Testitehtävien laadinta osana opettajien työtä

Abstract

This paper discusses the item writing process in the Finnish National Certificates (NC) and the impact that item writing has on the item writers’ working life. In the NC, we have 36 item writers in nine languages. Most NC item writers are working or have worked as teachers in higher or adult education. This article is based on a questionnaire (N=30) and an interview (N=15). In the questionnaire, item writers were asked to identify the difficulties they had faced during the item writing process, what they had found to be easy and how the item writing work affected their everyday working life. To find out more information and personal comments about the item writing process, some of the item writers were further interviewed. The findings suggest that item writers find their work rewarding but difficult and the item writing process takes time. Writing a good item requires a variety of qualities and skills and item writing has a variety of positive impacts on teaching. Teachers point out that they can now write better exams for their students and use more authentic material in their lessons. They can also better understand how demanding test and exam situations are for their students. They also point out that item writing has changed their views on what language proficiency and different subskills consist of on different levels of proficiency. Working as a member of an item writing team was considered supportive of teaching and inspiring, and regarded as continuing education.

Tässä artikkelissani tarkastelen Yleisten kielitutkintojen laatijoiden käsityksiä testitehtävien laadinnasta ja laadintatyön merkityksestä laatijoiden omalle päivätyölle, opettajana toimimiselle. Artikkeli pohjautuu tekeillä olevaan tutkimukseeni Yleisten kielitutkintojen laatijoiden työstä.