Language Assessment Literacy Development: An Ethnographic Case Study on University English Instructors in China

This book investigates the development of language assessment literacy (LAL) among university English instructors in the Chinese context. It examines their localised LAL needs in the natural teaching contexts and also documents LAL developmental trajectories by tracking how instructors acquire, enhance, and sustain LAL through engagement in assessment practices. Furthermore, the book explores the construction of instructors’ assessment identities alongside their LAL development. Finally, the study analyses how contextual, experiential, and personal factors influence instructors’ LAL development, probes challenges and opportunities they may encounter, and explores how they mobilise these dynamics to enhance their LAL and construct their assessment identities. The findings offer practical insights for university English instructors, university/department administrators, assessment trainers/training providers. These insights serve as guidance for enhancing instructors’ LAL, thereby improving assessment quality within Chinese universities.

Ling Gan has a Ph.D. in Education from Hong Kong Baptist University. She is now a lecturer at the School of Languages and Communication, Beijing Technology and Business University in China. Her research interests include language assessment literacy, classroom-based assessment and teacher professional development. She has published articles in RELC Journal, Education Sciences, Chinese Journal of Applied Linguistics, Language Assessment Quarterly and Language Testing in Asia, and reviewed SSCI and SCOPUS-indexed journals including Teaching and Teacher Education, Language Assessment Quarterly, System, Language Testing in Asia and Journal of Language, Identity and Education.

Ricky Lam is an Associate Professor and Director of Master of Education Programme in the Department of Education and Psychology at Hong Kong Baptist University. He is an associate editor of Frontiers in Psychology and has served in several international editorial boards, such as Language Assessment Quarterly, Assessing Writing, RELC Journal, and Journal of Asia TEFL. His research interests include second language writing assessment, digital portfolios, and language assessment literacy. His publications have appeared in Language Assessment Quarterly, System, Assessing Writing, Language Testing, TESOL Quarterly, ELT Journal, and other SSCI- and SCOPUS-indexed journals. He is also the author of Integrating E-Portfolios into L2 Classrooms: Education for Future’ (Multilingual Matters, 2024).