Depicting EFL instructors' language assessment literacy in assessing productive language skills and their perceptions and practices on formative assessment of productive language skills

The purpose of this study was to depict EFL instructors' language assessment literacy in assessing productive language skills and their perceptions on formative assessment of productive language skills in preparatory schools in Turkey. In this mixed-method research, the data were collected through semi-structured interview and language assessment knowledge questionnaire (LAKQ). For the quantitative part of the study, a questionnaire was adapted from Ölmezer-Öztürk (2018)'s "Language Assessment and Knowledge Scale" and 60 EFL instructors working in preparatory schools in different universities in Ankara completed the questionnaire. For the qualitative part of the study, a semi-structured interview was utilized to investigate the EFL instructors' perceptions on assessing productive language skills through formative assessment and 11 volunteer EFL instructors participated in the interview. The data obtained from the questionnaire were analysed using SPSS through descriptive statistics and the qualitative data were analysed using Creswell's (2014) systematic content analysis framework. The results revealed an average level of language assessment literacy (LAL) of the EFL instructors in assessing productive language skills. However, with respect to certain skills in LAL, this level was found below average in "Assessment Tools" parts of both Items for Assessing Writing and Speaking parts. The result also revealed that the instructors implemented formative assessment, mostly observation and in-class activities, in their classrooms to assess their learners' productive language skills. Moreover, the problems they encounter in the classrooms were mostly learner-based however, the solutions they offered were mostly instructor-based. The study also provided some pedagogical implications and suggestions for further studies.