The
author, Kim Hyun Sook has worked for the Korean
Education department for 15 years. She recently
obtained her Masters from Monash University
in Australia.
Ms.
Kim is also a lecturer in English to Korean
university students. A further research proposal
(Developing Communicative Competence through
Kagan's Cooperative Learning Structures ) was
chosen for award by the Busan Teachers' Association.
Other
projects include working as a Teacher Trainer
for Korean teachers and assisting in special
project research for the advancement of English
education in Korea. pdf
version
The
types of speaking assessment tasks used by Korean
Junior Secondary school English teachers
Abstract
This
study aimed:
- to identify the types of speaking assessment
tasks used by Korean Junior Secondary School
English teachers and the ways in which those
assessments were administered;
- to investigate Korean teachers' perceptions
of the practical constraints in Korean EFL classrooms
which affect assessment of speaking.
This
study was conducted, using qualitative methods,
with ten Korean Junior Secondary School English
teachers. All ten participants responded to
a questionnaire which asked for opinions on
speaking assessment as well as professional,
educational and personal background. Four of
the ten also participated in an interview with
the researcher to clarify their perceptions
of speaking assessment.
The
study found that the speaking assessment tasks
used by Korean Junior Secondary School English
teachers were those which:
- gave the students less psychological burden;
- were time-saving and designed for the convenience
of construction and administration;
- did not demand the teacher to take the role
of an interviewer.
As
well, the study found that when assessing the
speaking skills of their students, Korean Junior
Secondary School teachers were not concerned
with the validity and reliability of their assessments.
Nor were the teachers equipped with an adequate
theory of speaking assessment. As a consequence,
the teachers had little confidence in conducting
speaking assessment.
The
study revealed the practical constraints of
the Korean context which affected the assessment
of speaking in the EFL. Participants reported
such constraints as large classes and time-consuming,
excessive work in addition to face-to-face classroom
teaching, lack of training in conducting speaking
assessment, lack of effective and efficient
assessment instruments, difficulty in eliciting
students' responses.
The
conclusion is reached that although Korean teachers
need to have assistance and encouragement to
try new ways of communicative assessment in
their EFL classrooms, they need to make themselves
aware of the shift in social and educational
needs and to make conscious and persistent efforts
to introduce more communicative speaking assessment
in spite of practical difficulties. For their
part, educational administrators need to show
greater sensitivity to the teachers' complaints
of excessive workload and to reflect teachers'
points of view in their decision-making.
For
rest of article, please view the PDF file here.
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