Introduction The IELTS test is designed to assess students’ competence in English language in an integrated skills; reading, speaking, writing and listening. It is an obligatory exam for registration in many universities as well as it is a certificate to raise their luck in gaining a job. The listening test is particularly aimed at measuring the ability of students understanding of English. In most cases Universities offer preparation course for the students to develop their skills further, in order to prepare them, the exam centres are well equipped with computers, microphones and other recording devices. This paper will accentuate on evaluating an IELTS listening test in relation to its reliability, validity, authenticity, instructiveness, fairness, impact and wash back. The particular test to be evaluated was taken from IELTS official practice material updated in March 2009. Background: The IELTS Test This test was developed in correspondence with the increased need for competitive skills in English language. It is mostly taken by those who need to certify their level of English proficiency for reasons such as education, vocation and immigration. Quoting the IELTS Handbook (2006:4) Green (2007) claims that the test tests the language ability of candidates who may need to study or work in countries where English is the language of communication. The test generally measures a person’s ability to communicate in English across several skills including Listening on which this paper will focus on. The IELTS is developed and conveyed through the partnership of the British council, IDP Education Australia and the University of Cambridge. It is administered in a number of centres operating in different countries worldwide. Most... ... middle of paper ... ...n Student Attitudes about Cooperation and Competition and Attitudes toward Schooling. Journal of Educational Psychology, 68(1), 92-102. Rosini B. A. (2010). The Effects of Cooperative Learning Methods on Achievement, Retention, and Attitudes of Home Economics Students in North Carolina. Journal of Vocational and Technical Education. Volume 13, (2) 33-67. The British council. (2011) The International English Language Testing Service. Retrieved from http://www.britishcouncil.org Volery, T. & Lord D. (2003). Critical success factors in online education. International Journal of Educational Management. Vol 14 (5) 216-223. Weir, C.J. (2005). Language Testing and Validation. Basingstoke: Palgrave. Wu, Y. (2008). Experimental Study on Effect of Different Mathematical Teaching Methodologies on Students’ Performance. Journal of Mathematics Studies. Vol 1(1) 164-171.
“More than half of public school students in New York City failed their English exams,” (Medina). There are so many students that are continuously failing these exams and being held back from the next grade level or from graduating high school. These exams are doing more harm than good since students are failing to actually learn information. The students are so worried about passing the exams that they just try to re...
Slavin, R.(1980). Cooperative Learning. Review of Educational Research, 50(2), 315-342. Retrieved May 8, 2014 from the Wilson Web database.
In the past,large scale and standardized testing organizations have implemented language assessments aimed to assess the English language proficiency of students aiming to study in higher education.These high stake tests play a vital role when decisions made on individual performance and its outcome is considered as a diagnosis of the test takers’ ability.Among these performance, the International English Language Testing System ( IELTS) writing score is considered by most universities a benchmark against learners success in higher education.This has increase the concern of non-native (NNS) raters reliability and their consistency in rating scores in countries these tests are adopted. Although these NNS raters are not qualified as IELTS examiners,they are occupying IELTS preparation language classes in these countries. As a wash back to the assessment,the curriculum of such courses is shaped by how the raters perceive the assessment criteria.
Caruso, C. (2008). Bringing Online Learning to Life. Educational Leadership, 65(8) 70. Retrieved from EBSCOhost.
The ability to test a student’s language skills is essential to have as a teacher. Over the years, classrooms have become much more diverse with a wide variety of impairments being presented on a daily basis. Often, these disabilities contain a language impairment that appears as a side effect of the main disability. Unfortunately, assessing language is not as easy as one may think because it is not clearly defined and understood. Kuder (2008) writes that “…language is not a unitary phenomenon- it is ‘multidimensional, complex, and dynamic; it involves many interrelated processes and abilities; and it changes from situation to situation” (pg. 274). Language also develops at different times for different individuals, thus making language assessment an even harder task for test administrators to grade and evaluate. In order to further understand the language impairment that students present, teachers need to be aware of appropriate language tests that could be administered. In order to assure that the best language test is being issued to a student, several various tests exist to choose from. To test a student’s overall language capability, a comprehensive language test, such as the Comprehensive Assessment of Spoken Language (CASL) or the Oral and Written Language Scales (OWLS), could be administered. If a teacher wanted to test a specific language skill such as pragmatics, phonology, syntax, or semantics, the teacher would need to find the best test for the student’s unique situation.
