Филологические науки/5.Методы и приемы контроля уровня владения иностранным языком.

N. KOVALSKA, N. PRISYAZHNYUK

National Technical University of Ukraine “KPI”

TESTING: ASSESSMENT OR EVALUATION

This article gives the lecturers the opportunity to implement testing in their own teaching adapting it to their own contexts. We cannot neglect research and experimentation to understand the nature of foreign language as we are linguists. But we also have to understand the nature of the students and their abilities to develop and use their competences that can be a sign of their growing maturity. The language program has to take into account the cognitive and social needs of the students and arouse in the students willingness and need or reason to take tests.

The significance of testing methodology for evaluating students’ acquisition of the target foreign language has been proved. Tests are expected to be developed for the foreseeable future. It becomes essential that testing practices in English language teaching are dynamic and changing. We have tried various techniques for evaluating our own teaching and student learning through student feedback. Now we have to move on to alternative testing forms:

- authentic assessment,

- performance assessment,

- portfolio assessment (including diversity, originality and self-confidence),

- assessment of oral language, reading, writing and content.

All the mentioned above assessments will be useful along the way to monitor the students’ progress. These assessments can be regarded as opportunities to provide meaningful feedback to the students concerning their learning. We should see it as a rule: the better the feedback to the students, the better their final performance will be. So matching the assessments to the goals means taking into consideration that final communication situation should be at the stage of lesson (unit) planning. In our case we start with placement tests that sort the new students into teaching groups so that they are approximately the same level as others when they start their university life at the faculty of linguistics. In all classrooms tests take the form of progress tests. We also offer students to take diagnostic tests to identify specific weaknesses and/or difficulties on the basis of which an appropriate so called remedial program can be developed.

The communication strategy of the faculty of linguistics, National Technical University of Ukraine “KPI” is entirely guided by principle of adaptation: adaptation to the university’s curriculum, adaptation also to the expectations of its target public (students) and to changes in the sphere of education, and lastly, adaptation to its limited internal resources. In the last two decades we notice such recurring themes as the meaning of linguistic competence and the testing methods effectiveness within credit-based modular curriculum system. There is no argument over the fact that current language teaching methodology views communicative competence as the primary language learning objective. Today the term is subdivided into :

- linguistic competence,

- sociolinguistic competence,

- discourse competence,

- strategic competence.

By using the framework students become familiar with the testing methodology, task types, question formats and style of the test papers and develop flexibility in their learning styles. The students are given a lot of opportunities to have timed and what is more, realistic exam practice they need to succeed in their exam.

It has been stressed that there are two main goals of testing:

- to provide feedback during the process of acquiring language proficiency;

- to assign a score/grade.

The lecturers interviewed and discussed with the students on the use of tests/tests materials. It is explained to students in order to motivate them why their lecturers believe that the testing methodology is valuable and logic to them. After being advised, most of the students have improved their awareness on tests and lecturers agreed to implement test activities in their classrooms. The lecturer here is central to the classroom to communicate the teaching approach with clear guidelines on what is expected on their students. Testing process is to be initially modeled by the lecturer to enable the students to cope with the tests confidently. All stated above gives the students an idea of purpose and insights into the lecturer’s intention and attitude which are very crucial for the achieving high test grades/ scores.

Some students can become paralyzed by negative feelings and emotions (tension/ uneasiness and problem of test anxiety/ language anxiety) the very moment they are given the test. As a result, some students suffer stress and breakdowns. In this case quite a lot depends on the lecturer’s manner of conducting classes. We should demonstrate openness to change especially during the process of error correction to make students feel secure by:

- understanding that a test is not a shock, but an opportunity;

- explicit strategy instruction and provision of guidance in developing competent learners;

- demonstration of the lecturer’s preparedness to respond to students;

- explicit error correction;

- self-correction/assessment.

The latter technique has to be currently used as it gives the students another opportunity to show that they are capable of self- correction. There is always room for peer correction and assessment. After the self-correction students can be suggested to compare the correction and grade/percentage correct score with the lecturers/ peer ones. Discussion of the results and especially differences is a must. Students are advised to record their progress in the development of their skills/competences and encouraging, stimulating, motivating factors. Students’ participation in the criteria development, correction depends upon their performance and objectives; it can be encouraged if it is planned and arranged to make testing as a kind of learning stress-free. Communication of the evaluation/ assessment also gives students a sense of their progress indicating where and what to improve.

It is necessary to point out that we do not pretend to have solved all problems related to the testing but established a reasonable standard among lecturers encouraging their creativity and uniqueness in the class. We simply hope to have provided some help in organizing students’ participation in the testing as a positive feedback and encouragement of a real sense of optimism about a successful result of maximized learning.

REFERENCES:

1. Загальноєвропейські Рекомендації з мовної освіти: вивчення, викладання, оцінювання / Науковий редактор українського видання доктор пед. наук, проф. С.Ю.Ніколаєва, - К., Ленвіт, 2003. – 273с.

2. Шматок Т.Г. Тестовий контроль як засіб оптимізації навчального процесу. / Т.Г.Шматок, О.В.Маркова, Н.В.Ковальська. – Наука. Релігія. Суспільство. №3’2004 С. 252-254

3. Norris, J. 2000. Purposeful Language Assessment. Selecting the Right Alternative Test/ English Teaching Forum. Vol.38 No.1, P.18-23