How Personal, Experiential, and Contextual Factors Mediate EFL Teachers’ Conceptions of Assessment: A Narrative Study

Abstract

Abstract While prior research suggests that teachers’ conceptions of assessment (CoA) are influenced by their personal characteristics, experiences, and specific sociocultural contexts, how these factors influence teachers’ CoA is still underexplored. This narrative study explores what teachers’ CoA are, as well as how influential factors mediate their CoA by drawing on data from narrative frames with 48 high school EFL teachers in China. Findings reveal that teachers commonly endorsed the improvement-oriented purpose of assessment. A range of factors is found to have exerted influences to different degrees on these conceptions, including personal factors (i.e., teachers’ agency in assessment), experiential factors [i.e., (anti-)apprenticeship of observation about assessment], and contextual factors (i.e., exam-oriented culture). These findings are discussed in terms of how teachers negotiate the improvement- and accountability-oriented purposes of assessment, as well as how teachers’ CoA are shaped by teacher agency, emotional experiences as assessees, and the exam-oriented culture. This paper concludes with implications for research on teachers’ CoA and policy, practice, and professional development of teacher assessment literacy.