Tuesday's Tip for Language Learning #32: Doing Well on Classroom Tests
Excerpt from Think Yourself into Becoming a Language Learning Super Star
Doing Well on Classroom Tests
Classroom Tests
The better you know the
language, the better you will do on the test. Period. It does not really matter
what type of test it is.
Classroom tests can take
many different shapes. Most, though, they will usually fit into one of three
types of tests: achievement, prochievement (pro-achievement), or proficiency.
Each has a format; each has a content. These differ somewhat among the test
types.
Achievement tests
Achievement tests are a
check of your knowledge. They may try also to test your language skills, but
generally that can only be accomplished by a proficiency test.
Format of
achievement tests
The format of an
achievement test takes a limited number of forms. Sometimes the forms are
combined. The test might have multiple choice answer, fill=ins, or matching
items. Sometimes, they will have questions requiring short answers, but all the
short answers must be the same. In all its forms, an achievement test allows
for only one right answer.[1]
Test content
Think about taking the TOEFL,
SAT, or GRE. You can do scads of practice tests, but unless you know the
mathematics upon which the test is based and have a broad English vocabulary so
that you know the words on the test, you won’t test well. Practice tests may
help you be more comfortable with test format, but they won’t give you the
knowledge you need to excel on the TOEFL, SAT, or GRE. To do well, you actually
have to acquire a solid knowledge of math and English. Likewise, to do well on any
test, including an achievement test, you must have studied and learned the
content on which the test is based.
Achievement tests will
always be based on the material (including authentic materials) that have been
presented in class or in your textbook. Review all of that material—early, not
the night before the test. In fact, it is always wise, in order to keep your
working memory working well, to review both new and older materials
periodically.
Improving your
performance
If you do not do well on
achievement tests, you can practice eliminating your problems. Here are some of
the biggest problems for some learners and what to do about them:
·
Most of these tests are timed, and you may
need to practice hurrying up. Filling in the circle or bar that is beside the
right answer very carefully and perfectly will not get you a better test score.
It will slow you down. You will not finish. Your unanswered questions will
count against you. It does not matter whether you know the answers or not
because you did not finish the test to show anyone that you do. This is not a
content issue, so practice filling out test forms faster.[2]
·
Multiple-choice answers leave a lot of
room for creative leavers (the intuitive types) to find a reason for every
answer to be correct. Don’t overthink it; answer what seems would be the most
traditional or common response.
·
Review your test for possible slip-ups,
but where you are not sure, don’t talk yourself out of your first answer when
you review. Generally, the first answer (your natural instinct) is the correct
one.
studied
texts + studied topics + one right answer = achievement test
Prochievement tests
Prochievement tests are
sometimes called pro-achievement tests because they include both proficiency
and achievement components. As such, they propose to check both your knowledge
and your language skills.
Format of prochievement
tests
Prochievement tests may
look a lot like achievement tests. They may ask you to answer multiple choice
questions or fill out charts. Any of the formats that you have come to expect
with an achievement. There may be a separate section based on an authentic
listening or reading text or both with some open-ended answers. Or, the
authentic text might be followed by multiple choice or other kinds of
achievement-test questions.
Test content
The authentic texts on a
pro-achievement test may, probably will, be new to you. This is how your
language skills are being tested. Can you transfer skills you have developed
through the study of other texts to new ones? If you can only read texts you
have already studied, chances are you are pulling from memory and not applying
language skills. These authentic texts, however, will not usually take a
“gotcha” form. The topics of the texts will be the same topics that you have
studied in your course.
Improving your
performance
If you do not do well on
prochievement tests, you can work on improving your performance. Here are some
of the ways you can do that:
·
Use the suggestions provided for
achievement tests to improve your performance on the proficiency component of
the prochievement test.
·
Prepare to handle new, unknown texts by
reading and listening to as many texts as you can find and have time to work
with that are on the same topic as the texts you are reading in the course. You
can find them online, in the library, from your teacher—you know the sources.
·
Work on improving your reading and
listening strategies as suggested in the section of this book on strategies and
tactics.
