ON SOME SELECTED ASPECTS OF TEACHING AND TESTING ENGLISH GRAMMAR IN SLOVAK UPPER-SECONDARY EDUCATION

Abstract

The complexity of English grammar, which represents one of the most intricate language issues practised in the EFL classroom (not only) in Slovak educational context, has been intensively researched for decades. Teaching and testing grammar as two sides of the same coin represent a complex of aspects which EFL teachers still cast doubt on. This article deals with the concept of teaching and testing upper-secondary students’ knowledge of grammar which is put in the framework of methodology of grammar teaching and testing. The author sheds light on upper-secondary students’ knowledge of grammar measured through selected types of grammar tasks administered in to a group of 770 Slovak grammar school students. The research results are based on a quantitative research paradigm, and the samples were statistically tested by the non-parametric Friedman test with post-hoc pairwise comparisons, and supplemented by the repeated-measures ANOVA test. Since grammar school Slovak teenage learners of English are obliged to pass a school-leaving exam including tasks examining their knowledge of grammar, the author points out basic incongruence concerning students’ actual performance in selected grammar test tasks.