HBET 4503 TESTING AND EVALUATION IN ESL CONTEXT

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PREPARED BY : C.SURIAKALA A/P C.CHEVALINGAM MATRIX NO: 771111086114001

TUTOR:

Table of Contents

1.0 Interview

2.0 Task 1: Designing a language task

3.0 Task 2 : Essay

1.0

Interview 1

A Malaysian teacher who has been teaching for 9 years in various learning institutions and currently attached to a private school teaching English to Form 1 & 2 students.

Interviewer : Is English your first language? Teacher 1 : Being an Indian and saying Yes to your question is quite a funny situation because most Indians starts speaking using Tamil or any other Tamil dialects but from the day I started speaking with my parents till today, that means about 29 years now, I have only used English. Therefore, I can strongly say that yes, English has been my first language, Bahasa Melayu second and Tamil the third.

Interviewer : Do you and your family members use British English pronunciation in your daily conversation? Teacher 1 : No. We use standard English, trying as much as possible to avoid using lah at any time. Moreover, we use quite a number of proverbs and pseudonyms in our conversation.

Interviewer : How long have you been teaching English as a Second Language in Malaysian schools? Teacher 1 : Around 9 years now.

Interviewer : What is the issue with our Malaysian students in acquiring and comprehending a second language (English)? Teacher 1 : Well, lets look at the initial factor in acquiring and comprehending a second language which is their location, socio-economic-status and interest in learning the language. However, I cannot deny the fact that there are many students in the

urban area who are not able to use correct English what more those who live in rural areas. A couple of years ago, I was teaching in Kuala Selangor for a year. I was in the secondary school and believe me when I say this. There were a handful of students of about 15 to 17 years old who couldnt utter a phrase in English! What more, they couldnt even write a correct phrase. On the other hand, before pursuing my Degree, I worked as a GSTT in Methodist Girls school for two years teaching standard 2 and 4 students and when I compare those youngsters to the teens that I taught recently, it was very disappointing. A lot of researches have been conducted on the performance of students in English in Malaysia. Most of the research tried to explore the reasons behind students poor command of English language by looking at factors such as attitude, perception and environment. Noreiny Maarof (2003) found that Malaysian students are embarrassed to use English. The fact that their environment did not promote the use of English fueled their hesitation to use the language. This problem persist when the medium of communication among students continue to be their mother tongue and not English. However, they do watch English movies and listen to English songs. Students feel learning English is difficult and structural differences between English and Malay have further added to the constraints in mastering the language.

Interviewer : What are the challenges you have been facing with from day one of teaching ESL? Teacher 1 : Well, frankly speaking, the amount of paper work that is increasing day by day bogged down with students poor discipline is affecting the teaching-learning process. Teachers are forced into other less important duties hence refraining them from having much time to teach. The choice of language medium during early schooling years is an important factor. Students whose mother tongue is not English face difficulties in learning English as a second language. Most of my students do not have English as their

first language therefore, it is quite difficult to explain the grammar rules to them. Besides, they do not have the interest to learn English. They are comfortable speaking Bahasa Melayu, Mandarin, Cantonese or Tamil. Even when I tell them the grammar rule, they would sigh and show disapproval facial expressions. On the other hand, our students are not trained to write lengthy essays or articles. They even hate reading! Just imagine how to write if you hesitate reading? Hence, this is quite troublesome for me. Its difficult to get the Form 1s to understand that at the secondary level, theres literature, essay writing and summary. Students are also less imaginative and resort to the computer for information, rather than using their thinking skills.

Interviewer : What are your suggestions in dealing with the challenges? Teacher 1 : I strongly feel the education system needs to be reviewed to give emphasis on production skills as in writing. Teachers of English language should be trained to write and given proper guidance in producing quality written tasks so that they can apply the skills learnt in schools. Students these days rely too much on the computer as it is easier to cut and paste hence saving their time. On the other hand, we should review our testing system as in not to be exam oriented whereas more to activity based tasks where students can exhibit their skills and compare their work with their peers. Exams are too objective. We should look into more subjective ways to get students to express their views, ideas and opinions freely with no strings attached.

Interview 2 A Malaysian teacher who has been teaching Standard 6 students for 4 years in a Tamil school .

