A necessary part of exam preparation, testing needn’t mean hours of slaving away to produce the definitive paper, or using pre-written models which often don’t really explore problematic areas. Instead, testing can become part of the learning process, rather than merely a 30 minute window on your students’ progress. It’s easy!

Imagine you have ten B2 (or above) level students. Find ten suitable newspaper articles, appropriate in content and reach, based ideally on ten different topics which you wish to explore during the course. Photocopy the articles and give a different copy to each student. Allow students in class reading time and go through content, problematic vocabulary and contextual issues that may arise.

Following this, give each student a set of clear instructions, either orally or prepared in advance. For example: find a portion of the text which contains 10 prepositions, remove the prepositions then re-write the text, minus prepositions, onto a piece of paper, numbering the blanks. Or, find a portion of text which is vocabulary rich (ideally not the same piece), remove ten key words then rewrite the text replacing each removed word with its infinitive form and underline them.

This production exercise can take many forms and can cover all key language skills – open cloze; insertion of an incorrect form into each sentence to construct an error correction exercise; a gapped reading text in which students can also make their own explanatory key; paragraph headings. This can be done as either class work or homework, although it may need supervision.

Note from Jay: The following was an add-on task I wrote that was included with Paul’s article, originally published in ELT-Vista periodical (summer-spring, 2006. I thought I’d include it here, as well.

A QUIZ ON TESTING!

Instructions: Match each test type with its description.

1 Achievement Test
2 Objective Test
3 Proficiency Test
4 Subjective Test
5 Diagnostic Test
6 Placement Test
7 Progress Test

____ Used to ascertain what problems your students might have.

____ The examiner’s opinion of the student’s work is taken into account when grading this exam. Test types might include written compositions or interviews.

____ Used at the beginning of the course to check the level of a new student so that he/she can be placed in an appropriate class.

____ A test which is not based on your opinion of a student’s answer. Examples include multiple choice and true/false exams.

____ Used as a measure of a student’s general level of knowledge and not according to what the students have been taught.

____ Used to check what a student has learned up to a specific point in the course.

____ Usually given at the end of the academic year to see how much your students have learned.

Answers: 5, 4, 6, 2, 3, 7, 1

Suggesting Reading: