Language Testing

1. TESTING THE RECEPTIVE
SKILLS: LISTENING &
READING
Presentation of
AISA G. JADULCO
MAT- English

2. “We have two ears
and one mouth so
that we can listen
twice as much as we
speak.”
Epictetus

3. LISTENING
Reading
Writing
Speaking
TIME SPENT COMMUNICATING
50% 50%

4. ‘Receptive Skills’ (also known as
‘passive Skills’ or reading and listening)
are often contrasted with productive
skills (speaking and writing). When
learning a new language learners tend to
develop their receptive skills first and
then acquire productive capability. It’s a
complex relationship between the two as
they all play a supporting role with
developing other skills.

5. The key difference between reading and
listening is that when learners listen to
information, they have much less
support than when they are working with
the written word on the page. Listening
requires ‘real-time’ processing of
language, and once the message has
finished, there is no easy way to go back
and check for meaning, as there is
during reading.

6. LISTENING VS READING
Spoken Language Written Language
• Use of weak
forms and
contractions
make some
parts hard to
perceive;
• All text is
equally visible
on the page.
There are no
strong and weak
forms;

7. LISTENING VS READING
• Body language
(e.g. facial
expressions and
gestures) helps
understanding.
• Text often has
little or no
visual support.

8. LISTENING VS READING
• Stress,
intonation, and
pauses show
emphasis and
groupings of
ideas;
• Punctuation and
spaces between
words show
word, sentence,
and paragraph
boundaries;

9. LISTENING VS READING
Spoken Language Written Language
• Tends to be
informal and
colloquial,
• Text is gone
quickly; so you
often can’t refer
back to check it,
• Tends to be
more formal,
• Text stays on the
page; you can
refer back to it ,

10. LISTENING VS READING
• Often unplanned
and unorganized
with repetition,
hesitations, and
interruptions,
• Vagueness and
ambiguity are
allowed and often
preferred,
• Usually planned
and organized
with little
repetition’
• Precision and
clarity are
preferred, and
often required

11. What is about reading that makes it such
an useful tool?
1) Reading is a source of input
2) Printed text are permanent
3) Reading texts are great tools for
vocabulary development
4) Reading is linked to speaking
5) Reading gives students more time to
themselves
6) Reading is an easily integrated skill
7) Reading texts can be graded flexibly
to your learners

12. EFFECTIVE WAYS TO TEACH
EITHER A LISTENING OR READING
LESSON
1) Pre-teach vocabulary
As with the ‘present’ stage of
vocabulary lesson, elicit, drill and
concept check any vocabulary that
you predict students will need to
navigate the reading or listening
material they will work with.

13. 2) Gist reading/ listening
When students have
demonstrated their
understanding of the target
vocabulary, set a quick skimming
task for students to get a first
contact with the text or
recording. Gist tasks can be in
the form of true-false questions,
paragraph matching, ordering or

14. 3) Detailed reading/listening
When students have got the gist
of the text, they can move into some
more detailed comprehension or
language work. Set questions which
deal with the relationships between
points in the text, or which focus on
use of specific language in the text
or recording. This encourages a
closer analysis of the information
being presented.

15. 4) Response to text
A follow-up stage (which
asks students to respond to
what they have read or
listened to) can consolidate
the ideas presented and
engage students with the
content they have read or
listened to.

16. Pre-listening activities
 Ask students their opinions on
the topic. Ask them to
- agree/disagree with statements;
- Discuss questions
- Discuss quotations
 Brainstorm on topic ideas or vocabulary;
 Discuss charts; graphs; maps, or statistics;
 Discuss pictures, photos, or cartoons;

17.  Discuss their personal
experiences;
 Discuss what students know
about a topic;
 Predict what text will be about
(from title, pictures etc.);
 Pre-teach key vocabulary
and/or grammar;
 Read a short text related to the
topic.

18. Task to use while listening
Check topics, events,
pictures discussed
Complete a chart or
diagram
Complete a gap fill
Follow a route on a map
Identify errors in a script

19. Answer multiple choice
questions
Number topics, events,
pictures in order discussed
From questions and give
short answer
Take notes
Answer true/false question

20.  Listening for gist;
 Listening for detail;
Give your examples of tasks
1. Bingo
2. Times, dates, numbers;
3. Spot the differences;
4. A story told twice(with some
changes to notice);
5. Mixed focus(students listen
several times for different
information).

21.  Discuss ideas or cultural points in the
text
 Discuss interpretations and opinions
 Learn how functional language taken
from the listening
 Link listening with another
skill(speaking, reading or writing)
 Review pre-listening vocabulary and
teach new vocabulary.
 Set up awareness-raising activities;
for grammar, vocabulary, or
pronunciation

22. LISTENING STRATEGIES
TIPS #1:
 Take advantage of the time before
the recording starts.
 Read the instructions carefully.
You will find out what kind of text
you are going to hear, who is
going to speak and what they will
speak about. Try to imagine what
they might say.

