Testing techniques.

Replicate real-life interaction: in real life when people speak or write they generally do so with some real purpose. Yet traditional writing tests have often been based exclusively on general essay questions, and speaking tests often included hypothetical questions about what candidates might say if they happened to be in a certain situation. More modern test writers now include tasks which attempt to replicate features of real life. Tests of reading and listening should also, as far as possible, reflect real life.

28. Express your opinion on advantages and disadvantages of using tests for evaluating students’ knowledge.

It is a common practice for many schools and colleges to assess their student's knowledge through different exams and tests. Whether this method has more benefits than drawbacks is debatable; I believe that examinations provide several educational benefits.

To begin with, one of the main advantages of examinations is that (they are) an easy tool to regularly assess a student's capability. Exams help a lot to bring an improvement in the individual's knowledge because they provide regular feedback to the students who acknowledge their shortcomings and work on them.

Another advantage is that exams promote competition among students. They work harder to improve their knowledge and skills. In this way they learn more. Also, exams are an excellent tools to determine the efficacy of teaching methods because teachers get an opportunity to monitor and evaluate their teaching strategies according to their student's progress. (make sure each paragraph has a central topic – your topic sentence says you will discuss ‘competition among students’, but then you go on to talk about teachers monitoring and evaluation).

On the other hand, there are certain drawbacks of exams. Firstly, they have a poor predictive quality because they only judge a student's ability under set conditions and limited time. Many a times a student who is otherwise good may get anxious or confuse(d) under strict exam conditions and may not perform up to the mark.

Secondly, many exams encourage teaching to the test practice. This is to say, teaching a fixed curriculum focused on passing a specific exam. This method limits the curriculum to a set range of knowledge and skills. Obviously such practice does not provide much many educational benefits.

However, if some improvements are made to remove the above mentioned drawbacks, exams certainly provide many educational advantages. Therefore, I believe that the benefits of exams far outweigh its their drawbacks.

29. Teachers’ skills, attitude and knowledge that teachers need to acquire.

Teachers’ skills and attitude.

Teacher’s attitude: Teacher’s skills:

Adaptability Managing classes

Recognising students Matching tasks and groups

Listening to students Variety

Respecting students

Adaptability - what marks one teacher out from another is how they react to different events in the classroom during the lesson. Unexpected things may happen in lessons: the tape or CD player or computer program suddenly doesn’t work. We forgot to bring the material we were relying on, the Ss look at the reading text you plan to read and say ’We have done that before’. A good teacher should be flexible and react quickly to such unexpected situations. When Ss see that their teacher can do it, their confidence and respect grows.

Recognising students - Ss consider being important for good teachers to know their names. How can we do it? One method is to ask Ss to put name cards on the desk in front of them or stick name badges on to their sweaters or jackets.

But ‘knowing Ss names’ means also knowing about Ss, some things about them, who they are, what are they.

Listening to students – a good teacher should be attentive to Ss problems in learning his subject, it’s important that a student can talk to the teacher about his problems out of the class. There should be a good rapport, the relationship that the SS have with the teacher.

Respecting students – Whenever you deal with bad behaviour of your Ss, remember that it is the behaviour we want to criticize not the character of our student. Correct your Ss without offending them. If we are too critical, we can demotivate our Ss, on the other hand, if we are constantly praising them, we risk turning them into ‘praise junkies’, who begin to need approval all the time. (becoming addicted to praise). The main thing to remember is to respect your Ss, never laugh at them, and never use mockery.

Teacher’s skills:

Managing classes – a good teacher knows how to put Ss into groups, when to start and when to finish an activity, whether Ss should work in pairs or in groups or as a whole class. So he should be a good manager.

Matching tasks and groups – we need to think carefully about activities and topics we are going to take with our Ss. Some Ss are happy to work independently; others need more help and guidance. We should take into consideration Ss’ age, level of their knowledge, their interests and even their mood at that very moment.

Variety – Good teachers vary activities and topics over a period of time. If you just do drills, drilling exercises, Ss fall asleep. Use language games, role plays, pair work, group work, discussions.

