An Analysis of 2016 PPSE English Language Teaching Profession Field Exam in Turkey According to Bloom’s Revised Taxonomy

The aim of this study is to analyze 2016 Public Personnel Selection Exam (PPSE KPSS in Turkish) English Language Teaching Profession Field Exam (TPFE) in Turkey According to Bloom’s Revised Taxonomy. The qualitative research model was used in this study; and the document analysis method was adopted. Written documents containing the 2016 KPSS English Language Teaching Content Knowledge Test questions were used as the data collection instruments in the study. According to results of the study, 85% of the questions in the 2016 PPSE English Language Teaching Profession Field Exam were asked in low cognitive level; only 16% of the questions were asked in high cognitive level. As for the knowledge dimension, on the other hand, there were 18 questions pertaining to remember level; 17 questions were pertaining to understand level; 8 questions were pertaining to apply level; and, 7 questions were pertaining to analyze level. Considering the knowledge dimension in the taxonomy, 15 questions were pertaining to the factual knowledge; 19 questions were pertaining to the conceptual knowledge; and 16 questions were pertaining to the procedural knowledge. Thus, this analyze reveals the fact that in the cognitive process dimension no question seems to have been asked to measure evaluate and create levels. Moreover, as for the knowledge dimension, there were no questions pertaining to metacognitive knowledge. In the conclusion and recommendation part of the study, it was suggested that the questions in the English Language Teaching Profession Field Exam in the PPSE in Turkey should take into consideration the cognitive process dimensions, especially the high cognitive dimensions, and the knowledge dimension in the Bloom’s revised taxonomy, which, therefore, will lead to the better selection and recruitment of the teachers who will raise better educated individuals