The value of English Testing
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.
