Bulgariatesting

Taking the tears out of testing

Shaun Wilden - Bulgaria [email protected]

Shaunwilden.com

Exams!

Everyone hates them yet, at the same time, we all recognise their importance for measuring our achievement against our personal goals, for proving our worth in the academic stakes, for improving our career prospects. Alan Maley

Introductions

– Talk about what you do

– Talk about where you live

– Talk about your family

– Talk about which is better, the city or the country

Introduce yourself and…

Open the coursebook at random

Do not tell your partner what page you have chosen

Using questions you and your partner need to find 3 similarities in the pictures.

Find the similarities

Line up with pictures

Choose a new picture and a new partner Study your picture and listen for the teacher’s

instructions

– Say something factual about your picture

– Say something you like/don’t like about it and why

– Say something it reminds you of

– Talk about something in your picture which is related to something in your partner’s picture

– Each of you say one way in which the two pictures are different

With a partner:

a)consider how relevant these activities are for exam training

b)decide which part(s) of they exam they practice

Reflection

Reflection

1. Introduce yourself2. Similarities3. Line up with pictures4. Reflection

Part 1Part 2

Part 2Parts 3 /4

1. Do they have a fourth of July in England?

2. How many birth days does the average person have?

3. Some months have 31 days; how many have 28?

4. In baseball, how many outs are there in an inning?

5. Can a California man legally marry his widow's sister?

6. Divide 30 by 1/2 and add 10. What is the answer?

7. If there are 3 apples and you take away 2, how many do you have?

8. A doctor gives you three pills telling you to take one every half hour. How many minutes would the pills last?

9. How many members of each animal did Moses take on the ark?

10. How many two cent stamps are there in a dozen?Taken from www.pressanykey.com

You have 5 minutes - No talking please! Yes

One

All

Six

No

70

2

60 minutes

None

- it was Noah

12

1. How did feel about the test?

2. Was it a fair test?

3. Were you well-prepared for the test?

4. Did this test improve your English?

Testing Teaching… is product-orientated … is process-orientated

… is failure–orientated … is success-orientated

… is stressful … is relaxing

… is individualistic … is group-orientated

… is competitive … is collaborative

… is monotonous … is varied

… is teacher-controlled … allows learner control

… is judgemental … raises self-esteem

… measures success in marks … measures success in many ways

... withdraws support … provides support

Testing here refers to the approach taken in classrooms rather than the actual test.

Taken from Dealing with difficulties by Prodromou / Clandfield

ACCURACY

AUTHORITY

CLASSIFICATION

COMPETITION

FORMALITY

MONOTONYNO COMMUNICATION

PUNISHMENTS

REWARDS Students’ tears

with exam classes

BALANCE

RESOURCES

TRAINING

MONOTONY

OVERLOADED AND OVERWORKED

RESULTS

UNSURE OF HOW TO

IMPLEMENT ASSESSMENT CRITIERIA IN

CLASS Teachers’ tears

with exam classes

“If a test is regarded as important then preparation for

it can come to dominate all teaching and activities.”

Hughes 1989:1

But they also need….• to see their studies in a broader context• to be able to assess themselves• to develop their study skills• to build/sustain motivation levels

How can we remove the tears?

In order to be successful students need…

•to know exactly what is in the exam•to be able to analyse what each task entails•to apply important strategies studied in class to the actual exam

Look at the next paragraph of the above article. Decide on 5 words to take out at regular intervals. Remember what kinds of words are usually omitted. Make a note of the words you choose.

There are other cases of people forwarding emails on purpose. Lawyer Richard Phillips emailed his secretary telling her that she had split tomato ketchup on his trousers at lunch and asking her to pay the dry-cleaning bill for the sum of £4 pounds. This email, which was passed around the law firms, was answered by a stinging reply by his secretary, which also went round the legal world and made it into the national news. With the resulting publicity, Mr. Philips was so embarrassed at what people considered to be his meanness that he left his job.

There are other cases of people forwarding emails onpurpose. Lawyer Richard Phillips emailed his secretary telling her that she had split tomato ketchup on his trousers at lunch and asking her to pay the dry-cleaning bill for the sum of £4 pounds. This email, which was passed around the law firms, was answered by a stinging reply by his secretary, which also went round the legal world and made it into the national news. With the resulting publicity, Mr. Philips was so embarrassed at what people considered to be his meanness that he left his job.

telling

on

sum

made

what

How many collocations can you remember?

