Examining EFL Teachers’ Assessment Literacy: Factors of Influence at Westminster International University in Tashkent

Teacher assessment literacy (AL) is widely recognised as central to effective language assessment, yet its development in higher education EFL contexts remains under-theorised. This mixed-methods study examines factors shaping assessment literacy among in-service EFL teachers at Westminster International University in Tashkent (WIUT), Uzbekistan. Data were collected through an online questionnaire (n = 34) and two focus group discussions (n = 8), with analytic focus on 26 EFL teachers. The findings show that assessment literacy develops through experiential practice, reflective engagement, collegial interaction, and institutional participation rather than through formal training alone. Teachers predominantly evaluate their assessment literacy via colleagues’ feedback and reflective judgement, indicating that assessment literacy functions as a socially mediated and context-dependent professional capacity. Although most participants had undertaken assessment-related training, its perceived impact was uneven, pointing to a distinction between credentialised and enacted assessment literacy. References to digital assessment emerged as anticipatory concerns rather than empirically demonstrated competence. The study contributes to language assessment literacy research by conceptualising teacher assessment literacy as distributed, relational, and unevenly enacted, and by distinguishing between instrumental and pedagogical orientations to assessment practice in higher education EFL settings.