An evaluation of English language testing in the baccalaureate examination

Abstract

The Algerian Ministry of Education set several objectives for teaching English in secondary education. In technology streams, for instance, syllabuses are designed to enable pupils to use this language for science and technology and to get access to scientific documentation. To measure the extent to which these objectives are achieved, we refer to the types of testing and assessment in the Baccalaureate examination. The problem is that although these pupils study at the same schools, use the same manuals and receive instruction from almost the same teachers, their scores in seven Baccalaureate sessions (2001-2006) rank them at the bottom of the list lagging far behind all the other specialties in secondary schools. The main purpose of this study is to diagnose the causes responsible for technology pupils' underachievement in English and to propose a set of recommendations intended to improve the process of English language testing in the Baccalaureate examination. Four hypotheses have been formulated to investigate the relationship between the pupils' low achievement and the scoring inconsistencies in the Baccalaureate English rating centers: the test construct underrepresentation, content irrelevance and the slim scope of sampling from the instructional domain. The hypotheses have been tested by the descriptive method instruments such the questionnaire, the interview and the documentary sources. The questionnaire was administered to a whole population of 63 examiners of the BAC English tests in Eloued Rating Center, the interview was conducted with the chief examiner of the same center and the documentary sources such as the pupils' scores, the Baccalaureate English Examination copies and the instructional syllabus were also supplemented. The results of the study have revealed that the BAC English test in technology streams failed to measure the construct that it was supposed to measure. These findings challenged the validity of the interpretations provided for these pupils' scores which implied that they have low level of English language ability; as well as the purposes for which the scores have been used which prevented most of these pupils from joining higher education institutions or English language departments.