examining iraqi efl teachers’ perceptions and practices of learning-oriented assessment

Learning-oriented assessment constitutes an approach that integrates language assessment into the learning process to expedite learners’ noticing of their weaknesses and maximize their learning opportunities. the present study scrutinized iraqi efl teachers’ perceptions and practices of loa. in light of this objective, the researchers used an explanatory sequential mixed-methods design to conduct the study. accordingly, they selected 103 male and 114 female teachers in 37 public high schools in baghdad (iraq) as the participants. moreover, they administered aloswat’s (2022) learning-oriented assessment questionnaire to these participants to obtain quantitative data on their proclivity in adhering to the principles of this assessment approach. finally, they selected a small number of the above-mentioned teachers based on the data saturation criterion. using a semi-structured interview protocol, they gathered qualitative data on their perceptions of learning-oriented assessment. the researchers used independent-sample t-test and thematic analysis to analyze the quantitative and qualitative data. the results indicated that female teachers adhered more strictly to the principles of learning-oriented assessment than male teachers. in addition, female teachers had more favorable perceptions of this assessment approach compared to their male counterparts. the results may provide teacher educators and syllabus designers with guidelines on implementing loa in efl courses.