ONLINE TOOLS FOR ASSESSMENT OF FOREIGN LANGUAGE COMPETENCE OF STUDENTS IN HIGHER EDUCATIONAL ESTABLISHMENTS: FOREIGN EXPERIENCE

摘要

The article covers the problems of formation and assessment of foreign language competence of students of higher educational establishments; analyzes and describes the main international online tests for the objective assessment of the English language proficiency of students in higher educational establishments that can provide them with the possibilities of self-study and self-assessment. The structure of international online tests in English as a Foreign Language is described and examples of test tasks are given. The main international online tests for the objective assessment of the English language proficiency of students of higher educational establishments that can provide self-education and self-evaluation are singled out, analyzed, and characterized, namely: Cambridge English Teaching Framework; Cambridge Examinations, which includes such tests as Key English Test (KET); Preliminary English Test (PET); First Certificate in English (FCE); Certificate of Proficiency in English (CPE); Certificate in Advanced English (CAE); Certificate of Proficiency in English (CPE); ?nternet-based Test Of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL iBT) and International English Language Testing System (IELTS). As analysis of these tests showed, they generally consist of four parts, such as reading, listening, speaking, writing, and are based on the European-wide recommendations on language education, namely: studying, teaching, assessment. These tests are a convenient tool in English language teaching and learning, since they provide the following functions: for the teacher – a convenient quick check of the level of students' proficiency in English, an opportunity to spot typical mistakes and discuss them with students in order to direct their further studies, an opportunity to improve the level of teaching a foreign language by use of online tests; for students – the possibility of continuing education in English and continuous improvement of their level of language proficiency with a view to obtaining the necessary certificate in further perspective. A promising direction of further studies seems to be the introduction of international online tests in the educational process of a higher educational establishment to evaluate the level of English language proficiency and to analyze the impact of these tools on the level of foreign language competence of students.