La soutenance orale à l’université : un moment critique d’évaluation

Abstract

Oral examinations, which are held from the first year of undergraduate studies right through to doctoral studies, are a regular feature of university life. As a teacher-researcher, I see every year that these ex-ams arouse a variety of emotions: pleasure or irritation on the part of teachers, satisfaction or anxiety on the part of students. Presented as a means of assessing knowledge or skills at a given point in time, it is questionable whether this is really the case, or whether the quality of the oral performance influences the assessors' perception of the learning objectives achieved. What's more, the often unstated standards for the oral presentation, such as the use of aids or notes, vary from one discipline to another. Shouldn't these conventions be reviewed to ensure greater respect for student autonomy?

Keywords

• language and interaction
• emotions and mental health
• higher and university education
• learner assessment