Ministry of Education

Test Blueprint for National Exit Examination to be held in 2015 E.C

Band: Six

Program: Bachelor of Arts Degree in English Language and Literature

Compiled By: 1. Mr. Bereket Assefa, Lecturer, MA in Journalism and Communication, Addis Ababa University and

2. Cherie Mesfin (Ph.D.), Associate Professor in Applied Linguistics, Bahir Dar University.

A Draft

January, 2023
Addis Ababa
Ethiopia

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 Table of Content(s) Page(s)

1. Introduction …………………………………………………………………………………………………2

2. Significance of the Exit Exam Blueprint…………………………………………………..……………….4

3. Expected Profile of the Graduates……………………………………………………..…………………...5

4. Objectives ………………………………………………………….…………………………………………6

5. Themes and List of Courses with Credit Hours……………………………………..……………………..9

6. Table of the Exit Exam Blueprint…………………………………………………………………………..10

7. Conclusion……………………………………………………………………………………………………15

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1. Introduction

It has become nearly a century since English language has been introduced as a school subject and later as a medium of instruction Ethiopian

education. In other words, English was taught as one of the school subjects like any other ones such as mathematics, Biology, Chemistry and many

others. Since then, this attempt has been promoted to a full-fledged use of English to teach school subjects. Besides with its wide range uses in

Ethiopian schools, English language has also been in use to promote the nation’s, bilateral, tripartite and multilateral relationships in the spheres

of sciences, economics, innovation, industry, diplomatic relations, trade and commerce, transportation, tourism and foreign relations a few to

mention. These school and out of school uses of English coupled with the fact that Ethiopia is Africa’s diplomatic capital and a seat for various

international organisations has increased the significance of English language. To this end, the large student population compounded with poor

English language competence of learners and graduates have mainly attracted the attention of various stakeholders of the Ethiopian English

language instruction such as primary schools, secondary schools, preparatory schools, higher education institutions and the ministry of education,

on the one hand and the Federal Democratic Republic of the Ethiopian government, on the other.

This being the case, many research findings have revealed that quality of education is declining from time to time. For worse, match has been

documented on the inefficiency the of English language instruction all way through the schooling structure. One of the major causes has been

noted due to poor English proficiency of learners, school leavers, college and university graduates, English language teachers and other subject

teachers. Most significantly, this has become scrutinised in many of the national forums being held in conferences of higher learning institutions,

media, regional and the state parliamentary debates. Consequently, higher education institutions have been blamed for their inefficiency to produce

competent graduates who could effectively teach English in schools and who could meet the English language proficiency demands of the market.

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Though there would be quite a range of interventions to come of this crisis, testing the competence of BA graduates is the major one. It within this

realm of context that this exist exam blue print is prepared to exam developers.

2. Significance of the Exit Exam Blueprint

In line with the objectives of the document of the exit exam framework, this exit exam blueprint will have the following major significance to exist

exam writers, graduates, universities, employers, Ethiopia’s education training authority and ministry of education. In addition, it will have

significance to the improvement of English language education at all levels. Specifically, the exit exam blueprint will be significant to:

 Exit exam writers, in the field, to identify themes (core courses) and weight of the courses in each theme while developing the exit exam;

 Exit exam writers to pinpoint general objectives and specific learning outcomes of each theme and course during the exit exam construction;

 University graduates in English language literature field of study to guide themselves about the core courses and competence areas as

stated in the blueprint;

 University graduates in English language and literature field of study to take their university education seriously which would in turn

help them develop the required language proficiency relevant to join the workplace;

 Graduates in English language literature field of study to serve as an exist gateway to further develop their English language competence

in the programme;

 Higher education institutions to get scholastic information whether their graduates in their respective institutions demonstrate the

expected competencies as stated in exist exam blueprint;

 Higher education institutions to standardise their training across the board;

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  Employers to get a preliminary information about the English language proficiency of the graduates while screening potential job

applicants;

 Ministry of education to regulate the standard of the training in English language and literature across universities; and

 Ministry of education to check whether the exist exams are prepared as per the specification indicated in the blueprint.

