An Analysis of “Jordan Opportunities” Objectives in the General Secondary Certificate Examination of English: A Case Study in Jordan between 2008 and 2010


  •  Mahmoud Sulaiman Bani Abdelrahman    

Abstract

The study aimed at investigating the GSCE through assessing to what extent English Language Teaching Objectives are available in the GSCE in Jordan between 2008 and 2010.This study attempts to answer the following questions:
1- To what extent are the English language Teaching objectives realized in the GSCE in Jordan between 2008 and 2010 for each academic year?
2- To what extent are the English language Teaching objectives realized in the GSCE in Jordan between 2008 and 2010 for all the three years collectively?
The sample of the study consists of all examination papers of the GSCE in English in Jordan between the years 2008 and 2010. For the purpose of the study, the researcher developed a questionnaire that consists of 13 Thirston –type items that were classified under the following categories:
1- listening 2
2- speaking 3
3- reading 3
4 - writing 5
The questionnaire was prepared in English. The questionnaire was given to a jury of professors, supervisors and teachers of English. The jury’s responses on the questionnaire were analyzed as follows:
1- Percentage and frequency in each response category.
2- Basic descriptive statistical mean and standard deviation.
3- Phi and Cramer’s V for nominal variables (corresponding internal contingency coefficient in case of interval variables) Using the Statistical Package for Social Studies (SPSS) uses the above-mentioned procedure.
The study presents the following
1- The objectives of listening and speaking are not available in the GSCE completely.
2- Two out of three of the reading objectives are available.
3- Four out of five of the writing objectives are available in the GSCE.
On the basis of the findings, the researcher recommended the following:
1- Include speaking and listening exams in the GSCE because of the need to let teachers teach them in classes.
2- Vary the questions of reading and writing to cover all the objectives.
3- To test what we teach not to teach what we are going to test as the case in most schools.


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