Teaching English Language

Teaching English Language

Unveiling Student Teachers' Conceptions of Assessment: The Roles of Gender and Level of Education

Document Type : Original Article

Authors
1 ELT Department, West Tehran Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran
2 Department of Language and Linguistics, Fereshtegaan International Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran. Tran
10.22132/tel.2024.465139.1647
Abstract
With the paradigm shift and the reconceptualization of language assessment, language teachers are expected to be --well aware of the concept and its significance in the process of language learning and teaching. This nationwide study aimed to investigate the conceptions of assessment among undergraduate student teachers in TEFL and examine the roles of gender and year of education in shaping these conceptions. The study involved 464 undergraduate student teachers from 12 Farhangian Teacher Training University centers, selected through a convenient sampling method. Participants completed the Students’ Conceptions of Assessment Inventory (SCoA-VI), and the results of exploratory factor analysis yielded four conceptions: improvement, affect, student accountability, and teacher accountability. The conception of assessment for improvement had the highest factor loading while teacher accountability had the lowest following affective, and student accountability, respectively. There were no negative conceptions of assessment among the participants and they held more favorable and adaptable conceptions of assessment. Moreover, the results of multivariate analysis of variance did not reveal any significant differences in the conceptions of assessment in terms of gender and year of education. These results have important implications for teacher training courses and higher education centers.
Keywords

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Volume 20, Issue 2
July 2026
Pages 469-508

  • Receive Date 28 June 2024
  • Revise Date 15 October 2024
  • Accept Date 04 November 2024