The value of English TestingAbstract
Testing, an approach, is usually presented as a means
of checking mass, of people's English level in use
out of campus, of both teachers teaching and students
learning. In the 21st century, around the world,
testing is also a means of getting employed, promoted,
and better lived as well. With the development of
economics, culture, politics, social science etc. in
English speaking countries, English becomes a
universal and practical tool of getting various fields
of information. Learning English, at present, is not
only a fashion of reflecting whatever, but also an
approach of improving living standard and social
status. Therefore, there is no other means to check
the level of people learning of their English, but
testing. In people's republic of China (PRC),
nationally, at the moment, we have many different
tests covering different objectives, especially the
inclination of getting employed as one of evidences,
as non-native speakers: CET (College English Test),
TEM (Test of English Major), MSET (Middle School
English Test) etc. This paper discusses the value of
English testing, in teaching and learning fields in
the campus of college, under the analysis of the
teachers' teaching purpose and students' learning
result with the theory of educational psychology
research.
I. Introduction
Teaching and learning are closely related to testing.
Testing is a means of enabling quality of teachers'
teaching and acquisition of students' language
learning. Testing covers the aspects of measurement
and evaluation although these three concepts (testing,
measurement & evaluation) are set with respective
meaning. In the following, I shall mainly discuss the
relations between teaching and learning, between
testing, teaching and learning, the functions of
evaluation and measurement, how to test, in order to
prove the value of English Testing.
II. Testing:
Testing is the running of a system or a program
against a predetermined series of data to arrive at a
predictable result for the purpose of establishing the
acceptability of the system or program. (Electronic
Oxford Dictionary, 2002). English Testing is one of
key processes in English language teaching. Its
purpose is to prove the success of English Teaching
and Learning, also helps students to review their
learning and learn more. Testing includes testing
target, testing contents and testing approach. So does
English Teaching Testing. The target of College
English Teaching Testing (CETT) is to, periodically,
check how students learn the language, such as their
abilities of using the language. The contents are
firmly limited in what they have learnt, we should
never test over or under their learning, or the
testing would be anamorphic. The Testing Approach
includes written tests, oral tests and practice.
III. Teaching and Learning.
In terms of testing, teaching and learning are
philosophically influenced with each other. Teachers'
Teaching can both promote and prevent Students'
Learning. The research of teaching approach,
Teachers' teaching attitudes and responsibilities,
Teachers' knowledge and Teaching Materials for
different objects (different English level students)
are the key ways to make teaching and testing
successful and active. Harmoniously combining these
respects, as long as teachers are concerned, their
teaching could promote their teaching and students
their learning. Students their learning, includes
their learning attitudes, methods and abilities, also
affects teachers of their previously mentioned
aspects. The cooperation of teachers and students,
being included in teaching and learning, can also make
sense in language teaching and learning.
IV. Testing, Teaching and Learning:
Before talking about Testing, Teaching and Learning
their relations, for both teachers and students, we
have to be clear that Testing is not a way to
difficult the students, is not a way to give some high
or low scores to students either, it is a way to
review what they have learnt, to train their abilities
of putting what they have learnt into effect, to help
them learn more. Between Testing and Teaching, the
latter is superior. Teaching for teachers, is a means
to transmit knowledge, information, or whatever
related, to learners. Testing is, in fact, one of the
standards, to weigh teaching, whether successfully or
unsuccessfully, but it is not the last words.
Teaching, also, is not for testing. If we went in the
wrong way to consider it like that, we would be
falsely promoted to gain the high scores as our aim.
In terms of testing and learning, at present, we,
because we, till now, haven't found a decent approach
to judge whether our students are learnt or not,
that's why we have been misleading them to capture
the high score as their aim. Learning, in education,
is to learn to use in real way, to use what we all
have learnt in bettering our society, in whatever
fields because of the divisions of the work. Testing
is useful to judge learning, but it is not the only
way. We are able to take other ways into
consideration, such as experimenting etc. A correct
arrangement of these three aspects do help our
development of education, otherwise both teaches and
students are doomed to blind themselves to go in the
wrong way. It is far from our new policy of education
of quality, even of the opposite.
V. Functions of evaluation and measurement in terms of
testing:
Measurement in English testing is a means of telling
learners what are their scores in the test and what
level they have comparatively in a group or a unity.
Evaluation in testing refers to the explanation of the
scores. It solves the problem of “How”---how are the
scores? High, low, medium or else, in other words, in
what degree they have learnt? Etc.
The function of measurement and evaluation is to
prompt learners to learn. After an objective analysis
of the scores the learners have, we can find out
whether they have learnt something or not, what they
are not well learnt, and so on. This activity also
goes with the principle of SaR (stimulus and
Response). Because it can help teachers know the
efficiency of teaching and students' learning as
well. Afterwards, students as learners, they are able
to summarize the weak points in their learning in
order to learn more. In details, the functions are:
For students:
1. Teachers are encouraged to expatiate more clearly
of their teaching object, and students are naturally
and correspondently encouraged and improved.
2. Before the schedule of testing, students are
required to review, consolidate, and comprehend what
they have learnt. On the other hand, it also helps
learners to revise their knowledge.
3. Testing is also helpful for students together to
compare and compete.
4. Self-evaluation after having known the scores by
testing, is also very useful for students to know
themselves to learn and improve gradually.
For teachers: testing is a feedback of their effect
and efficiency in teaching, especially their teaching
skills and methodology, etc.
VI. How to test
English language testing should cover 5 skills (the
competence of listening, speaking, reading, writing
and translation) in the paper. In the paper, some
aspects, i.e. knowledge, comprehension, application,
analysis and evaluation, should be covered. According
to the use of the testing, there are progress tests,
achievement tests, proficiency tests, aptitude tests,
diagnostic tests and placement tests, even make-up
test. For test models, there are written tests, oral
tests and practice. As I have mentioned previously
about their detailed means of taking in the ways
around respectively, I quit here.
VII: conclusion.
The value of English Testing is not a short topic. I
can't say what I have written here is the last word.
No, there are more I haven't come across. These are
only my some short and half-scale views of it. But
knowing the value of testing could really help us have
a correct attitude towards testing both for teachers
and students.
References
1.Gao Lan-sheng. 1996. English Language Testing.
Guangxi Education Press.
2.Penny Ur. 2000. A Course in Language Teaching:
Practice and Theory. Foreign Language Teaching and
Research Press.
3.H.H.Stern. 2000. Issues and Options in Language
Teaching. Shanghai Foreign Language Teaching Press.