TESTING IN ENGLISH CLASSES IN VOCATIONAL SCHOOLS OF HIGHER EDUCATION

Year 2016, Volume: 6 Issue: 1, 38 - 47, 31.05.2016

Derya Tuzcu Eken

Abstract

Teaching and
testing are both essential parts of a formal education. To see the effectiveness of teaching, one needs to test, and there are various test techniques and many facets to be considered in detail
while preparing appropriate tests. However, there are some problems encountered
in vocational schools hindering English teachers to use various testing methods
such as crowded classes and lack of necessary equipment. This study is an
attempt to reveal some of the existing problems related to testing in this
respect by taking teacher and student reflections into consideration. The primary aim is to identify English
teachers’ views on testing and reveal their implementations though the common
existing obstacles of vocational schools. To
collect data, an interview developed in the light of the studies in the
field, with the help of the negotiations with colleagues and in field
observations was applied to 5 randomly
selected English teachers studying at two different vocational schools of a
university. Besides, as it is necessary to ascertain students’ idea about the
test techniques used by English teachers, focus group interviews with randomly
chosen student groups were conducted. The
results revealed that students mostly want to pass the course, they prefer the techniques that serve this purpose, and
learning is generally of the secondary importance. On the other side, it was
found that English teachers try to dispel the common belief in testing by
trying to apply as many testing techniques as possible though the inadequacies.

Keywords

Vocational school, Foreign Language, Testing, Test techniques, Teacher-student reflections

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