Task 14 -- Communicative approach

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Date Posted: 08:30:07 08/08/03 Fri
Author: Ronaldo G.M. Rosa
Subject: Task 14

FOURTEENTH CLASS August 4 th to 8th

Testing

Read the text below and say how we can test communicative competence.

Testing Communicative competence http://iteslj.org/Articles/Kitao-Testing.html

TASK 14 - Evaluation

Testing communicative competence involves not only the ability to form correct sentences but to use them at appropriately. Naturally, there will be an emphasis on the ability to use language in real life situations.

Kathleen and Kitao observe that the "communicativeness" of a test occurs in a continuum:
"Few tests are completely communicative; many tests have some element of communicativeness. For example, a test in which testees listen to an utterance on a tape and then choose from among three choices the most appropriate response is more communicative than one in which the testees answer a question about the meaning of the utterance. However, it is less communicative than one in which the testees are face- to-face with the interlocutor (rather than listening to a tape) and are required to produce an appropriate response."

The authors summarize the description of communicative tests, stating that "Communicative language tests are those which make an effort to test language in a way that reflects the way that language is used in real communication. It is, of course, not always possible to make language tests communicative, but it may often be possible to give them communicative elements. This can have beneficial backwash effects. If students are encouraged to study for more communicative tasks, this can only have a positive effect on their language learning."

Tests on communicative competence should provide situations (as role-plays) alike the real situations of life, in which the learner has to use language appropriately. The evaluation consists in "measuring" the appropriateness of the language employed.

Being communicative activities related to the real life situations, it is necessary to note that subjectivity is always involved, both in the students' responses and in evaluation:
"There is necessarily a subjective element to the evaluation of communicative tests. Real life situations don't always have objectively right or wrong answers, and so band scales need to be developed to evaluate the results. Each band has a description of the quality (and sometimes quantity) of the receptive or productive performance of the testee."

Bibliography and references:

S. Kathleen & Kenji Kitao. "Testing Communicative Competence". http://iteslj.org/Articles/Kitao-Testing.html

Ronaldo G. Machado Rosa
August 2003

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