Using exemption examinations to assess Finnish business students' non-formal and informal learning of ESP: a pilot study
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Satu Tuomainen is a lecturer in English at the University of Eastern Finland Language Centre. Her research interests include Business English, recognition of prior learning, non-formal and informal language learning, and language assessment and self-assessment.
Abstract
In recent years Finnish university language centres have increasingly developed procedures for assessing and recognising the skills in English for Specific Purposes (ESP) that students acquire in various non-formal and informal learning environments. This article describes the procedures developed by the University of Eastern Finland Language Centre to assess business students' non-formal and informal learning of ESP language and communication skills. The examinations are held every semester for students seeking exemption from the ESP courses that form part of their undergraduate degree in business and economics. In the examinations the students' skills and abilities are tested using the same criteria and methods as in the courses from which exemption is sought.
The article also describes how business students perceive the exemption examination process as a means to recognising and assessing their non-formally and informally acquired ESP language and communication skills. Applying a mixed methods research design, the data presented was elicited from business students who participated in the ESP exemption examinations at the University of Eastern Finland Language Centre in the autumn semester 2012. The results of this pilot study indicate that the students regard the exemption examination process as their preferred means of demonstrating prior learning of ESP, and consider the pre-examination guidance and information provided by the teachers and the self-assessment instructions functional and sufficient. These findings encourage the further development of the ESP exemption examination system at the University of Eastern Finland Language Centre.
About the author
Satu Tuomainen is a lecturer in English at the University of Eastern Finland Language Centre. Her research interests include Business English, recognition of prior learning, non-formal and informal language learning, and language assessment and self-assessment.
©2014 by Walter de Gruyter Berlin/Boston
Artikel in diesem Heft
- Frontmatter
- Guest editors' introduction
- A classroom-based assessment method to test speaking skills in English for Specific Purposes
- Using exemption examinations to assess Finnish business students' non-formal and informal learning of ESP: a pilot study
- Piloting a polychotomous partial-credit scoring procedure in a multiple-choice test
- Comparing two theories of grammatical knowledge assessment: a bifactor-MIRT analysis
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Artikel in diesem Heft
- Frontmatter
- Guest editors' introduction
- A classroom-based assessment method to test speaking skills in English for Specific Purposes
- Using exemption examinations to assess Finnish business students' non-formal and informal learning of ESP: a pilot study
- Piloting a polychotomous partial-credit scoring procedure in a multiple-choice test
- Comparing two theories of grammatical knowledge assessment: a bifactor-MIRT analysis
- Einstufung in UNIcert®-Kurse mittels C-Test
- Sprachenübergreifende Vergleichbarkeit herstellen – aber wie? Ein qualitatives Projekt zur Harmonisierung der Niveaustufe UNIcert® I (B1)
- Standardising assessment to meet student needs in foreign language modules in a university context: Is standardisation possible?
- Investigating language assessment literacy: Collaboration between assessment specialists and Canadian university admissions officers
- The assessment competence of university foreign language teachers: A Ukrainian perspective
- Using Quality Management Systems to improve test development and standards and to promote good practice: A case study of testing Italian as a foreign language
- Testing intercultural competence in (International) English: Some basic questions and suggested answers
- Taking decisions: Assessment for university entry
