Lesson 12: teaching speaking in primary level pupils: monologue and dialogue questions to be discussed

2. Content

Sometimes tests should focus on very specific material while others should be more comprehensive. It is important to check that students are retaining information in the long term and not just memorizing information. Use questions or question types that students have already seen in class. Springing a new type of question or activity on them during an exam can be incredibility confusing while including the exact questions from the study guide can be too easy. Take the middle ground here. Use familiar formats and ask different questions or variants of questions. This will give students the opportunity to demonstrate what they have learned without getting bogged down in reading directions.

3. Variety.

If possible try to include a variety of exercises in your tests. Not every school is able to do this but interview tests can be very effective because students have to demonstrate their ability to listen and speak as well as read and write. Since the first two are critical for students who will have the opportunity to speak English outside the classroom, they are also very important in the evaluation process. You can also use projects to grade students if you are willing to attempt something new. Perhaps for one semester skits can be the primary factor in determining overall grades. While these can be a challenge to evaluate compared to multiple choice questions, they also give students who do not perform well on tests the chance to more fully demonstrate their abilities.

4. Preparation

It is important to help students prepare for exams so that they can feel confident going in to them. By creating a study guide, reviewing material in class, giving students information about the test, and answering any questions students have, you will help them immensely. Stress can reduce student performance so simply encourage them to study the material and do their best. By reducing their anxiety, you have ensured that they will be more successful.

5. Incentive

You can also set goals for your students when it comes to exams so that they have something specific to work towards. Depending on your students, you should consider individual and class goals. Make these reasonable but challenging and do not reveal individual test scores to the class as this might cause some students some embarrassment. You may decide the goal should be a class average of 85%. Assuming that students performed about this well on past exams, this should be a reasonable and attainable goal. The incentive might be that you will not assign homework for one week which will help motivate students to achieve their target score.

6. Review

After returning the graded tests to students, go over the answers so that students can figure out what they did incorrectly. Simply telling them the answers will not help them understand their mistakes. You can mark the papers without correcting them and then go over each and every question in class so that students can correct their answers and ask questions. While students really should take advantage of this opportunity to correct their mistakes so that they have correct material to review another time, you may need to use an incentive to encourage students to make corrections.

In most courses, you will have to give your students tests on the material you cover in class.

While they are actually great tools to gauge how well students are doing, tests also cause learners a lot of anxiety so try to make them as painless as possible. You are not out to make students miserable so avoid trick questions. Approach the material directly and in familiar ways so that students can succeed.

A wide variety of games can be used when teaching English.

The key is to ensure that everyone fully participates and has enough practice with the lesson material to play. If students are not confident, they will struggle and not get the most out of the activity