A Discourse Study of Exam Invigilation in Language Practices

Abstract

Several studies used classrooms as small communities for research to examine classroom discourse. However, adapting such discourse studies are needed to reach other classroom events particularly examinations. One possible way of expending discursive studies to examination settings is to conduct research on invigilation classroom discourse. At this point, our primary objective is to investigate the invigilators’ discursive acts and the effect of their language practices on the students’ performance. Furthermore, the aim of the present research is to identify the elements of the linguistic and the non-linguistic invigilation classroom discourse. To achieve this end, a mixed method research design was used including a classroom observation, a questionnaire and interviews. The results indicated that exam invigilators use a verity of linguistic and extralinguistic classroom discourse that affect the students’ performance. The study attempted to suggest a set of recommendations, as how to help exam invigilators provide a suitable examination atmosphere.