Test Takers’ Beliefs and Experiences of a High-stakes Computer-based English Listening and Speaking Test

RELC Journal ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 47 (3) ◽  
pp. 363-376 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ying Zhan ◽  
Zhi Hong Wan
Keyword(s):  
Validation Studies ◽  
Mutual Exclusion ◽  
Mainland China ◽  
Language Education ◽  
English Learning ◽  
High Stakes ◽  
Speaking Test ◽  
Test Taking ◽  
Computer Based ◽  
Listening And Speaking

Test takers’ beliefs or experiences have been overlooked in most validation studies in language education. Meanwhile, a mutual exclusion has been observed in the literature, with little or no dialogue between validation studies and studies concerning the uses and consequences of testing. To help fill these research gaps, a group of Senior III students in Guangdong Province, mainland China, were interviewed concerning their views of the high-stakes Computer-based English Listening and Speaking Test (CELST) and their experiences of preparing for and taking the test. The data analysis indicated that the students had a distinct understanding of the CELST validity and also tentatively suggested a relationship between the students’ views of the CELST design, their test preparation practice and their test taking process. These findings provided information useful for sharpening a computer-based English listening and speaking test and for generating positive washback on English learning.

scholarly journals Students’ and parents’ attitude towards the SEE English test

2019 ◽  
Vol 24 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 1-16
Author(s):  
Saraswati Dawadi
Keyword(s):  
Test Context ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
High Stakes ◽  
Negative Attitudes ◽  
Test Fairness ◽  
Speaking Test ◽  
Positive Attitudes ◽  
Post Test ◽  
Comprehensive Picture ◽  
Listening And Speaking

This paper reports on a study that explored students’ and their parents’ attitudes towards the fairness and accuracy of the Secondary Education Examination (SEE)English test- a high stakes test in the Nepalese context. It is most probably the first empirical study that has extensively explored this area. The data generated through a longitudinal survey among 247 SEE candidates and semi-structured interviews with six students and their parents in both the pre-test and post-test contexts indicates that students had mostly positive attitudes towards the test fairness and its accuracy in the pre-test context but mostly negative attitudes in the post-test context. However, parents had mostly negative attitudes towards the test in both contexts. Both students and their parents raised questions regarding the accuracy and fairness of the listening and speaking test in the post-test context. Having collected both the qualitative and quantitative data, this study has gained a comprehensive picture of the complexity of the test impacts within the Nepalese educational context, as perceived by students and their parents. The implications of the study have also been highlighted.

scholarly journals Is the TOEFL exam aimed at everyone? Research considerations in the training and application of the TOEFL exam abroad

2008 ◽  
Vol 14 ◽  
pp. 25
Author(s):  
Jesús García Laborda
Keyword(s):  
Interface Design ◽  
Current Model ◽  
High Stakes Testing ◽  
Further Education ◽  
Educational Systems ◽  
High Stakes ◽  
Test Taking ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
The Usa ◽  
Computer Based

<p>In recent years, the Educational Testing System organisation has developed two models of the computer-based Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL). However, the computerization of the test has shown a number of problems according to the testees' origin. This paper suggests some of these problems after conducting short interviews with four TOEFL teachers; i.e. problems in delivery, interface design and test taking contextual validity (Weir, 2005). These aspects and those presented in other educational systems need to be addressed in further research. The fact that TOEFL is only a compulsory test for those who wish to pursue further education in the USA cannot prevent ETS from ignoring the potential problems of the current model in different parts of the world. Thus, further research on this topic needs to be carried out in Europe and elsewhere. This paper also serves as a starting point for countries and institutions that may be considering the implementation of computer or Internet-based applications for high-stakes testing such as university entrance examinations.</p>

scholarly journals Strategies Used in Taking a Computer-Based Speaking Test: A Retrospective Verbal Protocol Study

MANUSYA ◽  
2009 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 73-96
Author(s):  
Sutthirak Sapsirin ◽  
Kanchana Prapphal ◽  
Lyle F. Bachman
Keyword(s):  
University Students ◽  
Goal Setting ◽  
Communication Strategies ◽  
Verbal Protocol ◽  
Speaking Test ◽  
Computer Based ◽  
Protocol Study

This study investigated the strategies used by examinees when performing a computer-based speaking test. The data were collected from nine university students through a retrospective interview. The results showed that the examinees used several strategies, ranging from goal setting, assessment, planning to communication strategies. These strategies seemed to be associated with the constructs the CBST aimed to measure. It can be concluded that the findings provide evidence that supports the validity of the CBST score interpretations.

