Investigating the Alignment of the Linguistics and Literature Final Examination Questions with Relevant Learning Objectives at University Level

The purpose of this research is to investigate the alignment of the final examination questions of two EFL courses, viz. Linguistics and Literature with relevant learning objectives at university level. Both courses final exam questions and relevant learning objectives are analyzed for alignment using a slightly modified version of Porter’s model of alignment (2002). The linguistics course showed an alignment index of (0.50) and for the Literature course, the alignment index was (0.49). Both values were significantly lower than the hypothetical mean (0.839) and (0.884) for the two respective courses at the significance level of (0.05). In relation to the comparison of emphasis whether on exam questions or learning objectives, the low-order cognitive skills, viz. (remember, understand and apply) were over-emphasized than the high-order skills, viz. (analyze, evaluate and create). Building on that, recommendations are forwarded to EFL university teachers in terms of paying more attention to the learning objectives of the course they teach when designing final exam questions. Moreover, teachers should also make a balance by emphasizing the cognitive skills included within both learning objectives and examination questions. Key words: alignment, learning objectives, examination questions, assessment, EFL.