Az Eszterházy Károly Tanárképző Főiskola Tudományos Közleményei. 2004. Vol. 4. Eger Journal of English Studies. (Acta Academiae Paedagogicae Agriensis : Nova series ; Tom. 30)

KATALIN LAZAREVICS Testing Written English through Pairwork

Eger Journal of English Studies TV (2004) 149-154 Testing Written English through Pairwork Katalin Lazarevics Introduction No one doubts that testing is necessary. Lots of things are tested day by day and so is language performance in both oral and written forms. Normally, we want to find out about individual achievement of the candidates to check their progress, place them in appropriate groups, give them feedback, or award a certificate. It was not until the 70s of the past century that, due to political and economic reasons, crowds of people wanted to, or had to, learn a second or foreign language in order to get a job or survive in a foreign country. The expectations for intensive and efficient language training as well as for valid and objective assessment contributed to the development of methodology in general, and testing techniques in particular. Most of us have some kind of experience about being tested. Usually, it is not part of everyday routine but a special occasion for which you have previously prepared. How do you feel when you know you are going to be tested? Are you relaxed or excited, looking forward to showing how much, you know or, on the contrary: worried, nervous or in panic at the thought of being caught on something you do not? Most people feel the latter. There is some evidence that the higher the level of anxiety, the lower the performance (Vekerdy). It seems that we are trying to measure something that is being unfavourably influenced by psychological factors so, in most of the cases, examination situations are unlikely to give rehable results. Is there a way out? How can stress be reduced? Testing specialists have long been trying to make examinations less stressful, more human and more real life like (McNamara). Test designers agree that a good test is objective, valid and realiable. We can add one more feature: testing normally happens individually. Candidates have to face the examination board alone, which can be rather discouraging, or sit for a written test to solve unknown and, sometimes, unexpected problems. Loneliness of candidates may contribute to their feeling of anxiety in examination situations, which could possibly be reduced by co-operation and sharing responsibility with another candidate. Would it affect the features of an effective test if testing happened in pairwork?