Development Of Esl Speaking Proficiency Assessment For Undergraduates

English is regarded as an asset that can result in success in the twenty-first-century job market. Hence, mastering the art of speaking to many language learners is seen as the most important language aspect when learning the English language. Speaking assessment has made significant inroads into the field of language teaching and pedagogy in pursuit of improvement. It is vital that instructors assess their students’ speaking proficiency continuously and therefore, test results must assist instructors to determine students’ speaking proficiency. However, the current assessment based on grades does not provide specific information regarding students’ specific speaking proficiency. The grade provided does not indicate information on how to help students enhance their speaking proficiency

Instructional Coaching as a Tool for Professional Development: Coaches’ Roles and Considerations

In this study, we primarily aimed to investigate coaches’ roles and their considerations in shifting coaching roles they perform. Employing a qualitative descriptive research, we conducted semi-structured interview sessions with ten instructional coaches to determine their roles and considerations in shifting roles during coaching English teachers in primary schools. Utilizing Braun and Clarke’s (2006) six-phase approach, we employed thematic analysis to analyse the desired data collected in the study. The findings suggested that there were three roles instructional coaches enacted, namely, the role of the implementer, advocate, and educator. The roles were influenced by coaches’ considerations of teacher readiness, coaching style and coaches’ qualities. The findings also showed that the coaches performed a non-authoritative approach in their coaching and constantly role-shifted between the roles according to the demand of different situations. Influencing their decision in role-shifting, the coaches’ roles and their considerations provide insights into instructional coaching. As such, practitioners and stake holders can reflect and enhance the implementation of the coaching programme to encourage supportive coaching activities. Because there is a need to conduct adequate research on instructional coaching specifically in the context of Malaysia, this study offers an insight into coaches’ specific roles in Malaysia. Future research can take a closer look at the “in-the-moment” coaching process to determine the professional development programmes designed based on coaches’ understanding of role-shifting

The role of learner-learner interaction in the development of speaking skills

The present study investigated the role of learner-learner interaction in the development of speaking skills of 52 international postgraduate students who enrolled in an intensive English course at the language center at Universiti Utara Malaysia (UUM) after they failed in English Language Placement Test (ELPT) at the point of entry to the university. A quantitative research method was employed to examine the role of learner-learner interaction in the development of speaking skill of the language learners.The speaking skill of the participants was assessed before and immediately after the English course and, questionnaire was distributed among the participants to get a deeper insight about the role of learner-learner interaction in enhancing their speaking skill.The data gained were analysed through SPSS version 16.0 and were presented in the form of descriptive statistics which include percentages.Findings of the study indicated that learner-learner interaction played a significant role in the classroom since students were able to improve their speaking skill in the classroom atmosphere.The analysis also confirmed notable concern over employing learner-learner interaction instructions in the developing of speaking skill. The pedagogical implications of the findings suggested the need to include communicative language teaching materials which help language learners practice language in the hope of improving their speaking abilities through the interactions that take place among language learners in the classroom