Korean Junior Secondary School English Teachers - Essay Example

Data was collected via interviews and questionnaires. The research concluded that the speaking assessments were designed to minimize the psychological stress upon the students, save their as well as the teachers’ time, and obviate the need for teachers to interview the students. The teachers involved in the research were found least concerned with their assessments’ reliability and validity. This essentially minimized the teachers’ confidence in their assessments. The classroom-specific barriers included the large size of the classes, excessive work, and lack of sufficient training of the teachers. Korean secondary school teachers require the assistance of the administration to realize new and improved ways of speaking assessment.

Critical analysis:
This article has the potential to influence Korean academia in several ways. The realization of a problem is the first and foremost step for its resolution. This article particularly addresses this. English speaking ability of Korean students depends fundamentally upon the skills and competence of the teacher as well as the methods employed by them to assess the speech of students. This research has covered the basic steps in the way of bringing improvement in the speaking assessment ability of the teachers. No negative aspect of the article can be depicted since the research article makes a significant contribution to the existing body of knowledge regarding the factors evaluated by the teachers in their assessments of students’ speaking ability.

The fundamental goal of assessment is to improve the pedagogical approach adopted by the teacher and assist the students in controlling their learning. This can not be achieved without authentic assessment which is linked with the program’s instructional objectives. Development and administration of a speaking assessment can be very challenging especially when the teacher’s powers are limited by a lot of constraints.

One thing of particular interest discovered as a result of this research was that most of the problems with the speaking assessment pertained to the system employed in the educational setup. A vast majority of the teachers knew that the quality of the methods employed by them to assess the student’s English speaking ability was compromising, yet there was little that they could do about it.

The problem was found to originate not in the teachers’ slackness, but in various constraints most of which were beyond the control of teachers. In a conventional educational system, time is limited. Teachers have to cover a lot of courses in a very limited time. In that time, the teacher does not only have to achieve his/her target concerning curriculum, but also counsel the students individually and collectively, understand the psyche of each student to work out the method that best works for him/her, and take exams. Ironically, most teachers give easy assignments because they find it easy to check them. It is interesting to find that assignments, that are abhorred by students are much more of a burden for the teachers who have to find time to check them. Another very interesting factor is the fact that the teachers themselves do not at all feel concerned about the validity or reliability of the assignments they give.

There was a disparity among the teachers in their opinion about the usefulness of speaking assessments. One teacher said that speaking assessments should not be made until the students reach their 9th grade because, before that, their knowledge of English is too limited to perform food in speaking assessments (Sook 17). This raises the question of the usability of speaking assessment; Is speaking assessment worth the time and effort invested into it by both the teacher and the students? Is a student’s performance in speaking assessment related to his/her maturity level? And how a teacher can maximize the reliability and validity of the results drawn through speaking assessment?

Conclusion:
Information given in this research article portrays all drawbacks and limitations of the speaking assessment made by Korean secondary school teachers. Nevertheless, administrators need to fully cooperate with the teachers and facilitate them in every manner so that the teachers find themselves in a position to improve the speaking assessment and adapt their pedagogy according to the individualistic and collective needs of the students. Read More