Menchaca, Michael P., and Teklu Abate Bekele. "Learner and Instructor Identified Success Factors in Distance Education." Distance Education 29.3 (2008): 231-52. ProQuest Research Library. Web. 25 Apr. 2012.
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Listening is an important skill to develop in the language learners because they need it to obtain information, to learn and to communicate, etc. However, learning listening is the most difficult skill for English learners, especially non-major students. In fact, some major students or some non-major students even have been studying English for a long time but they cannot over the hindrance of listening part in the test. The questions why students found learning listening is difficult and what problems they can meet when they listen to English. Underwood (1989 cited by Chen, 2005) gave some problems were:
Towers, J., Martin, L., & Pirie, S. (2000). Growing mathematical understanding: Layered observations. In M.L. Fernandez (Ed.), Proceedings of the Annual Meetings of North American Chapter of the International Group for the Psychology of Mathematics Education, Tucson, AZ, 225-230.
Online education is a booming trend in the education world. It is something different than the traditional classroom. It is allowing student around the world the opportunity to get an education. Online education allows student to have a more proficient and cheaper way of learning. Having multiple ways to give a student an education allows all learning types to find their own way of learning. Education changes lives but it can be difficult for students to get to a classroom to sit through an hour class 4 times a week, this can be for many different reasons. There are many doubts about online education, but this a new world without borders it is a new opportunity for people from all over the world to get an education.
Research for the cooperative learning structure has demonstrated that it can really enhance a student’s achievement, attitude towards learning, and the atmosphere where learning takes place. According to Akinbobola, “Cooperative learning is a mode of learning in which students work in small groups to achieve a purpose. Here there is an emphasis on the importance of group work, students in a group help each other in learning the content, but achievement is judged individually” (2009, p.2). The cooperative learning structure encourages students to
Scarnati, J. T. (2001). Cooperative learning: make groupwork work. New Directions for Teaching and Learning, 67(Fall), 71-82.
In independent tasks, students answer assessment questions on the topics known. They are judged on their capacity to interact immediately and deliver their ideas clearly. In integrated tasks, students are made to read a short paragraph, listen to an academic course and reply a question by gathering appropriate information from the text and the talk. In the two remaining integrated tasks, students listen to an academic lecture and then reply to a question. In the integrated tasks, students are judged on their capacity to correctly fuse and efficiently deliver information from the reading and listening. Student might take notes while reading and listening and these notes can further help to make the replies. A short preparation time is given to the students before they have to start speaking. The replies are then diagonally recorded, then sent to ETS and checked by 3-6
People have a lot of options in educating themselves online in today’s time and technology. Online education has improved a lot in the past twenty years. Even though it has had its setbacks, it continues to show promising results. Online education has many benefits with little to no disadvantages. It provides flexibility in scheduling and offers various options in educational online programs. In the past decade, education has evolved into a more technological-driven world.
English as a foreign language is so extensive language and it includes some rules and skills that a student have to know to understand specific formula of English. So, for most of EFL learners, it can be thought that English exams are very hard to pass and take a high notes. Since learners cope with this important problem, teachers of English should take some responsibility on themselves in terms of teaching exam tecniques. Firstly, they can start to teach of the four skills such as speaking, listening, reading, and writing. They should have consciousness about how to be successful exams teacher and know how to balance testing and teaching in an English exams. Then teachers should plan a course cohererently and determine the kinds of