Abstract
Enhancing the quality of education has been placed high in the national policy agenda in Azerbaijan in recent years. Education policy makers are interested in developing quality curriculum for secondary education, implementing teacher development programs and creating a better learning environment. This study outlines one of the most significant skills in education; academic writing, and teaching and assessment of it for the quality in education. The reason for arguing this topic is that a multiple-choice test is still a dominant assessment tool at centralized exams in Azerbaijan, and a student’s knowledge cannot be measured through standardized multiple-choice tests only. It is argued that the lack of teaching and learning academic writing at secondary education and its assessment might prevent the student’s critical thinking.
Highlights
The purpose of this study is in two directions; (1) to explore the current types of assessment as a tool for evaluating learners’ knowledge and competence in secondary education and in the university admission process in the developing countries of the post-Soviet bloc, and to examine it more deeply in the case of Azerbaijan, and (2) to attempt to provide some suggestions with regard to the teaching of academic writing in secondary education, based on the relevant previous literature and personal experience
One of the problems that some post-Soviet countries, especially those with low-income economies face is the process of transition in the education system (DeYoung, 2010; Whitsel, 2009; Shagdar, 2006; Silova, Johnson & Heyneman, 2007), which can take time to shape it with regard to quality in education (Habibov & Afandi, 2009)
Based on my personal observation during my teaching years in secondary education in Azerbaijan, students who have prepared to study abroad, mainly at Western universities had better writing skills in English rather than Azerbaijani, and the reason for this was the preparation for English language proficiency tests, such as the International English Language Testing System (IELTS) exam, internet-based tests of English as a foreign language, the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) and other similar tests
Summary
The purpose of this study is in two directions; (1) to explore the current types of assessment as a tool for evaluating learners’ knowledge and competence in secondary education and in the university admission process in the developing countries of the post-Soviet bloc, and to examine it more deeply in the case of Azerbaijan, and (2) to attempt to provide some suggestions with regard to the teaching of academic writing in secondary education, based on the relevant previous literature and personal experience. According to Tikly (2015), assessment is one of the global and national mechanisms that form education systems and affect teaching and learning. For the enhancement of quality in education, the assessment process itself should be updated and improved by adding the academic writing section to teaching and assessment practices at a national level. My definition of the ‘quality’ in education concerns alternative methods of teaching and assessment of literacy to the ones currently used in this region of former Soviet Union, based on Western methods
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