A survey of Language Assessment Literacy (LAL) of elementary school English teachers: Status quo and implications
我国小学英语教师语言评价素养调查：现状与启示

摘要

我国外语教育正面临“由考试文化到评价文化”的文化转型，外语学习评价面临由“关于外语学习的评价”转为“促进外语学习的评价”的范式转型。双重转型下，外语教师的语言评价素养成为亟需研究的时代议题。现有研究已从理论层面设计构念，但针对不同学段外语教师语言评价素养的实证研究仍显不足。本研究采用混合法，以大规模问卷和访谈形式调查了我国八省市小学英语教师群体的语言评价素养情况。研究发现，小学英语教师群体语言评价素养整体不足；男女教师的语言评价素养无显著差异，但女性教师更注重语言评价的情感功能；不同年龄段教师的语言评价素养存在分化，中年组教师与中老年组教师间的素养差异最明显。基于此，本研究呼吁开设工作坊等项目以滋养小学英语教师的语言评价素养。本研究为建设高水平的基础教育阶段外语教师队伍提供了参考。

Abstract

The landscape of foreign language education in China is currently undergoing a cultural transition from a predominant “exam culture” to an emerging “assessment culture”, along with a paradigm shift from “assessment of language learning” to “assessment for language learning” within the field of foreign language assessment. In this dual transition, the Language Assessment Literacy (LAL) of foreign language teachers has emerged as a crucial topic for scholarly investigation. While existing literature has proposed a series of domestic theoretical frameworks of LAL, empirical studies on LAL of foreign language teachers across different educational stages remain limited. The present study adopts a mixed-methods approach, incorporating a large-scale questionnaire and group interview methodology to examine the LAL status of elementary school English teachers from eight provinces across China. Descriptive statistical analysis, independent t-test, and Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) are utilized for quantitative data analysis. Content analysis is employed for qualitative data analysis. Findings of the study demonstrate a general inadequacy in LAL among elementary school English teachers. Compared with male teachers, female teachers are found to place a particular emphasis on the emotional function of language assessment in class to promote language learning. Notable variations in LAL among different age groups of teachers are identified. Building on these findings, this study proposes targeted professional development interventions such as structured workshops to cultivate language assessment literacy (LAL) among elementary school English language teachers. The research contributes to scholarly discourse on fostering pedagogically robust foreign language teacher competencies in primary education contexts.