3. Expected Profile of the Graduates

Below are a set of expected graduate profiles which are expected of the graduates in English language and literature field of study. Peculiarly,

graduates who have successfully passed the exit exam will be able to:

 Use English with high level of accuracy;

 Use English with high level of fluency;

 Make critical analysis of English language texts and discourses;

 Prepare seminars, forums and facilitate discussions and meetings in English;

 Use appropriate English for business communications (writing memos, letters, minutes, reports, presentations, and notices);

 Interpret discourses and translate from and into the English language;

 Write, edit, and review various texts;

 Conduct a professional and critical analysis of literary works;

 Conduct research; and

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  Facilitate and run public relation activities.

4. Objectives

General Objective

Up-on a successful completion of the programme in English language and literature, graduates will be able to:

 Learn constructing of a range of texts;

 Know how to communicate in various communication contexts;
 Understand the various views in a text.
 Practice writing various texts;
 Assess written texts;
 Know grammar usage in various communication contexts.
 Understand the nature of human language;
 Develop language knowledge to describe its different structures;
 Learn interpreting and translating a text to and from English;
 Understand discourse (text) organisations;
 Know genres of literature;
 Understand the different elements of literature;
 Review literary texts;
 Practice proofreading texts with different features;
 Practice comprehensive editing for various purposes;
 Manage organisational communication activities;
 Understand the core concepts of research works;
 Know principles of research when conducting it; and
 Produce reports on research outputs.
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 Specific Objectives

After the graduates have successfully attended the programme, they will be able to achieve the following specific objective/learning outcomes.

 Identify main ideas for a listening text,

 Draw inferences from the given parts of a listening text,
 Summarize a text using key words in the listening tex,
 Identify main ideas of a conversation,
 Draw inferences from dialogue,
 Use expressions of likes to talk about things,
 Use expressions of dislikes to talk about things,
 Identify the major purposes of each section of a reading text,
 Rearrange events/information in a reading text in their order of occurrence,
 Compare similar views in a text,
 Infer contradictions in a text,
 Familiarise themselves with elements of a paragraph,
 Locate common errors in a written text,
 Differentiate characteristics of different modes of writing,
 Use punctuation marks appropriately in a given written text,
 Use prepositions in a text,
 Apply the uses of tenses in texts,
 Evaluate use of relative clauses in texts,
 Grasp the origins of human language,
 Describe the structure of language,

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 Use theories of linguistics to describe the systems of language,
 Use theories of linguistics to describe the systems of language,
 Apply theories of translation while translating a text,
 Evaluate a translated text,
 Use discourse markers while analysing a discourse,
 Identify contexts of discourse,
 Critique how language is used in a text, and
 Extract research variables for a given research title.

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5. Themes and List of courses with credit hours

No. Themes Courses Course Credit Hour

code
1. Theme One: Listening Skills EnLa 2021 3
Major Language Skills and Spoken English II EnLa 2023 3
Associated Proficiencies Advanced Speech EnLa 3024 3
Reading Skills EnLa 2042 3
Sophomore English EnLa 2043 3
Advanced Writing II EnLa.3046 3
English Grammar in Use EnLa 2041 3
2. Theme Two: Language and Linguistics Introduction to Language and Linguistics EnLa 2031 3
Translation and Interpretation EnLa 4054 3
Discourse Analysis EnLa 4052 3
3. Theme Three: Literature Fundamentals of Literature EnLa 2061 3
Literary Theory and Criticism EnLa 3081 3
4. Theme Four: Journalism and Editing and Proofreading EnLa 4047 3
Communication Public Relations EnLa 4093 3
5. Research and Report Writing Fundamentals of Research and Report Writing EnLa.3111 4

Total 46

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 Ministry of Education
Higher Education Sub-sector
6. Test Blueprint (Table Specification) for BA in English Language and Literature
Cr. Learning outcomes
Hrs Cognitive
Themes and Name and
Share of the Share of the

Creation/Synthesis

Share of items in %
themes in % Courses in % General Specific objectives /learning

