Efl testing

Question

Hi,In visits to various primary and secondary schools near where I live, I've identified a need for tests of English for non-native speakers provided by some external, independent body. Schools want a result that tells them where to place students (aged 7-16) at the beginning of each year (or couple of years). Cambridge tests such as KET, PET and First Certificate don't fit this bill, as they are a 'one-off' test, and schools want to adopt a system they can use several times during their students' education. The publishers' own tests (written to match the coursebooks, such as I-Spy, Pacesetter, Cutting Edge, etc.) are also felt to be too specific.One lycee teacher I spoke to has started sending off her students' work to the States to be graded by what I understand to be a native speaker assessment organisation that appraises reading and writing skills (!!) Now they want to do something lower down the curriculum, but the EFL/native speaker mismatch is greater with younger children, so 'native speaker' tests just don't match.Most of me believes that schools are asking for the impossible (or even worse, the impossible AND the unnecessary), but I'm sending this anyway:Does anyone know of any EFL assessment organisations producing tests suitable for school use (students aged 7-16)?Thanks for any ideas,Jan

Usenet · Accepted Answer

[nq:1]Hi, In visits to various primary and secondary schools near where I live, I've identified a need for tests of ... know of any EFL assessment organisations producing tests suitable for school use (students aged 7-16)? Thanks for any ideas, Jan[/nq]
Not quite what you're looking for, but Cambridge do have the Young Learners English programmes aimed at 7 - 12s -
http://www.cambridgeesol.org/exams/yle.htm
DC

Usenet · Answer

There is the TOEFL ITP (Instititutional Testing Program). It was set up to deal with the precise situation you've described, but I've always felt that TOEFL stuff is too age-biased.
A while ago, UCLES EFL worked with OUP to product the QPT system (Quick Placement Tests). There are pen/paper and also CD-ROM versions. This test has not been widely adopted in Greece. Oxford EFL had an older pen and paper system that has been completely discontinued, unless I've been misinformed.
Other than that, I know of nothing.
Placement tests, historically, have been a thorny issue in this business. In my position as a private tutor, I have the luxury of doing a full-on grammar analysis (Study Guide in English Grammar in Use + personal interview/interrogation). I also run a full FCE or TOEIC or whatever the student is aiming for before I take anyone on. It takes time and costs money to run something like this for free, but generally, it's the only real way to guarantee a clear understanding of the student's general level of language ability, their learning style, and a no-*** indication of their level of motivation sans their parents' protestations, obfuscations and standard Eurotrash mendacity.
The issue of streaming students by means of placement tests is further complicated by the facts that student motivation plays a significant role in how fast students pick the language up, and that schools, for various reasons, do not particularly WANT their students to be rigidly streamed. While "for various reasons" usually means that grouping student according to ability means smaller class sizes and less money raked in per class, there are other factors at play that must be acknowledged, i.e., learning styles, peer groups, false beginner issues, etc.
I maintain, however, that placement testing as it exists today is a sham pretty much only designed to guarantee a school gets enough bodies in each classroom to maintain a healthy profit margin. Even in my grueling diagnostic testing, there's also an element of showmanship: I'm introducing the kind of teacher I am and basically giving them a taste of what spending a significant chunk of their time working with me will be like. It's not exactly like selling myself as a teacher...

Hey, there are no salacious neon signs outside my office!

(Yet.)

Efl testing

Top answer

Get the Weekly English Kit 📬

Related Questions