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

150 Katalin Lazarevics Testing writing through pairwork may sound unusual. Still, there is some evidence to support its feasibility. Having tested my own college students through pairwork, I asked some primary and secondary school teachers to cooperate and contribute to my investigation by piloting some tests of their own. Now a wider population has been involved and, as a result, more data are available to support the idea. Theoretical Background When we look back at the history of language testing in its written form we can see that, after the end of the hegemony of the grammar-translation method, the first attempts to create grammar tests were made around the 60s and 70s which resulted in multiple choice tests (MCQ). To their greatest pleasure, test designers managed to create a test that was really objective (Weir, 1990). Moreover, these tests were easy to correct with the help of optical readers (computers), and were suitable for assessing language competences for a lot of people in a short period of time. No wonder that MCQ tests quickly became popular all over the world. But, is it the same skill to select one good answer out of four options as to produce it on your own? The answer is certainly: no (Weir, 1993). What do MCQ tests measure, then? Among other things, they measure the candidate's skill to solve MCQ tests which testees can be (and actually are) trained for. Apart from some possible, usually formal, deficiencies of test rubrics the main problem is that candidates have no opportunity to think: a limited (usually very short) time is given for this type of test. If you happen to know the correct answer, you are hicky. If not, there are some strategies that might help: "When in doubt, choose C or the longest", as some advice goes. Even if you do not understand anything of the stem or the distractors, you can be successful: a probability of 25% is guaranteed in four-option tests. It did not take too long for testing specialists and item writers to realise the shortcomings of MCQs. In the early 80s they developed new and more reliable test types to measure language competencies. With the help of Cloze-tests and C-tests, yes/no type of decision making was replaced by more productive and flexible ways to find out about candidates' general understanding, vocabulary and grammar skills. These tests are still popular and, slowly but surely, are spreading even in a typically slow and resistant public education system like the one in Hungary (e.g. in intermediate and advanced level school leaving exams, from the year 2005). No doubt that even the most candidate friendly test is able to create a lot of stress and anxiety which, in turn, can lower testees' performance.