Examination of Speaking Test Performance in Structured Group Tasks

2021 ◽  
pp. 221-241
Author(s):  
Elif Tokdemir Demirel ◽  
Zeynep Baser
Keyword(s):  
Test Performance ◽  
Group Discussion ◽  
First Year ◽  
Tertiary Level ◽  
State University ◽  
Test Task ◽  
Speaking Test ◽  
Undergraduate University Students ◽  
Interactional Perspective ◽  
Central Turkey

This chapter explores the use of structured group tasks in the testing of speaking skills in the context of a tertiary level first year speaking course. Participants included undergraduate university students from the department of English translation and interpreting at a state university located in Central Turkey. The structured task used in the study guided students into a group discussion during the speaking exam. The discussions in the exam sessions were video-recorded and transcribed. The transcriptions were analyzed from an interactional perspective. The students were also given an open-ended questionnaire to reveal their opinions about the ins and outs of the speaking test task tried out in the study. The questionnaire consisted of two parts. The first part required students to fill out their demographic information, and the second part inquired students' opinions about the group speaking task. The results of the analysis and questionnaire responses revealed additional opportunities provided by the use of structured tasks in speaking exams.

scholarly journals INSIGHTS ON TEACHING CHESS TO UNDERGRADUATE UNIVERSITY STUDENTS

2021 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
William Bart
Keyword(s):  
University Students ◽  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Critical Evaluation ◽  
Thinking Skills ◽  
First Year ◽  
State University ◽  
Correct Usage ◽  
Undergraduate University Students ◽  
The Usa ◽  
Computer Based

The purpose of this study was to explore how undergraduate university students react to chess instruction. Certain patterns emerged from 10 offerings of a Freshman Seminar entitled “Beginners’ Chess and 21st Century Thinking Skills”. The course enrolled only first-year and second-year undergraduate students at a large public state university in the USA. The students tended to have little or no knowledge of chess prior to the course. The course made extensive use of chess-related websites available on the Internet such as chess.com, lichess.org, and chessgames.com. The instruction involved the projection of a chess-related website projected onto a large classroom screen with the use of an instructor’s computer connected to a projector that projected the computer-based image onto the screen. The course had 10-20 students in each annual offering of the course that lasted 15 weeks. The student evaluations of the course were very positive, indicating that the students enjoyed the course very much. The course involved instruction in chess on topics such as tactics and basic checkmates along with instruction on the cognitive psychological foundations of chess on topics such as problem solving and critical thinking. The primary task in the course was that each student had to prepare a critical evaluation of two of their own chess games that included correct usage of proper algebraic notation for the chess moves. The chess activity that the students enjoyed the most was group competition.

scholarly journals TESTING STUDENTS' KNOWLEDGE IN LABORATORY CLASSES ON THE COURSE "ZOOLOGY", SECTION "INVERTEBRATE"

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
A.V. Ryzhaya ◽  
◽  
E.I. Glyakovskaya ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Correct Answer ◽  
Current Control ◽  
Educational Material ◽  
First Year ◽  
State University ◽  
First Year Students ◽  
Test Form ◽  
Test Control ◽  
Invertebrate Zoology

In laboratory classes on invertebrate zoology for first-year students of the Biology and Ecology Faculty of the Y. Kupala Grodno State University current control of knowledge in a test form is carried out. The number of questions in the task is 11–20, 5– 10 minutes for execution are allotted, one, two or more correct answers are selected from the proposed options. For each correct answer, a point is set; for erroneous answers, penalty points are entered. The regular use of test control increased the level of students' assimilation of educational material and optimized the current control of knowledge.

scholarly journals REGIONAL FEATURES OF THE MORPHOFUNCTIONAL DEVELOPMENT OF STUDENTS OF KAZAKH NATIONALITY

2019 ◽  
Vol 98 (4) ◽  
pp. 449-454
Author(s):  
Saule M. Bazarbaeva ◽  
A. S. Dinmukhamedova ◽  
R. I. Aizman
Keyword(s):  
Body Weight ◽  
Physical Health ◽  
Physical Development ◽  
Southern Region ◽  
Chest Circumference ◽  
First Year ◽  
State University ◽  
Adaptive Potential ◽  
The Republic ◽  
Functional Indices

Aim. To study the features of the morphofunctional development of the Kazakh nationals of the first year of the M. Kozybaev North Kazakhstan State University arrived for training from the northern and southern regions of Kazakhstan with the goal of developing preventive measures to reduce the adaptive stress to university education. Material and methods. The study involved 400 first-year students 17-18 years old, of both genders, studying at different faculties of the M. Kozybaev North Kazakhstan State University (200 girls and 200 boys) who arrived from the northern and southern regions of the republic. Standard methods of determining anthropometric and functional indices, estimating the adaptive potential and the level of physical health were used. The resulting material is processed by the methods of ANOVA statistical methods. Results. Indices of physical development (length, body weight, chest circumference, Quetelet, Pinje and stenius indices) were shown to be within the age-gender norms, but a comparative assessment of physical health of students showed significant differences in the anthropometric and physiological state depending on the previous area of residence. Thus, the length of growth in northerners was higher than that of southerners. The indices of body weight, chest circumference, and the Quetelet index are higher in representatives of the southern regions. By the type of body build, among the girls and boys hypersthenics predominated in the southern region, normostenics - in the northern region. At the same time, with an increase in the constitution, the absolute and relative values of force indices and the vital index increased. At the same time, students in the southern region had a lower functional reserve of the heart, determined by the magnitude of the double product, the heart rate, and blood pressure. For students of the northerners of both genders, satisfactory adaptation (1st “level of health”) is typical, whereas representatives of the Southern Region had a lower level of adaptive potential, which corresponded to the state of exertion of adaptation mechanisms. Conclusion. Comparative evaluation of morpho-functional indices of the body of students of adolescence revealed features of body size, type of constitution, functional reserves of the cardiorespiratory system depending on the previous region of residence. The data obtained can be used to compile standards for the physical development of young people of different regions of the republic and the development of health programs to reduce adaptive stress.

