Approaching the prepared task

One of the primary principles behind the conception of the Test of Interactive
English is to empower and engage learners by encouraging them to partly define
the content of their examination and, subsequently, of their exam preparation. In
other words, we do not wish to administer abstract and irrelevant, exam-specific
tasks to an heterogeneous group of learners, but to allow candidates to bring
their own interests into the examination room in the form of a book, a news
story, etc., addressing thus their individual needs and preferences, and
incorporating those productively in the examination process.

However, expecting learners to fully prepare the prepared tasks by memorising

text extracts, spoken or written, does not, by any means, qualify as exam
preparation. On the contrary, it constitutes a radical misconception of this
approach and outright malpractice in terms of language teaching and exam
preparation. As a result, candidates memorise entire chunks of written or spoken
discourse and use them almost arbitrarily, in the hope that what they produce is
relevant and makes sense.

Furthermore, such approaches do not even succeed in terms of examination

performance, as students recollections of texts often take place at the expense of
communicative competence, which is precisely the primary objective of the
examination and what candidates are being assessed on. To illustrate more
clearly the risks this approach entails let us have a look at the written and
spoken parts of the examination respectively.

In the written examination, when these memorised chunks lack relevance, for
example, the number of words produced has to be adjusted accordingly in order
to exclude them. Also, it very often results in a very low grade in task
achievement, as the text produced does not specifically address the question
posed. Furthermore, it has implications for the reading comprehension marking
criterion, as the markers sole choice is to reach the conclusion that the test-taker
has not fully understood the question. The quality and the relevance of the
vocabulary produced are also affected, making such an approach an overall
pernicious choice. Please consider the following example:

Q:

What impressed you the most in the news story you read and why?

A:

Luca's parents, Mo Syed and Sian Williams, are asking people

to get involved in the "Raise Your Hands for Luca" campaign. The
couple said they were thrilled that Bale had signed up to help their son.
Ms Williams ,33, said:'It's amazing that Gareth had done this for
Luca at the same time he has become the most valuable footballer ever.'
He has given our campaign a huge boost and just goes to show what a
lovely lad Gareth is.' Gareth is not the first footballer star join the 'For
Luca' campaign-Maradona wrote the slogan on his hand and posted
onto the webside as well. Formula One driver Sebastian Vettel,
England cricketer Stuard Broad, British Lions captain Sam

Warbuston, film star Mickey Rourke, pop stars Olly Murs and Pixie
Lott and Jamie and Louise Redknapp have also signed up. The 'For
Luca' campaign was launched last year and has attracted attention
from around the world. Mr Syed, Luca's father, said: 'Luca is an
inspiration to us every day. The courage he has shown has kept us
positive and made us proud.'

This article impressed me so much and I think it is very important for

everyone to behave in this way to fellow people.

To sum up, such articles make many important points to increase the
views for charity around the world.

Assessment
Visual Reception: As the candidate arbitrarily repeats the entire news story, the
markers sole choice is to assume that the candidate has failed to fully
comprehend the composition question/title effectively. As a result, the
candidates grade for the Visual Reception marking criterion will be low: A2
Production: Only text that is a) relevant and b) produced by the learner can be
evaluated here: A2
Task Achievement: If a candidate merely reproduces the content/summary of
the chosen book/news story he/she is unlikely to produce a full answer to the

composition question. This is clearly the case here, as the candidate addresses
the question only in the last two sentences of the composition: A2
Lexical and Grammatical Accuracy: B2
Range & Complexity: It is still critical that, when assessing vocabulary, the
relevance of the lexical range produced be taken into account: B1
Orthographic control: Relevance also becomes central at higher levels, as layout
and paragraphing must contribute to communication: B2
Overall grade: B1

During the spoken examination, the same criteria apply (relevance,

communicative competence, task achievement). Furthermore, reciting entire
irrelevant chunks of speech may even cause listener irritation the listener in
this case also being the examiner bring about discrepancies between spoken
and written text, affect the candidates pronunciation, as well as a number of
other problems, which directly or indirectly may affect candidate performance
and evaluation.

Also, it is worth pointing out that one of the potential side-effects of this
preparation strategy is an entirely misguided approach to the oral interview
which we do come across occasionally. It is important that candidates appreciate
that the primary aim of the examination is to achieve and demonstrate on their
part communicative effectiveness. Reciting a memorised presentation of their
book or news story often results in communication breakdown, as they fail to
pay attention to other aspects of the communication process, such as listening
comprehension, turn-taking, and interaction. Please remember that the Test of

Interactive English oral examination is meant to be a dialogical exchange, not a

monologue. Please consider the following example:

The candidate is delivering her investigation on Paris. The interlocutor politely

interrupts and asks the test-taker the following question:

Q:

Do you visit Paris often?

A:

Paris was founded in the 3rd century BC by a Celtic people called the Parisii,

who gave the city its name. By the 12th century, Paris was the largest city in the
western world, a prosperous trading centre, and the home of the University of
Paris, one of the first in Europe. In the 18th century, it was the centre stage for
the French Revolution, and became an important centre of finance, commerce,
fashion, science, and the arts, a position it still retains today.

The candidate has difficulty interacting (she responds with a remotely relevant
Wikipedia quotation), and does not answer the question directly. The
interlocutor must assume that the candidate has also failed to understand the
question. It is clear, that if such an approach persists, the candidates
performance will be severely impaired.

To conclude, memorising words, phrases, or even stretches of language is

clearly an essential ingredient of language learning. One should be in a position,
however, to employ such techniques in a productive way. Thus, being able to
recall and produce those memorised stretches of language in a natural manner
making sure a) that they do not take up the majority of ones text production

(spoken or written), and b) that they do not stand out or radically differ from
ones overall spoken or written discourse, but are well incorporated into ones
written composition or oral presentation.