Assessment processes in foreign language (english) : a case study in the business contex / Processos avaliativos em lingua estrangeira (ingles) : um estudo de caso em contexto empresarial

AUTOR(ES)
DATA DE PUBLICAÇÃO

2010

RESUMO

In the job market, English language is considered an essential requirement to find a position. Although it seems to be common knowledge, little do we know about how the language assessment process occurs in companies. This research aims at investigating how the English language assessment occurs in a company located in the São Paulo metropolitan area and if this assessment process meets its needs. The data were collected through interviews with the director in charge of the language assessment of the job applicants, questionnaires applied to the employees and analysis of the tests currently used by the company. The results show that the assessment process occurs in two main situations. The first moment is in the applicant s screening process when written and oral tests are administered and the second one is in the monitoring of the students performance in the English course subsidized by the company. However, the way the tests are administered shows mismatches between language conception and its operation. Although the company seeks professionals able to use the language in their work activities according to their job expectations, the written test assesses the applicants knowledge of language form. Secondly, there is no synergy between the English school, responsible for the employees English course, and the company. The former focuses teaching and assessment on course material disregarding the language use in the business context. The latter neither sets nor demands that its English language needs and employees performance be considered in this process. In this research, we believe that performance assessment is the adequate way to analyze the professional s ability to use the language. In performance assessment, applicants are assessed by their performance in tasks that are similar or represent the criterion, the target performance subsequent to the test. (Scaramucci, 2004; Clark, 1996; Hamayan, 1995; McNamara, 1996, 1997, 2000). In addition to it, due to the characteristics of the context under investigation, we believe that performance assessment should be in English for Specific Purposes (Douglas 2000; Sullivan, 2006), more specifically Business English

ASSUNTO(S)

work environment ingles para propositos especificos english for specific purposes ambiente de trabalho assessment avaliação

ACESSO AO ARTIGO

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