Interviewer : Is English your first language? Teacher 2 : No, it isnt. English has never been my first language until present. Although I am an English teacher who possess a B.Ed. (Hons) TESL, English has not been used when I was growing up. The reason being, I used my mother tongue, which is Malyalam and I come from an orthodox Malyalee family. From day one, I learnt to speak and uttered words only in Malyalam. English came by as I grew older.

Interviewer : Do you and your family members use British English pronunciation in your daily conversation? Teacher 2 : Over the years I started speaking English due to social influence as the community I was growing up in was an English speaking community. British English is used in my family if we were to speak in English.

Interviewer : How long have you been teaching English as a Second Language in Malaysian schools? Teacher 2 : Ive been teaching English as a second language in Malaysian schools for almost 4 years.

Interviewer : What is the issue with our Malaysian students in acquiring and comprehending a second language (English)? Teacher 2 : The main issue with our Malaysian students in acquiring and comprehending English as a second language is due to lack of exposure to the language itself. It is not that one can be a good speaker in a particular language if one uses the language from early ages but the exposure and constant use of the language. Since many do not use English as their first language at home, they seem to care less of the usage of English, unaware of its importance in their daily life. With suitable exposure and sufficient reading, acquiring and comprehending English at their best would not be a problem at all. Interviewer : What are the challenges you have been facing with from day one of teaching ESL? Teacher 2 : One of the challenges of teaching ESL is that almost 60% of the students lack basic understanding and comprehension of the language because they do not take any interest to learn and master the language. Besides, many also do not understand the meaning of simple English words which makes it difficult for them to compose or even structure a sentence. This in return often requires them to carry a dictionary if they do or else just use the language wrongly.

Interviewer : What are your suggestions in dealing with the challenges? Teacher 2 : Firstly, parents should understand the need and importance of English especially for Malaysians. Only if they knew the importance, English can be enhanced in their childrens lives. Moreover, usage of English neither spoken nor written should be encouraged since young so that it becomes part and parcel of them . The most important factor is, reading should be done continuously so that the proficiency level of the language increases day by day.

Interview 3 A Malaysian teacher who has been teaching for 23 years in government schools in Malaysia.

Interviewer : Is English your first language? Teacher 3 : Yes, it is. This is because I come from a bilingual family background and the common grounds for speaking was using English.

Interviewer : Do you and your family members use British English pronunciation in your daily conversation? Teacher 3 : Yes. Since hereditary was from Britain, the way we speak has not been diluted from the native speakers.

Interviewer : How long have you been teaching English as a Second Language in Malaysian schools? Teacher 3 : I have been in service with the government for approximately over 23 years as to date.

Interviewer : What is the issue with our Malaysian students in acquiring and comprehending a second language (English)? Teacher 3 : It was assumed that the higher the degree of exposure to English the learners received, the more competent they were in the language. On the other hand, learners, who were generally weak in English, received a minimal amount of exposure to the language. There was also indication of the presence of a significant relationship between exposure to English and competence in the language. Most Malaysians are too comfortable in their own mother tongue and

they do not use English to convey their message. Even in schools, English is used as if is forced during English lessons and English month. Besides that, most students seldom mingle around with other ethnic as they fear of the need to use English to communicate. Since most of the community they are in are multilingual society, English is not a commonly spoken language.

Lack of enforcement and guidance from the teacher has resulted in a drawback. Students shy away as they are frequently ridiculed and teased by people around them. They seem to ignore the language as it results in embarrassment.

Interviewer : What are the challenges you have been facing with from day one of teaching ESL? Teacher 3 : First and foremost, most students are able to put their feelings and thoughts into simple phrases and sentences which are grammatically correct but they fail to express verbally. Most of my students tend to write me a short note to convey their messages rather than to speak to me. Well, I do appreciate their initiative but this is not going to take them far. As Malaysians are moving to a globally recognized work environment, our students must buck up and improve their communication skills in English. Students are reluctant to speak using English as there in no need to do so because even if they fail their UPSR, they still get to advance and sit for the PMR examinations and the same for SPM examinations.

