The role of teaching experience on teachers' perceptions of language assessment

For assessment to have an impact on student achievement, teachers need to see assessment as an integral part of the instructional process rather than as an evaluation device to determine students' grades. The present study aimed at exploring how language teachers conceive language assessment and whether these conceptions differ according to teaching experience. Accordingly, prospective language teachers and language teachers with different years of teaching experience were asked to describe 'language assessment' using a metaphor. Metaphors obtained from the written descriptions of the participants were analyzed and separated by themes. The conceptions that were revealed were then compared and contrasted to see whether experience plays a role in the beliefs of language teachers regarding language assessment.