Language Classroom Testing

Chapter 9 on Classroom Testing was a very interesting read. I learned that it is important to focus your assessment on the goals you have set for your students and that we need to move away from testing strictly grammar points by using isolated-sentence formats. Although it takes much more effort to develop a test that can fully evaluate much more than correct grammar usage, as future teachers we need to create assessments that encompass as many skills as possible. This chapter covers several types of assessments that would be the most appropriate for reading and writing, oral performance, and listening comprehension. A variety of different kinds of assessments may yield better results than just using one type, which is of what the “hybrid” approach aims to accomplish. I thought that it was interesting that this approach combines specific features of language while having the student use it in a certain context. By integrating lexical, grammatical, sociolinguistic, and discourse features into the assessment, it not only allows for a more cumulative evaluation but it seems more accurate in reflecting that students’ ability to use the language correctly and effectively in real situations.

Speaking from personal experience, my language exams at the university level have always been very concentrated on reading comprehension and writing skills. At this advanced level, the emphasis is on overall proficiency and how well you can use the language to convey your ideas. However, we are very rarely tested on grammar or vocabulary because it is assumed that we know how to use it, which we should at 600+ levels. I also have not had an official oral exam here at UNH; I think we get sufficient practice in class as discussions have always counted towards participation grades. In high school it was a different story because we were just learning the basics of the language so we usually had those single-sentence, matching vocabulary exams that didn’t test much except your ability to memorize a list of vocabulary, how to conjugate verbs, and which tense to use in a given situation. We only had one oral exam that I can remember and it was reciting a poem we had to memorize so I’m not really sure how that was supposed to help us. I think that the trends throughout my language classes show that the kind of exam a teacher gives you depends a lot on what level you are on because, realistically, the higher your proficiency, the more versatile the language exam can be because you should be able to demonstrate more communicative skills. But at the same time, I also think it is important to integrate all skills into an exam regardless of what level you are at because you need to take ownership of your learning and start working on all communicative skills as early as possible.