An Evaluation of the Literature and Scientific Streams National Baccalaureate Exam Main Sessions’ Writing Construct: 2014 to 2018 Academic Years

Abstract

The dearth of research studies on EFL assessment in Morocco, as well as the proliferating concerns of EFL in-service practitioners about the quality of the National Baccalaureate Exam of English as a whole, contributed to the Evaluation of the Literature and Scientific Streams National Baccalaureate Exam Main Sessions’ Writing Construct between 2014 and 2018, as 2014 is the launch date of a novel guiding guidelines of the National Baccalaureate Exam, a phase that encompasses the inception of the Strategic Vision of the educational system 2015-2030. Henceforth, four objectives were set to lead the study: (1) dissect the inconsistencies of the Exam writing construct, (2) investigate the constituents of the usefulness of the construct in light of previously conducted studies and existing theoretical frameworks, (3) postulating novel ideas to better the quality of the concerned construct usefulness and, (4) enlightening the interventionists in the field about it. Hereby, the researcher adopted a mixed-method design using (1) an evaluation grid to carry out document analysis and (2) an online questionnaire to probe deeper into in-service EFL practitioners’ opinions. So, 118 participants, teachers, and supervisors fully completed the questionnaire. The Likert-scaled questionnaires and document analysis checklists that were adopted were confined to Microsoft-Excel and SPSS software statistical graphs and charts. In brief, the study resulted in a plethora of recommendations that would serve to renovate and fortify the usefulness of the exam writing construct.