A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF THE ENGLISH TESTS FOR UNIVERSITY ENTRANCE IN SPAIN AND GERMANY
Journal Title: Journal of Languages for Specific Purposes (JLSP) - Year 2017, Vol 1, Issue 4
Abstract
This paper is a comparative analysis of the English language assessment of the university entrance examinations “la Selectividad” and “das Abitur” administered nationwide in Spain and Germany respectively. It is of particular interest to researchers and practitioners of English as a foreign language. The major objective of the current research is to identify any similarities and/or differences in the assessment of English as a foreign language for university admission between the two countries. To this end, the test papers used in 2015 for students in Madrid and Berlin were investigated qualitatively. In order for the analysis to be more systematic, the framework from Douglas (2000) was employed. The findings demonstrate that the two national tests share some similarities. First, the candidates of both tests are required to read the given textual input first before they can complete the writing tasks. Second, listening and speaking skills are not assessed in both tests. On the other hand, overt contrasts between the two tests were identified. The assessment designed for the German students takes longer to complete, and it contains a markedly larger amount of textual data. Furthermore, Spanish students are expected to give “selected response” or “limited response” most of the time while “extended response” to all questions is elicited from German candidates. The findings of this study are valuable because they have shown that the national assessment of English as a foreign language for university admission can vary greatly across non-English-speaking European countries. The assessment in Germany appears to be more challenging than the one in Spain, notwithstanding the very early start of English learning among Spanish children. Given the status of English as an international language, it is highly recommended that some measures be taken, at least among members of the European Union (e.g., via a committee modeling on the Bologna Process), to harmonize the assessment of English as a foreign language for the purpose of university admission.
Authors and Affiliations
Ray Leung
Keywords
Related Articles
- EP ID EP278170
- DOI -
- Views 65
- Downloads 0
AUF DIE PERSÖNLICHKEIT DES LEHRERS KOMMT ALLES AN – FORSCHUNGSBERICHT ZUM PROFIL EINES „GUTEN” FREMDSPRACHENLEHRERS IN ALLEN SCHULTYPEN IN POLEN / IT ALL DEPENDS ON THE TEACHER’S PERSONALITY – PROFILE OF A ‘GOOD’ FOREIGN LANGUAGE TEACHER IN ALL TYPES OF SCHOOLS IN POLAND – RESEARCH REPORT
Since the 1960s, there has been increasing interest in the teacher’s professional qualifications in didactics, leading in some ways to the ‘dehumanization’ of the teacher. And yet it is the teacher’s personality that oft...
EXPLORING THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN AUTHENTIC DIALOGUE AND SPANISH FOR HEALTHCARE PROFESSIONALS
Although linguistic studies of healthcare communication are common for English dialects, they are less frequent for Spanish. Furthermore, linguistic research is virtually non-existent for Ecuadorian healthcare discourse,...
EIN PLÄDOYER FÜR DIE REHABILITIERUNG UND RETABLIERUNG DER ÜBERSETZUNG IM DAF-UNTERRICHT / A PLEA FOR THE RESTORATION OF TRANSLATION IN THE TEACHING OF GERMAN AS A FOREIGN LANGUAGE
Foreign languages in general are taught through the communicative method. The grammar-translation method is considered obsolete today, and that is why translation tasks in foreign language teaching (in Hungary) are used...
AN ANALYSIS OF CONVERSATIONAL DISCOURSE IN MEDICAL SETTINGS FOR LEARNERS OF GERMAN: LANGUAGE, COMMUNICATION AND PEDAGOGY
The recent sociopolitical circumstances in Germany have led to the popularization of teaching German as a foreign language (Deutsch als Fremdsprache, DaF) within the country. To cater to the different needs or goals of l...
SPRACHLICHE UND KULTURELLE INTEGRATION VON FLÜCHTLINGEN – NEUE HERAUSFORDERUNGEN FÜR DIE ERWACHSENENBILDUNG IN EUROPA DES XXI. JAHRHUNDERTS / LINGUISTIC AND CULTURAL INTEGRATION OF REFUGEES – NEW CHALLENGES FOR ADULT EDUCATION IN XXIST CENTURY EUROPE
Following study deals with the chances of integrating immigrants into European culture. Therefore several aspects are to be analysed like: is there any linguistic and above all cultural integration possible at all, which...