{"id":48684,"date":"2019-07-17T00:00:48","date_gmt":"2019-07-17T07:00:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/world.edu\/?p=48684"},"modified":"2019-07-18T00:27:13","modified_gmt":"2019-07-18T07:27:13","slug":"esl-tests-memorization-is-a-shortcut-to-high-scores-but-not-to-lasting-learning","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/world.edu\/esl-tests-memorization-is-a-shortcut-to-high-scores-but-not-to-lasting-learning\/","title":{"rendered":"ESL tests: Memorization is a shortcut to high scores, but not to lasting learning"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/p>\n

Canada plans to receive\u00a0300,000 to 350,000 immigrants in 2019<\/a>, and likely more than that number annually in the coming years. In 2018, there were\u00a0572,415 valid study permits<\/a>\u00a0in the country \u2014 evidence of the\u00a0increasing trend of international students coming to Canada<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Most people coming to Canada for various purposes are coming from non-English-speaking countries: in 2016,\u00a072.5 per cent of immigrants reported having a mother tongue other than English<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Aspiring immigrants need to take various English tests, such as the\u00a0International English Language Testing System<\/a>\u00a0(IELTS) or\u00a0Test of English as a Foreign Language<\/a>\u00a0(TOEFL), to demonstrate their English abilities.<\/p>\n

While excelling on such tests might increase someone\u2019s confidence, there are global studies that suggest a prevailing\u00a0discrepency between students\u2019 English-language test scores<\/a>\u00a0and students\u2019\u00a0real abilities to function in the English language<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The fact that this can be a problem becomes apparent when students are admitted to universities\u00a0with sufficient English test scores<\/a>,\u00a0yet fail at their academics because of poor English-language skills<\/a>.<\/p>\n

This situation could imaginably have dire psychological or financial consequences for students and their families. And what is the impact on professors or departments if increasing numbers of students lack the language skills to meet the curricular standards?<\/p>\n

Immigrants with English-language skills significantly lower than what their test scores may indicate could find their\u00a0access to services or programs is impeded and their abilities to find employment is limited<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Intense preparation<\/h4>\n

Standardized tests,\u00a0designed to be general, will never be good at capturing the particularities of different contexts<\/a>. It\u2019s perhaps no surprise that a language test, focused on formal qualities of written and spoken language, won\u2019t necessarily assess the way someone functions in a specific academic or linguistic local setting.<\/p>\n

The particularities of technically correct language means that in some cases even a native English speaker\u00a0might not score well on a standardized English language test if he or she doesn\u2019t prepare for the examination<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Evidence suggests that when people prepare for these English-language tests,\u00a0their immediate goal is achieving the highest result<\/a>, so they approach this with\u00a0targeted test preparation<\/a>. After all, for people seeking to immigrate, these language tests are gatekeepers to their futures.<\/p>\n

Students\u00a0usually prepare by practising with the previous question papers<\/a>, \u201cdrilling\u201d answers over and over to learn the question patterns.<\/p>\n

I took an IELTS test as a requirement to submit my applications to Canadian universities. When I started preparing for the test, because I was unfamiliar with the question patterns, I prepared intensively to answer the questions quickly. To practise how to answer the listening part of the test, I used previous tests to get a sense of the questions that might appear. Before the listening started, I looked at the questions to guess the expected answers. I also memorized high-frequency words for the writing section.<\/p>\n

I scored high, with a perfect score in the speaking section. As a student, teacher and researcher, I know that my score reflected my intense test preparation, however, not my actual proficiency in English. Now, in my PhD studies, I am exploring how test-takers perceive the influence of testing on their learning.<\/p>\n

Integrate assessment with learning<\/h4>\n

If it\u2019s common to see gaps between what standardized language tests show and a person\u2019s actual level of proficiency, does it have to be this way?<\/p>\n

How particular\u00a0countries and language learning systems mesh with the specific standardized English-language tests has come under scrutiny<\/a>. And, assessment and testing theory itself is changing with the rise in\u00a0a culture of global testing<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Assessment is\u00a0not simply as a thermometer to take an end-point temperature<\/a>, but something that\u00a0should be used to monitor and support learning towards particular developmental goals or standards<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Ideally there could be more continuity between English-language proficiency testing and English-language learning\u00a0to help students develop more complex understanding<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Hoping for a test-free world is not going to help any of us. Instead, we all need to improve tests so they have positive effects on teaching and learning languages.<\/p>\n

