Language Testing and Assessment

Evaluating language ability and helping learners ace those tests

Grant Trew

 

In my experience testing is one of the least popular aspects of language learning, both for teachers and students alike. Students generally see testing as an unpleasant hurdle they have to get over, while teachers on the other hand frequently see it as an unfortunate and annoying diversion from their primary function of teaching their students useful stuff. It's bad enough that many instructors are required to test and assign grades in their own classes, but even less popular are standardized tests such as the EIKEN¹ , TOEFL² and of course the all-pervasive TOEIC³ . For students, these are long, stressful and expensive, and as for teachers, well let's just say that preparation courses for these sorts of tests are rarely ranked high on the desire-to-teach list.

So why should we bother ourselves thinking about testing and assessment?

Well the obvious answer for many students and teachers alike, is that we are forced to. Most test takers take these tests because they absolutely need the scores either for school or work. Failure to get the desired grade can result in the student being barred from the university of their choice, or not getting a desired job or promotion. Similarly, most teachers end up teaching these types of courses because their faculty head or Director of Studies assigns them to teach the class, rather than out of personal choice. In fact, these sorts of test preparation courses are often seen as boring, ineffective and generally unrelated to the practical real-world skills they purport to assess. Sadly this perception is often not far from the truth. Many test prep courses are approached with a mind-numbingly large number of practice questions, followed by a painfully detailed breakdown of errors, and often with a hefty dollop of discrete grammar to cap it off.

It's for these reasons I decided to take on this column. First of all, the stakes for test takers are so high, and the typical expenditure of time and money so significant, that the need to make the process as quick and efficient (and successful!) as possible becomes obvious. Secondly, given the amount of time that teachers and students spend preparing for these tests, I think we really owe it to all concerned to take a long hard look at whether the currently common, painful and often demotivating study methods are in fact, the best way for students to get the scores they need.

It's my opinion that the sort of methodology described above is absolutely not the best way to approach the situation, and I plan over the course of this column to present some alternative approaches that are not only more effective at raising test scores, but will also help to make test prep classes more motivating, practical and yes, even fun! I don't claim however, to hold the final word on the issue of testing and assessment, and definitely welcome comments, input and alternative ideas from readers.



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¹This is the common name for the Jitsuyō Eigo Ginō Kentei, an English Language test developed in Japan and administered by the Society for Testing English Proficiency (STEP). http://stepeiken.org/
²Test Of English as a Foreign Language - An English proficiency test aimed primarily at assessing a student's ability to use English at colleges and universities. www.toefl.org
³Test of English for International Communication - An English proficiency test aimed primarily at assessing a student's ability to use English in the workplace and everyday life. www.ets.org/toeic/

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