EFL Classroom Assessment: Insight and Narratives from Teacher Trainers

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

1 Department of English, Sanandaj Branch, Islamic Azad University, Sanandaj, Iran.

2 ELT Department, Yeditepe University, Istanbul, Turkey.

3 Department of Language and Literature, Islamic Azad University, Science and Research Branch, Tehran, Iran.

4 MA in TEFL, University of Kurdistan, Sanandaj, Iran.

Abstract

Language Assessment Literacy has emerged as a pivotal competence for EFL teacher trainers in guiding the transition from traditional summative testing toward formative, learner-centered assessment practices. This qualitative study investigates how teacher trainers conceptualize and enact assessment in their classrooms, focusing on the role of LAL in enabling pedagogical change. Semi-structured interviews with fourteen EFL teacher trainers were analyzed inductively using MAXQDA, yielding 114 codes categorized into themes related to prior assessment experiences, influential contextual factors, and perceptions of ideal assessment quality. Findings reveal that trainers’ current practices are strongly shaped by their own histories as learners, institutional resources, and commitments to meeting students’ affective and cognitive needs. While summative methods remain common due to systemic and workload constraints, trainers identify formative and diagnostic assessment as essential for fostering learning, student motivation, and self-concept. Recommendations highlight the need for flexible institutional policies, collaborative professional development workshops, and integration of technology to support formative approaches. This study concludes that strengthening LAL among teacher trainers is critical not only for refining assessment tools and processes but also for driving the broader transformation of EFL assessment culture toward equitable, and pedagogically aligned practices.

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References

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