Interviewer : What are your suggestions in dealing with the challenges? Teacher 3 : First, Study the English language. There are certain rules in grammar and sentence construction that you have to be familiar with. Written and spoken language in English has similarities and differences. Learn the pronunciation rules and accent tips. Second, Be attentive how English-speaking people hold

conversations. Listen to the words they use, the intonation, how they express their thoughts through the language, and the common expressions they make. Keep a small notebook with you and write down words and phrases you heard so you can recall them and practice speaking them later. Third, Enroll in an English class. You can find English as a Second Language classes at some community organizations and local schools. These classes might be free, or you might have to pay but it will help you improve your English skills better. Fourth, watch news programs, talk shows, and movies in English. The more you immerse yourself in them, the more you will familiarize yourself with the language and expressions used. It makes it easier for you to learn better and polish your English speaking skills. Fifth, listen to radio and audio books in English. Pick your favorite station or audio book and listen to it when you have free time. Listen to something you enjoy. It will be easier to absorb what you are listening while at the same time recall the pronunciation and intonation better. Sixth, visualize speaking good English and make it happen. Construct English sentences in your mind and practice speaking them silently at first, then orally. The best place to do this is in front of the mirror. Listen to how you say the words and correct yourself for any mistakes. Having someone with you who knows the English language well is even helpful since you will receive feedback right away and steer you in the right direction. Seventh, practice speaking English every day. Talk to someone in English. Look for English-speaking people who will give you a conversation practice. Last but not least, keep learning. Depending on the difficulties you encountered, always remember that practice makes perfect. Improving your spoken English takes time but with diligence and patience, you will get better and will one day speak English fluently and without much effort!

2.0 Task 1: Designing a language task Target Learners Background Level Stage Activity Syllabus Item : 13 years old boys : Urban : Intermediate : Production : Describing and Confirming a Robbery Suspect : Questions with tags and response Example: He was wearing a red shirt, wasnt he? I think so. Language Skills : Listening, Reading, Writing and Speaking.

Organization of class : Groups of 4 Context Procedure : A Stimulus Game :

1. Pupils are divided into groups of 4s. each group is given a stimulus about a robbery. 2. Each student is given a card on which is written a description of the suspect, which they think they have seen but are not quite sure. 3. By questioning their friends in their respective groups, they have to come up with ONE description of the suspect.

Example of the conversation that they would be expected to have with their groups : Ali David Samy : David, did you see the robber? : Yes. I saw him. He was running away along Jalan Pahang, wasnt he? : I am not sure but I saw him running away from that house. He was wearing blue jeans and colored shirt, wasnt he?

Stimulus A Robbery There has been a robbery in the neighbour hood. You and your friends were awakened by the call for help. When each of you looked out of the windows, you saw a man running away from the scene of the robbery. The police arrives at the scene of the robbery and questions the people who have seen the robber. You and your friends would like to help the police but are not sure of your facts. So you and your friends decide to discuss and confirm the descriptions of the suspect before informing the police. Sample of card: to be given to the police. Description of suspect 1. Height 2. Size 3.Sex 4. Complexion 5. Colour of clothes 6. Direction of escape

Sample of card : for each pupil

Student A: 1. about 5ft tall 2. plump 3. red shirt, blue jeans 4. dark-skinned 5. ran along Jalan Pahang 6. man Student C: 1. not very tall 2. quite fat 3. blue jeans, not sure colour of shirt 4. tanned-skin 5. ran along Jalan Gereja but not sure 6. middle-aged man a) language task and its objective

Student B: 1. short 2. fat 3. red-checked shirt, jeans 4. not sure 5. quite dark 6. man Student D: 1. rather short 2. stout 3. dark pants and coloured shirt 4. not fair 5. turned into Jalan Pahang 6. man

By questioning their friends in their respective groups, students have to come up with ONE description of the suspect. The objective of this task is to get students to speak while expressing their opinions and views.

b)

The target learners are boys; 13 years of age and they come from the urban society. Generally, the students come from middle class socio-economic status family background and bilingual speaking families.

c)

In facing rapid language change in daily interaction, students are exposed to a wide range of communication genre. Therefore, teachers should be able to deliver various techniques of worksheet /task so that learner would not fall into boredom and rejecting learning English. With this task, students will have to interact with one another hence creating a chance for using the language and creating awareness in the language. Learners are improving their competency level indirectly as they have fun while learning English. Games offer students a fun-filled and relaxing learning atmosphere. After learning and practicing new vocabulary, students have the opportunity to use language in a nonstressful way (Uberman 1998). While playing games, the learners' attention is on the message, not on the language. Rather than pay attention to the correctness of linguistic forms, most participants will do all they can to win. This eases the fear of negative evaluation, the concern of being negatively judged in public, and which is one of the main factors inhibiting language learners from using the target language in front of other people (Horwitz, Horwitz and Cope 1986). In a game-oriented context, anxiety is reduced and speech fluency is generated--thus communicative competence is achieved.

