Chapter 18: Putting Students to the Test 267
✓ Speaking is a matter of being understood, so ask something along the
lines of:
My customers usually understand me. Yes No
✓ Listening is another test of comprehension. Give students the 1 to 5
scale again and ask how well they understand the person speaking in
various situations:
- Telephone calls: 1 2 3 4 5
- Presentations: 1 2 3 4 5
- Colleagues chatting in the office: 1 2 3 4 5
You can also find out why students are taking the class by having them fill in
a sentence like: I need to study English because... Ask them also whether
they prefer to study in a class of students or alone and to explain why. The
answers that students give help the school or teacher to put students in the
right kind of course or to design and sell the courses better.Assigning levels through placement tests
Rather than designing a course for a student’s specific purposes, schools and
colleges usually have placements tests so that they can match a student to a
course already on offer or planned. In terms of general English, most offer six
levels ranging from beginner to advanced and which I talk about in Chapter 4.Proficiency level is absolutely the highest level, but courses at this level are
quite rare. Even beginner and advanced level courses are sometimes tricky to
fill. So, before the term begins, or if your school offers continuous enrolment,
before you place a student in an existing course, the school has to establish
the student’s overall level.Speaking and listening testing
Some establishments offer each student an interview with a teacher, which is
basically a test. It’s really time consuming to do this but at least you can get
a real view of the student’s speaking ability, which is the key language skill
for most people. Of course, listening is involved too as you interact with the
student. You can also take the opportunity to plug the school’s facilities and
put the student at her ease because the test happens more informally. For
example, to try a past simple check question, you casually ask: ‘How did you
get here today? Did it take long?’For an interview to be really effective, let everyone in the room introduce
themselves. You may have a second teacher who doesn’t speak and just
assesses, although this makes students more nervous. Explain what’s going
to happen, personalise the questions if possible and give each student some
feedback at the end.