scholarly journals Examining Saudi EFL University Students’ Readiness for Online Learning at the Onset of Covid-19 Pandemic

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elham Abdullah Ghobain ◽  
Abdullah Ahmed Zughaibi
Keyword(s):  
Online Learning ◽  
Online Education ◽  
University Students ◽  
Learning Outcomes ◽  
English Learners ◽  
Test Performance ◽  
First Year ◽  
English Major ◽  
Males And Females ◽  
First Year University

Nowadays, especially after the COVID-19 crisis lockdown, the heavy reliance on technology and online platforms led to a greater expectation of more learning autonomy among English learners in EFL contexts such as Saudi Arabia. The sudden shift to online learning requires an investigation into students’ readiness and willingness for such a mode of learning. This can provide educators with many prospects about learning outcomes achievement and assessment, test performance, and interaction during classes. Therefore, the current study seeks to contribute to the well-known area of learner autonomy research, which is still lacking in the context of the study, by exploring the readiness of Saudi first-year undergraduate English learners towards online education. Participants’ level of readiness is identified according to their autonomous behaviors and activities. The study will also assess the investigated concept considering the influence of gender and field of study of the participants on their autonomy levels. A total of 802 students participated in this study. It was found that Saudi first-year university students are moderately autonomous, that both males and females have similar levels of aptitude and readiness for taking responsibility for their learning, and that English-major and non-English-major groups showed comparatively similar levels across different learning autonomy dimensions. Yet interestingly, English-major participants displayed a relatively lower autonomy level than students of other majors.

scholarly journals Features of Adaptation of Non-Resident Students to the University Learning Environment

2020 ◽  
pp. 53-58
Author(s):  
Olga Viktorovna Bodenova ◽  
Lyudmila Pavlovna Vlasova
Keyword(s):  
Well Being ◽  
First Year ◽  
Adaptation Period ◽  
Subjective Well Being ◽  
State University ◽  
Student Survey ◽  
First Year Students ◽  
Resident Students ◽  
New Type ◽  
The University

The article is devoted to the overview of one of the most current problems that arise in the process of supporting the adaptation of students. The paper reveals the content of the adaptation process, its content and procedural characteristics, describes the types and stages, and directions of diagnostics. The aim of the work is to identify the features of adaptation in first-year students, including the description of the specifics of difficulties of non-resident students’ adaption. The study was conducted at the Institute of Pedagogy and Psychology “Petrozavodsk State University” with first-year students studying in the fields of education 44.03.02 Psychological and pedagogical education, 44.03.01. Pedagogical education, 44.03.03 Special (defectologic) education. The following methods were used to test the hypothesis: «I am a student» survey, «Scale of subjective well-being» method, analysis of documents (medical records of students), quantitative and qualitative analysis. The results of the study. Analysis of the results of the study showed that non-resident students have both general and specific difficulties of adaptation due to the breakdown of previous family and friendships, lack of emotional support, difficult living conditions, a new neighborhood, a new type of settlement, etc. The obtained results are used for development and implementation of measures to support students during the adaptation period.

scholarly journals Enhancing Students’ Speaking Ability Through Small Group Discussion Technique to the Firts Year Students of SMA Negeri 1 Ratahan

2019 ◽  
Vol Volume 2 Nomor 3 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Small Group ◽  
Group Discussion ◽  
Small Group Discussion ◽  
First Year ◽  
English Teacher ◽  
First Year Students ◽  
Post Test ◽  
Speaking Skill ◽  
The Mean

This research in intended to find out the effectiveness of small group discussion technique in improving the students’s speaking ability. It was conducted at SMA Negeri 1 Ratahan in which one class of the first-year students of the school was the sample. The data of the research were obtained by using test in the form of pre-test and post-test. The result showed that the scores of the post-test were higher than that of the pre-test. The mean of the post-test is 8.2 and the mean of the pre-test is 6.7. Teaching speaking skill by using small group discussion technique can improve the students’ ability in speaking. Small group discussion technique can give the students opportunity to practice their language. In small group discussion, they can express their ideas and thought freely. It will be better for English teacher to vary the techniques of teaching to avoid boredom that might appear to the students.

Transferring Literacy and Subject Knowledge Between Disparate Educational Systems

10.47908/12/6 ◽  
2020 ◽  
pp. 118-148
Author(s):  
Meredith Stephens
Keyword(s):  
High School ◽  
School Curriculum ◽  
Third Culture Kids ◽  
Educational Systems ◽  
First Year ◽  
Tertiary Level ◽  
Educational Choice ◽  
Third Culture ◽  
Subject Knowledge ◽  
Japanese Schools

This is a retrospective longitudinal study of the education of two Australian third culture kids who attended local Japanese schools from preschool to the first year of high school. This is a postmodern account, set in the 21st century, of transition to a radically different educational system. Many postmodern accounts describe obtaining an education in a new country due to migration in order to escape persecution (e.g. Antin, 1997; Hoffman, 1989). In contrast, the current study explores an alternative educational choice made by parents who had relocated to a remote region of Japan for employment. The choice to educate their children locally was due to both an interest in and respect for the local culture, as well as convenience. This account concerns their daughters’ experience of the Japanese public school curriculum from the first year of primary school to the first year of high school, and how this equipped them for the final two years of high school and beyond. In particular, it addresses the ways in which they viewed their learning in Years 11 and 12, and at the tertiary level in Australia, to have been influenced by their experiences of the Japanese curriculum.

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