Testing Understanding in English

Publié le 13 Août 2015

Testing Understanding in English is relatively easy… yet needs to be done properly… as most students think –or claim- they understand much more than they actually do…

When I ask them without testing most of them will tell me there a level that is really two levels below… and the rest will just give a level that is way under the actual level…

As I always say, and write in my Business English Test, students’ levels must be audited before we jump into action in a course… in order to start the course on the right foot with the suitable approach and material… many people will tell you now they watch films in English and understand everything… nothing is more wrong… our brain does not like what it doesn’t understand and fills in the blanks while patching it all together… and if what is actually said may be lost in translation… it is usually a far cry from what they think… not to mention that to understand an idea we also need to know the context and the culture !

Likewise… the level and the progress must be watched as the course develops… too many teachers continue moving on through a book or a course… while their students have long lost sight of what they’re doing…

The best and most efficient – while quickest- way to assess students’ levels in English is to have them express themselves…

Again most teachers think the more they talk and waffle on through the lesson the more they teach… but they couldn’t be further from the true… teaching is not lecturing…

When people express themselves they give you their all… all the best they can give and do… that’s the only way you’ll ever know how much they really master English…

Jesse CRAIGNOU