Publication details
Testing Mediation: The Challenge of an Unorthodox Answer
| Authors | |
|---|---|
| Year of publication | 2023 |
| Type | Appeared in Conference without Proceedings |
| MU Faculty or unit | |
| Citation | |
| Description | Abstract Linguistic mediation appears to be a feasible test task in the fight to combat online cheating in tests for B2 students. When mediating, language needs to be adjusted, it cannot be copied and pasted. The difficulty, however, comes when the task is to be evaluated. Suggestions to deal with unexpected, unorthodox or impolite answers will be presented and discussed. Summary In this talk I will briefly explain what linguistic mediation is and why I believe it is a good idea to introduce it into testing online to increase the likelihood the test-takers present their own work rather than simply copy and paste answers found on the internet. I will show the dialogue type tasks that were designed for English for Specific Purposes (namely Law) tertiary education students at B2 level and demonstrate how well they worked in most cases. Having done that, I will concentrate on the problems. As mediation affords a considerable freedom to the test-taker, some of the answers may be unexpected, inappropriate or simply incorrect. How to assess these fairly? Where to draw the line between what is still acceptable and what is not? Marking scales will be presented, samples of problem answers shown, and options into adjusting the scales to more objectively deal with such deviations from the expected norm will looked at. Together with my colleagues we use the research technique of action research so the logical next step is to look into the future. By the time the IATEFL conference takes place, we will have tested another lot of students and the next round of research questions addressing new issues will have arisen and I would like to deal with these fresh ones whatever they may be in my talk as well. |