Humanising Language Teaching
Year 5; Issue 5; September 03

Principles behind the new Irish EFL Exam Test of Interactive English ( TIE )-
Promoting effective, affective learning through assessment

Susan Hackett, Dublin, Eire

[ Editorial note: some of HLT's readers will be experienced in “training” students to pass the Cambridge Esol exams from PET up to Proficiency, or maybe your career depends on half your students getting a given mark in one of the big multiple choice US exams. If you thought this kind of “exam preparation” was an inevitable professional chore, a kind of contained cancer in your teaching, the people from Dublin who wrote this article are telling you: “ No, it doesn't have to be like that”.
At last an EU member state has come up with a serious exam based on humanistic principles. The fact there is a state behind this initiative is a very important consideration. Isn't Cambridge Esol aided abetted and seconded by the UK State, and isn't its cosy relationship with the British Council a form of direct State support. Ask the people who run the smaller UK exam bodies! ]

How many of us teaching in the EFL classroom have had to prepare students for various proficiency tests out there and have spent substantial time finding exam preparation books, going through the tasks assiduously with our students, reassuring them as to what they will be required to do, trying to help them stop worrying about the process generally by providing substantial opportunities for exam practice, going over past papers, advising them on what the examiners will be looking out for, running mock tests in the classroom etc. The candidates are dependent on you as the teacher for telling them what to do in the test, how they can pass with the best marks, what is the best way to approach the test, and what possibly may be in the test itself. Candidates become increasingly nervous as the test day approaches and on the day of the test, enter it either with a fairly fatalistic view of what is now going to happen or may well be so tense by this point that they are unable to function to the best of their ability. Whatever the scenario, there is no question that the candidates are very much the recipients of the testing process and have little control over how that process is going to proceed. The whole experience from the candidates' viewpoint is stressful, nerve-wracking and potentially demotivating.

The Test of Interactive English (TIE) has been designed with the needs and concerns of the candidate taking primary position. This is an exam which has been designed by EL professionals working in the Dept. of Education recognised teaching sector in Ireland to suit, incorporate and value each candidate individually and to recognised the importance of each individual in terms of what they can bring to the learning and testing process. In short the candidate is the central focus of concern in the test – s/he is driving the test to ensure that the whole testing experience is of interest, relevance and appropriacy to each person sitting the test.

How do we do this and is it successful? Firstly TIE is a task-based test designed with certain key core principles in mind.

• the learner is of prime importance. S/he should gain from the whole experience, and this should provide a context to enhance and support the learning potential of each candidate. The learner should therefore be actively engaged in the whole process from defining the content of the tasks they are going to prepare for the test, i.e. selecting their topics, deciding on how they are going to fulfil the tasks, and should be able to work at their own pace both within and outside the classroom to carry these out. The role of the teacher is to advise, guide, direct as necessary without imposing his/ her own ideas or approaches on the candidate. Classroom activities may take place to assist the candidates in selecting books, topics etc, equally language-based activities may be derived from the type of support the candidates ask for, preparing the tasks could well involve some class based work related to the task types, but the crucial point is that each task is very much defined and carried out by each learner according to their own individual interests, motivations and abilities. This creates a learner-centred environment in which each learner is encouraged and valued for what s/he is bringing to the whole testing process.

• The tasks are derived from 'real life'. The tasks are broadly defined as carrying out an investigation, reading a book etc but precisely what is used to do this and how it is done is each learner's choice. All tasks are easily recognisable from the learner's everyday experience and are not testing task types per se.

• The test is designed to provide positive washback in the classroom. A main concern with TIE was that it would reflect good classroom practice and provide opportunities for good practice to take place. This is in contrast to the exam preparation approach to learning when such courses are considered necessary prior to taking any particular public exam. As a result months of time is invested in preparing and practising for a test which may well measure how well each candidate prepared for the test but may not equally assess how well they can use the language.

• The test should be motivating for the learners. In TIE, control is very definitely with each learner. S/he chooses the topics and develops the tasks according to their interests and/ or needs. The content of each test is different entirely dependent on what each learner brings to it – so the learner is the 'expert' in their field and the exam facilitates them in providing a framework in which they can display their expertise to the best of their ability.

• The test focuses on the learning process. Within the whole experience of TIE, candidates are encouraged at all stages i.e., preparation, taking the test, after the test, to consider and evaluate their own performance – how do they think they will do, what do they think they should do now, what further objectives will they now set themselves. This is criterion-referenced test that provides students with an assessment of their competency at that particular point in their learning. It doesn't tell a student whether they have passed or failed – it tells a student that this is where you are in terms of a qualitative description and grade (using the Council of Europe's framework) for the productive skills. This is where you are currently – you can now decide what you should do now to further improve your level of knowledge and ability.

• The test assesses each candidate's performance in the test. Through interaction either in speaking or writing in the test, each learner's underlying competency in the use and understanding of the language is assessed. Two grades are then awarded – one in oral, one in written skills and the results are sent out within 10 working days of the exam having been taken. This is to ensure that the experience is still fresh in the candidate's mind and the feedback can therefore be constructively used to set further learning objectives.

• This is a criterion-referenced test. As mentioned previously, TIE is assessed according to the approach advocated by the Council of Europe in their Common Framework of Language Proficiency. This means that all candidates receive assessment which is solely based on their own performance as opposed to having been compared with that of other test takers or set against some sort of comparative scale.

• The test is internationally credible. In using the Council of Europe's Common Framework for Language Proficiency as the scale for assessment the feedback from the test is instantly recognisable and represents an external and widely used standard. TIE is also recognised by our Department of Education and Science in Ireland and also received recognition from the Italian Ministry of Education in October 2002, making it eligible for credito formativo within the Italian education system.

TIE is offered in two formats: for juniors (students in secondary level education) and for adults (student post secondary education). This year is the third year of the full operation of TIE and it has continued to increase in terms of candidate numbers according to projected targets. We are also delighted to be able to offer it in Italy this year in response to requests from out Italian partner centres.

Whenever a TIE session takes place, feedback is collected from the candidates, examiners and schools. This both enables us to receive information on what stakeholders think both about the test itself and the service provided and to strive to continually improve and extend the quality of the test in response to our stakeholders' input and advice.

If you would like to know more about TIE, please do contact us either through the website –  HYPERLINK http://www.iol.ie/~acels or by emailing us at acels@iol.ie.