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I've chosen to write a bit on the tests of TEFL as it is one subject that I have repeatedly commented on in the individual unit summary writeups. Not only because I have enough of an opinion on the subject to guarantee I can write enough to satisfy the requirements of this task, but because it is in many ways a "path of least resistance" for me. I have already written about my opinions before I even knew what this Summative Task could be about and have my ideas already developed on the Tests of TEFL. I don't have a problem or any criticism with the general layout of the course. The student reads a unit of instruction and then takes a test on what he or she just learned. This is quite standard and acceptable to anyone. However, as the units went on I did notice a lack of clarity that can be quite disastrous for the prospective teacher. Some questions had multiple correct answers, but there was only one answer chosen as the "correct answer at that moment." I cannot recall all of them at this specific moment but one question does return to memory. There is a question asking which test a teacher can utilize at the start of the class to determine a student's English proficiency. Two of the four answers is a placement test and a diagnostic test. Both are right and I looked at the unit test like I was working for military intelligence searching for a code to come up with anything that could disqualify one answer over another. The bottom line is that both tests are enacted at the beginning of a course, just that the diagnostic test is more detailed. I closed my eyes and chose a placement test, and to my luck that was the correct answer. In a graded course where the minimum of a passing grade is 75% and unit tests vary from a total of 10 to 20 questions each, too many of these shadowy questions can have a severe effect on the grade of the prospective teacher. If the tests are to correctly grade a teacher's understanding of the content, the questions must be more pinpoint and less left to interpretation. I was continually thrown off by some questions that amounted to an opinion or to several actions that could arguably be the answer sought after. As a future ESL teacher, I am sensitive to such discrepancies in determining the abilities of my future students. If I saw questions on a test that counted for so much in their assessment, I would do what I can to change them to be more clear. All I wrote above can be completely nullified if these questions had TWO correct answers (or more) in which case my concern is unfounded. But being the test taker I do not have the viewpoint of the mechanics behind the test and I am only voicing my concerns from my viewpoint. Nevertheless, I did make it through but my thoughts do linger to a student who may have been hanging on by a thread and chose "diagnostic test" instead of "placement test" and fell under a passing grade... despite being right. Thank you for the course I did learn a lot.
