No description available.

No description available.

No description available.

No description available.

No description available.

The research project undertaken in the present thesis is an attempt to explore an important educational phenomenon in a context that places a great deal of value on exa.minations but where very little research has been undertaken by researchers so far either in the field of language teaching and testing or in general education. Therefore, a programme of research was undertaken aiming at examining the 'washback effect' (Alderson and Wall, 1993) of a high-stakes exam on the teaching and learning that takes place in intennediate level classes leading to that level. To this end, preliminary interviews with 15 native and non-native EFL teachers, actively involved in preparing students for the exam were conducted. These identified several areas where the influence of the exam was claimed to exist. The results led to a detailed analysis of textbook materials using a specially-designed instrument and showed that the exam did influence the textbooks teachers use but the nature of the influence varied across books and features. It seemed that factors beyond the exam, such as the authors' understanding of the underlying principles of the exam and their willingness and ability to operationalise the exam requirements through the materials seemed to be playing a greater role in detennining the influence of the exam rather than the exam itself. The next and final part of the study looked at the effects of the exam reported by students by means of student diaries. The analysis of this data showed that students' attitudes and feelings as well as their motivational orientations towards learning the language were affected by the exam. The diaries also threw light on the way lessons, based on exam-preparation textbooks, were structured. Overall, the results of the research project have shown not only the complexity of investigating washback as noted by previous studies but also how many other factors need to be taken into account when studying the washback effect of a highstakes exam to explain why washback from the exam took the form that it did. On the basis of the results, a deeper understanding of the mechanism of washback was gained that led to a ~ode1 of exam washback and to suggestions for teachers, teacher trainers, students, material and test developers as well as future researchers in the area.

A substantial amount of research work has been done on the quality assurance of conference interpreting, yielding useful guidelines for the selection and training of interpreters. However, the field of assessment in interpreter training within the educational context is still under-researched. Many interpreter trainers and researchers have pointed out some urgent issues to be addressed in the assessment of interpreting. Among them, the issues surrounding the test validity and reliability are most in need of clarification. This study tackles this complex subject by firstly exploring what the examiners are really paying attention to when assessing student interpreters. Thirty examiners, who are mostly based in Taiwan – some with substantial interpreting experience and some with less, were invited as study subjects to participate in a simulation of simultaneous interpreting examination. This research study adopted a multi-strategy approach in collecting and analysing research data – quantitative and qualitative. Inconsistencies and fuzziness are two themes identified in the study findings in terms of the examiners’ judgements and their use of assessment criteria. The examiners might appear to be using the same assessment criteria, but there were variations in the way how they were used. This study explores, discusses, and clarifies the intricate relations of various components and factors in the interpreting examinations. Based on the study findings, a conceptual model is proposed as a framework for describing the test constructs of the interpreting examinations, and for understanding how the examiners apply the assessment criteria in order to improve the assessment instruments and examination procedures. At the end, implications of the study method are discussed and suggestions are made for future studies in this area.

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Rater effects are of concern when different raters score candidates' responses. This study demonstrates how models can be used to evaluate the scores assigned by raters on a freeresponse English essay question from a high stakes Examinations Board in the Caribbean Region. In addition, it seeks to use these models to assess the validity of the grades based on these scores. A new Classical test theory (CIT) model was created and compared with the many-faceted Rasch measurement (MFRM) models of rater severity in this investigation, comparing the effects of modelling individual raters and Table group severity, and the additional influence of the Table Leaders (considered by policy as 'standard bearers'). Models for the whole marking period were also compared with those for seven individual days of marking within the period. The. models used exposed quite substantial differences in person measurement. In particular, the study shows how variations in severity within and across moderated (standardised) tables groups of raters can be significantly sustained and variable over time. The knock-on effect of adjusting for rater severity is to change the scores on average by only 0.5 marks but the subsequent effect on the grades showed that about 6% of the candidates' grades would change by at least 1 grade level. The statistical modelling of the Table group rather than the individual raters is also new to the literature and is used for an empirical investigation of the Table group and so by implication its Table Leader. The individual raters and Table groups significantly affect candidate scores and grades but the variation between the Table groups is smaller than between individual raters. Accounting for Table Leaders' severity has shown that the Table Leaders' input in general led to a depression of scores and grades, implying that the Table Leaders on average were more severe in their allocation of marks than the Table group and the individual raters they supervised.

This research project began as a study of the content and comparability of curricula and examinations in selected Anglophone and Francophone West African countries. From this initial plan the main research question emerged. This was to assess the potential value of examinations for initiating and implementing curriculum reform. An analysis of the functions and uses of examinations, followed by an historical sketch of the establishment in Africa of Western style education systems provides a base for the study. The comparative analysis of the curricula and examinations of the two systems is carried out in the context of Cameroon, Cote d'Ivoire, Nigeria, Senegal and Sierra Leone. Attempts to introduce changes in the curriculum and examinations and to draw up comprehensive national plans for educational reform after Independence are outlined against the background of educational thinking in Africa generally as this is reflected in Regional Education Conferences. Some recent research into the impact of examinations on the teaching and learning process; and recent examples from outside Africa of curriculum and examination reform are reviewed before conclusions and implications for policy are considered. The importance of studying examinations in the broad context of education systems as a whole is emphasised throughout. After summarising the main findings, the study concludes that improvement could result from a combination of the best features of the two education systems in West Africa. To this end, joint discussions might be held to identify strengths and weaknesses. This could lead to mutual 'borrowing'. The examination scene in West Africa has remained relatively unchanged since Independence. Countries in the region should benefit from a reappraisal of their examination systems in the light of reforms carried out elsewhere and of their own perceived needs for curriculum reform. 'Good' examinations, those whose objectives and performance criteria are compatible with the aims of the curriculum, can and should be used as effective instruments of curriculum reform and as a means of raising educational standards. In this context, examination boards/with the expertise of their professional staff supplemented by that of a range of consultants/might be used as coordinating agencies for curriculum development in the broadest sense.