Should English Language Tests Conform to Native Speaker Standards Only?
Celina Wyppich, Poland
Celina Wyppich has graduated from the Teacher Training College run by English Unlimited in conjunction with the University of Gdańsk, Poland. Currently she is undertaking an MA course in Applied Linguistics at the University of Reading, UK. She is writing her dissertation about the use of authentic materials in language teaching and its influence on student’s motivation. E-mail: celina.wyppich@gmail.com
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Introduction
English today
Standard variety, norms of correctness and native speakers
Language testing and its standards
Teaching situation
Bibliography
This paper will be devoted to a discussion about the different varieties of the English language and also to language proficiency testing. The first part of this paper will be focused on the present situation regarding the English language, its varieties and diverse attitudes towards them. Following that, the attention will be drawn towards the controversy of the norm and standard varieties and questions will be posed regarding this matter. After this, the focus will be placed on the problems related to language proficiency testing, objectives of learning a language and testing one’s own linguistic skills and competence. In the last sections of the paper I will discuss the present situation of teaching and testing.
English language learning and testing brings about a number of issues to consider. Along with the spread of the English language, English is no longer in the hands of the British exclusively; it has been observed that it interacts with adjacent languages especially in countries where the English language is not the only one that is used on an everyday basis, Jenkins (2007). Such situations give rise to a number of issues. Phillipson (1992) states that the problems that we face today regarding the English language and its varieties date far back in history, specifically to the period during which the expansion of the British Empire took place. We find ourselves in the present situation largely owing to the colonisation of several nations by the British Empire, and consequent to this expansion, English became one of the official languages in use in those countries. Kubota (2001) points out that the colonial and postcolonial spread of the English language worldwide has created a number of varieties of World Englishes classified by Kachru (1992) into three main circles or forms of use of the English language. Kachru (1992) categorised these into:
- The Inner Circle, which refers to the English that is used as a mother tongue,
- The Outer Circle, which concerns the English that is used as a second language, and
- The Expanding Circle, which is the English that is used as a foreign language.
Generally speaking, the ‘English’ label in the language aspect can be assigned to different varieties of English, for example, British, American, Singaporean, Australian etc. and it is not easy to come to terms with the varieties that occur in Non Native Speakers’ (NNS) use of what the Native Speakers (NS) feel to be ‘one’s own language’, as suggested by Strevens (1992). He also adds that the English language is mainly a borrowing and incorporating of ideas and concepts from other cultures. The British variety was purely British only until about the 1800’s, after which it became a global language that interacted with adjacent languages. Because of the expansion of the British Empire the English language has spread across the World, being left to interact with other cultures and languages. Also, since language does not function on its own, it is a natural occurrence for the language to change in the course of time.
“English language tests should generally conform to native speaker standards and norms of correctness.”
This statement is a very controversial one, and raises a large number of questions regarding language teaching and testing. Thus, it is not an easy task to answer them and they are not explicit. First of all, we need to state what is meant by the native speaker standards and norms of correctness. As mentioned above, in the present day, English is no longer in the hands of the British exclusively. Lowenberg (1992) has stated that the prevailing wisdom in English proficiency has long been based on the standard use of English accepted and followed by educated native speakers. This assumption is no longer valid in the Outer Circle countries, however, because language is used in a broad range of international domains without the presence of native speakers of English. In these countries, various nativisations of the English language took place, many of which became local norms of language proficiency.
Trudgill and Hannah (2002) point out that traditionally, the two main English language varieties taught in schools are the American and British strains, widely considered as the standards with regard to which grammar and vocabulary use is implemented. These varieties are normally written and spoken by educated speakers in England, and with some minor differences, in Wales and Scotland as well. These are also taught in other settings where English is a native language. As far as pronunciation is concerned, the standard and more restrictive type is the ‘RP’ (Received Pronunciation), the accent which is taught to foreigners and which is in fact spoken by only 3 to 5 per cent of the population of England. It is considered to be the most prestigious and is spoken mainly by the middle or upper social classes. On the other hand, it is considered to be the most posh and non social of the accents and it raises negative connotations owing to these features. Despite this, it is considered to be the most common, well known and recognisable accent of the English language used in the world today. With regard to this, it is presumed to be prudent to learn this accent, with the objective of sounding like a native speaker while communicating with other speakers. However, does speaking with the RP mean that one sounds as a native speaker? One must bear in mind that only a small number of people currently speak this accent and one is exposed mainly to regional accents upon one’s arrival to the British Isles. Should then people learn and the accent they can hardly encounter in the British Isles?
