Studying abroad is currently attracting students all over the world, and it seems to be extremely interesting, but also it could be complicated and full of challenges. One of these challenges is the foreign language, and English is not an exception. Here in the USA it is not easy to start your study since students have to pass a language test which has been made to assess the students' skills in English. Clear examples of these tests are Test Of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL), International English Language Testing System (IELTS), and Michigan English Language Assessment Battery (MELAB). Several people believe that having types of language tests gives students the opportunity to choose which test is more comfortable for them; however, the multiplicity of test types starts to be a serious issue with the increasing number of international students and the variance in the admission system of the schools. Several issues are indeed critical problems and should be discussed and resolved.
Although it could be true that language tests examine skills such as writing, speaking, listening, and reading, it is also fair to debate that several tests assess contrastingly one skill more than the others. For example, the MELAB has a speaking section, but that section is an option for students, and often unrequired; thus, passing the MELAB test does not mean that one can use English properly since his or her speaking skill has not been tested. In this case, missing a speaking section
As a result of testing accountability, teachers have changed the shift in their classrooms and focus on teaching to the test. Many criticize that the tests that are administered do not allow for thoughtful or deliberate thinking. Multiple choice questions, condensed reading passages, add to the inauthenticity of the test and can impede the ability of students. Studies have also show that test taking has a negative impact on student achievement in reading, writing, and mathematics. ELL students are still developing their English language skills while learning new content. It is unfair to have the expectations that these ELL students are being held accountable with the same standards as their native-English-speaking peers. ELL students need to have the necessary background knowledge, English language and academic language knowledge to successfully understand test
The class I chose to observe was an eighth grade ELA class. There were twenty students in this class, eight of the students were English language learners. The ELL students’ overall WIDA scores ranged from 3.9 to 5.6. A review of the WIDA data indicated that speaking and writing scores for these six students were weaker skill areas in comparison to their overall score, ranging from 3.4 to 4.6.
Many kids in school are wanting to learn a new language away from their native language but many students are wondering what language is going to help them the most in the future. English is the clear answer for these students that are wondering what new language to learn for a number of reasons. Through different articles through the book “Language: A Reader for Writers” it discusses how language is the most successful and most useful language to speak. College students who want to learn a second language, that have not learned English, should learn English because it is the most widely used language in the world and it is the most useful language to learn.
Not only is the test giving in both the students native language and english It is also takes into account cultural and linguistic issues that can come up in standardized testing.
Our bilingual students and teachers are facing the same and more complication than a regular classroom. “English language learners, like all the students throughout the United States, are expected to excel on a single-measure high-stakes test” (D. Palmer, A.W. Lynch, June 2008). Not all the students master or gain their second language as the same way like everyone else, some student show difficulties in different areas but the most common one is the writing and reading because they have language gaps that they will being filling over time. “English Language Learners face a particular challenge: to perform in a language that they by definition do not master. Students who are limited in English are unlikely to be able to demonstrate their content knowledge on a test written in English” (Abedi 2004). I am a ELL student, when I was in 11th grade I felt the same pressure that most of the student felt to pass the TASK test to be available to continue with my education and graduated. It was difficult for me to pass the test because the gaps of the language and the vocabulary, I remember seen words that I didn’t recognize. When I took test, I did know that there where accommodation that could be set up for me because I was ELL student, instead I took the test without any accommodations. During that time, I had a lot of pressure from my teachers to
The English proficiency test was designed to test the ELL students’ levels on reading, writing, and speaking. Because some proficiency test scores were so low in some districts, the U.S. Education Department Office determined to find out if ELL students were receiving an education equal to other students who are fluent in English.
For a student who’s second language is English would have extreme difficulties taking any test that is written all in English, much less a high stakes test that is going to decide if they are allowed to move forward in their education. ELL students need special accommodations to meet their needs and designing a test that is in their first language should be an option that is available to these students and all school should be required to have them on hand without question. ELL students cannot be expected to score well or even remotely the same on this test as their peers might or a student whose first language is English and can read the written text on the test. “If students with limited English skills are to be tested in English their test scores should be interpreted in light of their limited English skills” (CREATE, pg. 1). If high stakes testing is going to be a requirement for all students enrolled in school, then accommodations should be made for not only students with disabilities but also for students who have English as their second language. This is not only necessary but also the only fair way to achieve accurate test scores for all
Skills tested in Language arts by the program are early literacy, reading vocabulary and comprehension, as well as silent and oral reading fluency. The program assesses early numeracy, math computation, concepts and applications. Tier 3 pulls students who tested the 25th percentile and who are not being served by Special Education. English language arts trumps math for decisions on which service the student receives.
Thesis Statement: Because of the high-stakes outcomes connected to standardized testing with consistently lower test scores among English language learners (ELLs), the extended use of standardized tests to make high-stakes decisions about student placement, promotion, and graduation raises fundamental issues concerning ELLs students culturally, linguistically, and academically.
In this case study I will introduce my student, his language background; his exposure to English before coming to Australia and his current level of English based on the ESL scales after analysing his speaking, reading and writing work samples. I will assess John’s proficiency in speaking, listening, reading and responding and writing and I will make a detailed profile of the reading and responding aspect.
The purpose of this study is to show that students who speak AAE and have a language other than English as their primary language fail standardized tests due to a lack of proficiency in using and understanding academic English. If students are taught how to code switch between multiple language registers, students will be better equipped to pass the test and succeed in any professional endeavours they have after graduation. The team of high school English teachers worked together to ensure the 91 student participants were able to learn the importance of code switching while ensuring they “conveyed a model of different but not deficit” (Fisher, Lapp, 2013, p. 636).
MODEL, Measure of Developing English Language, is a series of tests given to grade-school students to assess determine progress as ELL students receive services. MODEL evaluates ELL students’ academic English language proficiency in the four language domains of speaking, listening, reading, and writing. All items and tasks in those sections are aligned to the WIDA ELP Standards. The speaking section consists of constructed-response tasks that target progressively higher proficiency levels. The listening section in MODEL has multiple-choice items. The reading section in MODEL is also multiple-choice. The writing section in has two parts: Part A, which asks students to respond to open-ended questions that require only short answers; and Part
Most schools require students to take standardized tests at the end of the school year in order to continue on to the next grade; tests that are commonly given in the English language. The tests are comprised of passages that consist of grade level vocabulary, lower level vocabulary and in some cases higher level vocabulary that even English speakers themselves fail to understand. For the several students that are not fluent in the English language and/or can hardly speak the bare minimum of the English language, success is not an option; which means that these students will be held back a grade level simply because the test was not administered or written in a language which they could comprehend. This article provides guidelines for testing
Globalization has also contributed to an increasing interest in English-language education worldwide. In response to the emergence of English as a world-linking, global language, an increasing number of schools have stepped up English–language requirements, even at undergraduate levels. The argument is that a universal teaching language is necessary as a natural consequence of globalization.
The approaches considered in this paper are founded on the instruction of English Language Learners and the difficulties they face with highly important progress tests. The five peer-reviewed articles, in this paper, investigate how changes in language acquisition are measured and how new regulations, in the United States academic standards, affect test practices and test development. The new educational ideals have been developed and put in place to help teachers accomplish the task of content evaluation during final exams. English learners are the first to acknowledge that they face lots of challenges and many of them are due to the inability of language teachers to comprehend their cultural and unique difficulties that arise from the very different approaches in teaching that western educators employ.