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21ASSESSING STUDENTS' ENGLiSH LANGUAGE SKILLS iN HiGHER EDUCATION
FARiDA HUSEYNOVA
Head specialist of Continuous Development and Innovation center Azerbaijan State Pedagogical University, Doctor of Philosophy in Pedagogy ORCID ID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0250-3467
Abstract
The research article presents the problem of assessment of students' language skills in higher education. Recently, language skill assessment has been a widely discussed topic in applied linguistics. The article aims to investigate the use of modern approaches in assessing English language knowledge and skills in higher education. The study focuses on exploring the challenges in language assessment at the university. The article reviews the main approaches to testing language skills, taking into account the importance of evaluating English language skills in higher education based on objective and reliable principles. The article explains norm-based assessment of English in higher education using various theoretical considerations, and it interprets students' attitudes. According to observations, the traditional assessment model is isolated in English teaching and does not meet students' interests and analytical assessment of language assignments at the university level.
The article provides several English evaluation recommendations. The language teachers provide extensive information on the importance of developing evaluation scales and rubrics for achieving quality English language teaching at the university level.
Surveys, semi-structured questionnaires, and test questions were used to gather data. The findings indicate that language teachers have a range of challenges when it comes to assessment. Numerous factors, such as practicality, students' fear, exam design, administrative needs, and teachers' professional obligations, might be blamedfor these challenges. Teachers employ a range of techniques to address issues and challenges that have a negative impact on language evaluation.
Keywords: higher education, language skills, criteria based assessment, evaluating
Резюме
В научной статье представлена проблема оценивания языковых навыков студентов высшей школы. В последнее время оценка языковых навыков стала широко обсуждаемой темой в прикладной лингвистике. Статья направлена на исследование использования современных подходов в оценке знаний и навыков английского языка в высшей школе. Исследование сосредоточено на изучении проблем языковой оценки в университете. В статье рассматриваются основные подходы к тестированию языковых навыков с учетом важности оценки владения английским языком в высшей школе на основе объективных и надежных принципов. В статье с использованием различных теоретических соображений объясняется нормативное оценивание английского языка в высшей школе, а также интерпретируется отношение студентов. По наблюдениям, традиционная модель оценивания изолирована в обучении английскому языку и не отвечает интересам студентов и аналитическому оцениванию языковых заданий на уровне вуза.
В статье приведены несколько рекомендаций по оценке английского языка. Преподаватели иностранных языков предоставляют обширную информацию о важности разработки оценочных шкал и рубрик для достижения качественного преподавания английского языка на университетском уровне.
Для сбора данных использовались опросы, полуструктурированные анкеты и тестовые вопросы. Полученные данные показывают, что преподаватели иностранных языков сталкиваются с целым рядом проблем, когда дело доходит до оценивания. В этих проблемах можно винить множество факторов, таких как практичность, страх студентов, дизайн
ОФ "Международный научно-исследовательский центр "Endless Light in Science"
экзамена, административные потребности и профессиональные обязанности учителей. Учителя используют ряд методов для решения вопросов и проблем, которые негативно сказываются на языковой оценке.
Ключевые слова: высшее образование, языковые навыки, критериальное оценивание, оценивание.
1. Introduction.
1.1. Assessment of English language skills
Language skill assessment has evolved into an important component of improving teaching quality. Furthermore, evaluating language learning identifies students' strengths and weaknesses. Recently different approaches in assessing language skills determine the conceptualizing assessment process , analyse practiced and exploited assessment tools in language education. Assessment helps students develop skills such as effective listening, oral and written communication, and a brief interpretation of reading texts in English. Recent literature and various scientific studies have investigated the selection of appropriate scoring scales for language assessment in various teaching contexts.
The systematic process of evaluating English proficiency in higher education is focused on gathering data regarding language use in learning environments. These data are technology that are used to forecast how well students will speak in real-world settings (Green, 2014; McNamara, 2004). Taking into account the importance of the assessment of English language knowledge and skills in higher education, the article considers a number of approaches in evaluating the English language knowledge and skills. Moreover, Bachman (2004), Hughes, (2010) stated that language assessment as a systematic process of gathering all information about students' language abilities. In the other hand, the information of students' language level can be collected from variety of sources, such as multiple choices items, essays, observation, portfolio, oral interview and academic writing. Hence, the main purpose of language assessment is to depict the processes as well as outcomes of teaching and learning and to inform decisions about promotion.
Language assessment, according to Bachman (2004), is a process of gathering information about the comprehensive acquisition of language skills. Language skills activities that can be used in the assessment process include listening and speaking exercises, reading assignments, multiple-choice tests, essays, portfolios, oral interviews, observation, and introspection. As a result, the primary goal of language assessment is to inform decisions about teaching and learning processes and to describe outcomes (Hughes, 201).
