I presented this paper on behalf of OUP at the IATEFL conference in Liverpool in April 2013. For those of you who couldn't be there, here's a summary of what we discussed in the session.
Success factors in exam training
When teachers are faced with the task of preparing a group of students for a given exam, there is one known constant: the students, without exception, must attain the level required by the exam. Although this objective – exam success – is clear, there are several factors that necessitate teachers’ attention in the classroom.
First
of these is the current level or starting level
of the individuals comprising the group. Teachers need measurement tools, both
valid and reliable, to efficiently measure students’ level of English in order
to establish the starting point for the exam training syllabus. Online and
computer-assisted as well as printed placement tests cater for this need.
Another
key factor in exam success is familiarity.
As one delegate aptly put it in the session: ’there ought to be no surprises in
the exam’. Learners need to be familiar both with the test itself (its
structure, the types of tasks involved, the amount of time available for each
paper and part and so on) and its assessment criteria (to put simply, how candidates
can obtain or lose scores as well as the relative weighting of the various
papers and parts). The simplest solution is to select course materials designed
around the particular exam that learners are preparing for – or to
supplement a core course material with such dedicated exam training materials.
Finally,
teachers must also provide a balanced
coverage of all the language (grammar, vocabulary, functions) and all the skills
tested in the exam, both receptive and productive skills. To ensure exam
success, the focus should not be on what is easier to quantify and to teach, or
what is practical to fit into a lesson timeframe, but on what each learner will
be expected to do in the exam.
Potential problem areas for training for productive skills
Writing
and speaking both present a number of practical difficulties that teachers must
find solutions for. By their nature, productive skills are less predictable
(there is often no such thing as ’the’ correct answer) and more challenging to
break down into classroom activities.
Writing issues
The
writing process proper takes an inordinate amount of time – often more than how
much time is feasible in the contact hours available. Writing activities
therefore often take place outside the classroom – that is, outside the
environment controlled by the teacher. Only the lead-in work, and occasionally
some form of follow-up is usually done in class. Task-setting may be done in or
outside class, but subsequent monitoring is difficult, impractical, often even impossible.
Teachers only find out that some learners got on the wrong track after students
have completed their assignments. This then leads to further complications like
more unplanned remedial work or a repeat of the writing task, preferably with
modified parameters to avoid duplicating the task for those learners who got it
right first time around.
Furthermore,
if marking is to be thorough, by necessity it will be extremely time-consuming.
Conversely, if it is to be done quickly and promptly, it will be superficial.
Speaking issues
All
speaking work, on the other hand, is normally done in class – precisely so that
teachers can control it. This means learners either have to perform
simultaneously, where again the issue of proper monitoring arises, or they
perform individually (or in open pairs or groups), which reduces all other
learners’ chances to speak. Teachers face the dilemma of providing either
maximum opportunity–minimum control/feedback or maximum
control/feedback–minimum opportunity.
Blended solutions
Blended
learning: the amalgamation of face-to-face and course material-driven
approaches with online approaches can provide a solution for the above issues.
The
following diagram shows a possible model for covering writing training.
The
difficulties caused by the practical necessity of completing writing
assignments out of the classroom can be remedied through the use of a Learning
Management System (LMS) which allows teachers to set up and monitor tasks
remotely. Many online services also offer an automatic (or at least a guided
semi-automatic) marking facility for more closed types of writing.
Speaking
can also be aided through the use of online learning services (online
workbooks, practice tests, etc.), which often offer a speak-and-record
facility. Teachers can find similar free-to-use web services online. Embracing
social media channels, like online video chat can also enhance exam preparation
and extend contact time.
Blended
learning may not provide solutions for every exam training issue, but is well
worth considering.
