A Survey of English Language Testing Practices in China: Students’ and Teachers’ Perspectives

Author(s):  
Jason Jinsong Fan
2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Dinh Thi Bac Binh ◽  
Dinh Thi Kieu Trinh

The International English Language Testing System (IELTS) is recognized as an accountable tool to assess whether aperson is able to study or train in English. Every year, thousandsof students sit for IELTS. However, the number of those who arerecognized to be capable enough to take a course in English issomehow limited, especially for those who are not major inEnglish at their universities.IELTS Reading is considered as a discerning skill and it is of theequal importance to listening, speaking and writing in obtainingthe objectives of IELTS of band 6 or 6.5. Being teachers of Englishat a training institution, the authors recognize that students canmake time-saving improvements in their reading command undertheir teachers’ insightful guidance.


2021 ◽  
pp. 074171362199151
Author(s):  
Ekaterina Tour ◽  
Edwin Creely ◽  
Peter Waterhouse

A strength-based approach to teaching digital literacies can advance language education for adults from refugee and migrant backgrounds, preparing them for life in a new country. This article draws on a 6-month ethnographic study at an adult English language center in Australia and explores teachers’ perspectives and practices related to teaching digital literacies to understand how prepared they are to employ learners’ own resources. Using sociomaterial theory, this research found that English as an Additional Language (EAL) teachers’ narratives about learners focused on what they lacked rather than what they brought to learning. It also found that while teaching practices utilized some strength-based pedagogical principles, the teachers viewed their work as being deficient. They did not always recognize their agential power nor did they overtly understand that the technology itself afforded this power. The article concludes with implications for EAL practice and professional learning of teachers who work in the adult sector.


2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Abdullah Deyap Arar Alenezi

This study aimed at evaluating the EFL textbook ` Get Ready 1&2` used in the fourth grade of primary school from the perspectives of male and female teachers in Arar city in Saudi Arabia. The textbook was published by Macmillan, and it was specially developed for use within Saudi Arabia’s cultural environment and for both boys’ and girls’ schools. The Ministry of Education has started using this textbook in schools in the current academic year 2013/2014. This study will focus on teachers’ perspectives, and it will be a macro evaluation. The researcher designed a mixed method study by gathering both quantitative and qualitative data. The researcher distributed a close-ended questionnaire consisted of 55 items and nine categories for 30 teachers to gather quantitative data and carried out an interview with five male teachers to gather qualitative data. The study evaluated the textbook in terms of the layout and design, objectives, skills, supplementary materials, topics and content, cultural values, structure and vocabulary, activities and tasks, and teachers’ manual. In general, the findings of the study revealed that teachers were satisfied about the textbook in all of the nine categories with some demerits. The cultural values category got the highest mean score of 4.54 out of 5.00 whereas the skills category got the lowest mean score of 3.47 out of 5.00. In the light of these findings, the researcher reports some recommendations to address the drawbacks of the textbook and other problems that have an impact on properly delivering the textbook.


2019 ◽  
Vol 28 (2) ◽  
pp. 82-95
Author(s):  
Callie Mady

In the Canadian context, although most considerations of the home-target language use divide are centred on the presence of English in French Second Language (FSL) programs, the increasing number of immigrants has provided impetus to extend the discussion to include the use of languages beyond Canada’s official languages.  With the use of questionnaires with novice teachers pre and post Bachelor of Education programs and interviews for three years hence, this study sought to explore novice teachers’ perspectives on the use of languages in the FSL classes that include English language learners (ELL). Novice teachers remained consistent in identifying the need to maximize French use, minimize English use, and include languages from students’ language repertoires as useful means to support the FSL acquisition of ELLs. In addition, the novice teacher participants revealed a preference for ELLs to be included in core French as opposed to immersion programming. 


2014 ◽  
Vol 38 (5) ◽  
pp. 46
Author(s):  
Daniel Dunkley

In this interview Professor Green explains the work of CRELLA (the Centre for Research in English Language Learning and Assessment at the University of Bedfordshire), and its role in the improvement of language testing. The institute contributes to this effort in many ways. For example, in the field of language education they are partners in English Profile (EP: www.englishprofile.org), a collaborative research programme directed towards a graded guide to learner language at different CEFR (Common European Framework of Reference) levels, based on the 50 million word Cambridge Learner Corpus. Among other things, the EP has helped to inform the development of the CEFR-J in Japan. In this interview, Professor Green also outlines his own work, especially in the areas of washback and assessment literacy.


2007 ◽  
Vol 40 (3) ◽  
pp. 268-271

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