On the Relationship between the Implementation of Formative Assessment Strategies and Iranian EFL Teachers’ Self-Efficacy: Do Gender and Experience Make a Difference?

Abstract

<span>This study sought to examine the relationship between the use of formative assessment strategies and the Iranian EFL teachers' sense of self-efficacy. Moreover, this study investigated the relationships and interactions between the EFL teachers' use of formative assessment strategies, their gender, level of experience, and sense of self-efficacy. This is a descriptive ex post facto design study which employed a three-part questionnaire, including demographic information, teachers' formative assessment strategies, and teachers' sense of self-efficacy. In order to collect data, sixty-one EFL teachers, including thirty-one female and thirty male participants who were selected through convenience sampling, completed the questionnaire. Multiple statistical strategies were employed to analyze the research questions of the study. The findings of Pearson's and Spearman Rho correlation indicated that the EFL teachers' use of formative assessment strategies was positively correlated with their sense of self-efficacy. However, the results of eta correlation coefficients revealed that there was no statistically significant relationship between the teachers' implementation of formative assessment strategies and two other variables of gender and level of experience. Finally, the results of a three way factorial Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) evinced that there was no statistically significant interaction between the teachers' use of formative assessment strategies, teachers' sense of self-efficacy, their gender, and level of experience. Therefore, when the teachers become more aware of the ways to implement formative assessment strategies to inform instruction, their sense of self-efficacy can increase. This study has some implications in language testing, English pedagogy, and syllabus design and materials development. </span>