documents. Despite this, they did not prefer having advanced training (e.g., workshops lasting at least three days) in assessment due to a variety of personal and contextual factors. The findings have implications for a need to revisit assessment training courses provided in teacher education programs and to review institutional policies that guide teacher professional development in China.
AB - In the past decade, language assessment training has increasingly become a key research agenda in language testing and assessment, particularly within the Chinese context. Studies have explored the training of language instructors who provide language testing and assessment courses, the efficacy of assessment training courses, and assessment training needs of secondary school teachers. However, little attention has been paid to assessment training needs of university English instructors. To address the gap, we adopted a mixed-methods study to examine university English instructors’ assessment training status, their training needs, and the factors that influence these needs. Based on the data from 68 questionnaire respondents, eight interviewees, and two national English course syllabi, we found that a majority of university English instructors lacked sufficient assessment training in classroom-based practices to meet the requirements set by the official documents. Despite this, they did not prefer having advanced training (e.g., workshops lasting at least three days) in assessment due to a variety of personal and contextual factors. The findings have implications for a need to revisit assessment training courses provided in teacher education programs and to review institutional policies that guide teacher professional development in China.
KW - Assessment training needs
KW - Contextual factors
KW - Language assessment literacy
KW - Personal factors
KW - University English instructors
UR - https://doi.org/10.1186/s40468-020-00113-2
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85091510325&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1186/s40468-020-00109-y
DO - 10.1186/s40468-020-00109-y
M3 - Journal article
AN - SCOPUS:85091510325
SN - 2229-0443
VL - 10
JO - Language Testing in Asia
JF - Language Testing in Asia
M1 - 11
ER -