Tasks for assessing English written production in relation to A2 level
Abstract
One of the most important elements of General English teaching and learning process is assessment. Currently, assessment is considered an essential part of the New National English Language Strategy, so this study was linked to it.
The research question was: how to design a system of assessment writing tasks in relation to the Common European Framework of References (CEFR) for A2 level from an intercultural view?, and the overall objective: to elaborate a proposal of a system of assessment writing tasks for testing written production in relation to A2 CEFR level from an intercultural view. Different methods and techniques were used, based on a mixed approach.
The scientific novelty is given by the writing assessment tasks, a determinant tool for A2 CEFR level test construction and the corresponding assessment process. The validation of the proposal was assessed through specialists" criteria who fully agreed on its applicability.
Key words: New English Strategy, assessment, system of writing tasks, A2 CEFR level, CEFR
Introduction
With the birth of the Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR) 1 in 2001, the vision of foreign languages teaching and learning process was rethought and reorganized, so a new approach was attained. As a result, a higher importance, not only for teaching and learning but also assessing, was given.
The way of assessing, criterion-based and objectively-marked was assumed by experts as a turning point in the demand for internationally standardized tests.
The urgent need to align and adapt Cuban English language university context to the approach proposed by the CEFR principles of teaching, learning and assessing process, and specifically in the case of the written production, drives us to the following problematic situation:
In the Cuban Higher Education context, English writing tests have been designed to assess students" abilities, but they have lacked a close aligning to the CEFR levels and often, do not possess the standardizing qualities of good testing practices. Therefore, the Cuban Ministry of Higher Education has focused on the development of a New English Strategy2 in order to adapt the Cuban educational context to the CEFR levels.
This situation described above was what moved the researcher to state the following research question: How to assess English written production in relation to A2 CEFR level from an intercultural view?
The overall objective of the current research is:
– To propose a system3 of tasks4 for assessing English written production in relation to A2 CEFR level5 from an intercultural view.
The author determined the following specific objectives:
1- To determine the theoretical-methodological framework that supports the assessment6 of English written production in relation to A2 CEFR level
2- To diagnose the real situation of the assessment of English written production in relation to A2 CEFR level at UCLV
3- To elaborate a proposal of a system of tasks for assessing English written production in relation to A2 CEFR level from an intercultural view UCLV.
4- To assess the validity of the proposal of the system of tasks through experts criteria
The object of study lies on the assessment of English written production in relation to A2 CEFR level in Higher Education. The field of action resides on the assessment of English written production in relation to A2 CEFR level in the 1st year of the Tourism Degree Course at the UCLV.
To carry out this study, the population and the sample were the same. It was made up by a heterogeneous group of 38 undergraduate students majoring in Tourism Degree who fully agreed to be part of the research and which also was of great influence for the researcher. In turn, it was a non-probabilistic and intentional sample.
Besides, a sample of 5 teachers, currently working with 1st year of other majors, was taken.
As a result of the research process, a system of assessment tasks was elaborated, based on a philosophical, psychological, sociological, didactic, linguistic and intercultural view. Its chief features were given by its consistency7, validity, reliability, practicality and authenticity.
So the system was formed by 20 writing assessing tasks aligned to the descriptors corresponding to A2 CEFR level for written production which can be used as a tool for written test construction.
Conclusions
The research process led to:
1-The theoretical-methodological framework that supports the assessment of English written production in relation to A2 CEFR level from an intercultural viewpoint was set up, and allowed the researcher attaining the most suitable theoretical definitions and criteria.
2-The application of methods, techniques and instruments led to the diagnoses of needs according to strengths and weaknesses.
3-A system of tasks was elaborated, and its main features were: consistency, validity, reliability, practicality and authenticity.
4-The elaborated system was assessed through specialists" criteria who fully agreed on its applicability.
Bibliographic References
1- North, B. The Common European Framework in its political and educational context. En: Common European Framework for Languages: teaching, learning and assessment. 1st Ed. Madrid, 2002. p1-8
2- MES (2013) El perfeccionamiento del idioma inglés en las universidades cubanas. Documento para Consejo de Dirección MES Noviembre 2013
3- Saville, N (2012) Applying a model for investigating the impact of language assessment within educational contexts: The Cambridge ESOL approach, Research Notes 50, 4-8
4- North, B. Tasks and their role in language teaching. En: Common European Framework for Languages: teaching, learning and assessment. 1st Ed. Madrid, 2002. p157-168
5- North, B. Common Reference Levels. En: Common European Framework for Languages: teaching, learning and assessment. 1st Ed. Madrid, 2002. p. 21-43
6- David Lambert and David Lines. Key Concepts in Assessment. En: Understanding Assessment. 1st ed. Taylor & Francis e-library, 2001. p.20-33.
7- Alister Cumming. New Directions in testing English Language Proficiency
for university entrance. In: TOEFL 2000 writing framework. A working paper.
Princeton, NJ: Educational Testing Se
Author:
Karell Luis Aragú Pérez, BA