Understanding
Remembering

Psychomotor
objective/Competency outcomes

Application

Evaluation

Affective
Analysis
Theme One: Listening Skills 3  Understand the Identify main ideas for a listening 0.44 0.44 0.44 0.44 2.2
Major 0.44
(EnLa 2021) messages of a range of text.
Language (6.52)
Skills and texts; Draw inferences from the given 0.44 0.44 0.44 0.44 0.44 2.2
parts of a listening text
Associated
Proficiency Summarize a text using key words 0.44 0.44 0.44 0.44 0.44 2.2
45.65) in the listening text.
Spoken English 3  Use English to Identify main ideas of a 0.85 0.85 0.85 3.3
II (EnLa 2023) communicate in conversation. 0.85
(6.52) various
Advanced communication Draw inferences from a dialogue. 0.85 0.85 0.85 0.85 3.3
Speech
contexts;
(EnLa.3024)
 Know the nature of speech. Use expressions of likes to talk 0.85 0.85 0.85 0.85 3.3
(6.52)
about things in public contexts.
Use expressions of dislikes to talk 1.66 1.66 1.66 1.66 1.66 3.3
about things
Reading Skills 3  Understand the main Identify the major purposes of 0.5 0.5 0.5 0.5 2.0
(EnLa 2042) ideas of academic each section of a reading text,
(6.52) texts; Rearrange events/information in a 0.4 0.4 0.4 0.4 2.0
 Comprehend the reading text in their order of 0.4
occurrence in the text,
various views in a
Compare similar views in a text 0.4 0.4 0.4 0.4 0.4 2.0
text.
Infer contradictions in a text 0.4 0.4 0.4 0.4 0.4 2.0
Sophomore 3  Practice writing Familiarise themselves with 0.5 0.5 0.5 0.5
English (EnLa various texts; elements of a paragraph, 2.0
2043) (6.52 )  Assess written texts.

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 Advanced 3 Locate common errors in a written 0.5 0.5 0.5 0.5 2.0
Writing II text,
(EnLa.3046) Differentiate characteristics of 0.4 0.4 0.4 0.4 0.4 2.0
(6.52) different modes of writing,
Use punctuation marks in a given 0.4 0.4 0.4 0.4 0.4 2.0
written text.
English 3  Know grammar Use prepositions in a text. 0.36 0.36 0.36 0.36 0.36 0.36 2.2
Grammar in usage in various Apply the uses of tenses in a text. 0.36 0.36 0.36 0.36 0.36 0.36 2.2
Use (EnLa contexts. Evaluate use of relative clauses in 2.2
2041) a text. 0.31 0.31 0.31 0.31 0.31 0.31 0.31
(6.52 )

Key: In the cells/boxes there are numbers that indicate the number of items that correspond to the levels of domains.

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 Ministry of Education
Higher Education Sub-sector
Test Blueprint (Table Specification) for BA in English Language and Literature
Theme
ThemesTwo: and Name toand3 Share  Cr.Hrs
Introduction Understand
General the Grasp the origins Specific human 0.33
of objectives 0.33 0.33 0.33outcomes
Learning 0.33 0.33 2.
Share and
Language of the of the Courses in nature objective/Competency
of human /learning outcomes Cognitive
Language and language. 0
themes in % % language
Linguistics Linguistics  Learn describing the Describe the structure of language. 0.33 0.33 0.33 0.33 0.33 0.33 2.

Creation/Synthesis

Share of items in %
diversity of
(EnLa 2031) 0

Understanding
Remembering

Psychomotor
(19.56) language systems.

Application
(6.52)  Understand the Use theories of linguistics to 0.28 0.28 0.28 0.28 0.28 0.28 0.28

Evaluation
2.

