A survey of teachers' problems and needs concerning measurement and evaluation of students' proficiency in English at the upper secondary level in educational region 7

Abstract

This study was the investigation of English teachers problems and needs concerning measurement and evaluation of students proficiency in English. The instruments uses in gathering the data were questionnaires which were sent to 256 English teachers teaching at the upper secondary level in the academic year 1989 - 1990 in educational region 7. The questionnaires returned back were 233 in number representing 91.01% of the target saple. The findings revealed the following. 1. The majority of teachers wer bachelors degree holders with English major About 50% had experiences in study and training in evaluation in English. 2. English teachers used various evaluation techniques especially written tests and oral tests. They based their test writing on learning objectives and mainly measure students ability in using four skills in English. 3. English teachers faced serious problems in test construction test administration test interpretation and remedy. The problems concerning test scoring were perceived not serious. The most serious problems were the shortage of materials and instruments used in evaluation and the lack of resource centres. 4. The comparison of levels of problems encountered by teachers of different backgrounds at a confidence level of <.05 indicated that the levels of problems of teachers who had experiences in study and training in evaluation in English were lower than of those in other groups. Length of time in English teaching and teachers qualification did not significantly affect the levels of any problems. 5. Most of teachers strong needs concerned the cooperation of people and institutions for instance the Ministry of Education teacher-training institutions and authorities to provide them with knowledge of and training in evaluation in English.