Finalreport initialtest

PE-MC-EAE Promoting English as Means of Communication in European Adult Education

2013 - 1 - ES - GRU06 - 73300

FINAL REPORT ON THE INITIAL TEST

Istituto Statale d'Istruzione Superiore "Buonarroti - Fossombroni", Arezzo - ITALY

Liceul Tehnologic de Servicii "Sfantul Apostol Andrei", Ploiesti, ROMANIA

Centre de Formació d'Adults Josepa Massanès i Dalmau, Tarragona, SPAIN

İnönü Teknik ve Endüstri Meslek Lisesi, Istanbul, TURKEY


PE-MC-EAE Pag. 2 of 61



INDEX

INTRODUCTION .....................................................................................................................5

1. FINAL REPORT ON THE INITIAL TEST - AREZZO, ITALY ...........................................7

1.1. PLACE OF ENGLISH IN SCHOOL CURRICULUM ......................................... 7

1.2. AGE OF THE STUDENTS .............................................................................. 7

1.3. YEARS OF STUDYING .................................................................................. 8

1.4. EXTRA CLASSES .......................................................................................... 8

1.5. SIMPLE READING A ...................................................................................... 9

1.6. USE OF ENGLISH – B .................................................................................... 9

1.7. USE OF ENGLISH – C ................................................................................. 10

1.8. USE OF ENGLISH – E .................................................................................. 11

1.9. USE OF ENGLISH – F .................................................................................. 11

1.10. READING – D ............................................................................................... 12

1.11. LISTENING – G ............................................................................................ 12

1.12. WRITING – H ................................................................................................ 13

1.13. CONCLUSIONS USE OF ENGLISH ............................................................. 14

1.14. CONCLUSIONS ABOUT EXERCISES ......................................................... 15

1.15. GENERAL CONCLUSIONS .......................................................................... 16

2. FINAL REPORT ON THE INITIAL TEST - PLOIESTI, ROMANIA ................................ 18

2.1. PLACE OF ENGLISH IN SCHOOL CURRICULUM ....................................... 18

2.2. AGE OF THE STUDENTS ............................................................................ 18

2.3. YEARS OF STUDYING ................................................................................ 19

2.4. EXTRA CLASSES ........................................................................................ 20

2.5. SIMPLE READING A .................................................................................... 20

2.6. USE OF ENGLISH – B .................................................................................. 21

2.7. USE OF ENGLISH – C ................................................................................. 22

2.8. USE OF ENGLISH – E .................................................................................. 23

2.9. USE OF ENGLISH – F .................................................................................. 23

2.10. READING – D ............................................................................................... 24

2.11. LISTENING – G ............................................................................................ 25

2.12. WRITING – H ................................................................................................ 26


2.14. CONCLUSIONS OF THE EXERCISES ......................................................... 28


3. FINAL REPORT ON THE INITIAL TEST - TARRAGONA, SPAIN ................................ 32

3.1. INTRODUCTION .......................................................................................... 32




3.5. EXTRA CLASSES ........................................................................................ 35



3.6. SIMPLE READING – A ................................................................................. 36

3.7. READING – D ............................................................................................... 37

3.8. USE OF ENGLISH – B, C, E, F ..................................................................... 37


3.10. LISTENING – G ............................................................................................ 39

3.11. WRITING – H ................................................................................................ 40



4. FINAL REPORT ON THE INITIAL TEST - ISTANBUL, TURKEY ................................. 43

4.1. INTRODUCTION .......................................................................................... 43




4.5. EXTRA CLASSES ........................................................................................ 44

4.6. SIMPLE READING A .................................................................................... 44

4.7. USE OF ENGLISH – B .................................................................................. 45

4.8. USE OF ENGLISH – C ................................................................................. 46

4.9. USE OF ENGLISH – E .................................................................................. 46

4.10. USE OF ENGLISH – F .................................................................................. 47

4.11. READING – D ............................................................................................... 47

4.12. LISTENING – G ............................................................................................ 48

4.13. WRITING – H ................................................................................................ 48




5. GENERAL CONCLUSIONS .......................................................................................... 52

ANNEX: TEST ...................................................................................................................... 57

REPORT AUTHORS ............................................................................................................. 61



INTRODUCTION

The aim of this project is to compare different ways of teaching English as a foreign language in

adult education in all partner countries and to try to improve the teaching methodology in each

institution participating in the project.

A research is being carried out in every partner country in order to compare teaching methods,

techniques, materials and to provide information about the way English as an international

language is taught to adults.

In order to get a general idea about the English level in adult education across Europe, a test

was designed by the English teachers from the four partner institutions involved in the project.

The aim of this initial test, covering the main language skills (except speaking, because of

implementation problems), was to collect data and information about the students’ level of English

in adult education in Europe. This test has tried to assess language level from a communicative

point of view (conversations, dialogues, registers, etc.) and we have tried to avoid traditional

grammar exercises. It follows the goal of the project, since we try to promote English as means of

communication among European adults.

Each partner country contributed to the creation of this test which was prepared, assembled,

checked and shared on Google drive. Then the test was carried out in two groups of students in

every partner institution and corrected by teachers involved in the project.



Once corrected, the data and information collected have been carefully examined and

processed and all coordinators from every European institution have written a final report on the

results achieved by their students.

During the project meetings and based on the test results and final reports, the coordinators and

teachers of English involved in the partnership have drawn some general conclusions regarding

how English is taught in their institutions and countries1. In this way the purpose of our test was

reached because the conclusions from here will represent the starting point in the next level of our

project: designing the teaching materials for adult classes.

1 Throughout this report we are going to compare results as being representative of our own countries, even if we are

conscious that the sample data is not statistically significant and that one sole institution cannot cope with the broad

reality of a whole country. The purpose of this project is to study, compare and improve the ways English is taught in

our four institutions that are under different educational policies and different social, cultural and economical realities,

each institution setting itself up as representative of its country.



1. FINAL REPORT ON THE INITIAL TEST - AREZZO, ITALY

This final report shows the results achieved by the 24 adult students tested.

1.1. PLACE OF ENGLISH IN SCHOOL CURRICULUM

In Italy English language is a compulsory school subject and part of the curriculum from Primary

school to Secondary school.

Most courses have three English lessons a week but the number of lessons may increase in

some courses as Tourism. The expected level of English at the end of Secondary school is B2.

Most state schools offer students the opportunity to get a certificate in English language (PET –

FIRST certificate – Trinity), and they usually organize courses in the early afternoon to prepare

students to take these exams.

1.2. AGE OF THE STUDENTS

AGE

54%

21%

25% G1 (18-24 years) = 13 students

G2 (25-34 years) = 5 students

G3 (35+ years) = 6 students

The age of the students involved in adult education is mainly between 18-24 years. During the

last few years the students’ age has lowered and this is the common trend in adult education in

Italy. Some of the students attending the courses simply failed at school, some had to get a job and

earn a living while others had problems of different kinds, such as family problems and illnesses.

At the moment, mainly due to the economic recession, most students attend our courses

because are unemployed and they need re-qualification and to get new skills. So our adult courses



represent the second chance for these people who couldn’t follow the “normal route” towards the

diploma which may help them to find a job in the future or improve their position.

