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DEVELOPING STUDENTSВ’ TEST-TAKING STRATEGIES IN SPEAKING PART OF NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL ENGLISH LANGUAGE EXAMS

Anastasia Sitnikova, A. Hakobyan, O. Simonova, I. Chmykh, L. Krylova

Abstract

The article describes the study conducted with the intention to facilitate the development of learnersВ’ speaking skills through test-taking strategies while teaching English to energy engineering students at Surgut State University (Russia). This study specifically determined the methods to improve studentsВ’ language competence in general and their speaking skills in particular. The research indicated that there is a significant difference in the level of English language competence and speaking skills of the students in the experimental group before and after the experiment. The goal of the research is to study the effectiveness of using test-taking strategies in teaching speaking skills to energy engineering students. The authors propose to use a complex approach including test-taking strategies and interactive methods in developing speaking skills. The authors suggest theoretical foundations of psycholinguistics and English language teaching methodology to develop metacognitive, cognitive, compensatory and affective strategies for effective studentsВ’ performance at language exams. The hypothesis of the research is the following: if students use test-taking strategies while learning English at the university, it provides their progress in speaking skills and general language competence. The empirical and quantitative methods were used in the study. The authors offered a special preparation set of exercises, a set of clue cards, simulated situations used in the process of teaching English to the students of the experimental group. Their performance at the final exam indicated ultimate measure of test-taking strategies and their effectiveness in facilitating learning English. The research revealed the result that a complex approach to teaching energy engineering students facilitates both their psychological and linguistic readiness for oral communication. Systematic conversational practice during at the course with regular application of the didactic materials led to better exam performance. The research might be useful for those who studies the improvement of learnersВ’ speaking skills. It is recommended that test-taking strategies and techniques can be widely used to improve studentsВ’ achievement at the national and international language exams.

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