What and Why?
Tests can form a useful and important role in language learning. They can give both the students and the teacher a clear picture of how much the students have learned. They can also give the students a focus or something to work towards, and thus motivation for learning. However, tests can also have many negative consequences. Some students can become very anxious about tests and this can prevent them from effective learning. Students may become so focussed on the test that they lose sight of the wider goal: learning English. Learning can also become `defensive' in which they learn something because of the fear of the test, but rapidly forget it once the test has passed. For these reasons, tests need to be handled carefully and made more `friendly' to the students.
Practical ideas
- Before a test, give the students a clear list of what they will be tested on. They can then be asked to rate themselves on each area of the test and compare with the marks after the test.
- Try to view a test not so much as an indication of how much the students know/don't know but as an indication of how effective classroom language teaching is. If students perform badly, this may say more about what is happening/not happening in the classroom than it does about the students.
- In all Levels of CES, students can be involved in devising their own tests (See the Revision Units). If you give a list of areas that you have covered over the last few lessons, pairs of students could make up parts of the test. You can then collect them in, correct them and assemble them into a complete test. Students can learn from the process of writing the test and seeing their own corrected version. The test is then also `theirs' rather than `yours' and so less threatening.
- Students can be given practice tests to do at home (There are practice tests in the Workbook.) These give the students the opportunity to test themselves without anxiety.
- A test pack is available from Cambrige University Press.
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