Cultural bias in the assessment of english language learner students Essay

Cultural bias in the assessment of english language learner students - Essay Example English language countries have many rich cultural traditions and features that must be reflected in the assessment of English language learner students and other parts of the learning process. It is also pay attention to the students of different cultures who study English as the second foreign language and their possibilities to understand English through its culture expressed in the language and to compare their native cultures with the English one. It helps to make the learning interesting that improves the results of English language learner students' assessment. 2. It is better to consider the role of culture in English teaching and learning on the examples of some concrete countries cultures of which differ from that of English. The examples of Russia and Japan show considerable features in English language learning and teaching. "Native speaking English language teachers are very much needed in Russia and in most cases they are met with traditional Russian hospitality, get a decent pay according to Russian standards and receive good evaluations and references" (Millrood). Cultural features of Russia influence the teaching process and assessment. English lesson in Russia has some features. "A lesson usually has three-stages, including homework check up, presentation of the new material and reinforcement of the new material" (Millrood). ... "In pairs and small groups learners need a very detailed description of what they are supposed to do, otherwise tending to work individually and/or waiting to be asked by the teacher and to give the prepared answer" (Millrood). In pair and group activities in Russia learners must follow the teacher's instructions, and their assessment directly depends on task performance accuracy according to it. "Whole-language approach is not universally supported. A good lesson is considered to be competence-building. In every lesson, the teacher is expected to organise balanced activities in learning lexis and grammar, as well as in speaking, listening and reading" (Millrood). The learners' assessment is tightly connected with their skills of taking part in these balanced activities. In Russia "a lesson is usually result-oriented and it is the result, which is considered primary, not the activity, which may be very motivating and activating the learners" (Millrood). So, good assessment and a posi tive result are the main orients of the English language lesson in Russia. "At the end of the lesson, each learner usually gets a mark on a five-point scale with a detailed comment from the teacher" (Millrood). This kind of assessment of a five-point scale form doesn't reflect the whole depth of learner's knowledge and cannot be considered as the objective assessment of learning results. In Russian schools "a lesson is usually declared as communicative though in reality, teachers and learners spend a lot of time dealing with grammar structures, bilingual exercises and text understanding" (Millrood). Because of that the learners' assessment is often