How to prepare best for language tests 1


This will be one of my most controversial articles. Usually, formal tests are surrounded by lots of trepidation, fear and mystery. After many years of schooling, and often university studies, we associate tests with intense emotions. Most often, with negative ones. Because this is a highly emotional topic, we will have very strong opinions on anything related to that.

Before I give you some advice on how to prepare for language tests, here are some mistakes I often observe among students:

·        They prepare only in the last minute.
·        They do not pay enough attention to the actual questions and to the explicit conditions of the test.
·        They try to survive by memorizing phrases and sentences by heart.
·        They prepare focusing on grammar exercises.

First, we need to understand that most modern-day (!) language tests try to test whether you are capable of assimilating into real life in that language, or not. Because for most test-takers this means or studying or working in that language, the tests try to mimick the basic compentencies you need to have. And, they not only language-related. Many test topics are similar to what native speakers would have in a philosophy or „civics” test at school.

Most tests include the following four components: listening and reading, and speaking and writing. Let us analyze this as a bit.  The first two components boil down to decoding and understanding speech, the other two to organizing your thoughts and producing speech. We could also say that half of the test is about being passive or input, and the other half about being active or output.

In all components, there are several levels of proficiency. For optimal preparation, you need to analize the concrete test you are preparing for, and you need to assess yourself. Which levels are the most difficult for me? At which levels do I commit the most mistakes?

Then you need to ask yourself, what is the best training method for each one of those levels, and where do I get the best training materials?

We can break down the listening component into:
·        Being able to discriminate between sounds (When does a word or sentence begin and end? What if there is background noise, if there is more than one person speaking, if one of them has an accent, speaks unclearly or at various speeds? What if there is noise in the actual testing room – by other students, construction work, etc.?)
·        Decoding language (vocabulary, understanding grammatical structures)
·        Understanding the logic and/or intentions (What are people talking about? What is the context of the conversation? What background information that is only implied should I know?)

Typically, many students will have difficulties with the first point because they will have trained in optimal conditions, and they usually select audio material to listen to that is easily understandable for them. On the other, many students master the first levels, but fail in correctly understanding the meaning. This should not surprise us: did you really always understand your teachers and professors on a more difficult topic?! Most probable not, and that, even though you are native speaker.

To be continued


If you like the attitude of these articles, please check out my online courses : at the moment, German for Russian- and Romanian-speakers, as well as on goal-setting.

If you are interested in improving your English in the area of business presentations, I know of no better address than Tom Antion. Please check him out following this link.


Stay tuned!

Gerhard


About the GO Method
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About me
Psychologist and polyglot from Hamburg /Germany (*1979). Married with children. MA in psychology from the University of Hamburg. More than 15 years of experience as a university lecturer in psychology as well as a consultant for UNICEF, Terre des Hommes, IOM, the EU and private companies. Coordinator of the GO Method network, with representatives in more than 90 countries worldwide.

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