1.3. YEARS OF STUDYING

YEARS OF STUDYING4%

50%

46%

Y3 (0-2 years) = 1 student

Y6 (3-6 years) = 12 students

Y7 (7+ years) = 11 students

Thanks to the introduction of the English language as a compulsory school subject in all primary

schools in 2004, the number of years in which students are taught English in state schools

increased from 0-5 to 10-13 and most children are nowadays involved in activities in English

starting from kindergarten.

As a consequence, young adult students have studied English longer and have a higher level of

English than old adult students who have studied English fewer years and interrupted their studies

long time ago.

1.4. EXTRA CLASSES

EXTRA CLASSES

79%

21%

Yes = 5 students

No = 19 students



In Italy there are only private courses of English for adults organised by language schools, but

they are expensive and not everyone can afford them, this explains the number of 19 adults out of

24 who have never attended extra classes of English.

Adult students realise that English is a language which can be very expensive if it is not learned

at the right time while being students in primary and secondary school.

1.5. SIMPLE READING A

(ANSWERING THE QUESTIONS ACCORDING TO THE PROMPTS)

READING – A

21%

8%

71%

4-5 points = 17 students



The results show that the majority of students (71%) can understand a written text and answer

questions properly. Some of them made mistakes in using the past simple and only two got 0-1

points.

1.6. USE OF ENGLISH – B

USE OF ENGLISH - B17%

83%

8 points = 20 students





Matching questions with the correct answers proved to be a very easy task for 20 adult students,

12 of them are under the age of 24, and 8 older. Their results can be explained by the number of

years they have studied English at school.

Among the 4 students who got 6 points, 1 is younger than 24, 1 is between 24 and 40, 2 are

older than 40.

1.7. USE OF ENGLISH – C

USE OF ENGLISH – C17%

83%



Arranging the lines in the correct order to make a dialogue was a difficult task for only 4

students, 2 of them are 32 years old.

The other 20 students had no mistakes no matter their age, which showed that the dialogue was

not difficult. Making a reservation in a restaurant is a common subject usually present in our

English text-book and the expressions used are part of the basic vocabulary: “I’d like to”, “make a

reservation”, “fully packed”, “looking forward to seeing you”.



1.8. USE OF ENGLISH – E

USE OF ENGLISH – E

71%

29%



Completing the instructions about how to watch a movie with the given imperatives was a task

which 17 students did correctly.

Although the task was easy, 7 students failed to match the imperatives with the correct contexts

and this shows that they couldn’t understand the written sentences and that the meaning of the

imperatives was a challenge even though imperatives belong to the basic vocabulary.

1.9. USE OF ENGLISH – F

USE OF ENGLISH – F46%

54% 5 points = 11 students



In this task students had to understand the meaning of some sentences and of some polite

expressions and to match them in order to create more polite sentences. The task was completed

correctly only by 11 students while 13 had difficulties, getting less than 3 points.



1.10. READING – D

READING – D

58%

13%

29%




Students are used to this kind of task in their English classes so they are usually well trained in

reading skills which imply not only a comprehension of the text but also using grammar structures

properly. 14 students answered questions correctly or with small mistakes proving that their

reading comprehension is at the expected B1 level.

Only 3 students didn’t complete the task properly proving that they neither understood the text

nor answered the questions accordingly.

1.11. LISTENING – G

LISTENING – G4%

75%

21%4 points = 1 student



This exercise consisted of an audio text at B1 level which students had to listen to twice and

then they had to answer 4 questions based on the text in order to prove that they understood the



oral message. The last question was the one which was the most difficult in the students’ opinion

because they had to understand some details they were listening to in the text and many of them

didn’t manage to select all or the correct ones.

5 students managed to write 2-3 correct answers and only 1 of them had no mistake. On the

other hand, there are 18 students who got the minimum number of points proving that they have no

listening skills at B1 level.

The listening skills haven’t been developed enough during the school years and this is due to

the fact that teachers don’t use enough listening exercises, audio texts or videos during the English

lessons.

1.12. WRITING – H

WRITING – H

33%

46%

21%




Only 8 students got 8 - 10 points at this exercise which means that they have developed writing

skills in English at B1 level.

11 students got very low marks at this exercise and 7 of them didn’t write anything so they got 0

points. This means that they have no writing skills at all.

5 students got an average of 5 points at this exercise, which means that they managed to

express their basic ideas in a poor way and with grammar mistakes.



1.13. CONCLUSIONS USE OF ENGLISH

Exercise B Exercise C Exercise E Exercise F Average

Maximum

results

20 students

83%

20 students

83%

17 students

71%

11 students

46%

17 students

71%

Minimum

results 0 students

4 students

17%

7 students

29%

13 students

54%

6 students

25%

CONCLUSIONS USE OF ENGLISH

20 20

17

11

17

0

4

7

13

6

0

5

10

15

20

25


Stu

de

nts

nu

mb

er

Maximum results

Minimum results

The biggest percentage of maximum results was obtained at exercises B and C (83%). These

types of exercises are familiar for students and they manage to solve tasks at A2 level.

The biggest percentage of minimum results was obtained at exercise F (54%) and this means

that adult students are not familiar with using modals and specific expressions of politeness.

The smallest percentage of minimum results was obtained at exercise B where no students got

the minimum and this leads to the conclusion that students have a good understanding of written

messages at level A2 due to the fact that this is a type of exercise students are generally familiar

with.



1.14. CONCLUSIONS ABOUT EXERCISES

Writing H Listening G Reading D Reading A

Use of

English

B, C, E, F

Maximum

results

8 students

33%

1 students

4%

14 students

58%

17 students

71%

17 students

71%

Minimum

results

11 students

46%

18 students

75%

3 students

13%

2 students

8%

6 students

25%

CONCLUSIONS ABOUT EXERCISES

8

1

14

17 17

11

18

32

6

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

16

18

20

Writing H Listening G Reading D Reading A Use of English

B, C, E, F

Stu

den

ts n

um

ber

Maximum results

Minimum results

- Writing is the only part of the test where almost half of the students got the minimum results

(46%) and one third of the students got the maximum results (33%), which means that students

find difficulties in writing and to build a text even though it is a guided task.

- Listening is the part where more than half of students got minimum results (75%) and the

smallest percentage of the maximum results. This means that listening exercises are not used very

often with students. Now English teacher are trying to develop better listening skills.

- Reading is the part where more than half of students got maximum results (58%) and 13% of

them got the minimum ones. This type of exercise in which students have to answer questions



based on a written text is very common to all students because it is widely used during the English

classes.

- Simple Reading A is the part in which about three quarters of the students got the maximum

results and there was also the smallest percentage of minimum results (8%). It’s a type of exercise

students are familiar with and the level of difficulty of the task is medium.

- Use of English is the part in which about three quarters of the students got the maximum

results and a one third got the minimum results. Teachers use these types of exercises more often

with their students compared to other types of exercises.

1.15. GENERAL CONCLUSIONS

The main objective of young and adult students participating in this research and attending

evening classes at state secondary school is to get a diploma which will allow them to find a job or

to improve their current working position.

The students who decide to join evening classes are always highly motivated because coming

back to school is their own choice. They all have different life experiences and backgrounds but

they realize how important it is being educated and getting new skills such as learning English as a

foreign language.

