Assessing EFL teachers competencies: a study on the validity of an international certification / Avaliando as competências dos professores de língua estrangeira (inglês): um estudo sobre a validade de uma certificação internacional

AUTOR(ES)
DATA DE PUBLICAÇÃO

2009

RESUMO

Given the inexistence in Brazil of a national certification instrument for Teachers of English as a Foreign Language, the object of this study was the international exam Teaching Knowledge Test(TKT), with a view to establishing if an objective, receptive, discrete-point and criterion-based test (HUGHES, 1989; ALDERSON et al,1995), designed for the global market, provided levels of the validity and reliability required of a professional certification. By resorting to qualitative research tools, such as classroom observation and semi-structured interviews, as well as the administration of a public TKT sample test, I sought to identify the extent to which there was any alignment between the implicit, theoretical and applied competencies (ALMEIDA FILHO, 1993, 1999 and 2005) of four Brazilian teachers of English as a foreign language, whose professional experience ranged from two to ten years. Since their test results revealed a considerable similarity in their recognition of the theoretical knowledge assessed by TKT which did not account for the discrepancies in the applied competence verified in their classroom practice the same test was administered to a comparison group comprising four advanced-level students of English, in order to check if the linguistic-communicative competencies (ALMEIDA FILHO, op. cit.) of the candidates would be enough for a satisfactory performance in the test, according to the evaluation criteria of the examining body. It was possible to verify that even without an academic background or professional experience in the teaching of English as a foreign language, the comparison groups scores were very close to those of the teachers. This suggests that the level of technical and theoretical knowledge required by TKT does not characterize it as a professional qualification test, since its assessment of candidates relies so heavily on implicit and linguistic-communicative competencies that it fails to make a clear distinction between lay people and professionals, let alone between highly-qualified professionals and those moderately qualified or even totally unqualified in formal terms.

ASSUNTO(S)

avaliação em língua estrangeira validade de provas foreign language testing teachers competencies tkt test validity competências dos professores linguistica aplicada certificação de professores de inglês tkt efl teachers certification

ACESSO AO ARTIGO

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