268 Part V: What Kind of Class Will I Have?
Assessing through the written words
Written placement tests are very common too. They allow a school to test
a whole coach load of new students all at the same time, providing there’s
space. At the end you also have a written record to keep in students’ files.
One of the disadvantages of written tests compared with oral ones is that
students complain about the results of written tests far more and often ask for
another go.
In written tests, students tend to cheat a lot and have warped results because
of the pressure of the situation. It’s fairly rare that someone in the school can
find time to watch a student take the test so the student is likely to sneak
a look at the dictionary or ask a friend for help. Sometimes students don’t
understand the instructions but this only becomes evident later when the
marker notices how badly they messed things up.
On the other hand, you can buy published tests or select a section from the
course books for each level to form the test. It’s possible to include reading
passages but it’s best not to make the test appear too long and intimidating.
Tests like these should have an easy marking system, usually an answer key,
to cut down on administration.
If the school offers exam classes, use questions from past papers to give the
students a realistic example of what the exam is like and an idea of how the
students measure up to specific exam skills.
Testing for profi ciency
Proficiency tests aren’t the same as the proficiency level in English, which
follows advanced level. A proficiency test assesses a student’s ability to
perform a particular task or tasks that she’ll have to accomplish in the future.
So if your student tells you that she’s been offered a great job in a restaurant
on the condition that her English is up to scratch, you can design a test
that covers taking orders and handing complaints. It doesn’t really matter
whether the student has taken a course before or whether she knows their
grammar. You simply need to know how well she may be able to handle
that job.
Testing to Establish the Best Course
Once your students are actually enrolled on a course you can continue to use
tests to map their progress and measure what you’ve all achieved.