Since our school is a technical business school and the two courses for adults are Accounting

and Social Services, students in the fourth and fifth classes study the micro-language that is

business English and English for social services.

Students who took part in this research proved that studying English for 12 years in school

doesn’t necessary mean that at the final state exam all students have a higher level of English. On

the other hand, they also proved that with English taught only a few years (as it used to be until

some years ago) it’s impossible to reach the highest level some students can reach after studying

12 years. The conclusion is that introducing English as a compulsory subject in every year of

primary and Secondary school curricula was a very good choice because it gives students the

opportunity to develop their English skills and to reach the level of intermediate English speakers.

Younger adult students generally develop a higher level of English while older adults who

interrupted their studies 15-20 years ago and studied English only for few years have difficulties in

learning a foreign language.



- The most developed students’ skills are at use of English and reading (the maximum results at

these exercises reach 71% of the students) due to the fact that in general teachers use mostly this

type of exercises during the English classes.

- The writing skills are less developed than use of English and reading because they are the

most difficult type of exercises in a foreign language due to the ability and knowledge involved.

Young adults are generally better at writing than older adults because they have studied English

longer at school.

- The listening skills of students are the least developed because teachers don’t ask students to

carry out enough listening tasks and don’t use audio recordings for developing students’ listening

skills.



2. FINAL REPORT ON THE INITIAL TEST - PLOIESTI, ROMANIA



Every specialism in my post-secondary school has English as a part of the curriculum, therefore

students have this subject no matter what they study for (general nurse, lab assistant, nutritionist,

tourist guide, stylist or event organizer). Nevertheless, English is not a main subject there because

on the whole it is studied only 60–120 hours divided in 1 or 2 semesters (out of 3–6 semesters).

There are not courses just for studying English, but courses students attend to get a diploma in

one of the specialism areas from above, the foreign language is only part of the general curriculum

and its aim is mostly to familiarise students with vocabulary and specific terms from the domains

they are preparing for (English for Specific Purposes) and to help them improve their

communication skills in a foreign language.


AGE

62%13%

25%G1 (18-24 years) = 37 students



The age of the students shows the percentages of the students involved in adult education: the

biggest number represents adults who continue their studies at the post-secondary level right after

the high-school graduation and before getting married or having children – 62%; the smallest

number represents adults who attend school in the period of time when they usually start up their

family and have children – 13%; a bigger percentage than the second one represents the adults



who are 35 years or more (only 3 of them are the oldest: 45 - 53 years), already have family and

children and decide to continue their studies for their career or a new job – 25%.

None of them attend school for learning a foreign language or as a hobby after retirement. They

are here because they want to graduate a specialism and get a diploma which may help them in

preserving their current job or in finding a job in the future.


Due to the changes in the curriculum that happened in the past 20 years, the number of years

for studying English in primary and secondary school increased from 0-3 to 12-13, therefore the

age for starting studying this language has decreased and nowadays children are involved in this

activity starting from kindergarten.

YEARS OF STUDYING

15%

22%

63% Y3 (0-2 years) = 9 students



That is why older adult students have studied English fewer years and younger adult students a

bigger number of years, which leads to the conclusion that younger adult students have a higher

level of English than the older ones.

On the other hand, there are also cases in which younger students have no English skills

acquired during their studies, for instance the lowest results of this test (27-35 points) were

obtained by 3 students younger than 24 years old.



2.4. EXTRA CLASSES

EXTRA CLASSES

90%

10%

Yes = 6 students

No = 54 students

The 6 students who have attended private classes of English are as follows: 2 of them are older

than 40 years and they did this because they need English to keep their jobs; the other 4 are

younger than 24 years and they understand how important a foreign language is for their career.

In Romania, except the short courses organised by the local community for the unemployed

citizens (and which are not regarded as reliable because adults don’t get visible results in

improving their English skills after attending them), there are only private courses of English for

adults organised by language schools, but they are expensive and not everyone can afford them,

this explains the percentage of 90% adults who have never attended extra classes of English.

Adults know that English is a language which can be very expensive if it is not learned at the

right time while being students in primary and secondary school.



READING – A

55%

13%32%






The one who got 5 points (no mistakes) is 36 years old and studied English only for 4 years.

8 of the students who got 4-5 points (less than a half) are younger than 24 years old, and the

rest of them (11) are older than 25.

All the 8 students who got 0-2 points are younger than 24 years, which means that even if they

have studied English for a longer period of time, their language skills aren’t better.

There are difficulties at understanding not only the written text, but also at answering questions

with given information. Plus, it was difficult for students to understand the written task and to

answer the questions as if they were somebody else.

Using Past Simple was a tough challenge for students because most of them knew in general

what was expected from them to answer, but they didn’t express that information correctly in the

correct tense. Either they answered shortly in one-word sentence, or they made mistakes in using

the past forms of the verb “to be” or in using the other verbs in the Past Simple.


USE OF ENGLISH - B7%

33%

40%

20%8 points = 24 students




Matching answers with the correct answers proved to be very hard for 7% of the adult students,

all of them being under the age of 24, which shows that they weren’t able to reach A2 level at least,

although they had studied many years of English in school.

73% of the students got 6-8 points which show that the task was easily attainable for them at B1

level and of them 43% represent students younger than 24 years and 30% represent students over

24. This means that more than half of the students who got maximum points at this exercise are



younger than 24 and their results can be explained by the number of years they have studied

English in school.

The questions and answers where students made mistakes more frequently are the following:

“What do you do?”/ “I’m a hairdresser”; “What are you doing?”/ “I’m listening to music”. This shows

that students are not very sure when using tenses although it’s about Simple Present and Present

Continuous. Apart from using tenses, they found difficult to understand the meaning of some given

questions and answers although they were everyday language.


USE OF ENGLISH – C13%

87%



Arranging the lines in the correct order to make a dialogue was a difficult task for 8 students, 7 of

them are younger than 24 years and have studied English longer than the older ones.

The other 52 students had no mistakes no matter their age, which showed that the dialogue was

not difficult. Making a reservation in a restaurant is not an unusual subject and the expressions

used are part of the basic vocabulary: “I’d like to”, “make a reservation”, “fully packed”, “looking

forward to seeing you”.





80%

20%5 points = 48 students



which 48 students did correctly. 12 had difficulties in solving it and 8 of them are younger than 24

years, which means that they didn’t reach at least A2 level of English although they have studied

this foreign language more years than the old ones.

The task was easy, the students had only to match the imperatives with the correct contexts and

the failure of the 12 students shows that not only understanding the written sentences was difficult,

but also the meaning of the imperatives was a challenge for them although both sentences and

imperatives belong to the basic vocabulary: “choose”, “switch on”, “enjoy”, “press”, “put”, “Enjoy

your movie”, “Press the button PLAY”.


USE OF ENGLISH – F

25%

8%

67%






Rewriting the phrases in a more polite way using the given expressions was a task completed

correctly by 40 students. 15 students had difficulties and 13 of them are younger than 24 years,

which means that many years of studying English didn’t help them to increase their level of

English.

Practically they had to understand the meaning of some sentences and of some polite

expressions (“Shall I”, “Would you mind”, “There’s been a slight misunderstanding”, “Can you”,

“Could you”) and to match them in order to create more polite sentences.