The knowl. teach. need to acquire. To teach all students according to today’s standards, teachers need to understand subject matter deeply and flexibly so they can help students create useful cognitive maps, relate one idea to another, and address misconceptions. Teachers need to see how ideas connect across fields and to everyday life. This kind of understanding provides a foundation for pedagogical content knowledge that enables teachers to make ideas accessible to others.

Knowing the subject i.e. the language systems and language skills.

Language systems Language skills

knowing doing

Phonology Productive – speaking, writing

Lexis or vocabulary Receptive – reading, listening

Grammar

Function

Discourse

The next knowledge is Material and resources – When Ss ask some difficult questions good teachers know in what books and websites to find the answer. If you use a course book Ss expect that you know how to work with it.

Managing with classroom equipment – Once upon a time we had only pens, blackboard and chalk. Nowadays we have a great opportunity to use various technical equipments in teaching the subject: video, projector, computers, Internet. And of course a good teacher should know how to use them.

Keeping up-to-date – A good teacher should try to find new ways of doing things, new activities and methods of teaching. A good way to do it is to read modern teachers’ magazines and journals. There is lots of information on the Internet. We can learn a lot attending seminars, teachers’ conferences, observing other teacher’s lessons.

To teach is to first understand purposes, subject matter structures, and ideas within and outside the discipline. Teachers need to understand what they teach and, when possible, to understand it in several ways. Comprehension of purpose is very important. We engage in teaching to achieve the following educational purposes:

To help students gain literacy

To enable students to use and enjoy their learning experiences

To enhance students’ responsibility to become caring people

To teach students to believe and respect others, to contribute to the well-being of their community

To give students the opportunity to learn how to inquire and discover new information

To help students develop broader understandings of new information

To help students develop the skills and values they will need to function in a free and just society

30.Part of a good teacher’s art is the ability to adopt a number of different roles in the class. Express your opinion on who teachers are in class.

Schools are one of the first places where kid’s behavior and future educational success is shape. Teachers are carriers of either positive or negative behavior toward students. The reason why the first years of school are so critical is because kids learn the base of their educational life. I believe that teachers must love their career in order for them to pass enthusiasm, to assists, and to provide a warm environment to the students. In my opinion teachers are the second mothers for the students because students spend a lot of time with their teachers. At the same time.

A teacher carries a big responsibility in her classroom. One reason is that all students depend on her/him. Everything the teacher sys will have an impact on the students. If the teacher feels joy of feels anger, it will be spread among children because the attitudes of the teacher gets contagious. If the teacher laughs, students also laugh, why? Because teachers are responsible for the social behavior in the classroom. If something goes wrong the only responsible is the teacher even if it was not their foul.

The teacher must create a warm and protective environment but at the same time professional. If students feel secure in the classroom the result will be shown in the academic progress. A good star could be a mutual trust with each student. Teaches have the responsibility to know his/her students in the classroom. Each day, the teachers show one of their attitudes that the students are unaware. Also, the students do the same in order for the teacher to get to know them, too. This is a good exercise to do because it benefits the whole class to break the ice. The first days most of the students are afraid of the teacher because they do not know how is the teacher’s personality. It will change until the point that the teacher and students discover to have common hobbies with each other.

I believe, that teachers need to think about what are the students feeling. As teachers, one good way to do this is to look back in our school years and remembered what we went through when we were students. We will realize that most of the kids have problems with their teachers. I do not believe that there are students who have not encounter a problem with the teacher. Therefore, I do not think there is a perfect relationship between teachers and students because the relationship of teachers and students is perfect. Therefore, teacher’s priority should only be the benefit of the student’s feelings.