1.2. Problem statement.
Language assessment is recognized as critical for successful language learning by learners and teachers worldwide. Teachers in Azerbaijan have little experience with assessment at the higher education level. On a daily basis, they use formative assessment methods ineffectively. Teachers believe that norm-based assessment is more important than daily assessment. Their previous experience has been limited to studying theoretical information and taking multiple-choice tests based on questions designed for upcoming exams. According to Coombe (2009), if tests result in sequential decisions, then teachers' teaching and learning practices are limited to the content of previous test papers, re-application of previous tests, and testing item training for students. Exams have a similar effect, according to pedagogical experiences in teaching English.
Other issues with students include a lack of motivation, a lack of self-confidence, and focus on exams. According to teachers, most undergraduates have poor skills in the practical acquisition of English. Additionally, learners' lack of confidence in the assessment and fear of speaking in a second language is constant. In addition, students are evaluated on their command of the English language, their interpretation of texts with short answers, and their knowledge of vocabulary. In this setting, students concentrate on collecting grades, resulting in no activity for formative assessment approaches.
1.3. Assessment of English language skills
Recent literature and scientific studies have investigated the most effective scoring scales for language assessment in various teaching contexts. Driving new approaches in evaluating language skills is a significant point that assessment that affects on language learning and boosts teachers to designe useful assessment tools. The article considers a variety of approaches in light of the importance of assessing English language knowledge and skills in higher education institutions. The article discusses the impact of the differences between norm- and criterion-based assessment on quality, as well as the assessment techniques that students prefer (Coombe, Troudi and Al-Hamly,2012).
It explains how university foreign language teachers select language tasks in the analytical evaluation of language skills based on criteria. The article makes several recommendations for language teachers and emphasizes the importance of developing assessment scales to ensure quality assessment at the university level.
a) Ongoing assessment. To ensure each student's success, continuous English language proficiency assessment is required throughout the year. The English language learner is acquiring the expected language skills and knowledge, as well as his or her own personal abilities and circumstances. English proficiency can be determined using the benchmarks. Language proficiency levels of students were assessed at various points during the school year and can be compared to previous results to determine how well the English language learner is progressing.
b) Assessing Listening skills.
Listening is usually assessed through integrated activities. However, there are times when particular listening tasks are appropriate for measurable outcomes in formal exams. The following assessment techniques can be used to assess reading skills: multiple choice, true/false, and matching exercises, gap filling, short answers to questions, task orders, and integrated tasks are all examples of gap filling. In the same way, designing listening tasks through reading skills, one should focus primarily on the audio's subject that should reflect the academic interests of the students.
c) Assessing speaking skills
In modern English language teaching methodologies, the latest literature emphasizes the importance of speaking ability. Assessing learning progress should be as important as practicing and assessing speaking skills. There is a lot of interest in oral testing at the university. Furthermore, assessing speaking skills is a significant stage in the early stages of studying. To alleviate the burden of traditional language testing oral tests, they should be considered in their cognitive skills. (Butler 2010). The language instructor must carefully select input. They must choose them in such a way that the subject is relevant for the general purpose of the topic, and it should simultaneously be encouraged debate, discussion, and tasks which may be difficult to achieve with essential topics.
d) Assessing reading skills
The practice of reading skills in the context of teaching foreign languages to students has much in common with the content language integrated learning (CLIL) approach.
The common point is that assessing reading skills students should be evaluated by predicting information, participating in questioning, visualizing events, and summarizing briefly. Given the specialized aspect of reading material, assessment practices should include a series of tasks that should make it impossible for students to know the answer from previous knowledge, without reading the text. Bearing this in mind, the instructor may design the classical indirect items to check to understand: multiple choice, true/false, matching tasks, gap fill, short answers questions, ordering tasks, integrated tasks.
e) Assessing writing skilss
Bachman (2004) states that the provision of sufficient input and the specification of aim and audience are crucial for a correct evaluation of writing abilities. The input must be relevant to the
students' interests, have a real-world application, and stimulate their vocabulary by using certain terms. The input is frequently visual, especially when it comes to technical English: a graph, a scheme, a diagram, a table, a drawing, or a pie chart. The writing task's aim and audience must be clearly stated in order for the teacher to facilitate assessment. This information helps students choose the appropriate register and terminology (Perera-Diltz & Moe, 2014).
f) Reporting. The current language proficiency level of an English language learner should be assessed at regular reporting intervals communicated for each strand (listening, speaking, reading, and writing), demonstrating the languageThe level of proficiency at which the student is currently working. It is also necessary to demonstrate how curriculum works (East, M. 2015).
Conclusion
Thus, although the evaluation of the English language in higher education is applied with certain problems, there are ways to effectively organize this process in the methodology of the English language. The dynamic assessment of students' language skills realizes the application of formative assessment methods. The article describes the practical basis of evaluation and proves the necessity of applying various effective techniques. For this purpose, the article can be effective for both teachers and students.
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