Yesterday I got an email from Seema who had taken her written expression test on Tuesday… She got the B she needs to comply with her position language requirements (and with quite a good margin)!… A week before she had taken the reading comprehension test and she had not received a B… certainly not because she does not understand what she reads! Seema is a slow reader… in any languages!… And reading 65 texts in 90 minutes is quite demanding… all she needs to do is try and read faster (or use strategies that will help her not to read every little word)… That being said…
Congratulations Seema!
Of course, when I hear stories like these regarding the SLE tests, I wonder why the PPC sticks to tests that are not assessing either reading comprehension, written expression or communication skills. How can anyone (including myself) read 65 long texts in 90 minutes and be expected to perform well? It would make much more sense to provide candidates with one text (a document of some sort) and then, ask them to talk about what they read (this could be part of the oral interaction exam). But!… making sense does not seem to be a priority for the so-called panel of experts who design the SLE tests.
And tell me… how can anyone come up with a great articulate oral presentation with only 90 seconds to prepare?… Even when they go for a job interview they are given at least 30 minutes to prepare a few questions, which usually are easier to answer since they are related to what they do and know!… Both Greg and Krystal had interviews in the past 10 days and they had plenty of time to prepare the questions they had to answer… in their mother tongue! They are wondering how they will manage to prepare a two or three minute presentation (on a topic that will probably not ring a bell) in 90 seconds… in French!… How more stressful can it get?…
Late yesterday evening, I had my last oral simulation practice with Nicholas in Vancouver. One of my questions was: «Avez-vous déjà passé les tests de compréhension de lecture et d’expression écrite?»… I thought his answer was quite funny: «En fait, je n’ai pas passé un test d’expression écrite… j’ai passé un examen à choix multiples!»… Anyone who ever took the written expression test will tell you that, if they were asked to write in French, they probably could not do it (unless they already knew how prior to their intensive training)!… It is very sad yet so true…
Seema and I went out for brunch last Sunday… we had not seen each other for more than three months and we really enjoyed those couple of hours spent together… Of course, part of our conversation was oriented towards the SLE tests… she was not extremely disappointed regarding her results in reading comprehension because she knew that she had to work on her reading speed… as for the written expression test, she was quite confident that she would get her B… and, indeed, she did!
As our conversation was moving along, she told me that the person who had provided the candidates with the instructions on how to proceed with the reading comprehension test had said something quite strange… actually I thought it was hilarious and kind of weird given that these people were there to be assessed on their reading skills in French… here it goes:
“(…) there will be some questions which will have long text. Don’t waste your time reading the whole text. You guess the answer and you move on (…)”
Keep in mind that those instructions were given for the reading comprehension test… If, indeed, some texts are too long and because of a lack of time it is impossible to read everything; why, in the name of God, do they not design a test with shorter texts or with less questions?… Basically, candidates are told not to read but only guess the correct answers!… What kind of assessment is that?… Of course everyone knows, strategically speaking, that often it is better to read the answers first and then refer to the texts in order to read only the targeted sentences or paragraphs… there is no better way to get through those 65 texts in 90 minutes!… Yet! to actually say it in the instruction list is quite absurd!
And it does not stop there… Like for the reading comprehension exam, there are instructions for the written expression one as well… although worded differently, the message conveyed is more or less the same:
“(…) don’t worry about the long texts. If there is difficulty, don’t worry spending too much time but choose the best choice and move on (…)”
How can someone pick the correct answers without actually reading at least some of the texts… of course, it is feasible with the right strategies… but, once again, it comes down to guessing the answers and it is not the purpose of a test!… Tests are supposed to assess people’s knowledge, not their abilities to guess… Am I surprised? Not at all… I mean… not about the fact that candidates have lots of guessing to do when taking those exams… though I am flabbergasted with the fact that they actually tell the candidates to do so!… It does not sound too smart to me… it is like telling candidates about their exams flaws and absurdity openly!… But, as I wrote many times before, common sense is not the PPC’s cup of tea!
In the news department, Mark skyped me earlier this morning… he started thinking that he did not perform well during his interview because he did not hear about his results yet. His assessor had told him he would get his results in 72 hours… well, I had to comfort and reassure him… usually it takes at least 10 days (if not more) to get the results (especially at this time of the year… many people are away on vacation)… I know how painful this waiting game is because I go through the same process each time one of my students is waiting for results… but it does not mean that they did not get their levels because they waited longer than usual… Both Joyce and Maggie waited for 10 days: one got an E and the other one received a C…
What really pushes my button is that the assessors keep telling candidates that they will be notified of their results within three days! In your dreams!… Sometimes they do hear the news rather quickly but, most of the time, they have to wait… Actually they should let candidates know that it may take a while, this way no one would lose sleep if they do not get their results promptly… but hey!… in the manual, it is written that results are communicated within 72 hours following the oral interaction test… therefore why would examiners bother to change that line?… It would be way too much of an effort!… I told Mark not to worry and go play outside because chances are that he will not hear from them before Thursday of next week… Yet I am not convinced that I managed to put his anxiety at rest… Hopefully I did!
“Notre vie est un livre qui s’écrit tout seul. Nous sommes des personnages de roman qui ne comprennent pas toujours bien ce que veut l’auteur”
Julien Green
So sad… yet so true!
