Pedagosko i psiholosko testiranje i procjenjivanje spadaju među najvažnije doprinose znanosti o ponasanju nasem drustvu i pružaju temeljna i znacajna poboljsanja u odnosu na ranije postupke. Iako se ne može ustvrditi da su svi testovi dovoljno usavrseni niti da su sva testiranja razborita i korisna, postoji velika kolicina informacija koje ukazuju na ucinkovitost kvalitetnih instrumenata u onim situacijama u kojima je njihovo koristenje potkrijepljeno validacijskim podacima. Pravilna upotreba testova može dovesti do boljih odluka o pojedincima i programima nego sto bi to bio slucaj bez njihovog koristenja, a također i ukazati na put za siri i pravedniji pristup obrazovanju i zaposljavanju. Međutim, losa upotreba testova može dovesti do zamjetne stete nanesene ispitanicima i drugim sudionicima u procesu donosenja odluka na temelju testovnih podataka. Cilj Standarda je promoviranje kvalitetne i eticne upotrebe testova te uspostavljanje osnovice za ocjenu kvalitete postupaka testiranja. Svrha objavljivanja Standarda je uspostavljanje kriterija za evaluaciju testova, provedbe testiranja i posljedica upotrebe testova. Iako bi evaluacija prikladnosti testa ili njegove primjene trebala ovisiti prvenstveno o strucnim misljenjima, Standardi pružaju okvir koji osigurava obuhvacanje svih relevantnih pitanja. Bilo bi poželjno da svi autori, sponzori, nakladnici i korisnici profesionalnih testova usvoje Standarde te da poticu druge da ih također prihvate.

Standards for educational and psychological testing

After outlining why a systematic review of research in English medium instruction (EMI) in higher education (HE) is urgently required, we briefly situate the rapidly growing EMI phenomenon in the broader field of research in which content and language have been considered and compare HE research outputs with those from other phases of education. An in-depth review of 83 studies in HE documents the growth of EMI in different geographical areas. We describe studies which have investigated university teachers’ beliefs and those of students before attempting to synthesise the evidence on whether teaching academic subjects through the medium of English as a second language (L2) is of benefit to developing English proficiency without a detrimental effect on content learning. We conclude that key stakeholders have serious concerns regarding the introduction and implementation of EMI despite sometimes recognising its inevitability. We also conclude that the research evidence to date is insufficient to assert that EMI benefits language learning nor that it is clearly detrimental to content learning. There are also insufficient studies demonstrating, through the classroom discourse, the kind of practice which may lead to beneficial outcomes. This insufficiency, we argue, is partly due to research methodology problems both at the micro and macro level.

/pdf/a-systematic-review-of-english-medium-instruction-in-higher-7bnfue12m7.pdf

A Systematic Review of English Medium Instruction in Higher Education.

We report on a small scale study carried out in Austria, Italy and Poland which investigated the attitudes of university teachers engaged in teaching their academic subject through the medium of English. The data consisted of 25 teacher interviews. We focused on the topics of internationalisation of universities, on policy and resourcing, and on the levels of English proficiency (theirs and those of their students) needed for effective English medium instruction (EMI). We also observed whether there were differences among the respondents from the three countries and attempted to relate any differences to the linguistic, educational and political context of each. Our findings suggest that whilst very similar concerns are in the minds of the teachers regardless of the country they were teaching in, some interesting variability in attitudes, relating to language and to history, could be detected. To our knowledge, this is the first study on EMI that compares teacher attitudes in three countries, hence its exploratory nature. Our findings would suggest that further research of such comparative kind might provide insights into how the phenomenon of EMI is being introduced and accepted across the world.

/pdf/higher-education-teachers-attitudes-towards-english-medium-2hg707sl1m.pdf

Higher Education Teachers' Attitudes towards English Medium Instruction: A Three-Country Comparison.

English medium instruction (EMI) programs, where discipline content is taught through English, have been mandated in a number of Vietnam’s universities as part of the government’s National Foreign Languages 2020 project and their Higher Education Reform Agenda. The aim is to promote international exchange, increase revenue, raise the quality and prestige of educational programs, and provide a well-qualified, bilingual workforce for Vietnam’s rapidly-developing economy. Three main types of program are delivered: those from overseas institutions that are delivered onshore by overseas staff; overseas programs taught under franchise by local staff; and domestic programs that are informed by offshore curricula but modified for local requirements. But as with many Asia-Pacific countries, Vietnam’s EMI drive has been beset with issues at the macro- (governmental), meso- (institutional) and micro- (classroom) levels. Policy on EMI is mandated and regulated in an ad hoc fashion; institutions struggle to adapt programs designed in Anglophone countries to local requirements; classroom academics wrestle with increased preparation loads, the limits of their own English language proficiency and that of their students. This chapter examines these issues, providing illustrative detail through a case study of EMI implementation at a Vietnamese higher education institution. Recommendations are then made for improved implementation and practice.

