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A talk looking at why doing exam practice tests is essentially a waste of time and also how the kind of teaching we give may have the wrong focus in terms of proficiency tests. First we look at the difference between progress and proficiency tests, then look at what is actually tested in proficiency tests such as FCE, show how we can get nearer that kind of language in materials, explanations and teaching, and correction of students. I also show how this can be related to exam skills and \'practice\' without have to go through practice tests.
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Understanding the way the world learns English
Andrew WalkleyUniversity of Westminster / Heinle
Better Exams Outcomeswithout doing endless exam practice
Understanding the way the world learns English
Progress tests v exams of proficiency
• based on what you've studied
• specific topics and grammar
• limited number of items• repeating a similar test
should improve
• based on what you 'can do'
• broad topics and language
• almost limitless number of items
• repeating tests should give the same result
Understanding the way the world learns English
False memories of (bad) exams
The flight ............... at 10 o’clock tomorrow.The flight ............... at 10 o’clock tomorrow.
A is leavingA is leaving B leavesB leavesC will leaveC will leave D is about to leaveD is about to leave
Understanding the way the world learns English
What's really tested
• vocabulary
• collocations and chunks• lexico-grammatical patterns (incl.
dependent prepositions / ing and to etc.)
• determiners, linkers, noun phrases
• word forms• tense grammar / phrasal verbs (but not much!)
Understanding the way the world learns English
Hippies: I …… Paris!
I’m going to Paris for the weekend.I’m off to paris for the weekend> It’s alright for some!
So did you learn how to fly the planes?> You’re joking! We just cleaned the floors.> You must be joking! The nearest we got to flying the planes was cleaning the hangar floors!
Understanding the way the world learns English
• strike (n)• to be on strike• The train drivers are ……… strike at the
moment so I ……… to take the bus. They want more money.
• They’ve reached an ……………… . They’re going back to work on Monday.
• call a strike / vote to go on strike / go on strike / be on strike / bring an end to the strike
Understanding the way the world learns English
Why do people go on strike? What happens when train drivers go on strike?Have there been any strikes recently? How did affect people? What was the outcome?
Understanding the way the world learns English
Vocabulary Builder
Understanding the way the world learns English
Strategies: are they worth anything?
• guess if you don't know
• eliminate known ones
• guess from context
• read the question carefully
• read the whole text
LANGUAGE KNOWLEDGE
Understanding the way the world learns English
1 The government's made a huge difference since they came to power. They've done a lot to help the poor.2 Crime is almost non-existent. You can leave your front door unlocked at night if you want to.3 There's a recession. The economy's in a total mess.4 They're soft on drugs. They should introduce stricter penalties. 5 A lot of companies have gone bankrupt recently, so unemployment's going up.6 The economy's booming. Lots of new businesses are starting up and plenty of new jobs are being created.7 With so little rain, there are a lot of water shortages so the government's investigating new policies to help.8 Inflation has really soared over the last year or so. Everything's suddenly much more expensive.9 Their policies are undermining national unity. It's made society less stable. They could destroy the country completely if they continue.
Understanding the way the world learns English
Write the sentences in your language. Translate them back into English. Compare your English to the original.
They've done a lot to help the poor. They're doing a huge amount to fight corruption .They haven't done enough to boost the economy.They've done little to combat rising crime.They're not doing anything for young people.They've done nothing to improve women's rights.
Understanding the way the world learns English
Texts – focusing on language
• key words – predict
• key words – how were they used
• key words – collocation groups
• key words – new sentences
• key words – word-formation
• read and pause collocation practice
Understanding the way the world learns English
Any role for Practice tests?
ONE at the beginning:
• to test level
• to raise awareness of real content
• to be able to reference when teaching
Maybe ONE mock at the end for timing.
Understanding the way the world learns English
REAL ENGLISH FOR THE REAL WORLD
Understanding the way the world learns English
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Hugh Dellar and Andrew Walkley
Teacher Training at Westminster
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