2.10. READING – D

READING – D

65%

23%

12%




The text was at B1 level and it had a specific vocabulary and basic grammar structures at

different tenses. Answering the questions supposed reading comprehension of the text and of the

questions as well. Moreover, the answers implied not only complete sentences with certain

structure and correct tenses (grammar structures) from the questions, but also choosing from the

text the right parts.

39 students managed to answer correctly or with small mistakes at the questions based on the

given text related to earthquakes prediction proving that their reading comprehension is at the

expected B1 level and that they have the necessary communication skills to answer those

questions.

14 students didn’t complete the task satisfactorily, proving that they neither understood the text

nor answered the questions accordingly. 8 of them are younger than 24 years, which means that



even if they have studied English for a longer period of time, their linguistic skills haven’t developed

enough to reach B1 level.


LISTENING – G

37%

21%

42%




This exercise consisted of an audio text at B1 level which students had to listen to twice and

then they had to answer 4 questions based on the text in order to prove that they understood the

oral message. The last question was the one which was the most difficult in the students’ opinion

because they had to enumerate some details they were listening to in the text and many of them

didn’t manage to select all or the correct ones.

37% of the students managed to write 3-4 correct answers and 7 of them had no mistake. On

the other hand, there are 13 students who got the minimum number of points proving that they

have no listening skills at B1 level.

The number of students who got the maximum results and those who got the minimum ones are slightly

equal in terms of age, which proves that listening is a skill which hasn’t been developed enough during the

school years no matter if students had English as a subject for a longer or a shorter number of years. This

can be explained by the fact that teachers don’t use listening exercises, audio texts or videos during the

English lessons due to the lack of logistics in the first place.



2.12. WRITING – H

WRITING – H

18%

45%

37%




One of the 11 students got maximum 10 points at this exercise and she is 20 years old. The

other 5 students who got 9 points are between 19 and 34 years old, which means that mostly

young students have developed writing skills in English at B1 level. This could be explained by the

fact that they studied longer and more recently than the other adult students.

27 students got very low marks at this exercise and 21 of them didn’t write anything so they got

0 points. This means that they have no writing skills at all and expressing themselves in a foreign

language is beyond their achieved abilities. 14 out of 21 are younger than 24 years old which

means that the majority of those who have no writing skills studied English many years in school

and yet with no results.

22 students got an average of 5 points at this exercise, which means that they managed to

express their basic ideas in a poor way and with mistakes concerning the tenses and the main

grammar aspects of the language. There are also mistakes at the level of the text structure

concerning the construction of an email and the coverage of all the aspects from the task.





Maximum results

24 students 40%

52 students 87%

48 students 80%

40 students 67%

41 students 68%

Minimum results

4 students 6%

8 students 13%

12 students 20%

15 students 25%

10 students 16%


24

52

48

40 41

4

8

1215

10

0

10

20

30

40

50

60


Stu

den

ts n

um

ber

Maximum results

Minimum results

- The biggest percentage of maximum results was obtained at exercise C (87%) where students

had to arrange the lines of a dialogue in the correct order and the second biggest percentage of

maximum results (only 7% difference) was obtained at exercise E (80%) where students had to

match the imperatives with the sentences given in order to establish some instructions. These

types of exercises are familiar for students and they manage to solve tasks at A2 level.

- The biggest percentage of minimum results was obtained at exercise F (25%) where students

had to rephrase some sentences in a more polite way using modals and expressions. This means

that adult students are not familiar with using modals and specific expressions of politeness,

therefore more focus should be placed on during secondary education.



- The smallest percentage of minimum results was obtained at exercise B (6%) where students

were supposed to match questions and answers from two different columns. This leads to the

conclusion that students have a good understanding of written messages at level A2 due to the fact

that this was a type of exercise generally used in school.

2.14. CONCLUSIONS OF THE EXERCISES


B, C, E, F

Maximum results

11 students 18%

22 students 37%

39 students 65%

19 students 31%

41 students 68%

Minimum results

27 students 46%

13 students 21%

14 students 24%

8 students 14%

10 students 16%


11

22

39

19

41

27

13 14

810

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

45


B, C, E, F

Stu

de

nts

nu

mb

er

Maximum results

Minimum results

- Writing is the only part of the test where almost half of the students got the minimum results

(46%) and the smallest percentage of maximum results (18%), which means that students find

difficult to express themselves in writing and to build a text according to the task because it is a

complex requirement based on minimum vocabulary and grammar knowledge.



- Listening is the part where almost half of students got medium results (42%), a fifth of them got

the minimum results and one third of the students got the maximum results. Listening exercises are

not very common because they are not used very often. In the past years teachers have started

using them more often not only because they understood the importance of developing the

listening skills of their students, but also because they have now the necessary logistics and audio

recordings to use during the lessons.

- Simple Reading A is the part in which one third of the students got the maximum results, more

than half got the minimum results and there was also the smallest percentage of minimum results

(14%). This proves that it is a common type of exercise very familiar to students and the mistakes

they’ve done show their poor learning of grammar structures and a medium level of difficulty of the

task.

- Reading is the part in which more than two thirds of students got maximum results and a

quarter of them got the minimum ones. This type of exercise in which students have to answer

questions based on a written text is very common to all students because it is widely used during

the English classes.

- Use of English is the part in which more than two thirds of students got the maximum results

and a small percentage (16%) got the minimum results. Teachers use these types of exercises

more often with their students, therefore it’s easier for students just to apply some grammar rules

using the example given rather than listening to and understanding an audio text, communicating

their own thoughts and ideas or deciding what vocabulary and grammar structures to use at some

point.


Students who took part in this research are young or old adults who attend the courses of the

post-secondary school in their attempt to get a diploma at graduation which will entitle them to find

a (better) job easier or to be able to keep the one they have currently. They represent the adults

who want to continue their education after graduating high school without going to the university

from different reasons: lack of financial possibilities to attend a university, lack of intellectual

abilities, their failure in passing the Baccalaureate exam, their wish to prepare themselves for a

certain job or qualification (several types of nurses, tourist agent, stylist, nutritionist, event



organizer etc) in order to find a job quickly or to open their own small business. Some of them

(especially the young ones) don’t have the Baccalaureate exam, but the Romanian legislation

allows them to attend a post-secondary school provided that they manage to pass the

Baccalaureate exam till their graduation (in 2-3 years time).

The increasing number of years in which English is taught in school has 2 major consequences:

there are young adults at graduation who manage to develop a higher level of English, but at the

same time there are also young adults whose level is next to zero contradicting all the possible

predictions about English becoming a mandatory subject in school. The causes for not acquiring a

minimum level of English at all skills are multiple:

the lack of interest in learning a foreign language

the intellectual difficulty encountered

the lack of ambition to develop a future career

the great number of students in a classroom (usually 30-33 even more) which is not suitable

for learning English placing teachers in the impossibility of teaching at high standards

the lack of basic logistics (modern technology and software, computer, audio CD, laptop,

speakers, projector, internet connection, textbooks, the possibility of photocopying writing

materials, dictionaries etc.)

teachers have too many students in a school year to be able to follow closely their personal

development progress at English (possibly 280 – 300 or even more)

not all teachers are interested in their continuous in-service training for improving their

teaching skills and being up to date with all the modern methods of teaching

Students who took part in this research proved that studying English for 12 years in school

doesn’t necessary mean that at graduation all students have a higher level of English. On the other

hand, they also proved that with English taught only a few years (as it used to be until some years

ago) it’s impossible to reach the highest level some students can reach after studying 12 years.

