Changes to the CET exam

Quote from: Borkya on August 28, 2013, 01:36:03 AM

And almost all my students do the oral part, well about 75%.

Where do they take it and what kind of institution do you work at?

I am not just being idly curious, I want to push this issue where I work and I need comparisons.  Ta.

I work at a public uni in a small city. And they take it right here at school, though I'm not sure who actually tests them, school officials or outsiders? I'm not sure. Their teachers supervise them during the actual test, but I'm not sure about the oral part.

And I DO do the whole "tests are bullshit" thing, but not in a totally subversive/insultive way. On my last class with them before the test I tell them that a test score doesn't determine their worth and I love them all no matter what. I think it does them good to remind them that not everyone cares about the stupid test, and their is a life beyond it.

And yeah, I agree with everyone that foreigners aren't suitable to teach TEM. Its chinese english made up for chinese students by chinese people. Have you guys ever taken the test? I took one last year and I got only about an 90. Some of the english is so damn wonky. And just to make sure, I asked the other foreign teachers the questions I got wrong and they answered same as me, so we were ALL wrong, but what do we know, we were just native speakers. 

...though I'm not sure who actually tests them, school officials or outsiders? I'm not sure. Their teachers supervise them during the actual test, but I'm not sure about the oral part. .

Thanks.

I found out about this today: apparently the examination is invigilated by the university Teaching and Administration section and each iteration is recorded on a tape which is then sent to a central testing authority in Shanghai for grading and moderation.  It costs Y80 to take the test.  

According to an article I was reading, which cited MoE numbers, about 10% of TEM candidates take the spoken element - the only reason for such low participation is that most colleges simply don't bother applying for the permission to set the speaking test because it is not seen as important.

It's interesting how divisive the "teaching with the TEM in mind" issue seems to be.  Before I go on, I would like to say that I do like the fact that people have strong opinions about a teaching and learning issue like this, regardless of which side of the debate you happen to be on.

...foreigners aren't suitable to teach TEM.

If we teach something which is neither measured nor verified then what is our contribution?  Maybe that's a bit bleak but how we fit into (or don't fit into) our teaching context is a genuine question.

I think it does them good to remind them that not everyone cares about the stupid test, and their is a life beyond it.

My students are at a third tier xueyuan and if they don't do well in tests, they don't get a job.  This concerns them greatly, regardless of whether their teacher has a principled objection to it. They will grasp at any and every test they can in an attempt to make themselves more employable.  

I do take your point that all TEM and no play makes for a deaf mute English major and that students in China, like anywhere else, crave a bit of variety in their lessons.  All I am really arguing is that this can, and should, be fitted into the broader system of assessments which influence success or failure within China because this is important.  I like old34's rundown of how, without any drills or cramming, NETs can contribute towards examinations - mainly by raising linguistic awareness, which is a universal good when it comes to English majors in my opinion.  

I feel though that that argument (that we should all be raising linguistic awareness and this will help the students on their exams) is sort of disingenuous though when used as evidence that foreigners should prep CET/TEM. Raising linguistic awareness benefits everyone studying English, whether they are prepping for the TEM or the SAT or just studying for their own pleasure. We should be doing it regardless of what exams our students are taking. However, raising linguistic awareness is not going to replace good old test prep classes in the eyes of Chinese students.

And why does what we teach need to be measured or verified by an exam that we all realize is almost total bullshit? I think FTs are employed exactly because at some point the powers that be realized that all this test prep was producing students who could test well but were otherwise pretty worthless at English. Someone said, hey, we need people to teach these kids how to actually speak and write outside of a testing context. Not having an officially stamped and approved exam attached to those real life skills doesn't make them any less worthwhile.

I should point out that I don't really have a horse in this race because I teach at the high school level and my kids are prepping Western tests which I feel, maybe due to my own biases, actually do measure something worthwhile and for which there is no real advantage to choosing a Chinese teacher over a qualified foreign teacher. "Test tricks" will only go so far with those exams and short of outright cheating (which centers such as New Oriental have been known to partake in) a foreign teacher will almost always prep kids just as well if not better than a Chinese teacher for any test that requires some sort of logical thought, original ideas or creative thinking. Chinese teachers tend to do better at rules/formulaic answers (in fact, this is why, when we dole out SAT prep courses, if possibly I try and have a CT teach the writing portion. The grade for the is heavily weighted toward a multiple choice section that asks students to correct/pick out the mistakes in sentences. Chinese students can absolutely rock this portion even with very weak English overall. This flies in the face of conventional wisdom which says you give Chinese teachers the Reading and Listening classes and the FTs the Speaking and Writing classes).

By the way, part of this is a L1/L2 issue. When your test requires finicky grammar rules, sometimes the best way to get kids to understand and memorize those rules is a with a Chinese explanation. Lots of foreign teachers do a really poor job at explaining grammar in a way that low ability Chinese students can understand. Obviously in an ideal world students would learn language using only L2 and L1 would disappear from every teacher's classroom completely, but remember these exams are written by Chinese teachers and they assume teaching in Chinese as a given.