Incorporating the TOEIC® Speaking and Writing Test into Regular First-year English Writing Classes

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  • TOEIC® スピーキング・ライティングテストと通常の1年生英語ライティングクラスとの統合
  • Incorporating the TOEIC Speaking and Writing Test into Regular First-year English Writing Classes

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Abstract

In this article, we report on a project in which the TOEIC® Speaking and Writing test is incorporated into regular first-year English classes. The effects of these classes on students’ productive English abilities, particularly writing, are investigated, along with their motivation to learn English. The study builds upon previous research investigating a program (HiSPEC) integrating TOEIC® Speaking and Writing with small-group classes (Uenishi et al., 2017; 2018; 2019). Our primary aims were to determine whether it would be possible for teachers to successfully incorporate the TOEIC® S&W test into the syllabus with relatively large classes, and if students would be able to benefit to the same extent as those in small-group classes. Teachers’ feedback and students’ responses to a questionnaire survey were analyzed, along with the students’ TOEIC® S&W test results obtained at the beginning and end of the regular writing course. Regarding student satisfaction, our findings for the regular-sized classes are less positive than those of the 2017 course with small-sized classes, with only about half of the students expressing satisfaction with the course. However, most students were satisfied with the class size. Looking at the test results, although we found no significant difference between the two sets of Speaking test scores, there was a significant difference between the results of the two Writing tests. These findings indicate that students, at all levels of ability and motivation, and regardless of class size, can make good progress with their writing skills over a short period of time. Also, it would seem to be easier to bring about substantial improvement in writing than in speaking, as measured by the TOEIC® S&W test, at least over the short term. Looking to the future, research into courses incorporating the TOEIC® Speaking and Writing test might usefully investigate factors such as test validity, the timing of tests, and teacher autonomy.

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