LANGUAGE ASSESSMENT LITERACY OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHERS AT THE PAKISTANI UNIVERSITIES: IMPLICATIONS FOR REFORMS IN LANGUAGE TEACHING AND RESEARCH PRACTICES IN PAKISTAN

Abstract

This study examines the level of Language Assessment Literacy (LAL) of English language teachers at the university level in Pakistan by adopting a mixed-methods explanatory approach. The study offers a comprehensive analysis of language assessment awareness among English language teachers in the Pakistani context along with their language teaching-learning experiences. Likewise, English language teachers shared their perspectives regarding the role of LAL in enhancing language teaching and learning processes at the university level. The theoretical framework of the study, which is comprised of three seminal theories, viz. Classical Test Theory, Generalizability Theory and Item Response Theory, has informed the interview protocol used for qualitative data collection. In the same vein, the current study investigates three core areas including the current level of LAL among university English teachers, the challenges they face while assessing their students’ language proficiency, and the possible solutions for these challenges for the improvement of language assessment, teaching and research practices. For the said purpose, data is collected from 15 English language teachers who are currently serving at five different public sector universities including Kohat University of Science and Technology (KUST) Kohat, Abdul Wali Khan University Mardan (AWKUM), National University of Modern Languages (NUML) Islamabad, FATA University, Kohat, and Quaid-e-Azam University (QAU) Islamabad, through semi-structured questionnaire and semi-structured interviews. Correspondingly, quantitative findings of the study reveal that most of the participants (73.33%) are PhD degree holders but many of them lack professional language assessment trainings both pre-service and post-service. The study highlights that English language teachers have limited exposure to standardized testing frameworks like CEFR, IELTS, and ELLT. Among them, only 13.33% had studied language assessment as a course at the PhD level while 46.66% of language teachers had not attended any training in the last five years of their professional life. Given the gaps between language teaching and assessment practices as the qualitative data highlights, language assessment trainings need to be offered to teachers and students at the university level with a view to enhance their theoretical as well as practical knowledge regarding language assessment which will furnish their language assessment skills. The major findings of the study also have significant implications for English Language Teaching (ELT) and assessment practices and language policies with a view to bridge the gulf between language teaching and assessment practices in multilingual contexts like Pakistan.