First, I have to share the great news with you all: Joyce got the results of her oral test two days ago and… believe it or not, she obtained an E!!!… The language requirements of the position she applied for are CCC… therefore she surpassed the required level in French oral interaction. Honestly, since the new test has been implemented, I never heard of someone who received an exemption in French oral interaction… Actually it is tough enough to get a C, so thinking of getting an E is somewhat kind of irrealistic… but, Joyce did it!… Of course, she is overjoyed and I am really proud of her… what an achievement, considering the criterias of the oral exam!…
Congratulations Joyce!
Useless to say that I have been pondering upon a few things since I heard the news… I prepare many people to tackle the SLE tests, either online or face-to-face… As far as reading comprehension and written expression are concerned, all of my students obtained the levels they were seeking and half of them even scored higher (with the exception of Cynthia who missed her B by one answer on the written expression exam and, unfortunately, she was never invited to take the test a second time… and in Dave’s case, it was due to the PPC’s failure to follow the specifications of his accommodation request).
It would take too much time to go back far in time to have a look at my statistics… therefore I did concentrate my analysis on the results observed since the beginning of 2009.
So far I had/have 24 students to prepare for their oral interaction tests. Fifteen of them already took the exam… six of them obtained their levels the first time they were tested (and one of them got a higher level). Then there are the ones who had failed to meet their required levels on the first trial and came to me for help: five in total and two of them passed on the second trial. I am waiting for Maggie’s results in NYC (I am confident that she got a C on her first attempt) and I never heard back from Lara in Brussels (I do not know whether she received her C or not). The 15 people who already took the oral interaction test had between one and 12 hours of training with me. The other nine still do not have a date yet… hopefully they will be given more time to prepare than the ones who ended up with only one week or two (and, in several cases, with only a couple of days!)…
Out of 15, five were tested over the phone: three of them had an assessor located in Montreal and they all passed their required levels (and Joyce surpassed hers by receiving an exemption)… as for Lara and Maggie (no results in yet), I do not know if their examiners were located in Montreal or at Foreign Affairs in Ottawa… this will have to be confirmed later on.
Eight were tested in face-to-face interviews by either an assessor from Slater or someone from their own Department in Ottawa. Three did not pass their required levels, three passed the first time and two obtained their levels the second time… Four of them who were tested for a B were led into the last part of the exam, yet no one was given a C…
Finally, two were tested in face-to-face interviews in Montreal… both of them were looking for a B and both were led in the fourth part of the test. They ended up with an A!…
Keeping in mind that the oral interaction test is the same, no matter how and where the test is held, results should be more or less the same based upon what I could observe among my trainees… yet it is not the case! For instance, take Lauren who was tested over the phone and got her B after three hours of training with me… and take Yong and Luna who were tested in face-to-face interviews in Montreal and both led in the last part of the exam (what was not the case for Lauren)… If I do compare those three people’s strenghts and weaknesses, I would say that they are at the same level. Yong can certainly communicate in French without confusing people… same thing with Luna who, by the way, did very well at the in-house SLE testing since she was offered a French essential position (she has been working in a French environment for the past month and apparently she is doing very well). Greg will be the next one to be tested in Montreal and it will be interesting to see his results… although he is not very strong in grammar, I would say he speaks French the way Joyce does… he is at ease and he sounds natural.
From what I observed in Ottawa, I tend to think that assessors do not give higher levels than the ones required. Alicia obtained a mere B and she is exactly at Joyce’s level of speech (with a similar background) in French… would she have obtained an exemption if her interview had been done over the phone? Same thing with Christie, she got a B and she should have obtained a C…
What Alicia did or did not do? Was she more nervous than Joyce was when she went for her interview?… Well… no one was more nervous than Joyce was (she had bursted into tears that morning)… was she less self-confident? Not at all… therefore, why did one get an exemption and did the other one only get a B?… And why were Luna and Yong taken in the last part of the test if they were indeed unable to get more than an A?… I can accept that someone who sounds strong enough to get a C might be led in the last part of the interview for verification and ends up with a B… but taking someone two steps down does not agree with me at all!
Based upon those facts, I can only draw one conclusion: results depend on the assessor… although the PSC made every effort to standardize the oral interaction test so that it would be 100% objective, it is an utopia to think that there is no room left for subjectivity on the assessors’ part. Unless they fire all their examiners and replace them with robots, the oral interaction interview will never be objective!… The only way it could happen would be to have candidates study and memorize answers for each and every questions of the exam… Then, perhaps, assessors could be objective (well… given they would have nothing bugging them in their personal lives to distract them) because all they would have to do is substract one point for each little mistake done… In other words, it would be like taking a written expression test orally!!!