Another question to be considered is whether RP is the model of pronunciation to be accepted and considered the standard one. Ward (1929:1) cited in Kachru (1992) finds a very simple but straight to the point answer to this question, stating that no one can adequately define a standard of the English language, because such a thing does not in fact exist. Kubota (1992) adds that one’s accent is analogous to one’s physical characteristics, such as height that is difficult or even impossible to alter in certain cases. While people generally agree that discrimination based on one’s height would be unfair, they often feel justified in judging others’ abilities and intelligence based on what form of language they use and what accent they employ in communication. This might imply that we should not choose any particular variety of pronunciation with which to teach and test the English language. On the other hand, if everyone spoke the way they wanted to, without any point of reference it would be problematic to understand each other.
Moreover Kachru (1992) states that there is no Academy in Britain for the English language which would determine its norm. For this reason, if a language has an official purpose in a given country, we cannot state whether it is a deviation from the norm since it is not yet clear enough what a norm is or what one would entail.
Should the language proficiency tests conform to the native speakers’ standards only? So far the concept of standard variety has been mentioned. Another aspect that needs to be taken into account is the concept of nativeness. It is essential to establish who we consider a native speaker and native language for example; whether it is purely a British person or an American person too. Nelson (1992) argues that a ‘native’ language is the one spoken as a primary language of the community in question, learned first in childhood, used exclusively or at least preferentially in all dealings public and private, in statue and education. If so, do we then consider an American to be a child of a Mexican worker who immigrated 50 years ago? The English language evolved and changed over time in the Americas owing to the immigration of the Southern Americans and due to the African slave trade as well as they have brought the features of their indigenous languages, Jenkins (2006). It is still not considered purely British English, although it is widely accepted and considered a norm to follow. In the country there are nearly four times as many mother tongue speakers of English than in any other Inner Circle country. In the twentieth century it has been involved in technological development in a great deal more than any other nation. It exercises a greater influence on the way the English language is developing worldwide than does any other regional variety, Crystal (2003). Because of this, people from the United Kingdom, Australia or Canada express greater worries in their national press about the onslaught of ‘Americanisms’. ‘Look what the Americans have done to English’ is not an uncommon expression that illustrates disdain for the American variety of the English language. Similarly, the American people consider the British variety of English to be outdated, lacking in progressive qualities, and containing structures that are not in use, Kachru (1985). Bauer and Trutgill (1998) point out that a fair number of British intellectuals regard ‘new’, ‘distasteful’ and ‘American’ as synonymous. They add, however, that language or anything else that does not change is dead. During the recorded history of English, the language has changed from something quite incomprehensible to a present-day English speaker, known as Old English to something quite comprehensible to many of us.
English is becoming the world’s first lingua franca owing to the fact that it is being increasingly used worldwide. People over the years have been simplifying English language to suit them. Bauer and Trutgill (1998) point out that present-day British is no closer to that earlier form than present-day American is. English has changed just like any other language changes and evolves over time. So far we have accepted the American variety to be an acceptable standard to follow and refer to as far as language testing is concerned. If we have accepted the American variety, which is not purely British, why can we not accept other varieties, such as Indian English or Singaporean English, as a relevant and substitute variety in language teaching and testing? Trutgill and Hannah (2002) mention that one reason for this is that accepting the Indian variety, for instance, means having to choose from a wide range of Indian varieties and dialects which would in turn complicate things even more.
Lowenberg (1992) notes that in the past few years a remarkable amount of effort has been placed into the refinement of English language testing, variables in design, and learning and teaching variables, but very little has been put forward regarding the different language varieties themselves. While trying to identify the appropriate norm to follow, most researchers in the area of language testing appear to adopt the only norm accepted and used by native speakers of English. Apart from countries such as Great Britain or the United States of America, English is used in other settings daily by non-native speakers in the absence of native speakers, as a second, often official language, or as a foreign language.
So far, different perspectives and opinions about the different varieties of the English language around the world have been discussed. What remains unanswered is the problem of choosing a variety of English for use in language testing. We already know that there are a large number of varieties to choose from, however, only the American and British varieties are considered to be reliable norms to refer to while assessing one’s language competence and proficiency. Nelson (1992) questions the concept of linguistic competence. Communicative competence, the ability to put a language to use in appropriate ways in culturally defined contexts, may become a problematic notion when applied in the situation of such a transplanted language, because the cultural contexts that defined ‘appropriateness’ in the parent situation are not necessarily the same in the new situation. The knowledge about the structures is no longer valid because appropriateness in certain contexts may not be the same when compared to other contexts.
