The 1999 national evaluation of the English language skills of Finnish 9th form pupils

Abstract

According to new school legislation, adopted in Finland in 1999, schools are subject to external evaluation organised by the National Board of Education. The principal objective of the national evaluations is to examine the extent to which the aims set in the 1994 Framework Curriculum have been achieved. The general objectives are defined as skills, knowledge, and attitudes. In addition, learning-to-learn skills are emphasized. In general, the national test seemed to assess the pupils' English skills quite well if the marks are regarded as criteria. The school mark explains 64 % of the variation of success in this test. The highest correlation was observed between the marks and the results in the grammar and writing subtests. As for speaking, arranging specific oral tests is probably rather rare in schools but judging by its fairly high correlation with the marks, a conclusion could be drawn that it is practised in school and the result is included in the mark under the criterion “work / performance during the lessons”.