Abstract Considering the predominance of research on writing assessment literacy (WAL) in English contexts, this multiple-case study investigates the WAL of tertiary-level teachers of languages other than English (LOTE) in China. Five LOTE teachers across German, Russian, Korean, and Chinese participated in in-depth interviews and provided assessment-related materials. The findings revealed variability in their WAL across participants and imbalances within profiles among writing assessment knowledge, beliefs, and practices. L1 LOTE teachers in this study tended to emphasize linguistic accuracy and summative, exam-aligned approaches, whereas L2 LOTE teachers employed more adaptive, formative practices within their particular course contexts. The Chinese-as-a-Second Language (CSL) teacher demonstrated the most balanced and process-oriented profile. Contextual factors, such as institutional policies, class size, and curricular demands, framed teachers’ assessment practices, while experiential factors, including professional training and reflective engagement, mediated their responses to these constraints. These results underscore WAL as a dynamic, context-dependent construct and highlight the need for context-specific, differentiated assessment training for LOTE teachers that aligns with their linguistic background, teaching context, and experiential trajectories.
Zhang et al. (Tue,) studied this question.