Creating examinations for a linguistically and culturally diverse student cohort

Abstract

Assessments have a significant influence on what and how students learn. While there has been debate as to the merits of examinations as an assessment tool, they will form a major component of assessment in many disciplines for the foreseeable future. To ensure examinations fulfil the dual roles of an assessment tool and motivation for student learning, we undertook a linguistic analysis of examination papers. This research enabled us to develop a guide to creating examination papers with an emphasis on the wording of questions. In particular, our concern is the creation of examinations that are relevant to the learning outcomes and easily understood by a linguistically and culturally diverse student cohort. In this paper, we present the outcomes of the analysis and guidance for implementing change.

Keywords:

• examinations
• professional academic development
• cultural diversity
• linguistic analysis
• assessment