Conceptualizing and developing second language teachers’ multimodal assessment literacy in the GenAI era

Multimodal assessment seeks to renovate assessment through the lens of multimodality and its value is well documented, particularly when generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) is posing an unprecedented crisis to traditional language-centric assessment in second language (L2) education. To expand assessment from language-centric to multimodal, it is imperative for L2 teachers to develop the needed literacy for multimodal assessment. Our study addressed this need by (1) conceptualizing multimodal assessment literacy, and (2) conducting collaborative action research to cultivate L2 English teachers’ knowledge and competence for multimodal assessment. Multiple sources of data were collected from 30 teachers. Findings reveal initially positive attitude but limited knowledge. The observation and final reflection illustrate enhanced knowledge of multimodal design, developed competence in multimodal assessment methods, and increased awareness of assessment innovations. Furthermore, teachers demonstrated a discerning attitude in evaluating influential factors and GenAI possibilities, indicating a growing literacy in multimodal assessment renovations.