راحله خسروی

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.

This research explores language assessment practices and training preferences in Iranian English as a Foreign Language (EFL) teaching, aiming to provide valuable insights into the current landscape among 363 Iranian EFL teachers. Data collection included diverse demographics, facilitating a thorough analysis of assessment practices and preferences. Statistical analyses, such as chi-square tests, revealed a significant gap between the perceived importance and the actual proficiency of Iranian EFL teachers. Speaking skills are prioritized while listening comprehension is least emphasized. Common assessment methods include active class participation, oral presentations, and closed-ended tests, with underutilized methods suggesting a need for broader teacher development programs. The study underscores the diverse terminology used for teacher-mediated assessments, emphasizing the multifaceted nature of EFL assessment practices. In summary, the paper highlights the significance of tailored assessment literacy programs to bridge the gap and enhance English language teaching in Iran.

This study aimed to investigate the relationship between listening assessment task types, time on task, and the use of listening strategy by Iranian EFL learners. For this purpose, a group of 44 Iranian EFL students (Males and Females; 14 to 25 years old) selected through convenience sampling from an English language institute in Sanandaj participated in this study. Then, they were randomly assigned into four experimental groups. In one group, note-taking was considered the listening assessment task, while in the second group oral reproduction was specified as the assessment task for assessing listening comprehension. After that, each group was further subdivided randomly into a shorter time-on-task group (20 minutes) and a longer time-on-task group (40 minutes). Next, all groups completed Vandergrift, Goh, Mareschal, and Tafaghodtari’s (2006) Meta-cognitive Awareness Listening Strategy Questionnaire. A two-way ANOVA was run to examine the effects of both listening assessment task type and time on task on listening strategy use among the four groups. The results revealed that the students in the oral reproduction task with high time on task group significantly showed higher preferences for choosing Planning-Evaluation, Mental Translation, and Problem-Solving strategies and those in the note-taking with low time on task group preferred the Directed-Attention strategy, while those in the note-taking with high time on task group preferred Person-Knowledge strategy.