TESTING IN ENGLISH CLASSES IN VOCATIONAL SCHOOLS OF HIGHER EDUCATION

Özet

Abstract

Teaching and testing are both essential parts of a formal education. To see the effectiveness of teaching, one needs to test, and there are various test techniques and many facets to be considered in detail while preparing appropriate tests. However, there are some problems encountered in vocational schools hindering English teachers to use various testing methods such as crowded classes and lack of necessary equipment. This study is an attempt to reveal some of the existing problems related to testing in this respect by taking teacher and student reflections into consideration. The primary aim is to identify English teachers’ views on testing and reveal their implementations though the common existing obstacles of vocational schools. To collect data, an interview developed in the light of the studies in the field, with the help of the negotiations with colleagues and in field observations was applied to 5 randomly selected English teachers studying at two different vocational schools of a university. Besides, as it is necessary to ascertain students’ idea about the test techniques used by English teachers, focus group interviews with randomly chosen student groups were conducted. The results revealed that students mostly want to pass the course, they prefer the techniques that serve this purpose, and learning is generally of the secondary importance. On the other side, it was found that English teachers try to dispel the common belief in testing by trying to apply as many testing techniques as possible though the inadequacies.