The Testing Procedures in Learning the Second Language - Essay Example

During testing of learners, they are tested in skills such as: listening, reading, speaking, and writing. They are also tested on the use of certain terminologies that are important in understanding and using a second language. The proficiency test requires that learners are equipped with skills of listening, speaking, writing, and reading. The use of a second language requires that the learner must possess skills of participation in listening and speaking during tasks such as monologue and dialogue so that he or she can understand the information provided by another speaker and give more accurate feedback (Bygate, 2009).

This paper focuses on the testing procedure to be followed during the testing of learners in areas such as listening, speaking, reading, and writing by applying theories and models which enables proficiency tests to be done and competence of second language learners is assessed.The proficiency test design used during testing of students' incompetence in the second language included: listening, speaking, reading, and writing. To achieve the objectives of these proficiency areas in language, the main listening materials that were used include dialogue and monologue (Chapelle, 2009).

Listening constitutes an important area of testing a second language learner because it determines the ability to comprehend the information conveyed by the speaker. In the testing of language skills, the competence of the learner is estimated in terms of the ability to understand particular cues, tones, and actual words spoken or written in a second language (Fox, Wesche & Bayliss, 2007). Writing also ensures the learner acquires skills in providing an output of knowledge in a second language so that users of the information can understand its meaning.

The dialogue was used mainly when establishing the speaking competence while monologue was used when testing competence in reading.Several factors affect the listening ability of the learner of a second language. The most significant impacts are caused by cultural differences and the difference in the use of vocabulary in the second language. For instance, the structure of nouns, pronouns, and phrases vary from one language to another. Consequently, the learner’s listening ability is affected by the changes in the structure of the language used by the speakers (Fulcher & Davidson, 2007).

For instance, it measures the ability of the listener to replicate the information being conveyed into action. To achieve the objective of listening in the students, the testing involved the task of dialogue. This is the process where two people are involved in an interaction and both or one of them speaks at a time (Fulcher & Davidson, 2012). The importance of dialogue is that it enables the speaker to determine whether the listener understands what is being said. In this case, it enabled the understanding of whether the learner was able to understand the information spoken.

Question 1: Q1: AJ was went to Japan at the age of 2 years old in order to practice to be a Ninja a. Text material Question 1 of the Listening Test, the test material was the use of ‘True/False- statements to prove a point or provide an answer to a problem. This was done after the presentation of the activities in which AJ was involved in as represented in the text material. They were then required to provide a report of the information they received as a method of gauging their competence in the second language.

The testing procedure required that the students listen to a podcast about AJ’s journey to Japan answer the true or false question followed by answering the second question by providing a narration (Green, 2014). The information presented for listening was accessible via the link to a podcast which enabled the learners to understand what is being said in the second language. In this case, question 1 of the Listening Questions required the knowledge of the listener to understand what is being narrated so that the main activities involved in the podcast could be understood.

The use of true and false statements enabled the learner make a comparison of the information listened to and the claims in the question after which he or she was able to make the right choice. b. Test technique The listening technique that was being tested in this question was monologue where a person speaks while others listen in order to understand the information being passed across by the speaker. In this case, the testing involved establishing the ability of the listener to listen and understand the experiences that AJ underwent when he was in Japan.

Question 2: Q2: The feature of Chrome OS that makes it more suitable than a tablet is its: a. Text material The text material involved in this case was a groups discussion. During group discussions, there are a number of people who talk to one another in order to understand the concepts being illustrated. This is followed by them making the decision to contribute to the discussion and achieve its end goals. In the second podcast of the Listening Test, there were five people who were involved in a discussion regarding Google Operating system and its advantages.

The advantage of group discussion is that it promotes the ability of a person to get ideas from different people when discussing a particular topic of interest. b. Test Technique The test technique used during the testing of listening skills was multiple choice questions They were then required to select the best answer from the choices provided. The objective of Q2 of the listening skills is that it provided the learners with the ability to provide answers according to their understanding of the story in the podcast.

The chances of providing the right answer becomes high of the leaner are able to listen to the information being passed across since the question asked is based on the experiences that people underwent. II.3. Reading test Design Reading test requires that the learner should be designed in a manner that promotes the ability of the learner to understand written information in a second language. While reading is mostly classified as a skill that does not result into much problem to the learner, it is the most difficult to test because it is a skill that is received by the learner.

During testing of reading, it is not easy to measure what the reader has perceived because the perception cannot be manifested in a person’s outward behavior. Therefore, it is recommended that when testing reading skills, the objective of the test should be to equip the learner with skills in various areas of language competence. The text used to test the leaner’s competence in a language should be one that is composed of a number of linguistic variables and typographical attributes among other variables.

This implies that there can be a variation of the student’s interpretation of the text, as well as the impact of the variables on the ability to understand a text.