Chapter 7. Grammatical accuracy and complexity in a speaking proficiency test

Author(s):  
Anders Agebjörn
Author(s):  
Arifuddin Abdullah ◽  
Rozina Abdul Ghani ◽  
Soo Yin See

This study aims to investigate students’ collocational competence by examining the relationship between the knowledge of lexical collocation among them. The respondents were 30 students of Universiti Malaysia Kelantan (UMK). A lexical collocation test (LCT) was constructed to gauge the knowledge of collocation, while a speaking proficiency test (SPT) adopted from the IELTS was administered to determine the students’ level of speaking proficiency. Both variables were then correlated. The result indicates that there was no significant correlation between the knowledge of collocation and speaking proficiency among the respondents. Based on the findings, it is revealed that exposure to the target language plays a vital role in language acquisition. Exposure to collocations in particular would enable the learners to speak more fluently and sound more native-like.


2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (7) ◽  
pp. 848 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mohamed Ali Mohamed Kassem

The present study used a Hybrid Problem-Based Learning (H-PBL) approach for teaching a Speaking Course to the First-Year students of the English Department at Prince Sattam Bin Abdulaziz University, Saudi Arabia. Previous research has proved the currently inappropriate teaching approaches and the lack of motivation to be the most significant reasons for EFL students' poor speaking proficiency. The lack of motivation is due to the traditional, rigid and tedious teaching techniques adopted in speaking classrooms and partly due to the standardized curriculum of the speaking course where there is no scope for instructors to change their teaching approach or introduce new ideas in the curriculum. The H-PBL approach has been proved to be an effective model for teaching language skills; however, the existing literature still lacks an actual action plan or a methodology to introduce this approach as a pedagogical remedy for motivating EFL students and improving their speaking proficiency. The study addressed this gap by recommending the use of H-PBL approach in EFL speaking classes. The study used a pre-post speaking proficiency test, a students' motivation questionnaire, interviews and observation sheets as data collection tools. Results revealed that the H-PBL approach has a positive effect on improving the students' speaking proficiency, students' motivation significantly increased and, eventually, students tended to be more self-directed and independent. Instructors also applauded the use of H-PBL approach but recommended adapting the curriculum and the teaching strategies to support this approach.


2018 ◽  
Vol 17 (3) ◽  
pp. 286-294
Author(s):  
Chung-Jin Kwon ◽  
◽  
Seok-Jun Lee ◽  
Kum-Hee Kim ◽  
Jong-Woo Choi ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  

2018 ◽  
Vol 2 (01) ◽  
Author(s):  
Besin Gaspar ◽  
Yenny Hartanto

Recently the university students are required by their institutions to have the TOEFL score in the fisrt year or in the last year of their study before graduation. Some other higher institutions require their students to submit TOEIC, not TOEFL, before graduation. Companies, in the recruitment process, require the applicants to submit TOEFL score to show their level of English proficiency. The first question is which one is more appropriate for job applicants in the compay: TOEFL  or TOEIC. Another question for university students before graduation is whether to have TOEFL  in the first year or in the last year before graduation. This article aims at answering the two questions raised. The first part will give an overview of various versions of TOEFL  and  TOEIC  and the second part proposes the appropriate English proficiency test  for the recruitment process for new employees and for the university graduates, that is, TOEIC for the company  and TOEFL  for universities  and  colleges. 


2017 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 147
Author(s):  
Elvina Syahrir

This study was motivated by the low score of the students‘ Indonesian language in national examination that were certainly correlated with the Indonesian language teachers‘ competences. The Indonesian language techers‘ competences can be observed in doing the Indonesian language proficiency test. This study was aimed to determine the Indonesian language teachers‘ capabilities indoing UKBI and to describe about it. The data obtained describe that the Indonesian language teachers of Senior High School (SMA) have the highest scores, then the Indonesian language teachers of Junior High School (SMP), and the last ones were the teachers of elementary school (SD). Moreover, among the Indonesian language techers‘ capabilities of SMA, SMP, and SD in doing UKBI have not shown the significant differences.AbstrakPenelitian ini dilatarbelakangi oleh rendahnya nilai Ujian Nasional (UN) bahasa Indonesia siswa yang tentunya berkorelasi dengan kompetensi guru bahasa Indonesianya. Kompetensi guru bahasa Indonesia dapat terlihat dari Uji Kemahiran Berbahasa Indonesia (UKBI). Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk mengetahui kemampuan guru bahasa dan sastra Indonesia di Pekanbaru dalam menyelesaikan soal UKBI dan untuk mendeskripsikan kemampuan guru dalam menyelesaikan soal UKBI. Dari penganalisisan data diperoleh temuan bahwa nilai rerata UKBI guru SMA memperoleh skor paling tinggi, nilai rerata UKBI guru SMP memperoleh skor sedang, sedangkan nilai rerata UKBI guru SD memperoleh skor paling rendah. Akan tetapi, kemampuan guru bahasa dan sastra Indonesia dari ketiga tingkatan sekolah tersebut (SMA, SMP, SD) dalam menyelesaikan soal UKBI tidak menunjukkan perbedaan yang berarti (tidak signifikan) pada taraf kepercayaan 5 %, hal ini terlihat dari nilai Fhitung lebih kecil dari Ftabel (Fhitung = 0,11 < Ftabel = 4,35)


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