TESTING IN ENGLISH CLASSES IN VOCATIONAL SCHOOLS OF HIGHER EDUCATION

Abstract

Teaching andtesting 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 detailwhile preparing appropriate tests. However, there are some problems encounteredin vocational schools hindering English teachers to use various testing methodssuch as crowded classes and lack of necessary equipment. This study is anattempt to reveal some of the existing problems related to testing in thisrespect by taking teacher and student reflections into consideration. The primary aim is to identify Englishteachers’ views on testing and reveal their implementations though the commonexisting obstacles of vocational schools. Tocollect data, an interview developed in the light of the studies in thefield, with the help of the negotiations with colleagues and in fieldobservations was applied to 5 randomlyselected English teachers studying at two different vocational schools of auniversity. Besides, as it is necessary to ascertain students’ idea about thetest techniques used by English teachers, focus group interviews with randomlychosen student groups were conducted. Theresults revealed that students mostly want to pass the course, they prefer the techniques that serve this purpose, andlearning is generally of the secondary importance. On the other side, it wasfound that English teachers try to dispel the common belief in testing bytrying to apply as many testing techniques as possible though the inadequacies.