Context-sensitive language assessment literacy in action: transitioning from traditional testing to a feedback-rich online system

Large-scale assessment reform in language institutes inevitably encounters teacher resistance, yet the role of context-sensitive Language Assessment Literacy (LAL) in navigating such transitions remains underexplored. This convergent mixed-methods study investigated how a feedback-rich online assessment system comprising online quizzes, a supervised online final examination, descriptive teacher feedback, and a self-assessment component was implemented at Mahan Asa Language Institute in Kerman, Iran​, involving 142 teachers across eight languages. Quantitative data were collected via a pre- and post-intervention LAL survey ( n = 98), and qualitative data through semi-structured interviews ( n = 18), focus groups ( n = 24), and document analysis of 326 descriptive feedback notes. Pre-intervention findings revealed that teachers predominantly held summative​ grade-centric assessment conceptions. Post-intervention data suggest that meaningful gains were associated with the intervention across multiple LAL dimensions, most notably in teachers’ conceptualization of formative feedback purposes and self-assessment principles. Qualitative analysis yielded four themes: assessment conceptions in tension, the descriptive feedback practicum, self-assessment as a pedagogical discovery, and institutional affordances and persistent obstacles. These findings advance a context-sensitive model of LAL development that treats teacher resistance not as a problem to be eliminated but as diagnostic data for designing responsive professional development. The findings offer actionable principles for language institutes undergoing assessment transitions, including phased professional development, structured feedback templates, and explicit pedagogical framing for self-assessment, while contributing theoretically to context-sensitive models of LAL development.