Proud to be tvmbo - Kortlopend Onderwijsonderzoek

External tests
Some schools work with Anglia tests (http://www.anglia.org) and are considering Anglia
examinations in order to be able to comply with the tvmbo quality standard (see
Appendix 1). The advantage of external examinations is that they provide an objective
test of students’ English. One disadvantage is that the examinations cost a fee. One
school is working towards Anglia examinations in the 4 th year at different levels so
that every student will leave school with an English language certificate of some kind.
Some schools are investigating tests in English which are more relevant to vocational
skills.
5.2.7 Materials
During the interviews, we asked teachers What sort of materials do you think help
tvmbo students best to learn? Some referred to the course book, but many feel that a
course book for students in English (e.g. from Britain) was too difficult. ‘Real life’ materials
work well, for example, the internet, films, music and songs. Several pointed
out that they created their own materials and exercises and that they felt that creative
assignments worked best; this is an interesting finding since the students also indicated
a strong preference for creative assignments. For example, an English teacher asked
students to pick two verbs and two places and to write a short story about those four
aspects. Another teacher used realistic conversations and role plays - assignments
where students really communicated in a realistic way about a topic.
Again, the idea of materials which stimulate short, active and interactive activities
have teachers’ preferences, such as visual materials and colours, activities using a
smart board or computers, and games. Physical activities are also considered to work,
for example students writing on the (smart)board themselves.
Some teachers (mostly English teachers) mentioned some useful websites, which are
to be found in Figure 5.7: Useful sites suggested by tvmbo teachers in the interviews
below.
Figure 5.7: Useful sites suggested by tvmbo teachers in the interviews
http://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/en/
http://learnenglishkids.britishcouncil.org/en/
www.youtube.com
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