Yesterday I got an email from Seema who had taken her written expression test on Tuesday… She got the B she needs to comply with her position language requirements (and with quite a good margin)!… A week before she had taken the reading comprehension test and she had not received a B… certainly not because she does not understand what she reads! Seema is a slow reader… in any languages!… And reading 65 texts in 90 minutes is quite demanding… all she needs to do is try and read faster (or use strategies that will help her not to read every little word)… That being said…
Congratulations Seema!
Of course, when I hear stories like these regarding the SLE tests, I wonder why the PPC sticks to tests that are not assessing either reading comprehension, written expression or communication skills. How can anyone (including myself) read 65 long texts in 90 minutes and be expected to perform well? It would make much more sense to provide candidates with one text (a document of some sort) and then, ask them to talk about what they read (this could be part of the oral interaction exam). But!… making sense does not seem to be a priority for the so-called panel of experts who design the SLE tests.
And tell me… how can anyone come up with a great articulate oral presentation with only 90 seconds to prepare?… Even when they go for a job interview they are given at least 30 minutes to prepare a few questions, which usually are easier to answer since they are related to what they do and know!… Both Greg and Krystal had interviews in the past 10 days and they had plenty of time to prepare the questions they had to answer… in their mother tongue! They are wondering how they will manage to prepare a two or three minute presentation (on a topic that will probably not ring a bell) in 90 seconds… in French!… How more stressful can it get?…
Late yesterday evening, I had my last oral simulation practice with Nicholas in Vancouver. One of my questions was: «Avez-vous déjà passé les tests de compréhension de lecture et d’expression écrite?»… I thought his answer was quite funny: «En fait, je n’ai pas passé un test d’expression écrite… j’ai passé un examen à choix multiples!»… Anyone who ever took the written expression test will tell you that, if they were asked to write in French, they probably could not do it (unless they already knew how prior to their intensive training)!… It is very sad yet so true…
Seema and I went out for brunch last Sunday… we had not seen each other for more than three months and we really enjoyed those couple of hours spent together… Of course, part of our conversation was oriented towards the SLE tests… she was not extremely disappointed regarding her results in reading comprehension because she knew that she had to work on her reading speed… as for the written expression test, she was quite confident that she would get her B… and, indeed, she did!
As our conversation was moving along, she told me that the person who had provided the candidates with the instructions on how to proceed with the reading comprehension test had said something quite strange… actually I thought it was hilarious and kind of weird given that these people were there to be assessed on their reading skills in French… here it goes:
“(…) there will be some questions which will have long text. Don’t waste your time reading the whole text. You guess the answer and you move on (…)”
Keep in mind that those instructions were given for the reading comprehension test… If, indeed, some texts are too long and because of a lack of time it is impossible to read everything; why, in the name of God, do they not design a test with shorter texts or with less questions?… Basically, candidates are told not to read but only guess the correct answers!… What kind of assessment is that?… Of course everyone knows, strategically speaking, that often it is better to read the answers first and then refer to the texts in order to read only the targeted sentences or paragraphs… there is no better way to get through those 65 texts in 90 minutes!… Yet! to actually say it in the instruction list is quite absurd!
And it does not stop there… Like for the reading comprehension exam, there are instructions for the written expression one as well… although worded differently, the message conveyed is more or less the same:
“(…) don’t worry about the long texts. If there is difficulty, don’t worry spending too much time but choose the best choice and move on (…)”
How can someone pick the correct answers without actually reading at least some of the texts… of course, it is feasible with the right strategies… but, once again, it comes down to guessing the answers and it is not the purpose of a test!… Tests are supposed to assess people’s knowledge, not their abilities to guess… Am I surprised? Not at all… I mean… not about the fact that candidates have lots of guessing to do when taking those exams… though I am flabbergasted with the fact that they actually tell the candidates to do so!… It does not sound too smart to me… it is like telling candidates about their exams flaws and absurdity openly!… But, as I wrote many times before, common sense is not the PPC’s cup of tea!
In the news department, Mark skyped me earlier this morning… he started thinking that he did not perform well during his interview because he did not hear about his results yet. His assessor had told him he would get his results in 72 hours… well, I had to comfort and reassure him… usually it takes at least 10 days (if not more) to get the results (especially at this time of the year… many people are away on vacation)… I know how painful this waiting game is because I go through the same process each time one of my students is waiting for results… but it does not mean that they did not get their levels because they waited longer than usual… Both Joyce and Maggie waited for 10 days: one got an E and the other one received a C…
What really pushes my button is that the assessors keep telling candidates that they will be notified of their results within three days! In your dreams!… Sometimes they do hear the news rather quickly but, most of the time, they have to wait… Actually they should let candidates know that it may take a while, this way no one would lose sleep if they do not get their results promptly… but hey!… in the manual, it is written that results are communicated within 72 hours following the oral interaction test… therefore why would examiners bother to change that line?… It would be way too much of an effort!… I told Mark not to worry and go play outside because chances are that he will not hear from them before Thursday of next week… Yet I am not convinced that I managed to put his anxiety at rest… Hopefully I did!
“Notre vie est un livre qui s’écrit tout seul. Nous sommes des personnages de roman qui ne comprennent pas toujours bien ce que veut l’auteur”
Julien Green