The mediating role of validity assessment in EFL teachers’ cognitive development within writing assessment validity arguments

Abstract

Although the need to establish validity in writing assessment is widely acknowledged—particularly given persistent challenges such as scoring subjectivity, construct underrepresentation, ambiguous criteria, and inadequate rater training—research remains notably limited regarding how EFL teachers’ cognitive development mediates their assessment competence. This cross-sectional study introduces an innovative mediation approach grounded in the validity argument framework to explore how writing assessments are validated in practice. The findings indicate that teacher cognition—specifically the cognitive processes underlying evaluative reasoning and rubric interpretation—mediates the relationship between EFL teachers’ assessment literacy and their scoring practices. These results highlight the potential for designing targeted interventions to foster cognitive growth among EFL teachers. By integrating computational modeling into validity argumentation, future research and pedagogical practices can more effectively enhance teachers’ assessment literacy, ultimately contributing to more valid, consistent, and instructionally meaningful writing assessments in EFL contexts.