The conclusion is that introducing English as a mandatory subject in every year of primary and

secondary school curriculum was a very good idea because it gives the possibility to those

interested to develop their English skills to the extent of being able to reach the level of

intermediate English speakers.

At the post-secondary level English is a mandatory subject taught intensively in one (general

nurse, lab technician, chemist’s assistant) or two semesters (tourist guide, stylist, event organiser).

Teachers and students focus on specialized vocabulary for the specific areas and on the



improvement of the English skills required on the labour market of their specialism, but there are

difficulties encountered because in a group of 30 students, everyone has a different level from very

low (the majority) to possible B1 (only very few or maybe none).

- The most developed students’ skills are at use of English and reading (although the maximum

results at these exercises don’t reach 70% of the students) due to the fact that in general teachers

use mostly this type of exercises during the English classes.

- Listening skills are less developed than use of English and reading due to the lack of basic

logistics, this being a fact that all teachers have to face more or less. On the other hand, students

have listening skills better developed than the writing skills and it may be explained by the fact that

teachers use English when they communicate during the lessons forcing students not only to try to

understand but also to interact in English responding to the tasks and rarely they use personal

devices with audio recordings for developing students’ listening skills.

- The writing skills of students are the least developed because it is the most complex type of

exercise at a foreign language due to the abilities and knowledge it requires from students and in

general young adults are better at writing than the older adults, this being explained by the fact that

the first had English as a school subject for much more time than the second.



3. FINAL REPORT ON THE INITIAL TEST - TARRAGONA, SPAIN


3.1. INTRODUCTION

This test has been carried out into two groups: CFGS (16 students) and GESO (20 students).

What is CFGS? We call CFGS, which stands for Cicles Formatius de Grau Superior, a single

year course that prepares students to take an exam that will allow them to enter High Vocational

School. This exam consists of 2 parts, a common part with 4 separate exams (Catalan, Spanish,

English and Maths) and a specific part with 2 exams that vary according to the Vocational studies

they want to access (so they can choose among subjects such as Chemistry, Geography,

Psychology, etc.). All the students must go through the common part and the specific part can be

validated by proving working experience on the field of the vocational studies they want to follow.

As far as English is concerned, the exam is only a written exam with 3 parts: a reading

comprehension activity, grammar and use of language multiple choice questions and a writing task.

At our school, this year, we have two morning groups and one evening group. More than 30

students are registered in each group but a lower rate is attending regularly the classes. This test

was carried out in one of these groups.

What is GESO? It stands for Graduat en Educació Secundària Obligatòria (Compulsory

Secondary Education) and the students attending this Education are students who failed to get

their Secondary Diploma when they were teenagers and realise they need it, either to study further,

either to find a job, either to improve their working position. GESO is divided into two years, and

students have to pass 18 modules. According to the course they reached when they where at

Secondary School, they can access the second year and get the diploma in only one year at

school. This school year we have 5 GESO groups: 2 first years – morning and evening – and 3

second year groups – morning, afternoon and evening-. This test was carried out in the morning

second year group.

This test has been carried out in the morning group of second year of GESO because in the first

year they don’t start English until the third term. Some of the students of this second year group

(about 20%) are students coming from the first year and have studied English for three months at



the end of the first year. Nevertheless, the vast majority of them are studying English for their first

time in adult education.


All the students who have answered this test have English as a part of broader curricula and

most of them have no interest in learning a foreign language. Their only motivation is to pass the

exam to attain the diploma they are looking for.

As already written, CFGS students have English as a part of the final common exam. This

English exam consists of 3 parts: a reading comprehension activity, grammar and use of language

multiple choice questions and a writing task. In order to prepare students to pass this exam, they

are taught English once a week in a two-hour session. Because of the very specific goal they are

pursuing (to pass the exam) and because of the exam (no oral interaction part, no listening part) in

the classes we work mainly with their reading/written abilities.

On the other hand, GESO students have to pass, at least, 3 English modules. At our school we

have a 3-month module at the end of the first year, and then two modules on the second year (first

and second term). We teach them two hours a week and they have one hour a week of individual

work, mostly done through exercises and activities on the Moodle platform. These GESO courses

try to put emphasis on the main five skills: reading, writing, listening, speaking and interacting.

Besides these groups, we have English courses at our school. We teach three levels from

beginner to pre-intermediate and some of the eldest students who have never studied English

before are suggested to attend these courses to reinforce their learning process. However, as

stated before, these students usually have many things to cope with (family, work and other

personal duties) and they usually can't (or don't want) to attend these extra classes.




AGE

61%

14%

25%




The diagram with the age of the students shows the percentages of the students involved in

adult education: the biggest number represents young adults that come to the school immediately,

or a short while after they quit a secondary school (61%). Six of these students are only 18, the

minimum age they can access adult education. Students under 18 and over 16 can only come to

an adult school if they prove to have a special situation: either they are an elite sport person or they

have a working contract that doesn't allow them to attend a normal secondary school. None of the

students in these groups is under 18. Only 14% are over 35 (the oldest one being 41 years old)

and they tend to be people who already have family duties and work experience. Most of them

come back to school because they have lost their job or they realise how important education is to

improve their working position.

All the students taken into account in this report have English as a compulsory subject inside a

broader curriculum and they don't attend the school for the pleasure of learning a foreign language.


YEARS OF STUDYING14%

33%

53%Y3 (0-2 years) = 5 student





Due to the changes in the curriculum that started 20 years ago, the number of years in which

people study English in Primary and Secondary school increased from 0-3 to a minimum of 6,

therefore the age for starting studying this language has decreased. Even if it's not compulsory to

teach English until the last stage of Primary school, most of the schools start teaching it earlier,

even at nursery level. This is why older adult students have studied English fewer years than the

younger ones. Actually, some students aged thirty or more have never studied English because

French was the most common language taught as a foreign language in Spain until the late

eighties.

3.5. EXTRA CLASSES

EXTRA CLASSES

53%

47%

Yes = 17 students

No = 19 students

According to our students’ answers, nearly half of them have attended extra English classes.

Nowadays, in Spain, most of the people have realised how important is to speak foreign

languages, namely English, and how bad is our average level of English compared to other

European citizens. People are very self-conscious and ashamed of their English level and try to

seek for solutions outside mainstream education: private language school, extra classes, etc.

Some of the students have attended private extra classes, but some of them got the chance, as

well, to attend English courses offered at a low price by city councils, labour department and so on.

There's a short majority (53% of the interviewed students), who have never attended extra English

classes. It is explained, on one side, but their lack of interest for the foreign languages, but a social

and economical factor can explain this figure as well: private classes are expensive and English is

not a big worry in some microcosms.



