New students come to study English often already having some background in language learning. Whether they studied it at school, university or with a teacher, they are rarely completely new to English. And the first thing they encounter when taking up language lessons is the Placement test. Some are deterred by this daunting prospect and others adamantly refuse to take it, having been traumatised by the system in their formative years. So, should we even subject them to such inhumane treatment or is the placement test an atavism of the past?
What is a placement test?
There are different types of assessment many of which students will encounter whatever they think about tests in general. A placement test is an important step in determining the student’s level, assessing their skills and prior knowledge. As our language level constitutes not only the scope of grammar and vocabulary we can use with accuracy, so should the placement test assess more than that.
According to the European Framework of Reference for Languages, there is a list of competencies and abilities for every level from A1 to proficiency. Those include reading, writing, listening and speaking skills, as well as functions that a person is able to perform. When these are assessed correctly, they will help a teacher:
to establish learning and teaching objectives
to review curricula
to design teaching materials and
to provide a basis for recognising language qualifications thus facilitating educational and occupational mobility.
So, to summarise, without doing a placement test the teacher will not be able to set clear goals, provide relevant materials and topics, recognise student’s needs and areas for improvement. Most importantly, studies have shown us that the use of a placement test contributes dramatically to a student’s success in language learning.
What does a proper placement test involve?
As mentioned before, in order to properly determine a student’s level all four base skills must be tested - reading, listening, writing, speaking. Unfortunately, most of the time, only one or two skills will be assessed - a multiple-choice survey with a short interview at the end, which has a number of drawbacks. Students can guess the answers to multiple-choice questions – and while they might give us a rough idea of their grammar knowledge, these tests don’t take into account the four skills. An interview may be subjective and incomplete, thus provide biased assessment of the student’s abilities.
Therefore, a proper placement test must include all four skills, and be consistent with the program and the assessment criteria they will face in the classroom and in future standardised tests such as IELTS, TOEFL or Cambridge tests.
Will it be enough?
Assessing the level gives a solid foundation for placing the learner in the correct group or course, nonetheless, it will not be sufficient to help the student in setting and achieving their language learning goals. A full placement procedure should get some more background information that will include:
Language preferences - this is the language they use most often at home and with their friends, consume media and entertainment content;
Educational background - whether the student has studying skills, how well they know their own language, what kind of education they have in general;
Academic content knowledge - what books they used to study English, whether they got explanations in English or in their First Language, whether they get any kind of information exclusively in English.
There are many possible questions for an oral placement interview, which can be found online, but here is what we recommend you ask:
- Where and when did you study English before?
- What were your goals?
- Why did you stop your lessons in the past?
- What did you like / dislike about your lessons, teachers, program?
- What do you expect to get from these lessons?
- What areas of the language do you feel least confident in?
- Why are you studying English now?
- What is a good lesson for you?
In conclusion, getting a clear picture of their background and expectations as well as their level will help you adjust your study plan and know what kinds of things to avoid.
Here are some placement tests you can use as well as introductory lessons which include in-depth interviews for your students:
Do you provide placement for your new students? What kind of questions do you usually ask them?
EXPERT OPINION
My name is Kharchenko Ekaterina , but my students call me Teacher Kate. I have been working as a teacher for about 4 years and I just love this job. During this time I’ve had a lot of students of different ages and levels : kids , teenagers , adults , complete beginners , uppers , groups and individuals. Maybe it isn’t a very long experience but here I would like to share my opinion about one of the key parts of teaching process – placement tests.
For some teachers and especially students they sound dry and really boring, but I am absolutely for using them. So why do I support placement tests and think they are useful for teachers and students?
Students might not be able to realize what their strengths and weaknesses are, so some of them may underestimate themselves (or vice versa). Placement tests are meant to determine a student’s language skill level so that with the test results in hand, a teacher and student can sit down and choose the course that will best suit the student. And it is very important because a class below the student’s ability would not benefit their education, and a class far above their ability could be frustrating and, instead of catching up with their group-mates, your students might lose motivation. Also there are some surveys that show that correctly enrolled students are much more satisfied with their experiences at the end of the course than students who enroll in a course that is either too low or too high for their level of readiness.
Mostly, it can be really hard to know the depth of your future students’ knowledge basing on a really brief conversation before the first lesson. Teachers need to know where to begin in order not to lose their students’ paid lesson time on it. In other words, it’s kind of an easy way to get inside your students heads and find out what they have already learned and in which areas they are lacking.
But a problem arises. How can tests accurately predict a student’s language level and put that student into the appropriate learning environment? If it is an online placement test, it can cause even more misunderstandings. First of all, students can choose the answers randomly, it sounds like a real shot in the dark. Secondly, students might be really unwilling to fail and they might use different online resources to show best results instead of using the test the way it was intended to be used. We must admit that we can't prevent it from happening, but that’s where speaking part helps you.
Personally I DO love the speaking part. I think that’s the time when you understand if there is some “chemistry” between you and your student ☺ You both build some opinions about each other and sometimes it is very funny to discuss it later and see if you were right or wrong. You need to understand that your students might be very shy and close at first. Don’t insist on answering all of your questions, don’t push them very hard and don’t demand long answers with perfect grammatical constructions. Be careful and mild when correcting mistakes, otherwise your potential student might hide in a shell and stop making contact with you. Emphasize the fact that it's not for a grade, it's not a way for you to judge them, it's simply a tool for the teacher to build a curriculum to help a student to reach their goals. Try to create a really casual atmosphere and you’ll see the difference.
Some teachers might find it difficult to find the right placement test. Luckily I have always been provided with them. Some people try to use “handmade” placement test, but to my mind most “home-brewed” placement tests are not based on a standardized scale and are highly subjective. If you don’t work for a school, try to use “English unlimited” placement test. It is focused on written abilities and reading abilities but with English Unlimited you also get suggested questions and they also have a special scoring system that will help you to avoid misplacements.
My final advice is: don’t neglect such standards as good old placement tests. If you were told the student was one level and it turned out they are on another, don’t panic, prepare introductory lessons of different levels in advance and improvise. After placing your students correctly you will find yourself in a far better position and, what is more important, your students will feel comfortable and enjoy studying with you. Satisfied student = satisfied teacher. So I wish you all to have best students on your best lessons!
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That’s all for now!
Stay amazing❤️
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