There are other cases of people forwarding emails on purpose. Lawyer Richard Phillips emailed his secretary telling her that she had split tomato ketchup on his trousers at lunch and asking her to pay the dry-cleaning bill for the sum of £4 pounds. This email, which was passed around the law firms, was answered by a stinging reply by his secretary, which also went round the legal world and made it into the national news. With the resulting publicity, Mr. Philips was so embarrassed at what people considered to be his meanness that he left his job.

How many relative clauses are there?

wordle.net

The director of your language school has put forward an idea to remove the only food and rinks machine. You have been asked to find out the views of your fellow students and write a report with your recommendationsFCE Result page 103

letter email article essay report story review

What we write in the FCE exam

• To encourage students to breakdown the task and ensure they fulfill all the task requirements make sure they always ask themselves the key orientation questions

• Who• What• Why

Task Analysis

Sure 100 % Not 100 %

Shaun

https://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/general/sixminute/2010/09/100902_6min_new_words_page.shtml

BaggravationBlogrollquantitative easingSlugfesttombstoningupcyclervuvuzela

Authentic English (written sources)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Anson_(1781)

http://www.bbc.co.uk/cornwall/content/articles/2007/12/24/aboutcornwall_hmsanson_feature.shtml

Authentic language - listening

http://www.wrecksite.eu/wreck.aspx?14507

_____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ ____ _____. _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____. _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ __________ _____ _____ _____ _____. _____ _____, “_____ _____ _____ _____! _____ _____ _____ _____?”_____ _____ _____ “_____ _____. _____ _____ _____. _____, _____ _____ _____ _____ _____.”_____ _____ _____ _____, _____ _____ _____ _____ _____. _____ _____ _____ _____, _____ _____ _____ “_____, _____ _____ ?” FCE Result page 35

_____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ ____ _____. _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____. _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ __________ _____ _____ _____ _____. _____ _____, “_____ _____ _____ _____! _____ _____ _____ _____?”_____ _____ _____ “_____ _____. _____ _____ _____. _____, _____ _____ _____ _____ _____.”_____ _____ _____ _____, _____ _____ _____ _____ _____. _____ _____ _____ _____, _____ _____ _____ “_____, _____ _____ ?” FCE Result page 35

 T_____ h_____ a_____ o_____ i_____ t_____ w_____ w_____ o_____ o_____ t_____ c_____. H_____ d_____ s_____ t_____ b_____ b_____ a_____ h_____ e_____ a_____ g_____. T_____ o_____ g_____ w_____ o_____ h_____ p_____a_____ c_____ t_____ e_____ s_____. H_____ g_____, “M_____ f_____ i_____ d_____! W_____ c_____ I_____ d_____?”T_____ o_____ s_____ “C_____ d_____. I_____ c_____ h_____. F_____, l_____ m_____ s_____ h_____ d_____.”T_____ i_____ a_____ s_____, t_____ a_____ s_____ i_____ h_____. B_____ o_____ t_____ p_____, t_____ g_____ s_____ “O_____, n_____ w_____ ?”

Two hun____ are out in the woo____ whe__ one of the____ col____. He doe____ see____ to be bre____ and his eye____ are gl____. The oth__ guy whI____ out his pho___ and cal____ the eme____ ser____. He gas____, “My fri____ is dea____! Wha____ can I do?”The ope____ say____ “Cal____ dow____. I can hel____. Fir____, let’____ mak____ sur____ he’s dea___.”The____ is a sil____, the____ a sho___ is hea____. Bac____ on the____ pho____, the____ guy say____ “OK, now wha____ ?”

Two hunters are out in the woods when one of them collapses. He doesn't seem to be breathing and his eyes are glazed. The other guy whips out his phone and calls the emergency services. He gasps, "My friend is dead! What can I do?". The operator says "Calm down. I can help. First, let's make sure he's dead." There is a silence, then a shot is heard. Back on the phone, the guy says "OK, now what?

FCE Result page 35

Based on an idea from Jeremy Harmer & page 54 Intercultural activities

Thank you for [email protected]

shaunwilden.com