·
You cannot cram for the proficiency
component of this test. More than for a knowledge test, cramming for a
proficiency test is useless. You must have already built up the language skills
you need well before you need them. So, read something extra on the topic you
are reading about in class every day or every other day. Also, every day or
every other day, listen to a podcast, YouTube, movie, television program, or
news broadcast on one of the topics you are studying in the classroom.
new
texts + studied topics + varied right answers = prochievement test
Proficiency tests
Proficiency tests focus
exclusively on checking your language skills. How well do you read, write,
listen, or speak? That is what a proficiency test sets out to find out, whether
it is a summative test that gives you a grade, or a formative test that provides
suggestions on how to improve your skills.
Format of prochievement
tests
Classroom proficiency
tests can take a multiple-choice or other one-right answer format, but they
usually do not. Typically, they will ask you open-ended questions. You may get
graded on how well your write as well as what you write. They may also give you
a task to do: fill out a chart, make a schedule, and the like—which you will
not be able to do if you do not understand what you hear or read.
Test content
The test content of a
proficiency test is generally a collection of authentic materials. Some of
these materials may reflect the topics you have studied in class; others may
not. Remember, the test is not looking for your depth of knowledge but for the
level of development of your skill set in one or more of the four skills:
reading, writing, listening, and/or speaking.
Improving your
performance
If you do not do well on proficiency
tests, you can work on improving your performance. Here are some of the ways
you can do that:
·
As with prochievement tests, prepare to
handle new, unknown texts by reading and listening to as many texts as you can
find and have time to work with that are on the same topic as the texts you are
reading in the course.
·
Work on improving your reading and
listening strategies as suggested in the section of this book on strategies and
tactics.
·
Remember that you cannot cram for a
proficiency test, so read, listen, write, and speak as much as you can every
day both on your classroom and textbook topics, and, stretching, on other
topics that interest you.
·
Don’t spend your learning time throughout
the course focused on getting a good score on any one test. It is
counterproductive. Focus on learning the language, and the test score will take
care of itself.
·
Proficiency tests can inspire anxiety.
After all, it is natural to fear, or at least be nervous about, the unknown,
and likely not enough is known going into a proficiency test that can make you
completely comfortable. Try some of these tips for dealing with text anxiety:
o
Eat well regularly, and before the test
remember your banana and carbs—and forget your caffeine and candy bar.
o
Sleep well all week but especially the
night before the test so that your brain can be re-energized to work on all
thrusters.
o
Use some positive self-talk: tell yourself
that you can handle the test—and mean it.
o
Pump up your self-esteem: think about all
the times you have done well, especially when you have done well on testes.
o
Develop a positive attitude toward the
test and look forward to showing what you know.
o
If you are nervous about the test, get
there early; it is a good idea to get there early, whether you are nervous or
not, but getting there late will add to your nervousness.
o
If you feel anxiety as you begin the test,
read through the questions quickly, answer the easiest first, and then go on.
o
If you feel anxiety during the test, close
your eyes briefly, take a deep breath, and then go on.
o
If you experience debilitating anxiety
before all testes, not just language tests, you might want to consult an
expert.
new
texts + new topics + varied right answers = proficiency test
Nearly every day, read, write, listen, and/or speak on the topics you are
studying, and the test will be a breeze.
[1]
Sometimes, you may get a multiple-choice test that look like it has more than
one right answer because one or more questions ask you to indicate “all that
apply” or “all that are correct.” That is still a test with one right answer.
You have to pick “all” of the items correctly.
[2]
When she was in high school, my daughter gained almost 200 points on her SAT by
doing this. When she did poorly, but the result showed she had answered only
the first half of the questions (and all of those correctly), I knew her
reflective (think, then answer) learning style was causing the problem.
Although the school thought she should enroll in a test preparation course,
which was based on content, I knew content was not the problem. Her
reflectivity was. I brought home 50 or so bubble forms with demographic
information to be filled in (name, address, etc.), and made her fill them out
faster and faster. When she could get a form filled out in less than a minute,
she signed up to take the PSAT again—and her results soared.
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