“C’est au bout de la vieille corde qu’on tisse la nouvelle”
Proverbe africain
If only I knew!…
First, I have to share the great news with you all: Joyce got the results of her oral test two days ago and… believe it or not, she obtained an E!!!… The language requirements of the position she applied for are CCC… therefore she surpassed the required level in French oral interaction. Honestly, since the new test has been implemented, I never heard of someone who received an exemption in French oral interaction… Actually it is tough enough to get a C, so thinking of getting an E is somewhat kind of irrealistic… but, Joyce did it!… Of course, she is overjoyed and I am really proud of her… what an achievement, considering the criterias of the oral exam!…
Congratulations Joyce!
Useless to say that I have been pondering upon a few things since I heard the news… I prepare many people to tackle the SLE tests, either online or face-to-face… As far as reading comprehension and written expression are concerned, all of my students obtained the levels they were seeking and half of them even scored higher (with the exception of Cynthia who missed her B by one answer on the written expression exam and, unfortunately, she was never invited to take the test a second time… and in Dave’s case, it was due to the PPC’s failure to follow the specifications of his accommodation request).
It would take too much time to go back far in time to have a look at my statistics… therefore I did concentrate my analysis on the results observed since the beginning of 2009.
So far I had/have 24 students to prepare for their oral interaction tests. Fifteen of them already took the exam… six of them obtained their levels the first time they were tested (and one of them got a higher level). Then there are the ones who had failed to meet their required levels on the first trial and came to me for help: five in total and two of them passed on the second trial. I am waiting for Maggie’s results in NYC (I am confident that she got a C on her first attempt) and I never heard back from Lara in Brussels (I do not know whether she received her C or not). The 15 people who already took the oral interaction test had between one and 12 hours of training with me. The other nine still do not have a date yet… hopefully they will be given more time to prepare than the ones who ended up with only one week or two (and, in several cases, with only a couple of days!)…
Out of 15, five were tested over the phone: three of them had an assessor located in Montreal and they all passed their required levels (and Joyce surpassed hers by receiving an exemption)… as for Lara and Maggie (no results in yet), I do not know if their examiners were located in Montreal or at Foreign Affairs in Ottawa… this will have to be confirmed later on.
Eight were tested in face-to-face interviews by either an assessor from Slater or someone from their own Department in Ottawa. Three did not pass their required levels, three passed the first time and two obtained their levels the second time… Four of them who were tested for a B were led into the last part of the exam, yet no one was given a C…
Finally, two were tested in face-to-face interviews in Montreal… both of them were looking for a B and both were led in the fourth part of the test. They ended up with an A!…
Keeping in mind that the oral interaction test is the same, no matter how and where the test is held, results should be more or less the same based upon what I could observe among my trainees… yet it is not the case! For instance, take Lauren who was tested over the phone and got her B after three hours of training with me… and take Yong and Luna who were tested in face-to-face interviews in Montreal and both led in the last part of the exam (what was not the case for Lauren)… If I do compare those three people’s strenghts and weaknesses, I would say that they are at the same level. Yong can certainly communicate in French without confusing people… same thing with Luna who, by the way, did very well at the in-house SLE testing since she was offered a French essential position (she has been working in a French environment for the past month and apparently she is doing very well). Greg will be the next one to be tested in Montreal and it will be interesting to see his results… although he is not very strong in grammar, I would say he speaks French the way Joyce does… he is at ease and he sounds natural.
From what I observed in Ottawa, I tend to think that assessors do not give higher levels than the ones required. Alicia obtained a mere B and she is exactly at Joyce’s level of speech (with a similar background) in French… would she have obtained an exemption if her interview had been done over the phone? Same thing with Christie, she got a B and she should have obtained a C…
What Alicia did or did not do? Was she more nervous than Joyce was when she went for her interview?… Well… no one was more nervous than Joyce was (she had bursted into tears that morning)… was she less self-confident? Not at all… therefore, why did one get an exemption and did the other one only get a B?… And why were Luna and Yong taken in the last part of the test if they were indeed unable to get more than an A?… I can accept that someone who sounds strong enough to get a C might be led in the last part of the interview for verification and ends up with a B… but taking someone two steps down does not agree with me at all!
Based upon those facts, I can only draw one conclusion: results depend on the assessor… although the PSC made every effort to standardize the oral interaction test so that it would be 100% objective, it is an utopia to think that there is no room left for subjectivity on the assessors’ part. Unless they fire all their examiners and replace them with robots, the oral interaction interview will never be objective!… The only way it could happen would be to have candidates study and memorize answers for each and every questions of the exam… Then, perhaps, assessors could be objective (well… given they would have nothing bugging them in their personal lives to distract them) because all they would have to do is substract one point for each little mistake done… In other words, it would be like taking a written expression test orally!!!
“C’est au bout de la vieille corde qu’on tisse la nouvelle”
Proverbe africain