Finnish Matriculation Examination computer-based : the impact of pictures and video in assessing listening comprehension

Abstract

This research is about using visual support like videos and pictures in testing foreign language listening comprehension. The study limits to the foreign language testing in the Finnish Matriculation Examination, which is a final examination of the upper secondary school.

There is a need for this research because the way people live and communicate has totally changed in this decade. The Finnish Matriculation Examination is becoming computer-based which opens new possibilities and challenges for language testing. Also the curriculum for upper secondary education in Finland is being reformed and will be implemented in the schools 2016. The new curriculum highlights the skills for interpreting different texts including all kinds of audio and visual material. These changes require research on how the visual material impacts the listening experience and the performance of the students.

Usually the authentic conversations and listening activities in everyday-life include visual support. It ´s common to use video, pictures and other visual cues in classroom, but there is only little knowledge about the impact of visual support in assessing listening comprehension. There is no research on this field with Finnish students.

The results of this study will give advice to language teachers, testing professionals and learning material developers. The research aims to renew the teaching and assessing practices in Finnish language education.

The study compares three groups of students who will take different versions of a computer-based listening comprehension test. One group hears only audio input, the other sees still pictures during the listening, and the third group sees a video version of the test. The participants will randomly be divided into the groups, and their performance will be compared. The test situation will be observed and the participants will answer a survey on their opinion of the test.

The study is a part of the researcher’s PhD studies. The field tests will be held in 2016-2017.