Author Bio:<\/strong> Nasreen Sultana is a PhD Candidate, Faculty of Education at Queen’s University, Ontario<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Canada plans to receive\u00a0300,000 to 350,000 immigrants in 2019, and likely more than that number annually in the coming years. In 2018, there were\u00a0572,415 valid study permits\u00a0in the country \u2014 evidence of the\u00a0increasing trend of international students coming to Canada. Most people coming to Canada for various purposes are coming from non-English-speaking countries: in 2016,\u00a072.5 […]\n… learn more→<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":33,"featured_media":48685,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[15645],"tags":[295336],"coauthors":[11733],"class_list":["post-48684","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-education","tag-esl-tests"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nESL tests: Memorization is a shortcut to high scores, but not to lasting learning - World leading higher education information and services<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/world.edu\/esl-tests-memorization-is-a-shortcut-to-high-scores-but-not-to-lasting-learning\/\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"ESL tests: Memorization is a shortcut to high scores, but not to lasting learning - World leading higher education information and services\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Canada plans to receive\u00a0300,000 to 350,000 immigrants in 2019, and likely more than that number annually in the coming years. In 2018, there were\u00a0572,415 valid study permits\u00a0in the country \u2014 evidence of the\u00a0increasing trend of international students coming to Canada. Most people coming to Canada for various purposes are coming from non-English-speaking countries: in 2016,\u00a072.5 […]\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/world.edu\/esl-tests-memorization-is-a-shortcut-to-high-scores-but-not-to-lasting-learning\/\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"World leading higher education information and services\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2019-07-17T07:00:48+00:00\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2019-07-18T07:27:13+00:00\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/world.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/AccessELLs-BR.png\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"680\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"467\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Kevin\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Kevin\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/esl-tests-memorization-is-a-shortcut-to-high-scores-but-not-to-lasting-learning\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/esl-tests-memorization-is-a-shortcut-to-high-scores-but-not-to-lasting-learning\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Kevin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/42c1c1d5ff7ffbdf0bd50ed94c6ae6ee\"},\"headline\":\"ESL tests: Memorization is a shortcut to high scores, but not to lasting learning\",\"datePublished\":\"2019-07-17T07:00:48+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2019-07-18T07:27:13+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/esl-tests-memorization-is-a-shortcut-to-high-scores-but-not-to-lasting-learning\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":692,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/esl-tests-memorization-is-a-shortcut-to-high-scores-but-not-to-lasting-learning\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2019\\\/07\\\/AccessELLs-BR.png\",\"keywords\":[\"ESL tests\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Education\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/esl-tests-memorization-is-a-shortcut-to-high-scores-but-not-to-lasting-learning\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/esl-tests-memorization-is-a-shortcut-to-high-scores-but-not-to-lasting-learning\\\/\",\"name\":\"ESL tests: Memorization is a shortcut to high scores, but not to lasting learning - World leading higher education information and services\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/esl-tests-memorization-is-a-shortcut-to-high-scores-but-not-to-lasting-learning\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/esl-tests-memorization-is-a-shortcut-to-high-scores-but-not-to-lasting-learning\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2019\\\/07\\\/AccessELLs-BR.png\",\"datePublished\":\"2019-07-17T07:00:48+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2019-07-18T07:27:13+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/42c1c1d5ff7ffbdf0bd50ed94c6ae6ee\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/esl-tests-memorization-is-a-shortcut-to-high-scores-but-not-to-lasting-learning\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/esl-tests-memorization-is-a-shortcut-to-high-scores-but-not-to-lasting-learning\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/esl-tests-memorization-is-a-shortcut-to-high-scores-but-not-to-lasting-learning\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2019\\\/07\\\/AccessELLs-BR.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2019\\\/07\\\/AccessELLs-BR.png\",\"width\":680,\"height\":467},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/esl-tests-memorization-is-a-shortcut-to-high-scores-but-not-to-lasting-learning\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"ESL tests: Memorization is a shortcut to high scores, but not to lasting learning\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/\",\"name\":\"World leading higher education information and services\",\"description\":\"Global Higher Education Jobs, University jobs, Lecturer & tenure jobs.\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/42c1c1d5ff7ffbdf0bd50ed94c6ae6ee\",\"name\":\"Kevin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/1e8d491a5f9b9bf3db67c9e46abbba7bb06b26b458bd5025c55e0a4b9b60ea8a?s=96&d=mm&r=g8ba4c352a279c450aa9435d770c1ebf4\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/1e8d491a5f9b9bf3db67c9e46abbba7bb06b26b458bd5025c55e0a4b9b60ea8a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/1e8d491a5f9b9bf3db67c9e46abbba7bb06b26b458bd5025c55e0a4b9b60ea8a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Kevin\"},\"description\":\"Kevin is founder of the world.edu project. The past 28 years have been involved in publishing to the education sector in print and the internet. Kevin has a degree in Education and has a many years experience in developing companies and projects.