Language testing and certification in an international context
Автор: Zelenicka Elena, Pavlova Renata, Csalova Olga, Burcl Pavol
Журнал: Интеграция образования @edumag-mrsu
Рубрика: Академическая интеграция
Статья в выпуске: 1 (110), 2023 года.
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Introduction. The aim of this research is to define what role continuous assessment plays in foreign language teaching. We analysed some of the most frequent communication and language mistakes by our research sample students in their written communications at the B2 level. We believe these correlations have yet to be closely studied in the context of the foreign language teaching process since there is a significant increase in the number of international students entering Slovak universities for programs implemented in the Slovak language. We also researched the current interest of our non-Slovak university students in verifying Slovak language competencies through ECL testing compared to the period before 2019 in correlation with their writing skills preparation. Materials and Methods. Our research sample included 200 randomly selected written communications by first-year international students of our University in the period of 2019-2022 in various fields of study at the age scale from 17 to 42. The students were from Russia, Serbia, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Belarus, Ukraine, and the Czech Republic. We applied content analysis of the written communications concerning the most frequent mistakes from the morphological, syntactic and writing-accuracy points of view. We also used statistical methods to research the current interest in verifying foreign language competencies through ECL testing on the side of our international students. Results. The results delivered that the most frequent errors are typographical, mainly related to spelling, punctuation and paraphrasing; therefore, we can claim that in the Slovak language learning, it is significantly beneficial to focus on formal correctness, i.e. consistent acquisition of the Slovak language grammar system. We also identified the sociolinguistic adequacy of written communication problematic, i.e. style, clear statements formulations, and adherence to the text composition. The results also demonstrated the increase in our international university studentsʼ interest in verifying foreign language competencies through ECL testing compared to the period before 2019. Discussion and Conclusion. From the results it follows that teaching writing skills intensively with a focus on particularly identified problematic issues in written communications increases the learnersʼ language acquisition level. This study presents results that may be useful in the targeted language preparation of the international students recruited to Slovak universities as their home universities and their further preparation for undertaking Slovak language proficiency official verification. In addition, the results of our study may contribute to the further development of general professional education in foreign languages.
Testing, assessment, language exam, writing communications, certificate
Короткий адрес: https://sciup.org/147240175
IDR: 147240175 | DOI: 10.15507/1991-9468.110.027.202301.155-170
Текст научной статьи Language testing and certification in an international context
Original article
The need for objectified and internationally verifiable certification of language efficiency has gained relevance as a response to the requirements arising from the subsistence of a common labour market within the European Union or the international and transnational labour market as internationally recognised certificates enable job seekers to prove the required criterion of foreign language knowledge at an appropriate level providing employers with objective information about their language competencies. On the other hand, the certificate informs the language learner about the (un) successful completion of a certified measurement of language skills and may function as effective motivational feedback.
Recently, we have noticed a significant need for teaching Slovak as a foreign language in the Slovak academic environment since it has become a fundamental part of language preparation for university admission; therefore,
Slovak language courses have become a part of study programmes for international university students in Slovakia.
In the research, we focused on Slovak language education and training issues concerning international students at Slovak universities, their written communications analysis and the correlation between the quality training of the writing skills during their first year of Slovak language study and their interest in obtaining an internationally recognised certificate. We researched what role continuous assessment played in foreign language teaching, specifically Slovak language teaching, and how such an assessment influenced the language acquisition quality by the results’ analysis of the Slovak language acquisition by international students of our University (University of Constantine the Philosopher in Nitra, Slovakia) within the period 2019–2022. We analysed some of the most frequent communication and language mistakes by our research sample students in their written communications at the B2 level. One of the aims also was to research the current interest of non-Slovak university students in verifying Slovak language competencies after taking the one-year Slovak language course focused on writing skills training during their university studies through ECL (European Consortium for the Certificate of Attainment in Modern Languages) testing compared to the period before 2019, where the focus was not specifically on the writing skills training.
These correlations have yet to be closely studied, since there is an increase in international students entering Slovak universities. We believe this phenomenon accentuates the relevance of the need for Slovak language preparation quality and research in this area to increase the interest of international students to obtain certificates that are internationally recognised.
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