Affective
Analysis
nature of human
language describe the systems of language. 0
 Develop language
knowledge to
Theme Three: Fundamentals of 3  Know genres of Familiarise 1.1
0.28 1.1
0.28 0.28 0.28 0.28 0.28
Literature describe its different Explain language through phrase 0.28 2.
Literature (EnLa literature; and themselves with
structures 1.1 3.3 0
(13.04) 2061) (6.52)  Recognise structure rules. literary techniques
the different
elements of literature (used in a text).
Literary Theory 3 Apply thematic 1.1 1.1 1.1 3.3
and
TranslationCriticism
3  Learn interpreting Apply theories ofanalysis. translation while 0.66 0.66 0.66 0.66 0.66 3.
(EnLa 3081 (6.52)
and  Review
and translating a textliterary
translating
texts a text. Use major literary 1.1 1.1 1.1 3.3 3

Interpretation to and from English. Evaluate a translated theories while

text to and 0.66 0.66 0.66 0.66 0.66 3.
analyzing a text.
(EnLa 4054) from English. Critique a literary a 1.1 1.1 1.1 3.3 3

(6.52) text.
Theme Four: Editing and 3  Understand techniques Edit major language 0.5 0.5 0.5 0.5 2.0
Journalism Discourse
and Proofreading3  Understand of proofreading Use discourse
texts errorsmarkers
in a while
text (a 0.73 0.73 0.73 2.
Communication (EnLa 4047) (6.52) with different features; story). 2
(13.04) Analysis discourse (text) analysing a discourse.
Public Relations 3  Revise texts to enhance Revise a text 0.5 0.5 0.5 0.5 2.0
(EnLa(EnLa
4052)4093) (6.52) organisation.text clarity;Identify contexts of discourse.
(sentence, 0.73 0.73 0.73 2.
(6.52)  Learn  uses Carry ofout comprehensive paragraph(s)). 2
editing; Critique how language Apply iscopy
used editing
in a 0.5 0.5 0.5
0.73 0.5
0.73 0.73 2.02.
language across techniques
text. 2
discourse contexts. Compose headlines 0.5 0.5 0.5 0.5 2.0
and captions.

 Promote communications Analyse uses of 0.55 0.55 0.55 0.55 2.2

between organisations communication
and their public; channels in public
relations practices.

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  Manage organisational Use language in 0.55 0.55 0.55 0.55 2.2
communication activities public relations.
Evaluate features of 0.55 0.55 0.55 0.55 2.2
channels of
communication in
public relations.
Theme Five Fundamentals of 4  Understand the core Identify major steps 0.55 0.55 0.55 0.55 2.2

Research and Research and concepts of research in undertaking a

Report Writing works; research.
Report Writing (EnLa.3111) (8.69)  Know principles of 2.2
Apply major 0.55 0.55 0.55 0.55
(8.69) research when conducting principles of research
research as a small scale while conducting it.
research; Extract research 0.55 0.55 0.55 0.55 2.2
 Produce reports on variables for a given
research outputs. research title.
Write a research 0.55 0.55 0.55 0.55 2.2
report.
Total Number of Items 4 10 17 23 22 19 06 0.00 101
Share of domain in % 95 6 0
𝑎
o Share of themes (T) = 𝑥100, Where “a” is the credit hour of a theme and “b” is the total credit hour of the program. Credit hour of a theme
𝑏
is the sum of credit hours of courses in the theme.
𝐶𝑟𝑒𝑑𝑖𝑡 ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑐𝑜𝑢𝑟𝑠𝑒
o Share of courses per theme (C) = 𝑥100
𝐶𝑟𝑒𝑑𝑖𝑡 ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑚𝑒
o Share of items per course = 𝑆ℎ𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑐𝑜𝑢𝑟𝑠𝑒 𝑋 𝑇𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑙 𝑛𝑢𝑚𝑏𝑒𝑟 𝑜𝑓 𝑖𝑡𝑒𝑚𝑠.

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 7. Conclusion

This short document presents key considerations to prepare exit exam blueprint which are key to develop an ideal exit exam. Firstly, it pinpoints

significance the exam blueprint would have to exam writers, university graduates, universities and other stakeholders. Secondly, it revisits the

graduate profiles which the candidates would be expected to demonstrate by the time they have completed attending the programme. Equally, the

document outlines the general and specific objectives which have to be achieved as competencies by the graduates by the end of the programme.

Significantly, the document presents exam writers with blueprint table which shows directions for exam writers about core themes, names and

weights of courses in each theme which exam developers have to take into account writing the exit exam items. Most significantly, it guides exam

writers to fairly construct representative items for each specific objective of core themes across the specified learning outcomes.

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