113 128 Zaiton

The English Teacher Vol. XL: 113-128

THE SCHOOL-BASED ORAL ENGLISH TEST:
SIMILARITIES AND DIFFERENCES IN OPINION
BETWEEN TEACHERS AND STUDENTS

Zaitun Binti Abdul Majid
Maktab Rendah Sains MARA Muar, Malaysia
Arshad Bin Abd Samad
Mazanah Binti Muhamad
Universiti Putra Malaysia
Malachi Edwin Vethamani
Wawasan Open University, Malaysia

ABSTRACT
The school-based Oral English test was introduced to Malaysian Form 4 and 5 students in
2002. A qualitative study was undertaken to investigate the implementation of the test in selected Maktab Rendah Sains MARA schools. Thirty students from three different schools comprising 5 focus groups were interviewed, and 14 teachers from the same schools were either observed in the classrooms and/or interviewed over the course of 7.5 months. This paper examines the question: Are there any similarities and differences in opinion between students and teachers regarding the revised school-based Oral English Test? Recommendations are then made based on the results.

Introduction
In 2002, Hassan and Selamat investigated teacher perceptions of the reasons for
KBSM students’ low proficiency in English. The results showed one main finding that teaching and testing in schools and in the national examinations focused mainly on writing and reading skills. Listening and speaking are not given much attention in the classroom. The study also reported that speaking is the learners’ weakest skill. The lack of attention given to speaking, resulting in students’ weaknesses in speaking, is of great concern.
A new standardized national scale school-based Oral English Test (OET) was introduced to Malaysian schools in 2002 and the results were first announced
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nationwide in 2003. One of the reasons for the introduction of the new OET to
Malaysian secondary schools is the hope that the test preparation will help to develop students’ oral competence in line with the learning objectives stated in the English
Language

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