When it comes to discerning which variety of the English language should be applied while assessing one’s performance, we need to take into account a number of factors and reasons why people learn a second or a foreign language in the first place. Jenkins (2007) argues that the main reason for people to learn a foreign language is the need for one to communicate in various settings, improve one’s job prospects or for one to study abroad. It does not mean, however, that everyone needs the English language for use in native speaker settings. Despite this, most of them use English language in non native speaker settings or in countries where a different variety predominates. One would argue that the British variety was the ‘first’ one and that it should consequently be treated as a point of reference and we need certain norms to follow in order to learn a language. However, since English is not in the hands of the British alone, we might find it useful to consider other varieties.
Secondly, we need to understand what the purpose of testing is, and whether the present test standards sufficiently check one’s ability to use the English language properly. Take Cambridge FCE (First Certificate in English), CAE (Certificate in Advanced English) or CPE (Certificate of Proficiency in English) examinations for example. Most of the tasks for reading or listening comprehension may be compared to riddles that are to be solved and while we prepare our students for these exams, a large and rather counterproductive amount of attention is paid to teaching them how to solve the tasks rather than teaching them to be proficient in the language itself.
Instead of teaching our students how to solve riddles or transform grammatical structures that are not in use in everyday English, we could instead focus on teaching them how to use the English language effectively. We must also consider what the ‘effective’ use of the English language involves. We have already stated that the RP accent is used by just 3 to 5 per cent of people, and it is the accent of English that is taught all over the world. Does speaking in this accent and knowing only this singular one guarantee a global understanding of the English language? Let’s take the Indian accent for example. It is obviously very different from the RP with regard to how dental fricatives are replaced with /t/ or /d/, for example, Trutgill and Hannah (2002). Differences are especially noticeable while one communicates with an Indian speaker of English and not knowing the basic features of their accent might pose a challenge to the listener as far as comprehending their speech is concerned.
On the other hand if we consider the English language to be an international language, there has to be a particular standard to follow, Jenkins (2006) - that is, a standard that we can refer to, so that people do not speak different Englishes but can at the same time understand each other perfectly. Secondly, if we focus on communicative effectiveness in our examinations, there has to be some criteria of assessment. We could focus on the range of vocabulary, grammatical structures, and effectiveness in understanding. Moreover, we need to take into account where a person needs to use the English language. If one is going to work in India, what is the point of teaching only the British English variety if one will not be exposed to it at all? The British variety is still considered the most prestigious and such a social phenomenon is difficult to alter.
I have mentioned the objectives of teaching the English language effectively. However, we still need to consider what we mean by ‘effectiveness’. Again, if we are taught the British variety of English and have to speak in Singapore we might have problems with relaying information in Singapore, and in turn with understanding the Singaporean accent. Usually, when we teach English, the differences between British and American varieties are the only ones mentioned or even considered. The different accents that might be encountered in Britain are usually omitted entirely. Another problem is that all teachers are taught either the British or American varieties only. If we wanted to be taught a different variety we might have to go to a given country to be exposed to that particular variety.
Introducing tests that check our knowledge of a different variety would imply teacher training. One might argue that it would be too demanding or even impossible for one to master all the varieties in order to teach them effectively. Nonetheless, it would be prudent to be familiar with at least some of the varieties in order to present them to students and familiarise them with a few of the many English language varieties that exist. Teachers are obliged to attend conferences in order to improve their teaching skills, and to familiarise themselves with new testing systems or choose new course books. The ones that are devoted to varieties of English are much more likely to improve the communication skills of students.
The description of nativised forms of English in the Outer Circle varieties of English has only just begun. To date only few linguistic features in specific Outer Circle varieties have been determined to be actual norms on the basis of the still limited data. The existence of other nativised forms of the English language casts serious doubts on the hitherto assumed validity of the English language tests that are based only on Inner Circle norms as stated in Lowenberg (1992).
The process of language teaching was based chiefly on literature but has already developed to the ESL (Teaching English as a Second Language), EFL (English as a Foreign Language),ESP (English for Specific Purposes), TESOL ( English for Speakers of Other Languages) and now it is moving towards the EIL (Teaching English as an International Language).
Kubota (2001) adds that while many speakers of World Englishes today try to improve their communication skills by attending ESL classes, native speakers rarely take up the same challenge. They do not usually attempt to receive training that would develop their awareness of the differences and similarities between the various varieties of English, and they also neglect to develop their communicative skills with the objective of interacting and communicating with speakers of other varieties. Outer and Expanding Circle speakers often receive the blame when misunderstandings take place, and this is reflected in workplaces or in University campuses. Moreover, Strevens (1992) argues that as the number of non native speakers of English has significantly outnumbered the native ones, the number of consequences have started to become more and more apparent.
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Please check the Humanising Testing course at Pilgrims website.
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