ABSTRACT
—Assessment of speaking skills differs from other language skills. The methods of conducting speaking skills are included in the English Assessment Module developed by the researchers from the National University of Malaysia (UKM). The module is designed to cater postgraduates (adult learners) through Online Distance Learning (ODL) program. ODL has become essential in education setting for adult learners as they could manage their learning whilst juggling their career and personal commitments. The covid-19 pandemic has become the starting point for postgraduates to conduct the course remotely according to their preferences of learning. The revolution of education allows adult learners to pursue their Masters. The module includes various types of English language assessments in the context of speaking English as a Second Language (ESL). Hence, eight adult learners were interviewed to give their perceptions towards this newly designed module. This qualitative research method employed a set of semi-structured interview questions and open-ended questions via Google Meet. The findings showed that English Assessment Module;Speaking Assessment is well equipped with comprehensive information and guidelines on how the speaking assessments should be conducted in ESL context. Generally, the findings indicate that the English Assessment Module;Speaking Assessment is suitable for ODL postgraduates (adult learners). This paper also includes the participants' suggestions to further improve the module. The findings could benefit the online distance course designers in designing better module for adult learners and enable the learners to learn effectively at their own convenience. © 2023 ACADEMY PUBLICATION.
ABSTRACT
This study explores First Year Engineering students' perceptions towards online speaking assessment amidst COVID-19 pandemic. To ensure that the education process remained uninterrupted during the pandemic, schools and higher learning institutions were forced to shift to full time remote teaching and learning which has indirectly impacted assessment and evaluation of all courses. This study aims to examine first year engineering students' views on their experience having online speaking assessment amidst covid-19 pandemic. Investigating students' perceptions as the end user towards online assessment is highly crucial to determine the effectiveness of teaching and learning. A quantitative method of study was conducted with questionnaire derived from Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) was adopted to collect responses from 163 undergraduate Diploma engineering students doing their first semester in Universiti Teknikal Malaysia Melaka, Malaysia. The key findings indicated that the students were well receptive of online speaking assessment and were fully ready to have online speaking assessment in the future. The study also discovered that students' perceived self-efficacy towards online speaking assessment was low and there was significant difference in perceptions between students from rural and students from urban area on online speaking assessment. This study is important to higher learning institutions to serve as a guide in making planning related to implementation of online speaking assessment during the pandemic. This research is also significant for its contribution towards language teaching practices in higher learning institution and will be helpful for the educators to identify ways to enhance students' online assessment experience for an effective teaching and learning. Copyright © 2022 Wolters Kluwer Medknow Publications. All rights reserved.