3.6. SIMPLE READING – A


READING – A

50%

36%

14%




Even if a large majority of students could understand and answer simple questions (64% (14% +

50%)), none of them got a 5 out of 5, so there's nobody who can understand perfectly an easy and

simple text. We have to consider that most of them (50% out of the total) don't understand

completely a simple text. They can grasp some ideas but don't have a well-developed reading

comprehension ability. And, even worse, 36% of the students have serious problems to understand

and answer simple questions, 7 of the last have got a 0 in this section. It means, among other

things, that they have not elicited a single right answer. None of this 36% of students have got a 0

as a final mark, but most of them have only been able to guess some of the grammar section.



3.7. READING – D

READING – D8%

75%

17%




Probably this reading comprehension task is the exercise with a higher level of difficulty (B1).

Students had to understand not only the text, but also the questions. Results from our students

prove to be very poor: only 8% of them answered the exercise correctly (more than 6 points (out of

8)) and a vast majority (75%) didn't reach the pass mark (4 out of 8).

On the one hand, at this point of the exam most of the students gave up trying to answer the

exercise. Nearly half of them (42%) got a 0, most of these last having left blank the exercise. On

the other hand the text proves to be too difficult for them: they don't understand the words, neither

the questions.

3.8. USE OF ENGLISH – B, C, E, F2

USE OF ENGLISH - B, C, E, F

42%

19%

39%19-23 points = 7 students


<10 points = 14 students

2 We consider all the results from the Use of English as a total, we will prompt comments on individual activities as

necessary when developing the analysis.



With these data we can see that most of students (61% (19%+42%) have a relatively good

knowledge of use of language), in other words, that they know how to deal and answer the more

traditional grammar exercises (matching exercises, put lines in order, etc.). Even if the focus of

these exercises tried to be communicative (dialogues, register and so), they are the sort of

exercises that require more academic skills and can be guessed on a higher degree.

Another thing that must be highlighted is that none of our students got the top mark (23 points)

and neither of them got a 0. The highest mark is a GESO student with 22/23, followed by two

CFGS students with 21. The lowest mark is 1/23 points obtained by one of the students. It is to

worry that nearly 40% of the students got less than 10 (out of 23 points). On the one hand, these

marks show their disarray and laziness when completing the task; on the other hand some of these

low results prove, as well, how low their level is and this low level is, perhaps, one of the reasons

for their disarray and laziness.



Maximum results

13 students 36%

2 students 6%

8 students 22%

5 students 14%

7 students 19%

Minimum results

9 students 25%

27 students 75%

28 students 78%

30 students 84%

23 students 65%


13

2

8

57

9

27 2830

23

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35


Stu

de

nts

nu

mb

er

Maximum results

Minimum results



The only activity where the maximum results figure is higher than the minimum results figure is

exercise B, where 36% of the students got the top mark while only 25% of them got a mark under 3

(out from 8). It is a matching activity with very easy questions.


LISTENING – G

89%

11%




As in the previous exercises, these results show the disarray and lack of interest of our students

to complete the tasks. Actually half of them (50%) got a 0 and none of them got 3 points or more.

We cannot ignore that this disarray is caused by lack of motivation (they don't mind the results

achieved in this exam), but, as well, that this lack of motivation is caused by lack of self-confidence

and their low level of English. We cannot attribute these results to tiredness since the listening was

played and completed at the beginning of the exam, even if this exercise is the second last.

Our students are usually afraid of listening exercises and, before starting, they say that they are

unable to understand anything. It isn’t a positive attitude to the exercises and they give up before

starting. It happened the same when they were presented this fragment of a real audio guide, after

ten seconds they complained and a vast majority decided that it was too difficult for them and left

this activity blank.



3.11. WRITING – H

WRITING – H

86%

14%




Probably, the results of this exercise are the more desperate of all since 72% of the students

didn't even try to complete the task (26 of them got a 0) and 86% of the students got 0-2 points. All

the GESO students gave up at this point and none of them completed the exercise but, as well,

17% of the CFGS students, who will have a writing part at the official exam, gave up trying and

didn't write a single word. Among those who tried, the highest mark was a 6 out of 10 and only 5

students got more than 3 points.

These results prove that students have not acquired any previous writing ability in their previous

years of learning and that they don't know how to start dealing with this kind of tasks.



B, C, E, F

Maximum

results

0 students

0 students

3 students

8%

5 students

14%

7 students

19%

Minimum

results

31 students

86%

32 students

89%

27 students

75%

13 students

36%

14 students

39%




0 0

35

7

31 32

27

13 14

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35


B, C, E, F

Stu

de

nts

nu

mb

er

Maximum results

Minimum results

- Writing, listening and reading tasks prove to be very difficult for our students since a vast

majority of them (over 75% in all cases) got the minimum results and none of them attained the

maximum results, except for reading. In the difficult reading exercise 8% of the students got the

maximum results, while 14% of them attained these results in the simple reading.

- Use of English is the part where more students got the maximum results (19%) and where the

figures for the minimum results are the lowest (39%), even if it is still a high percentage of students.

We can explain these figures because this sort of exercise is the one that has been used most in

their previous learning process and which they are more used to.


It is obvious that the level of English of our students prove to be quite low.

On the one hand, we have to take into account that most of these students have failed in the

ordinary system of the education: GESO students didn't get the secondary diploma when they were

young and most of the CFGS students arrive to our school after having tried (and failed) with

Baccalaureate, after having been studying a low technical degree at a vocational school or after

having been working and out of the educational system for a while. So, we have to take into



account that a wide percentage of these students (especially in the first group) have learning

difficulties and problems not only in learning a foreign language, but, with their first language as

well.

On the other hand, these results prove that there is no relationship between the hours they have

spent in English classes (86% of them have studied, at least, 3 years of English), and their level of

English. It is hard to believe that after three years of learning English they fail to answer exercises

at A1 level, such as the simple reading, but they fail. They cannot be considered true beginners

since they have attended English classes but their level of English is under A1. The causes for not

acquiring a minimum level of English are multiple: motivation, ways of teaching, ways of learning,

no ambition, low self-esteem, etc.



4. FINAL REPORT ON THE INITIAL TEST - ISTANBUL, TURKEY

Final report on the initial test held in Istanbul, Turkey 43 adult students interviewed

4.1. INTRODUCTION

We have applied this test to our 43 students who study in ICT department. They study English 2

hours a week. There are two different groups of students who took this exam. One of them have

just started school in September 2013. And the other group is a second grade.


Students study English 2 hours a week. The foreign language is only part of the general

curriculum and its aim is mostly to familiarize students with vocabulary and specific terms from the

domains they are preparing for and to help them improve their communication skills in a foreign

language.


AGE

65%

28%

7%




66% of the students are between 18-24 years. This group of students has the biggest

percentages of involved students. Most of these students are going on their studies to get their

post-secondary diploma. Almost none of them is married and there are some of them who are

working. 28% of students are between 25-34 years and 6% of them are over 35. Some of these

students are married and have children. Moreover almost all of them are working. They are coming



to school to get the diploma so that they may have a better position in their work, or they may run

their own business.

They are coming to our school to graduate and get their diploma. Their aim is not to learn a

foreign language.


YEARS OF STUDYING2%

42%

56% Y3 (0-2 years) = 1 student



Due to the changes in the curriculum, nowadays children start to learn English when they are at

second grade.

