Thesis
Exploring assessment literacy of undergraduate English language teachers in Bangladesh: practices and challenges
- Abstract:
- Assessment literacy, the knowledge, skills, and principles required to design, implement, interpret, and infer educational assessments effectively, represents a critical but understudied dimension of teaching quality in higher education contexts outside North America and Western Europe. This study addresses a significant empirical gap by investigating the assessment literacy of undergraduate English language teachers in Bangladesh, an examination-dominated context with limited assessment training infrastructure. Using a cross-sectional mixed-methods design, 52 English language teachers from public and private universities completed an adapted Assessment Practices Inventory measuring self-perceived skill and self-reported frequency of use across seven assessment domains, alongside open-ended questions about challenges and professional development needs. Quantitative analysis employed non-parametric Wilcoxon signed-rank tests with Benjamini-Hochberg false discovery rate correction; qualitative data underwent inductive content analysis. Key findings revealed consistent patterns where teachers reported higher self-perceived skill (M = 3.71) than frequency of use (M = 3.44) across all domains (p < .008). Domain-specific analysis showed largest skill-use gaps in communication of results (gap = 0.38), construction of traditional tests (gap = 0.33), and performance-based assessment (gap = 0.29). Qualitative thematic analysis identified five explanatory themes: contextual constraints (time, class size, policy mandates), student factors (preparedness, academic integrity), lack of training and institutional support, tension between traditional examinations and alternative assessment, and technical-digital skills gaps. Teaching experience correlated positively with assessment literacy (Spearman's ρ = .28–.40), and formal training showed modest but consistent advantages (Cliff's δ = −0.28 to −0.34, all non-significant after correction). No significant differences emerged between public and private universities, suggesting uniform structural constraints across institutional types. Findings support situated models of assessment literacy, indicating that observed skill-use gaps reflect systemic barriers rather than knowledge deficits. The study demonstrates that assessment literacy is culturally specific and context-dependent, with implications for professional development and institutional reform in examination-dominated higher education systems.
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(Preview, Dissemination version, pdf, 1.6MB, Terms of use)
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Authors
Contributors
+ Meadows, M
- Institution:
- University of Oxford
- Division:
- SSD
- Department:
- Education
- Oxford college:
- Green Templeton College
- Role:
- Supervisor
- ORCID:
- 0009-0007-5200-6331
- DOI:
- Type of award:
- MSc
- Level of award:
- Masters
- Awarding institution:
- University of Oxford
- Language:
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English
- Keywords:
-
- Subjects:
- Deposit date:
-
2026-02-27
- ARK identifier:
Terms of use
- Copyright holder:
- Md Taqi Yasir
- Copyright date:
- 2025
- Rights statement:
- © Md Taqi Yasir 2025. This thesis is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution–NonCommercial–NoDerivatives 4.0 International licence (CC BY‑NC‑ND 4.0). Third‑party material is excluded from this licence unless otherwise stated.
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