Influence of Background Knowledge on Military Students’ Performance in Standardized Agreement English Speaking Test

Abstract

Since Standardized Agreement English tests 6001(STANAG 6001) are designed to test military students’ level of general English, but must have what is called a ‘military flavour’, heated discussions go along with each test design about the extent to which ‘military flavour’ should be used. The term is used to refer to background knowledge, so the question about the extent of ‘military flavour’ really becomes one about the influence of background knowledge on test performance. According to this research the perception that military candidates have about their performance during a speaking interview is that they generally feel they do better and are more confident when they are asked questions concerning their field of expertise. But on the other hand, results of the research concerning candidates’ performance during speaking interviews conducted according to STANAG test showed that results were higher only with higher level candidates. To be noted is that ‘military content’ is a catchall term, and different military forces have different areas of expertise, sometimes not related to one another. So when infantry officers were asked questions about the Navy, even though the content was still military, the performance of the candidates was poorer even with higher level students. These are significant findings which will pave the way for a better understanding of this issue. DOI: 10.5901/jesr.2013.v3n7p256