Student
test writing
What
and why?
In
all levels of CEWw, students can become involved in writing
their own tests. Student-designed tests are not intended to replace
the tests that you or the school might set - there will always be
a need for external tests of some kind. Most tests, however, give
students very little - student test-writing is a way of making tests
a learning device as well as a testing one. Students can learn a
lot from making their own tests for a number of reasons. Firstly,
it requires them to do some investigation, to focus carefully on
a structure or meaning and to use it. Secondly, it helps to break
down the fear of tests which many students have and allows them
to see tests as an opportunity to find out how much they know. Thirdly,
it helps to integrate the class as it provides a means for students
to challenge each other.
Practical
ideas
- If
your students are new to the idea of writing tests, it is a good
idea to get them to do a simple test first and then to look at
the way it is designed.
- Before
students work on making their own tests, you can first ask the
class what they have learned in recent lessons. You can build
up a list of their suggestions on the board. This will also give
you an idea of how much they remember.
- Students
can work in groups to produce test sections on different areas
of language - for example, one group can work on a grammar area,
another on the vocabulary, and so on; or groups can produce different
kinds of tests on the same language area - for example, to test
vocabulary one group can write a dialogue with questions, another
group can make a puzzle, another can make a gap-fill exercise,
and so on.
- The
students can exchange tests with other classes or include them
in a PARCEL
OF ENGLISH.
- Tests
they have already done can be placed in an EXERCISE
BOX.
|
