Abstract:
This study aimed at exploring the coverage of the four English language skills in the rehearsal English examination of 8th grade pupils. It also evaluated the pupils’ achievement and reflected their real standard in mastering the language skills. The following hypothesis was raised: “The rehearsal English examination does not cover sufficiently the four English language skills.” Then, the literature written on testing and previous related studies were reviewed. Two tools were used to collect data: a questionnaire for 100 pupils and a questionnaire for 20 teachers of English both males and females from some basic level schools in Khartoum Bahri Locality. The analytical descriptive method was adopted using Statistical Packages for Social Sciences programme. The numerical data collected from the respondents were statistically analyzed and results were critically discussed. The most important results revealed: 1- the rehearsal English examination does not cover sufficiently the four English language skills. 2- It is observed that more emphasis has been put on the reading and writing skills, whereas the other two skills have been totally ignored. 3-It is clear that listening and speaking skills seem to be more difficult for pupils to master due to the lack of practice and testing. Based on the findings of this study the researcher would like to recommend the following: 1-The four English language skills should be sufficiently practiced and then tested as an integrated set in both the rehearsal and certificate examinations, or at least at the school level if it seems difficult to be generalized. 2-The listening test could be conducted by using recorded material. 3-The practice of conducting the rehearsal English examination should continue.