\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/author\\\/kevin\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"ESL tests: Memorization is a shortcut to high scores, but not to lasting learning - World leading higher education information and services","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/world.edu\/esl-tests-memorization-is-a-shortcut-to-high-scores-but-not-to-lasting-learning\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"ESL tests: Memorization is a shortcut to high scores, but not to lasting learning - World leading higher education information and services","og_description":"Canada plans to receive\u00a0300,000 to 350,000 immigrants in 2019, and likely more than that number annually in the coming years. In 2018, there were\u00a0572,415 valid study permits\u00a0in the country \u2014 evidence of the\u00a0increasing trend of international students coming to Canada. Most people coming to Canada for various purposes are coming from non-English-speaking countries: in 2016,\u00a072.5 […]","og_url":"https:\/\/world.edu\/esl-tests-memorization-is-a-shortcut-to-high-scores-but-not-to-lasting-learning\/","og_site_name":"World leading higher education information and services","article_published_time":"2019-07-17T07:00:48+00:00","article_modified_time":"2019-07-18T07:27:13+00:00","og_image":[{"width":680,"height":467,"url":"https:\/\/world.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/AccessELLs-BR.png","type":"image\/png"}],"author":"Kevin","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Kevin","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/world.edu\/esl-tests-memorization-is-a-shortcut-to-high-scores-but-not-to-lasting-learning\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/world.edu\/esl-tests-memorization-is-a-shortcut-to-high-scores-but-not-to-lasting-learning\/"},"author":{"name":"Kevin","@id":"https:\/\/world.edu\/#\/schema\/person\/42c1c1d5ff7ffbdf0bd50ed94c6ae6ee"},"headline":"ESL tests: Memorization is a shortcut to high scores, but not to lasting learning","datePublished":"2019-07-17T07:00:48+00:00","dateModified":"2019-07-18T07:27:13+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/world.edu\/esl-tests-memorization-is-a-shortcut-to-high-scores-but-not-to-lasting-learning\/"},"wordCount":692,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/world.edu\/esl-tests-memorization-is-a-shortcut-to-high-scores-but-not-to-lasting-learning\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/world.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/AccessELLs-BR.png","keywords":["ESL tests"],"articleSection":["Education"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/world.edu\/esl-tests-memorization-is-a-shortcut-to-high-scores-but-not-to-lasting-learning\/","url":"https:\/\/world.edu\/esl-tests-memorization-is-a-shortcut-to-high-scores-but-not-to-lasting-learning\/","name":"ESL tests: Memorization is a shortcut to high scores, but not to lasting learning - World leading higher education information and services","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/world.edu\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/world.edu\/esl-tests-memorization-is-a-shortcut-to-high-scores-but-not-to-lasting-learning\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/world.edu\/esl-tests-memorization-is-a-shortcut-to-high-scores-but-not-to-lasting-learning\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/world.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/AccessELLs-BR.png","datePublished":"2019-07-17T07:00:48+00:00","dateModified":"2019-07-18T07:27:13+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/world.edu\/#\/schema\/person\/42c1c1d5ff7ffbdf0bd50ed94c6ae6ee"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/world.edu\/esl-tests-memorization-is-a-shortcut-to-high-scores-but-not-to-lasting-learning\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/world.edu\/esl-tests-memorization-is-a-shortcut-to-high-scores-but-not-to-lasting-learning\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/world.edu\/esl-tests-memorization-is-a-shortcut-to-high-scores-but-not-to-lasting-learning\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/world.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/AccessELLs-BR.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/world.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/AccessELLs-BR.png","width":680,"height":467},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/world.edu\/esl-tests-memorization-is-a-shortcut-to-high-scores-but-not-to-lasting-learning\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/world.edu\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"ESL tests: Memorization is a shortcut to high scores, but not to lasting learning"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/world.edu\/#website","url":"https:\/\/world.edu\/","name":"World leading higher education information and services","description":"Global Higher Education Jobs, University jobs, Lecturer & tenure jobs.","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/world.edu\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/world.edu\/#\/schema\/person\/42c1c1d5ff7ffbdf0bd50ed94c6ae6ee","name":"Kevin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/1e8d491a5f9b9bf3db67c9e46abbba7bb06b26b458bd5025c55e0a4b9b60ea8a?s=96&d=mm&r=g8ba4c352a279c450aa9435d770c1ebf4","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/1e8d491a5f9b9bf3db67c9e46abbba7bb06b26b458bd5025c55e0a4b9b60ea8a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/1e8d491a5f9b9bf3db67c9e46abbba7bb06b26b458bd5025c55e0a4b9b60ea8a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Kevin"},"description":"Kevin is founder of the world.edu project. The past 28 years have been involved in publishing to the education sector in print and the internet. Kevin has a degree in Education and has a many years experience in developing companies and projects.","sameAs":["https:\/\/world.edu"],"url":"https:\/\/world.edu\/author\/kevin\/"}]}},"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/world.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48684","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/world.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/world.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/world.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/33"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/world.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=48684"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/world.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48684\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/world.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/48685"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/world.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=48684"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/world.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=48684"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/world.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=48684"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/world.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=48684"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}