adapt these if they are also to function well as teaching materials. For example,
could you personalize any of the activities? Then your learners will still be
practising for the exam, but they will also be learning to talk about their own
lives, which is more valuable in the long run.
6 Encourage collaboration during practice. Some exam questions—even
‘objective’ questions—could be adapted for learners to work on in pairs or
groups. This gives them an opportunity to discuss what language is most
correct or most effective as an answer. The discussion process encourages
reflection and, therefore, deeper learning.
7 Share mark schemes with learners. Where test questions (for example,
writing tasks) have mark schemes, show these to your learners. Help them to
understand the concepts, even if the language of the mark scheme is difficult
for them. Encourage them to evaluate their own work using the marking
criteria.
8 Record your learners’ oral performance. If the exam includes speaking
tasks, record your learners as they practise one of these. Play the recording
back, and discuss it. This will sharpen learners’ awareness of those features
that get good marks in exams.
9 Let learners see their progress. Later in the course you can record the
same speaking task again, and compare the two recordings. It is motivating
for learners to see how they are progressing. It also helps them to see that
language learning is not just learning to do more things; it can mean learning
to do the same thing better.
10 Don’t lose sight of the whole educational experience. A good course will
continue to be valuable to learners long after the exam has been taken. So help
them, at appropriate times, to focus on their wider educational aspirations;
and also keep focusing on your own.80 ASSESSMENT