4.5. EXTRA CLASSES

EXTRA CLASSES

95%

5%

Yes = 2 students

No = 41 students

The students who have attended private classes of English are as follows: one of them is 17 and

the other one is 28 years old.





READING – A

56%44% 5 points = 0 students



None got 5 points.

24 of the students who got 2-4 points (11 students) are younger than 24 years old, and the rest

of them (13 students) are older than 25.

Almost all of the 19 students who got 0-2 points are younger than 24 years, only one of them is

older than 25.

There are difficulties at understanding not only the written text, but also at answering questions

with given information. The students had difficulty in using Past Simple. They generally used short

answers.


USE OF ENGLISH - B

23%

25%

33%

19%







When it is compared to the other parts, this is one of the easiest part of the exam; most of the

students (33 students) got higher than 3 points


USE OF ENGLISH – C

86%

14%



Arranging the lines in the correct order to make a dialogue was a difficult task for 37 students.

The other 6 students had no mistakes (only one of them is younger than 24 and the other 5

students are older than 24). And 5 students got 0 point. They couldn't give any correct answer.



21%

79%




which 9 students did correctly. 16 students (nearly half of them) had difficulties in solving it. And 34

students got 1-3 points. There were some unknown words for students.




USE OF ENGLISH – F

90%

5% 5%5 points = 2 students



Rewriting the phrases in a more polite way using the given expressions was a task completed

correctly only by 2 students (they are younger than 24). And only 2 students got 4 points (they are

older than 25). They had really difficulty in rewriting the given phrases in a more polite way. The

students couldn’t understand especially these phrases “There’s been a slight misunderstanding”

and “would you mind”

4.11. READING – D

READING – D

16%

84%




The reading text has specific vocabulary which may be difficult for students to understand.

Therefore they were not capable of answering the questions. And the text was B1 level. There



aren’t any students who got higher than 5 points and we can conclude that the students’ level is not

B1. Their level may be A1 or A2.

12 students didn’t complete the task, and they got 0 point. It may be because of their insufficient

grammar and vocabulary background.


Because technical problems, listening part can’t be applied.

4.13. WRITING – H

WRITING – H

81%

19%




There aren’t any students who got higher than 5 points. And 35 students (almost all of them)

didn’t write anything and got 0 point.

The students have serious problem in expressing themselves in writing. Using different

structures is difficult for them. They are capable of using basic vocabulary and grammar structures

in writing.





Maximum

results

14 students

33%

6 students

14%

9 students

21%

2 students

5%

4 students

10%

Minimum

results

10 students

23%

37 students

66%

16 students

37%

39 students

90%

26 students

60%


14

69

2

810

37

16

39

26

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

45


Stu

den

ts n

um

ber

Maximum results

Minimum results

- The biggest percentage of maximum results was obtained at exercise B (33%), in this part

students had to match the questions with their answers. The second biggest percentage of

maximum results was obtained at exercise E (21%) where students had to match the imperatives

with the sentences given in order to establish some instructions.

- The biggest percentage of minimum results was obtained at exercise F (90%) where students

had to rephrase some sentences in a more polite way using modals and expressions. It shows us

that adult students are not familiar with using modals and specific expressions of politeness.

- The smallest percentage of minimum results was obtained at exercise B (23%) where students were

supposed to match questions and answers from two different columns. We can conclude that students find it

easy to understand a written message. In that type of activity students don’t have to use their knowledge in

order to create sentences with correct grammatical structure.





B, C, E, F

Maximum

results

0 students

-

0 students

0 students

4 students

10%

Minimum

results

35 students

81% -

36 students

83%

19 students

45%

26 students

60%


0 0 0

4

35 36

19

26

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40


B, C, E, F

Stu

de

nts

nu

mb

er

Maximum results

Minimum results

- Writing is one of the part of the test where almost all the students got the minimum results

(81%) and the smallest percentage of maximum results (0%). According to this, it can be said that

it is really difficult for students to express themselves in writing and they are not able to create

sentences correct both semantically and grammatically. Their knowledge of grammar and

vocabulary is not sufficient to make sentences.

- Listening. Because of the technical problems, listening part can’t be applied.

- Simple Reading in part A no one got 5 points. They generally preferred to give short answers

which shows that they were not good at using Simple Past structures.



- Reading is one of the part in which no one got maximum results and almost all got minimum

ones (83%). The reading text has specific vocabulary which may be difficult for students to

understand. therefore they were not capable of answering the questions.

- Use of English is the part in which 4 students got the maximum results. However this part of

the exam is the one in which students got their best results. It may be because teachers use these

types of exercises more often with their students, therefore it’s easier for students just to apply

some grammar rules using the given example.


Students taking part in this research are adult students. They come to our school in order to get

a post-secondary diploma. Because of being a vocational one, our school gives them a chance of

running a business with that diploma. They are adult students who had to give up their studies

because of failure or need of working. And they attend our courses to finish their studies. After that

they may want to go on their studies at university or they may have a better position in their job.

The students are not able to acquire a good level of English even though they have been

studying it for years. The reasons for that may be:

they are not very interested in learning a foreign language, because they do not have any

opportunity to use it outside of the class

the methodology and materials used in adult education is not suitable for them

the number of the students in a class

the classes do not the have necessary technological devices which can be used in teaching.



5. GENERAL CONCLUSIONS

The results on the initial test present a general picture of the English language level of adult

students in the four countries: Italy, Romania, Spain and Turkey.

AVERAGE STUDENTS PASS EXAM

51%49%

YES

NO

On average, 51% of all the students tested in the four countries passed the exam.

Arezzo

ITALY

Ploiesti

ROMANIA

Tarragona

SPAIN

Istanbul

TURKEY

79% 82% 28% 14%

The final reports on the initial test show that 82% of the Romanian students obtained the best

results, followed by the Italian ones, then by the Spanish and the Turkish students. There is a clear

fracture between Romania and Italy and Spain and Turkey. In the former two countries about 80%

of the students got a pass mark, while in the latter two countries this figure falls to less than 30%.

These data are to reflect, because something is not working well in these last educational systems,

specially compared to the Italian and Romanian ones. Results reflects not only the failure in

teaching English in adult education but, as well, the failure in teaching English in the previous

years, since the tests were carried at the beginning of the school year and some of these students

were at their first year in adult education.



AVERAGE STUDENTS PASS EXAM

37%

45%

18%

high results

medium results

low results

On the average, across the four countries, 51% of the adult students who did the tests got

positive results, with the highest percentage (45%) with medium results, 37% with low results and

only 18% with high results.

Significant differences can be observed across the four countries, mainly between Romania and

Turkey, where 77% of the students got low results.

STUDENTS PASS EXAM

High results Medium results High results

AREZZO

17%

83%

PLOIESTI

53%40%

7%

TARRAGONA

3%

33%

64%

ISTANBUL

23%

77%



0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

Italy Romania Spain Turkey

46% 46%

86%81%

% S

TU

DE

NT

S

MINIMUM RESULT AT WRITING H

Writing is the part of the test where Spain (86%) and Turkey (81%) got the minimum results.

Italy and Romania have both quite a negative percentage (46%), too.

This means that students find difficult to write and build a text, even though it is a guided task,

because they lack minimum vocabulary and grammar knowledge.

