Reasons Why Evaluation and Testing are Extremely Important
Evaluation and testing are important components for the teacher, students, and the teaching of ESL/EFL courses. These two tasks are both ways of measuring personal achievement about the progression of the course being taught. Without testing, it would be much more difficult for teachers to gauge their students' progression in the course and would likely prevent students from earning certifications in the English language. If evaluations are not conducted the teacher may be oblivious to their deficiencies in their teaching methods.
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This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Ryan R. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT.
Theoretical Points
Evaluation as described in Unit 15 of ITTT's TEFL/TESOL online course, is a valuable tool for the students to voice their concerns about any of their expectations for the course. It allows students to describe what they may see as deficiencies in teaching methods. The evaluation also allows the teacher to either make corrections to their methods or correct misunderstandings that the students may have with regards to the conduct of the course. If the evaluation is done verbally it will help encourage interaction between the students and the teacher as described on page 1 of Unit 15 ITTT.
Also Read: Do I need a TEFL certificate to teach abroad?
Rapport Building Strategy
A potentially unexpected side effect of conducting course evaluations is that it may improve the rapport between the students and the teacher. In Unit 5 on page 11 of the ITTT TEFL/TESOL course, one of the methods of improving the rapport between students and the teacher is to "ask for comments and opinions from the students". When a verbal evaluation is being conducted, the students are sharing their own opinions on the course with their teacher. By improving the rapport between the students and the teacher, the importance of evaluation is further increased.
Also Read: How do I choose a TEFL course?
Benefits for Students' Memory
Testing has many functions. One such function is that testing is an important means of gauging the students' retention of what they have learned. It can also be used to determine the level of an individual student's knowledge through the use of a diagnostic test as described on page 6 of Unit 15 of ITTT's TEFL/TESOL course. Through placement tests, students are put into the class that most effectively suits their level of knowledge. Progress tests are important to both the student and the teacher because they help measure knowledge retention and identify gaps, allowing both parties to take corrective action. Testing can also be used as a means of preparation for external examinations. These external examinations certify students in differing levels of knowledge of the English language and can aid the student in employment as well as other aspects of their life. On pages 7 through 9 of Unit 15, many of these certifications are listed including, the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL), the Key English Test (KET) and the ESOL Skills for Life.
Also Read: Can Americans teach English in Europe?
Do you want to teach English abroad? Take a TEFL course!
Evaluation and testing are important for both, the teacher and the student. Evaluation aids the student by exposing concerns about the course. This exposure of concerns can result in improvements being made by the teacher to the lessons that aid the students' learning and improve the teachers' skills. Testing likewise mutually benefits both parties by revealing areas in which the student requires improvement, which enables the teacher to adjust their lessons to better focus on these deficiencies. Without these two activities, a course would suffer greatly. Most importantly though, the teacher and the students would have much less success in teaching and learning English respectively.
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