Perspectives of language assessment training for teachers and testing professionals

Even before the field of Language Testing emerged as an independent field in applied linguistics, language assessment courses had been taught in various forms and by different instructors. Currently, these courses are being taught by professionals who have majored in the area of Language Testing (LTs) but also by others who come from different majors (non-LTs). This study seeks to investigate the effect instructors bring in shaping the characteristics (i.e., content, structure) of language assessment courses and to what extent the student-teacher are satisfied with the course. To get the full picture, the characteristics and satisfaction of the courses are researched from 4 different lenses; instructors who teach the course (Language Testers vs. Non-Language Testers) and different grade levels of language student teachers (Adult vs. K-12) who have taken the course. A large scale on-line survey, in-depth follow-up phone interviews and syllabi document review have been done for the study. A total of 384 instructors and student teachers completed the on-line survey (instructors n=140, student-teachers n=244). Based on the survey results an in-depth phone interview has been conducted with 13 instructors from 5 different countries and 5 student- teachers. Survey findings show there are significant differences in the content of the course depending on the instructors’ background in six areas; test specifications, test theory, basic statistics, classroom assessment, rubric development, and test accommodation. Interview results confirm non-LTs are less confident in teaching technical assessment skills compared to LTs and have a tendency to focus on more classroom assessment issues. Student teachers are overall satisfied with the course but wanted more activities that were directly related to the course. The study ends by predicting the future of language assessment courses and why it is important for both LTs and non-LTs to communicate and work actively to develop a better course that fulfills the needs of the student teachers.

Name thesis:degree_name

Ph.D.

Level thesis:degree_level

Dissertation

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Educational Psychology

Grantor

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Year dc:date

2011

Author dc:creator

• Jeong, Heejeong

Contributors dc:contributor

• Davidson, Frederick G.
• Greene, Jennifer C.
• Ryan, Katherine E.
• Bowles, Melissa A.

• Language Testing
• Teacher Education
• Assessment Literacy
• Language Tester
• Professional Development

Statement dc:rights

• Copyright 2011 Heejeong Jeong

Language dc:language

en

Handle dc:identifier

http://hdl.handle.net/2142/26071

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:www.ideals.illinois.edu:2142/26071