The “other(ing)” costs of ESL

2008 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
pp. 91-108 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ena Lee
Keyword(s):  
Language Learning ◽  
English Language ◽  
Mainland China ◽  
Language Education ◽  
Economic Benefits ◽  
Secondary English ◽  
Language And Culture ◽  
Post Secondary ◽  
Student Identities ◽  
Global Language

While the commodification of English as a global language may give rise to varying degrees of political and economic benefits for language learners, a simultaneous “cost” of this return may be a continued perpetuation of various forms of hegemony. In this vein, this one-year case study investigated a Canadian post-secondary English as a Second Language (ESL) program that analyzed the interconnections between language and culture through a critical dialogic approach. Classroom observations, however, revealed that disjunctions existed between the pedagogy as it was conceptualized and the practices of the instructors teaching there and suggested that the “critical” discourses mediated within the language classrooms essentialized culture and, subsequently, the identities of the students. This paper presents the voices of students from Mainland China as they attempted to negotiate their local and global identities within the larger sociopolitical contexts of the English language, generally, and English language education, in particular. I argue that classroom discourses can (re)create subordinate student identities, thereby limiting their access not only to language-learning opportunities, but to other more powerful identities. This paper thus highlights how ESL pedagogies and practices might address and contest hegemonic discourses and concomitantly reimagine student identities in more emancipatory ways.

scholarly journals Introducing Computer-Based Testing in High-Stakes Exams in Higher Education: Results of a Field Experiment

PLoS ONE ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 10 (12) ◽  
pp. e0143616 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anja J. Boevé ◽  
Rob R. Meijer ◽  
Casper J. Albers ◽  
Yta Beetsma ◽  
Roel J. Bosker
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Field Experiment ◽  
High Stakes ◽  
Computer Based ◽  
Computer Based Testing ◽  
High Stakes Exams

Thriving in the New Normal

2021 ◽  
pp. 253-271
Author(s):  
Li Li ◽  
Gareth Richard Morris
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Professional Development ◽  
Mainland China ◽  
Language Education ◽  
Language Teachers ◽  
Working Environment ◽  
New Normal ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
The World ◽  
Professional Development Needs

Language education in higher education has been significantly impacted by COVID-19, and this has placed significant pressure on practitioners around the world irrespective of their respective experience prior to the pandemic. Teachers are now expected to deliver classes utilising new mediums whilst learning how to use different technologies. This can place a significant strain on individuals, institutions, and education sectors as everyone is expected to become proficient in a new normal working environment. In light of this, this chapter considers the in-service professional development needs and experiences of 88 language teachers at a Sino foreign university in Mainland China. The aim is that the insights provided here will help education providers better understand the challenges that their staff may be facing and consider ways in which teacher learning can be addressed. This chapter should be of interest to educators, managers, leaders, and policymakers in a wide range of international settings.

scholarly journals An Ecological Perspective on University Students’ Sustainable Language Learning during the Transition from High School to University in China

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (18) ◽  
pp. 7359
Author(s):  
Chen Li ◽  
Shahid Abrar-ul-Hassan ◽  
Fei Gao
Keyword(s):  
High School ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
English Language ◽  
Language Education ◽  
Ecological Perspective ◽  
English Learning ◽  
Self Regulated Learning ◽  
Teaching Content ◽  
Regulated Learning ◽  
Transition From High School

Transitioning from high school to university presents a significant challenge for many students on multiple fronts, including language learning. This mixed-method study draws on an ecological perspective to investigate students’ English learning experiences during the transition from high school to university in China, focusing on teaching content, teaching approach, assessment and feedback, and self-regulated learning. Data is collected from six universities at three different academic levels in China, and analyzed using both statistical and thematic analysis. The research finds that there are differences between high school and university English language education in the above-mentioned four areas, and students’ ecopotentials are of critical importance for their adaptation to university English learning. These findings suggest the necessity of the continuity of teaching content, the promotion of individualized curricula, and the cultivation of self-regulated learning capacities to support students’ sustainable English learning during the transition from high school to university.

Hindrances to the new teaching goals of College English in China

English Today ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 32 (1) ◽  
pp. 12-17 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hui Du ◽  
Hongdi Guan
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Mainland China ◽  
Chinese Students ◽  
Tertiary Level ◽  
Ministry Of Education ◽  
College English ◽  
Chinese University ◽  
Teaching Goals ◽  
English Textbooks ◽  
Listening And Speaking

College English refers to a type of English course offered to non-English majors at tertiary level in mainland China. In recent years, however, College English has been criticised as ‘deaf and dumb English’ (Wu, 2004; Zhang, 2002) because of Chinese students’ perceived weaknesses in listening and speaking. As Zhang (2002), Director of the Department of Higher Education in the Chinese Ministry of Education (MOE), explains, ‘Chinese university students can neither speak English nor understand it when they hear the language spoken’ (p. 4). To improve the situation, Zhang urges that ‘[w]hile reading has to be reduced properly, listening and speaking should be increased in College English textbooks’ (ibid.: 5). In other words, it is listening and speaking rather than reading that should be emphasised.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document