You will also quickly pick up the points that you may want to give feedback
on to the whole class.
10 Consider awarding some marks for the quality of peer-assessment. If, for
example, learners are peer-assessing something which counts for 20 marks,
think about giving each learner a further five marks for peer-assessing really
well, and asking the learners whose work has been peer-assessed to make
the first decision about how many of these marks have been earned, then
moderate this yourself. The fact that there are marks attached to the process
of peer-assessing is normally enough incentive to help learners to approach
the task more earnestly.42 Preparing learners for public examinations
Many of us are teaching in a context where our students’ language learning will
be assessed via an external examination. Indeed for some learners, the goal of
passing an exam is in fact the main motivation for attending classes. These
suggestions should help you to respond both to the broad goal of helping
students to learn more and more effectively, and to the specific goal of helping
them to pass their target exam.
1 Familiarize yourself with the exam syllabus. Many exam boards provide
information about the language content and processes which might be tested
in a particular exam. They also provide information about the text-types
most usually used for input, and about marking criteria. Getting a picture of
the principles behind an exam is the first step in deciding how to prepare for
it.
2 Familiarize yourself with the question formats. In many modern exams,
the line between test content and test method is blurred, so that the question
formats might represent specific language skills that your learners need to
acquire. And if learners are familiar with the question formats, they will feel
more confident and, therefore, perform better when they come to take the
exam.
3 Get hold of examiners’ reports for previous years. These give invaluable
insight into how marking criteria are actually used, and into the standards
examiners expect. They may include extracts from the performance of
previous candidates, which you could look at with your own learners.
4 See if there is a coursebook associated with the exam. Well known,
international exams do tend to spawn coursebooks. You will need to choose
carefully; they vary in approach and quality, and some have been criticized
for not actually matching their target exam very well. But by evaluating and
being selective, you will probably find useful material.
5 Be creative about exam practice. It’s often appropriate to use an exam-
focused coursebook or even past exam papers in class. But you may need toASSESSMENT 79