English language testing and evaluation course through the lens of EFL student teachers

Abstract

Researchers have promulgated the idea that the rapid and continuous changes in foreign language teaching environment put new demands on language teacher education programs. Accordingly, recent debates have centered on fundamental issues: testing, evaluation and assessment and have been investigated by a burgeoning number of studies at tertiary level. Thus, the current study aimed at revealing EFL student teachers’ perceptions of assessment and evaluation, touching upon their expectations for better assessment, and scrutinizing their needs of assessment. A total of 39 senior students in Ondokuz Mayıs University at the English Language Teaching (ELT) program participated in the study. The research adopted a qualitative research design. Data were gathered through semi-structured interviews, and analyzed using selective coding. The findings indicated that student teachers perceived a great need of training in English language assessment, and lack of deep insights into testing and evaluation process. Another noteworthy finding was the majority of the participants agree that “English Language Testing and Evaluation” (henceforth ELTE) course should be offered just before graduation in language education program. Further, it was ascertained that almost all student teachers remarked the contribution of ELTE course for their own future careers and they put suggestions about the content of the course by listing three topics to be taught in the ELTE course. Lastly, the study offered suggestions for pre-service language teacher education programs on English language assessment and evaluation in Turkish higher education setting.