Thinking of taking a test of English?

By Simon Marcus Gower

TANGERANG, Banten (JP): From school children as young as kindergarten age to mature businessmen and women, literally millions of Indonesians are learning English. For the children this may be seen as the natural consequence of the national schooling system that deliberately targets English as a second language. For the adults this is further evidence of ever- encroaching globalization and the accompanying need for an international language such as English.

Along with the increasing need for, and use of, English comes a range of tests that will allow the successful taker to certify that he or she has achieved a certain degree of skill in the targeted language. These tests and their accompanying certificates are likely to increase in importance to Indonesian learners of English as the global market gains greater influence and international business and, critically, international companies seek out Indonesian staff.

There is a range of testing devices and systems that may be followed and taken. Probably the most renown of these is the Test of English as a Foreign Language or as it is better known, in its acronym form, TOEFL.

This American originated test is generally used as a check of English language competence for academic purposes such as students who wish to study at English language universities.

Along with this test procedure one may find others such as the Test of English for International Communication (TOEIC), which is business orientated, the International English Language Testing System (IELTS), which could be defined as the British alternative to TOEFL, Young Learners English (YLE) that tests children between the ages of 7 - 12 and the Business English Certificate (BEC) designed for English for international business purposes -- to name but a few.

Each of these test systems have their own distinct characteristics or design criteria that make them appropriate for their target sector of learners of the language. But no matter which test system a learner chooses to follow, they must remember that the system they follow and the certificate they are pursuing are just a means of testing English. They are not actual language learning programs.

As more and more people will need to have such language certification accredited to them, in an increasingly competitive job market, the desire and demand for such tests and certificates may compel people towards quite extreme measures in the pursuit of their goal.

These "extreme measures" may lead them towards the test scores they desire but may not achieve any real quality of learning.

Already courses exist that tout their ability to increase test scores. Test taking strategies and techniques are developed and familiarity with testing procedures is honed and refined to the point where a potential test candidate is literally tuned in to the testing device and how it works and thus taking the test becomes second nature. Taking the test becomes a familiar task that, at least in theory, means the test becomes easier through familiarity. The chances of success are increased by literally drilling into the mind of the candidate the best strategies to adopt. Test preparation courses are promoted on grounds, true or not, that they can guarantee higher scores in a minimum time of study for those wishing to take the test. But courses such as this are prone to leave those that follow them in an unfortunate dilemma. For they may be able to boast of good test scores but may still be relatively weak when performing in the language.

Many of these tests follow a multiple-choice format that, whilst perfectly legitimate as a test procedure, does have a tendency to leave the test taker passive and unproductive. The answers are actually in the test, the taker just has to find them rather than produce them for him or herself. This lack of productivity and original creativity from the test taker can lead to or nurture problems such as a lack of productive skills.

Take the example of an MBA student who had gained a respectable score of 595 for his TOEFL. Although more than sufficiently well equipped intellectually to face his business studies this student was left with the still daunting task of performing and being productive in English.

Indonesian being his native tongue he had sought out preparation for the test and had thus taken an intensive course to strengthen his chances immediately before taking his TOEFL. He had enjoyed a reasonable amount of success and understanding in taking the test and thus walked away with a score that was acceptable to his chosen university, but problems remained.

By his own admission, and indeed experience, he still had much to learn and understand about using and being academically successful in his second language, English. Through no real fault of his own, or even the testing system he had followed, he had attained a score that was deemed to be sufficiently high to merit admission into the American university of his choice but he still found there was much for him to do and learn.

Here, then, lies the central crux of the problem for many people when thinking about taking a test of English. The concentration and potential for near obsession with the test itself clouds the fact that the test and, of course, the preparation of strategies and techniques for taking the test is not language learning itself.

Likewise, test takers are prone to fall into the trap of believing that they have achieved their score and this proves that they are now able to use the language. It is worth remembering that all these tests offer certificates that are valid for a limited period only -- typically one or two years.

This implicitly makes the point that language learning and development should be an on-going affair and cannot stand still or be relied upon from a test once taken. The test taker is a learner and needs to go on learning the language.

Tests, then, are a means to an end but they are not the end itself. They offer a measurement of ability, signposts along the road of learning that tell you how you are doing. They also give other people (such as potential employers or university admissions officers), an insight into the kind of language ability you possess but they cannot show all the subtle details and challenges of language skill. They are mere indicators.

Preparing for tests will, of course, help in learning aspects of the language but for a more full appreciation and skill in the language, a more diverse and holistic program of learning should be pursued on which to found and enrich a depth of language ability.

Dr. Simon Marcus Gower is the coordinator of English for the Junior and Senior High Schools of St. Laurensia School, Serpong, Tangerang, Banten.