Self-Assessment of Foreign Language Skills: Does It Work?.

Abstract

This paper reports on university student self-assessment of foreign language program learning at the University of Southampton (England) in English for Academic Purposes (EAP) classrooms. A survey of foreign language students on progress in foreign language learning revealed that many students were not unduly influenced by their scores on internationally recognized language tests when they assessed their own language level. If the international test scores are an accurate reflection of linguistic ability, then it would seem that self-ratings of language ability at the beginning of the pre-sessional course cannot be relied upon. Nine questionnaires completed in post-course evaluations indicated that there was not a very good match between the teachers' assessments and the students' assessments at the end of the pre-sessional course and two terms later. It is concluded that self-assessment for students appears to involve great difficulty, even with teacher feedback. Yet, evidence was found to support the belief that students who do assess their language level realistically may persevere with language learning to a greater extent than those whose assessment is unrealistically high or low. Both performance and progress must be monitored by teachers, with constant feedback, for students to be able to realistically self-assess their progress in language learning. (Contains 15 references.) (Author/NAV) ***** ****************************************************************** Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document. *********************************************************************** SELF-ASSESSMENT OF FOREIGN LANGUAGE SKILLS: DOES IT WORK? George M Blue U S DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION 0.ce al Fdarallana, Reseach and Inrudven,a EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC) 40(Ahis document has been reproduced as received from the person or organization originating it 0 Minor changes have been made to improve reproduction quality. Points of view or opinions stated in this document do nol newssailly represent official OERI position or policy BEST COPY AVAILABLE PERMISSION TO REPRODUCE AND DISSEMINATE THIS MATERIAL HAS BEEN GRANTED BY TO THE EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC) SELF-ASSESSMENT OF FOREIGN LANGUAGE SKILLS: DOES IT WORK? George M Blue

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