Managing Language Testing in Nigerian Large Classes: Processes and Prospects (original) (raw)
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15-Social and Educational Impact of Language Assessment in Nigeria..pdf
Language assessment serves many purposes in society, such as a means for achieving national language policy goals. It is a tool in language teaching; can motivate learning; and supports the connections between language learning, literacy development and cognitive development. In Nigeria, poor exam performance and low level English proficiency indicate that language teaching and assessment have not sufficiently engendered effective language use. Summative language assessment is practised in ways that hold learners responsible for not learning what is not taught or is improperly taught. Thus, since local languages play little or no role in personal advancement, the society is unable to utilize potential manpower sidelined by poor achievement in English language tests. It is therefore now imperative that the examining bodies and curricula designers appraise their philosophies and practice with a view to aligning language teaching and assessment with national development goals and international best practice.
2015
Language assessment serves many purposes in society, such as a means for achieving national language policy goals. It is a tool in language teaching; can motivate learning; and supports the connections between language learning, literacy development and cognitive development. In Nigeria, poor exam performance and low level English proficiency indicate that language teaching and assessment have not sufficiently engendered effective language use. Summative language assessment is practised in ways that hold learners responsible for not learning what is not taught or is improperly taught. Thus, since local languages play little or no role in personal advancement, the society is unable to utilize potential manpower sidelined by poor achievement in English language tests. It is therefore now imperative that the examining bodies and curricula designers appraise their philosophies and practice with a view to aligning language teaching and assessment with national development goals and inter...
Journal of Education and Practice, 2014
The much emphasis laid on Continuous Assessment (C.A) in the current system of education in Nigeria has made C.A. to be important in the evaluation of students’ performance and even certification. Teachers give one form of test or the other for the continuous assessment exercise. It is therefore important that teacher-made tests are not just means of gathering grades but evidence capturing device that should be carefully designed to ensure high level of validity and reliability. This study therefore investigated how language teachers in secondary schools in Ekiti State plan, construct administer and score their tests. The research design for the study was the descriptive design of the survey type. The population for the study comprised all language teachers that teach English language, Yoruba language, French language and Arabic language in all the secondary schools in Ekiti State. Eighty respondents out of the population were purposively selected as sample for the study. A self-des...
Journal of Education and Practice, 2015
Given the present-day perspectives of Nigerians to the imperatives of qualitative education in the lives of youths, quite a lot of Nigerians have strongly bemoaned and condemned the recurrent woeful performances of students in Certificate examinations. Many research works have therefore concerned themselves with solving the problems of mass failure in public examinations. This paper, with special focus on improving English language teaching and learning in Secondary schools and improving students’ performances in public examinations, reviewed the problem, and causes, of mass failure in English language as enunciated by scholars and, proposed four radical panaceas – introducing the reading of prose texts to all students; separating English Language and Literature-in-English in the JSCE curriculum; separating the aspects of English Language for teachers and, moving up the teachers as their students move up from class to class – of improving learners’ performances in English language i...
The Power of Tests: The Impact of Language Tests on Teaching and Learning. NFLC Occasional Papers
1993
This ls one in a series of Occasional Papers published by the National Foreign Language Center. The NFLC prints and distributes articles on a wide variety of topics related to foreign language research, education, and policy. The Occasional Papers are intended to serve as a vehicle of communication and a stimulant for discussion among groups concerned with these topic areas. The views expressed in these papers are the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the NFLC or of the Johns Hopkins University.
IMPROVING LEARNER PERFORMANCE IN ENGLISH LANGUAGE EXAMINATIONS IN NIGERIA: SOME RADICAL IMPERATIVES
International Journal of Arts, Culture and Sustainable Development, 2013
As a result of condemnable woeful performances of students in Certificate examinations, quite a large body of research works has devoted attention to tackling the perennial problem of poor academic performances of students in both internal and public examinations. These works have therefore identified a number of causes and proposed solutions to the problem. However, the symptomatic problem of poor academic performances, especially with respect to English language, is still unabated. This paper, therefore, proposed some imperatives separating Literature-in-English from English language in the JSS, making the teachers responsible for their students' performances in examinations, and maintaining discipline in schools for improving learner performances in English language in both internal and public examinations. The paper called on the governments at all levels, ministries of education, educational administrators, private school owners, proprietors and teachers to adopt the proposed radical imperatives for the overall improved performances of students in English language and other school subjects.
Educational Research Review, 2020
The main objective of this research was to study challenges of preparing authentic English language tests in Ethiopian six secondary schools. The focus was to assess current challenges in the preparation of authentic and communicative language tests. To this end, interviews and FGD with English language teachers were made and hence, 61 teachers were taken as the sample for the study from six secondary schools: Arba Minch, Chamo, Konso, Chencha, Gidole and Sawla secondary and preparatory schools using available sampling technique. Finally, the finding of the study shows that teachers have problems in preparing authentic language tests because of six main challenges: Large class size, student’s low motivation, teachers’ language proficiency, the test setting and absence of authentic materials. Key words: Challenges, test, authentic test.
2017
LIST OF FIGURES ……………………………………………………………………………………………………… 1. INTRODUCTION …………………………………………………………………………………………………… 2. REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE: HUMAN RIGHTS FOR THE ABOLITION OF THE LANGUAGE AND CONTENT BARRIERS ……………….………………………..…………………………… 2.1 Introduction ………………………………………………………..………………………………………………… 2.2 The right to receive an education of quality: The negative consequences of the language barrier in academic submersion programmes ……………....……………….……... 2.2.1 An education of quality in Sub-Saharan Africa: An objective still far to reach ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 2.3 Language and cultural identity: Two interrelated essentials in the curricula …………. 2.4 Minority language students in developing countries: An education in their languages and within their cultures ………………………………………………………………………… 2.4.1 Languages in formal education and in tests: A tool for marginalizing ones and empowering others ….……………………………………………………………………..………. 2.5 The Millennium Declaration Goals and Education for All: Objectives and fulfilments 2.6 Summary ………………………………………………………………………………………………………..…….. 3. REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE: INTRODUCTION OF ITM STUDENTS' MOTHER TONGUE IN EDUCATION ….…………………………………………….………………………………………… 8.3 Research question 1b .…………………………………………………………………………………………….
English Language Testing Practices at the Secondary Level: A Case Study from Bangladesh
2021
This chapter presents a research study that investigates the testing practices in English language secondary schools in Bangladesh and their impact on test takers and on education in general. It focuses on the test specifications and test items currently in use and the extent to which the testing practices are aligned to the curriculum objectives. The findings indicate that syllabus content is confused with the curriculum objectives and validity and reliability requirements of test items are flouted. As tests are not aligned to the objectives of the curriculum and valid testing principles are not applied to test design, teachers and learners find alternative ways of coping with the tests, thus spawning practices of teaching to the test, often relying on private tutoring and rote learning. The insights drawn from this study discuss the significance of the washback effect and the impact of testing and the crucial need to develop assessment literacy among teachers, test-setters, and scorers. Assessment literacy would facilitate test designers/users to recognize the consequences of flawed practices that are detrimental to teaching and learning. 32.1 Introduction: Purpose and Testing Context Bangladesh, situated in South Asia, is the world's eighth most densely populated nation occupying an area smaller than Great Britain. With the fall of the British Empire in India in 1947, the region became part of the state of Pakistan from which it eventually seceded in 1971, with language rights playing a major role in its struggle for an autonomous state. With its history of British colonialism, English has been part of the secondary education system of this region, alongside the vernacular language, since the early twentieth century. After independence, however, driven by a heightened sense of