All teachers have the key to provide a good environment for the students. The benefits of having a pleasant environment are for the teacher and students. But before that happens a teacher needs to be well prepared in order that the students receive the best treat. It is essential and crucial for teachers to be prepared because the first years of school are very important for the students. The future education success of the students depends on their first years. It’s never late to star a bound of a relationship between teacher and students. Consequently, the contact of the students with the teacher is an everyday act. Even though, there will be some days in which students will have impropriate but other days where there will not be a problem at all. As humans, sometimes teachers do things that are not correct however we always have another chance to do it better. In conclusion, I strongly believe that teachers need to show respect, caring, become role models, make a pleasant environment, treat students right, instructs them but not be totalitarian, and guides them through the road of success. The only who gets the benefits are the students and sometimes it could be a negative or positive. Throughout my life I have learned valuable lessons from great teachers but I also had negative impact in my life as well.

31.What levels of language knowledge do you know? What do these levels mean, in practice, for the students and teachers? What will you do if students in your class are all at different level?

ILR Level 0 – No proficiency

The baseline level of the scale is no proficiency, rated 0. The following describes the traits of an ILR Level 0 individual:

· oral production limited to occasional, isolated words

· may be able to ask questions or make statements with reasonable accuracy only with memorized utterances or formulae

· unable to read connected prose but may be able to read numbers, isolated words and phrases, personal and place names, street signs, office and shop designations

· understanding limited to occasional isolated words or memorized utterances in areas of immediate needs.

· may be able to produce symbols in an alphabetic or syllabic writing system or 50 of the most common characters

ILR Level 1 – Elementary proficiency

Elementary proficiency is rated 1 on the scale. The following describes the traits of an ILR Level 1 individual:

· can fulfill travelling needs and conduct themselves in a polite manner

· able to use questions and answers for simple topics within a limited level of experience

· able to understand basic questions and speech, which allows for guides, such as slower speech or repetition, to aid understanding

· has only a vocabulary large enough to communicate the most basic of needs; also makes frequent punctuation and grammatical mistakes in writing of the language

· The majority of individuals classified as Level 1 are able to perform most basic functions using the language. This includes buying goods, reading the time, ordering simple meals and asking for minimal directions.

ILR Level 2 – Limited working proficiency

Limited working proficiency is rated 2 on the scale. A person at this level is described as follows:

· able to satisfy routine social demands and limited work requirements

· can handle with confidence most basic social situations including introductions and casual conversations about current events, work, family, and autobiographical information

· can handle limited work requirements, needing help in handling any complications or difficulties; can get the gist of most conversations on non-technical subjects (i.e. topics which require no specialized knowledge), and has a speaking vocabulary sufficient to respond simply with some circumlocutions

· has an accent which, though often quite faulty, is intelligible

· can usually handle elementary constructions quite accurately but does not have thorough or confident control of the grammar.

ILR Level 3 – Professional working proficiency

Professional working proficiency is rated 3 on the scale. Level 3 is what is usually used to measure how many people in the world know a given language. A person at this level is described as follows:

· able to speak the language with sufficient structural accuracy and vocabulary to participate effectively in most conversations on practical, social, and professional topics

· can discuss particular interests and special fields of competence with reasonable ease

· has comprehension which is quite complete for a normal rate of speech

· has a general vocabulary which is broad enough that he or she rarely has to grope for a word

· has an accent which may be obviously foreign; has a good control of grammar; and whose errors virtually never interfere with understanding and rarely disturb the native speaker.

ILR Level 4 – Full professional proficiency

Full professional proficiency is rated 4 on the scale. A person at this level is described as follows:

· able to use the language fluently and accurately on all levels and as normally pertinent to professional needs.

· can understand and participate in any conversations within the range of own personal and professional experience with a high degree of fluency and precision of vocabulary

· would rarely be taken for a native speaker, but can respond appropriately even in unfamiliar grounds or situations

· makes only quite rare and minute errors of pronunciation and grammar

· can handle informal interpreting of the language.

ILR Level 5 – Native or bilingual proficiency

Native or bilingual proficiency is rated 5 on the scale. A person at this level is described as follows:

· has a speaking proficiency equivalent to that of an educated native speaker

· has complete fluency in the language, such that speech on all levels is fully accepted by educated native speakers in all of its features, including breadth of vocabulary and idiom, colloquialisms, and pertinent cultural references.