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%


75%

21%

89%

% S

TU

DE

NT

S

MINIMUM RESULT AT LISTENING G

The listening skill wasn't tested in Turkey but, except for 21% of Romanian students who got the

minimum results, the majority of Italian (75%) and Spanish students (89%) got the minimum

results, which means that listening exercises are not used very often and that the listening skill

should be better developed in all countries.



0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%


13%

24%

75%

30%

% S

TU

DE

NT

S

MINIMUM RESULT AT READING D

As regards reading, the percentages of minimum results are in general quite low with the

exception of Spain where 75% of the students prove to have serious problems in reading.

8%14%

36%

45%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

% S

TU

DE

NT

S


MINIMUM RESULT AT READING A

The smallest percentages of minimum results were obtained at reading A, showing that students

manage to read at A1 level. However, 45% of the Turkish students and 36% of the Spanish

students got minimum results in simple reading.



25%

16%

39%

54%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%%

ST

UD

EN

TS


MINIMUM RESULT ON USE OF ENGLISH B, C, E, F

Use of English is the part of the test where the Turkish students got the highest percentage of

minimum results (54%), followed by the Spanish students (39%).

The results show that adult students are generally familiar with these types of exercises and

they manage to solve tasks at A2 level.

However, new and suitable materials, as regards both content and topics, will be designed and

all the four skills will be covered. Failure in the test cannot be attributed to lack of formation but,

mainly, to a non adequate way of approaching English language to these students. This is the

reason why new materials will try to develop topics close to their interests, and we will try to create

materials that foster mainly writing and listening skills. Reading and speaking won’t be forgotten but

we will try to create material that complements our current curricula and textbooks and that enables

students to improve their communicative skills in English.



ANNEX: TEST

Answer these questions (pupil's language):

How old are you? How long have you been studying English at school/high school? Have you studied English somewhere else? When? Where?

A. Read the information and complete the dialogue. (5 points)

Name: Mark Potter

Place of birth: Chester

Education: started school in 1986 and finished in 1999

Degree from Hull University in 2003.

Working experience: 2004: manager for a company in Hull. 2006: manager in a company in Bristol.

A: Where were you born?

B: ____________________

A: When did you graduate?

B: ____________________

A: Who did you work for?

B: ____________________

A: Did you move from Hull?

B: ____________________

A: Where did you move to?

B: ____________________

B. Match a question in column A with a suitable response from column B (8 points)

A B

1) What do you do? a) No, I never go there

2) What do you usually do at weekend? b) It’s warm and sunny

3) What are you doing? c) I’m a hairdresser

4) Do you ever go to the disco? d) I’m listening to music

5) What’s the weather like? e) I go out with my friends



C. Put the lines in order to make a dialogue. (5 points)

___ Hello, this is Paradise Restaurant. Can I help you?

___ Sure. That’s possible. Looking forward to seeing you tomorrow evening.

___ That’s fine. Can I make a reservation for 7 o’clock tomorrow?

___ I’m sorry, we are fully packed at the moment. What about tomorrow?

___ Yes, please. I’d like to reserve a table for 7 o’clock today.

D. Read the text and answer the questions. (8 points)

Earthquake Prediction

Can earthquakes be predicted? Scientists are working on programs to predict where and when an earthquake will occur. They hope to develop an early warning system to save lives. Scientists who do this work are called seismologists.

Earthquakes are the most dangerous and deadly of all natural events. They occur in many parts of the world. Giant earthquakes have been recorded in Iran, China, Guatemala, Chile, India and Alaska. These earthquakes measured about 8.5 on the Richter Scale. The Richter Scale was devised by Charles Richter in 1935, and compares the energy level of earthquakes. An earthquake that measures a 2 on the scale can be felt but causes little damage. One that measures 4.5 on the scale can cause slight damage, and an earthquake that has a reading of over 7 can cause major damage.

How do earthquakes occur? Earthquakes are caused by the movement of rocks along cracks, or faults, in the earth’s surface. The fault is produced when rocks near each other are pulled in different directions. The best known fault in North America is the San Andreas fault in the state of California in the United States.

The nations that are actively involved in earthquake prediction programs include Japan, China, the Soviet Union and the United States. These countries have set up stations in areas of their countries where earthquakes are known to occur. These stations are ready for warning signs that show the weakening of rock layers before an earthquake. Many kinds of seismic instruments are used by these places to watch the movements of the earth’s surface. One of the instruments is a seismograph. It can follow vibrations in rock layers thousands of kilometres away. Tilt metres are used to record surface movement along fault lines. Seismologists use gravimeters to measure and record changes in local gravity. The scientists also check water in deep wells. They watch for changes in the water level and temperature which are signs of movement along faults.



What are scientists who work on earthquake prediction called?

Where did the two biggest earthquakes of the world take place?

Write two of the instruments scientists use to predict earthquakes.

When and by who was the Richter Scale devised ?

What is it used for?

What are earthquakes caused by?

What happens when rocks near each other are pulled in different directions?

E. Complete the instructions about how to watch a movie with the imperatives from the box. (5 points)

choose enjoy switch on press put

1)__________ your TV and DVD player

2)__________ the movie you want to see

3)__________ the DVD into the DVD player

4)__________ the button ‘play’

5)__________ your movie.

F. Read the direct phrases, then write them in a more polite way. Choose from the box (5 points):

Shall I… - Would you mind… - Could you...

There’s been a slight misunderstanding… - Can you wait a minute…

Sit down, please …………………………… take a seat?

You are wrong. I’m not the head waiter. .………………… I’m not the head waiter.

Move to another table. ………………… moving to another table?

Do you want my help? ……………………………help you?



G. Listen to the audio and answer the questions. It's a fragment of an audiowalk in Cullera's

town centre (http://www.audioguiasonline.com/en/audioguia_cullera-en_160.html ). (4 points)

In which bank of the river Júcar is situated Cullera?

When was Escolaica founded?

Why is Escolaica important?

Name three things that you can find in the Avenue:

H. You are spending a holiday abroad. Write an e-mail to your English friend. In your e-mail

you should tell him/her: (10 points)

if you are having a great time or not

what you are doing

what the weather is like

http://www.audioguiasonline.com/en/audioguia_cullera-en_160.html



REPORT AUTHORS

Monica ANDREI Liceul Tehnologic de Servicii "Sfantul Apostol Andrei"

Kemal AKTAŞ İnönü Teknik ve Endüstri Meslek Lisesi

Maurizio BONATESTA Istituto Statale d'Istruzione Superiore "Buonarroti - Fossombroni"

Yolanda CABRÉ SANS Centre de Formació d'Adults Josepa Massanés i Dalmau

Alessandra GATTESCHI Istituto Statale d'Istruzione Superiore "Buonarroti - Fossombroni"

Rafael GUINOVART BELLMUNT, Centre de Formació d'Adults Josepa Massanés i Dalmau

Nazan GÜVEN İnönü Teknik ve Endüstri Meslek Lisesi

Francesca JAUMÀ SANS Centre de Formació d'Adults Josepa Massanés i Dalmau

Yildiz SALIH İnönü Teknik ve Endüstri Meslek Lisesi

Kezban Sevda YIYIT İnönü Teknik ve Endüstri Meslek Lisesi

Finalreport initialtest

Data & Analytics

Transcript of Finalreport initialtest