Games are also motivating. Games introduce an element of competition into languagebuilding activities. This provides valuable impetus to a purposeful use of language (Prasad 2003). In other words, these activities create a meaningful context for language use. The competitive ambiance also makes learners concentrate and think intensively during the learning process, which enhances unconscious acquisition of inputs. Most students who have experienced game-oriented activities hold positive attitudes towards them (Uberman 1998). An action research conducted by Huyen and Nga (2003), students said that they liked the relaxed atmosphere, the competitiveness, and the motivation that games brought to the classroom. On the effectiveness of games, teachers in Huyen & Nga's (2003)reported that action research reported that their students seem to learn more quickly and retain the learned materials better in a stress-free and comfortable environment.

Throughout the competition, I observed that students were more engaged in and committed to using English than they would be in the classroom. They were attentive to instructions, which they usually are not in regular class. In each of the games, students found their own ways to express themselves. Participants went all out with their English to win the game.

The games also aroused cultural awareness. After the competition, students told me they will now pay more attention to geographical names that they often ignored before simply because they had never been there. Thus, students expressed a motivation and desire to know more than just linguistic knowledge. (510 words)

Task 2: Essay Language is a form of expression or communication between humans. Simply putting it, spoken and written communication with pre-set meanings for each word written or uttered is what we refer to as language. Culture, on the other hand, is defined by the activities of people, sometimes governed by a geographical boundary. Every culture is unique in itself. It includes language, art, music, mannerisms, religion, games, dress, rituals, law and belief. Having two such expansively defined fields, how far would one have to go to observe the effect that culture has on language? Answer: As far back as man himself. Culture is a social practice in habits,customs,beliefs,rituals passed down from one generation to the next as distinct feature to give identity to a community,society or even a nation.Culture was earlier restricted to a geographical habitat social domain but in historical time with wars,trade,marriage as social interact ,imperialism,globalization ,migrations, multi cultural exposures and cultural adaptions of alien cultures in habits,rituals,beliefs,customs have acquired new dimensions and definitions. The concepts of liberty,freedom,radical thoughts,economic and social equality,opportunities have infused the new generations to a change in cultural traits to new cultural habits,beliefs,practices,rituals ,customs within the cultural domain to influence the social interact medium of communication as language. When culture undergoes a cultural shift or transformation; has influence in language change . Man started to communicate with his few kinsmen through symbols. Mutually understood grunts became spoken communication. Population started to thrive. Groups of people separated and changed. The concept of race was established and thus began the rich diversity of cultures. Large groups were classified into families and each family was then broken down to sub-families and the world as it stands today, is an amalgam of all of them. Comparative linguists try to pin the origin of a language to its common ancestor. Since cultures themselves have undergone centuries of transition, its only natural that languages too would have evolved and changed the same way. Researchers have broadly classified the world of language into three families; European and Asian, Pacific and African, and American Indian.

Each of the above families has had its own cultural traits. The peculiarity of each family shaped the way the language was spoken and understood amongst them. Every miniscule tribe had their own phonetic. Grammar, the order of words, the use of vowels, consonants and the tonal accent too varied between tribes and groups. Thus, different languages from the same region had a lot of similarities, but when examined closely, had an identity of their own. These distinctions helped evolve the respective language over centuries. Social traits, which are culture dependent, also influenced language in the way different genders or classes within the same tribe or race spoke to one another. Trade jargons were established in multilingual regions. Over time, languages borrowed sounds, grammar and vocabulary from one another. This doesnt necessarily mean they originated from the same region. Point in case, the striking derivatives in English taken from Sanskrit and European languages that made use of American Indians'. Independently, languages like English were standardized, but the way the language is spoken in different parts of the world is a reflection of the effect culture has on it. Trousers in Britain and pants in America mean the same but sound nowhere near alike, courtesy the respective cultures. Having evolved from a common protolanguage, its only fair to say that there are more similarities between languages today than differences. Culture enriches language, affecting dialect, grammar and literature, to name a few. As more and more people mingle, the world is literally becoming one. As a result, different languages from their respective cultures help to understand and appreciate the evolution of the world and its people as it is today, for when man started out, language was solely meant to be the means that bridged the gap between him and his fellowmen. (641 words)