English Language Assessment in the Algerian Middle and Secondary Schools: A Context Evaluation.
Loading...
Date
2011
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Mouloud MAMMERI University of Tizi-Ouzou Faculty of Letters and Humanities
Abstract
The following work tackles the issue of assessment in the Algerian Middle and Secondary
schools. More specifically, it seeks to examine the place of assessment and the way it is
implemented in the Middle School syllabuses and textbooks. Also, two of the Secondary
School course books; that is, Getting Through and New Prospects. In addition, it evaluates
the BEM and the BAC tests to check whether they meet the criteria of a good test and the
corresponding levels of their items in Bloom’s taxonomy. To this end, we have conducted
our research which is a ‘context evaluation’ in the light of the ‘Mastery Learning
Approach’ and ‘Bloom’s Taxonomy’. Accordingly, our study identifies the main
weaknesses and strengths of the aforementioned materials. First, the syllabuses stress the
importance of assessment above all formative assessment. This is a noticeable positive
point. However, we found that the syllabuses do not include comprehensible hints which
show how such formative assessment including self-and peer assessment can be carried out
systematically and effectively, nor do they (syllabuses) include assessment criteria specific
to each year of study, or well-elaborated grading system, etc. As regards the Middle School
textbooks, we have noted that the latter include assessment sections made up of many
activities. This is a good aspect. Nevertheless, the textbooks adopt the three Ps approach
and their assessment activities are designed in a summative way and they often
overemphasise language structures and discrete-point items. Moving to the two Secondary
School textbooks mentioned above, it appears that they merely include assessment grids
with a multiplicity of items to be ticked by the students. Last but not least, the BEM and
the BAC tests are mainly of discrete-point items and they particularly target the lowerorder
skills and they lack reliability and construct validity. Finally, we have tried to include
suggestions that can be used as remediation for the insufficiencies of the materials we
evaluated.
Description
187p.:ill;30cm.(+cd)+appendices
Keywords
Citation
Didactics