http://englishbabyblog.com/2008/03/21/language-assessment/ Learn English with English, baby! Wed, 23 Jul 2008 19:19:08 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.3.3 http://englishbabyblog.com/2008/03/21/language-assessment/#comment-6 GertiSaada Fri, 28 Mar 2008 10:19:40 +0000 http://englishbabyblog.com/2008/03/21/language-assessment/#comment-6 Hi Katie Well, I run my own language center and face this problem of "examination" all the time. Some of my students study just to improve their language but many others have to pass a test, such as the IELTS. OET, TOEFL, etc..... So they are under the constant stress of "passing or failing" an exam. Honestly, this doesn't make learning a language very enoyable, as a matter of fact, it somehow hinders the process. Anyway, to come to your question, I think, a student should be tested in grammar and reading by multiple choice questions. Listening questions should not be too specific to be answered freely and without limiting the number of words too much. They ought to allow the student to express or explain what s/he has heard or understood. The writing skill also should be tested in a more flexible way...with more than one topic to choose from. In my opinion, is not the kind of questions alone that should be considered, it is "time" that plays a very important role in all exams. When students are put under time pressure many do not perform as well as they would do under normal circumstances. There are various aspects that may affect their results, they may be anxious and nervous about the exam, be pre-occupied with personal problems or may even be sick. All these may lead to low marks and thus failure. The kind of questions or the strategy of a test can be practiced and when the student thinks he is ready for the test he should sit for it. Ok, some time limit should be set, but it should not be too short. I think, this way everybody gets a chance to show his abilities and level. Hi Katie
Well, I run my own language center and face this problem of “examination” all the time. Some of my students study just to improve their language but many others have to pass a test, such as the IELTS. OET, TOEFL, etc….. So they are under the constant stress of “passing or failing” an exam. Honestly, this doesn’t make learning a language very enoyable, as a matter of fact, it somehow hinders the process.
Anyway, to come to your question, I think, a student should be tested in grammar and reading by multiple choice questions. Listening questions should not be too specific to be answered freely and without limiting the number of words too much. They ought to allow the student to express or explain what s/he has heard or understood.
The writing skill also should be tested in a more flexible way…with more than one topic to choose from.
In my opinion, is not the kind of questions alone that should be considered, it is “time” that plays a very important role in all exams. When students are put under time pressure many do not perform as well as they would do under normal circumstances. There are various aspects that may affect their results, they may be anxious and nervous about the exam, be pre-occupied with personal problems or may even be sick. All these may lead to low marks and thus failure.
The kind of questions or the strategy of a test can be practiced and when the student thinks he is ready for the test he should sit for it. Ok, some time limit should be set, but it should not be too short.
I think, this way everybody gets a chance to show his abilities and level.

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