The Library

Comparative assessment of young learners' foreign language competence in three Eastern European countries

Tools

Brumen, Mihaela, Cagran, Branka and Rixon, Shelagh. (2009) Comparative assessment of young learners' foreign language competence in three Eastern European countries. Educational Studies, Vol.35 (No.3). pp. 269-295. ISSN 0305-5698

Preview

PDF
WRAP_Rixon_Brumen_Assessment_ok.pdf - Draft Version - Requires a PDF viewer such as GSview, Xpdf or Adobe Acrobat Reader
Download (237Kb)

Official URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/03055690802648531

Abstract

This paper concerns teacher practices in, and beliefs about, the assessment of young learners' progress in English in three Eastern European countries (Slovenia, Croatia, and the Czech Republic). The central part of the paper focuses on an international project involving empirical research into assessment of young learners' foreign language competence in Slovenia, Croatia and the Czech Republic. With the help of an adapted questionnaire, we collected data from a non-random sample of primary and foreign language teachers who teach foreign languages at the primary level in these countries. The research shows that English as a foreign language is taught mostly by young teachers either primary specialists or foreign language teachers. These teachers most frequently use oral assessment/interviews or self-developed tests. Other more authentic types of assessment, such as language portfolios, are rarely used. The teachers most frequently assess speaking and listening skills, and they use assessment involving vocabulary the most frequently of all. However, there are significant differences in practice among the three countries.

Item Type:

Journal Article

Subjects:

L Education > LB Theory and practice of education
P Language and Literature > PE English

Divisions:

Faculty of Social Sciences > Centre for Applied Linguistics

Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH):

English language -- Study and teaching -- Foreign speakers, Language and languages -- Ability testing, Language teachers -- Attitudes, Education, Primary -- Slovenia, Education, Primary -- Croatia, Education, Primary -- Czech Republic

Journal or Publication Title:

Educational Studies

Publisher:

Routledge

ISSN:

0305-5698

Official Date:

July 2009

Dates:

Date	Event
July 2009	Published

Volume:

Vol.35

Number:

No.3

Page Range:

pp. 269-295

Identification Number:

10.1080/03055690802648531

Status:

Peer Reviewed

Access rights to Published version:

Restricted or Subscription Access

References:

Bagaric, V. 2003. Frühes Deutschlernen - warum ja?. In Germanistik im Kontaktraum Europa II, ed. K. Teržan-Kopecky and T. Petric., 257-275. Maribor/Ljubljana: Pädagogische Fakultät Maribor und das Institut für Germanistik.
Brewster, J. and G. Ellis, and D. Girard. 2002. The Primary English Teacher’s Guide. Essex: Penguin English Guides.
Cizí jazyk. 1998: Ucební osnovy pro 4. az 9. rocník. Praha: Vzdělávací program ZS.
Cagran, B., and M. Brumen. 2004. Examination and Assessment in Foreign Language Classes of the Lower Grades of Primary School (Preverjanje in ocenjevanje pri pouku tujega jezika na razredni stopnji osnovne sole). Sodobna pedagogika 55 (121), no. 4: 124 – 146.
Curtain, H., and C. Pessola.1994: Languages and Children. New York: Longman Publishing Group.
Ioannou-Georgiou, S., and P. Pavlou. 2003: Assessing Young Learners. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Komljanc, N., and C. Marsh. 2007. Cross-national comparisons of the use of formative assessment in Hong Kong and Slovenia. Paper presented at the Curriculum centre stage biennial conference, July 8-10, in Melbourne, Australia
McKay, P. 2006. Assessing Young Language Learners. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Moon, J. 2000. Children Learning English. Oxford: Macmillan Heinemann.
Pavicic, V., and V. Bagaric. 2004. Introducing early foreign language learning to state schools: between principles and reality. Paper presented at the international conference on teaching foreign languages to younger learners, October 19-22, in Nitra, Slovakia.
Rea-Dickens, P., and S. Rixon. 1999. Assessment of Young Learners’ English: Reasons and Means. In Young Learners of English: Some Research Perspectives, ed. S. Rixon, 89-101. Essex: Longman.
Rixon, S. 1992. English and Other Languages for Younger Children: Practice and Theory in a Rapidly Changing World. Language Teaching 25, no. 2: 73-93.
National Curriculum of Foreign Languages. 1998. Ljubljana: Zavod RS za solstvo (Board of Education).

URI:

http://wrap.warwick.ac.uk/id/eprint/2275

Data sourced from Thomson Reuters' Web of Knowledge

Request changes or add full text files to a record