How well do various assessment practices of the preparatory year english program predict the success of students for TOEFL ITP (Institutional Testing Program)? A Case study at TOBB University of Economics and Techonology Department of Foreign Languages

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2013
Doğru, Şeyma
Students studying in the preparatory program at TOBB ETU are assessed with various assessment practices (placement test, midterms, quizzes, and readers) and required to pass TOEFL ITP test to start their undergraduate education in their departments. However, how well these assessment practices predict students' performance in TOEFL ITP is a question that needs to be investigated. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to find out the relationship among in-house assessment practices and TOEFL ITP. Moreover, it aims to investigate both the instructors' and students' opinion on the effectiveness of these assessment practices on TOEFL ITP. Forty-eight instructors and 421 students filled in a half open-ended questionnaire, v and the scores of 337 students were analyzed using Pearson Product Moment Correlation and Multiple Regression. The results showed that a higher correlation exists between midterms and TOEFL ITP, a situation which both instructors and students agreed on. In addition, low but still significant relationship was found between all the quizzes except one and TOEFL ITP. For the placement test, while no significant correlation was found for beginner and elementary levels, a low but significant correlation exist in intermediate and upper-intermediate levels. Lastly, even though a positive correlation is found between the average of reader exams and TOEFL ITP, more than half of the participants still think that they are the least efficient assessment practice.

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Citation Formats
Ş. Doğru, “How well do various assessment practices of the preparatory year english program predict the success of students for TOEFL ITP (Institutional Testing Program)? A Case study at TOBB University of Economics and Techonology Department of Foreign Languages,” M.S. - Master of Science, Middle East Technical University, 2013.