EMI Programs in a Vietnamese University: Language, Pedagogy and Policy Issues

Korean universities started offering English-medium instruction (EMI) classes in the 1990s, and the number has significantly increased since the Korean government began providing financial support for universities in the mid-2000s. This paper attempts to examine the past, present, and future of EMI in Korean higher education using document analysis of an extensive volume of research papers, newspaper articles, books, and internet sources on EMI in Korean tertiary education. Documents related to the Korean government’s official EMI policies were also collected and analyzed. The paper discusses why and how the Korean government initiated and supported EMI implementation in Korean universities, why and how universities have adopted and implemented EMI policies, professors’ and students’ perceptions of and attitudes toward EMI, and what are considered desirable EMI methods for Korean university students. The paper concludes with some remarks about future directions that Korean universities are likely to take in relation to EMI.

English Medium Instruction in Korean Higher Education: Challenges and Future Directions

With an increase in English-medium courses in universities in non-English speaking countries, various concerns have been raised such as difficulty of students’ lecture comprehension and ineffective interaction between lecturers and students. This study scrutinized relationships among Korean medical students’ comprehension of and satisfaction with English-medium lectures and their general English proficiency. Sixty-one medical students taking a required medical course participated in the study. The students’ data concerning their lecture comprehension and perceptions were collected by means of pre- and post-tests and survey questionnaires during English-medium and Korean-medium lectures. It was found that the medium of instruction had no effect on the understanding of the lecture and that students’ general English proficiency was not related to their lecture comprehension. In the survey, students expressed diverse needs for English such as LI summaries of main points and remedial English courses in general or medical English. Based on the results, suggestions and recommendations for the implementation of EMI courses in Korea are suggested.

Does English-Medium Instruction Benefit Students in EFL Contexts? A Case Study of Medical Students in Korea

The purpose of the study is to investigate rating behavior between Korean and native English speaking (NES) raters. Five Korean English teachers and five NES teachers graded 420 essays written by Korean college freshmen and completed survey questionnaires. The grading data were analyzed with FACETS program. The results revealed Korean raters’ inferiority in measuring linguistic components. Furthermore, the Korean raters were more severe in scoring grammar, sentence structure, and organization, whereas the NES raters were stricter toward content and overall scores. In addition, the analysis of the raters’ responses on survey discovered that the NNS raters’ perception spread into content and grammar as the most difficult feature to grade, while all NES raters thought content as the most difficult. Based on these research findings, future research suggestions and implications are discussed.

Native and Nonnative Rater Behavior in Grading Korean Students' English Essays.

The Relationship between Writers' Perceptions and Their Performance on a Field-Specific Writing Test.

Development and validation of the English writing strategy inventory

While advantages of self-assessment (SA) for young learners of English have been addressed, the factors that could determine the effect of SA have not been much examined To this end, this study focuses on learners’ English proficiency level and examines the effects of SA on three groups of Korean EFL learners with different proficiency levels A total of 184 sixth-grade students from seven classes of mixed proficiency levels participated in the study The students were provided with an 11-week course of English instruction in which they were instructed to self-assess their learning progress at the end of each class Based on the results of pre-test results, students were classified into three groups of low, intermediate, or high level of English proficiency It was found that the effect of the SA intervention on language learning was positive, but it was greater for low- and intermediate-level learners than for high-level learners In terms of student motivation, confidence, and anxiety with regard to language learning, there was a significant positive effect of SA regardless of the learner’s L2 proficiency level Further pedagogical implications are suggested

Hee-Kyung Lee

Papers

Does English-Medium Instruction Benefit Students in EFL Contexts? A Case Study of Medical Students in Korea

Native and Nonnative Rater Behavior in Grading Korean Students' English Essays.

The Relationship between Writers' Perceptions and Their Performance on a Field-Specific Writing Test.

Development and validation of the English writing strategy inventory

Do Effects of Self-Assessment Differ by L2 Language Level? A Case of Korean Learners of English