23.  Read the questions and the
available answers in order to
find out what kind of
information you need to extract
from the recording.
 Think about specific words
which might appear in the
recording, e.g. synonyms of
the words or phrases used in

24. #2
 The same content will be expressed in
the recording and in the question
using different words. This may be
done using synonyms,
e.g. He works for the army.= He’s
employed by the military.
I managed to persuade her. = I
succeeded in convincing her.
Or through the use of antonyms, e.g.
They were narrow-minded. = They were
not very tolerant.

25.  Grammatical paraphrases may also
appear, e.g.
They haven’t met for ten years. = The
last time they met was ten years ago.
#3
> If the same word or phrase appears in
both the recording and the question, it
could be a trap. In these situations, ask
yourself, “Is the meaning of the whole
sentence really the same in the question
and in the recording?’

26. #4 The questions are always
about the content of the
recording. If a statement makes
sense according to your general
knowledge or experience, that
does not necessarily mean it is
the correct answer is the exam
task. Remember that the correct
answer is the one which agrees
with the content of the recording.

27. MATCHING
1. The essence of this task is
identifying the gist of each recording,
or the element which makes it
different from the others.
2. Always listen to each recording to
the end before matching to an
answer.
3. When you listen for the first time,
note down the answers you are
relatively sure of. When you listen for
the second time, check those
answers and complete the remaining

28. TRUE / FALSE / NOT STATED
1. The order of the sentence
corresponds to the order in which
the information necessary to answer
them appears in the recording.
2. A statement is false when the
statement and the recording
contradict each other; they cannot
both be true at the same time. We can
say there is no information when the
statement could be true, but the
recording does not say so.

29. MULTIPLE CHOICE Exam Tip
The recording may contain
words which appear in the
incorrect options. Hearing an
individual word is not enough to
choose the correct answer.
Listen for words and phrases
associated with the answer you
choose, and think about why the
remaining options are wrong.

30. MULTIPLE CHOICE Exam Tip
1. The order of the sentences is the
same as the order in which the
relevant information appears in
the recording.
2. Every questions requires you to
eliminate incorrect answers.
These are in some way similar to
the content of the recording, so
you have to notice what is that
makes them false, for example:

31. a. The option is too general and
suggests that something ‘always’
happens, while the recording
says that it happens ‘often’ or
‘frequently’;
b. The answer contains one of
several points mentioned in the
recording, but not the most
important one, while the question
requires you to find the ‘main’ or
‘most important’ point;

32. MULTIPLE CHOICE Exam Tip
c. There is a similar statement in
the
recording, but it refers to
something or somebody else;
d. The answer seems correct
according to your experience
or
general knowledge, but it does
not agree with the content of

33. TASK FOR READING
A good task should not be
too easy or too difficult; in
other words, a challenged that
is realistically achievable. A
quite common activity is a
jigsaw reading,
Jumbled text
or jumbled two stories.

34. another example…
Students are going to read
the or listen to a text about the
life of Dr. Jose Rizal. The
learner objective would be for
the students to learn more
about his life and be able to
write one or two paragraph
about him.

35. Engage…
Start the class with an extract
from a famous Dr. Jose Rizal’s
work and quotations. Do you
know any other of his writing?
What do you know about him?
What would you like to know
about him- use this type of
question to create interest
amongst the students.

36. Allow students to quickly
read/listen to the text to
see if it answered any of
their questions
(set time limit to ensure
quick reading).

37. Study
pre-teach potentially
problematic vocabulary. A
practice exercise or two to check
and reinforce understanding and
pronunciation.
Engage
Students read/listen to text
again for detailed understanding.

38. Study
Give students comprehension tasks
based upon the text. Ex. true/false
questions. Students compare answers in
pairs and feedback.
Activate
Remove text from the view of the
students and ask them to write a brief
review of the students and ask them to
write a brief review of the life of Rizal.
Students compare in pairs and feedback
to class.

39. Activate
in pairs students write a brief
account of a famous person
that they both know/interested
in without mentioning his/her
name. Each pair reads out and
other class members try to
guess which famous person it
was.

40. BASIC KEYS TO SUCCESSFUL RECEPTIVE
SKILL LESSONS:
 Choose material that interests/motivates
the students.
 Build interest before reading/listening
 Pre-teach complex vocabulary or
structures if necessary.
 Vary the type of material
 Use the material to practice different skills.
 Use realistic comprehension tasks that aid
understanding
 Incorporate activities phases that naturally
lead on from the text.

41. “I remind myself every
morning: Nothing I say this
day will teach me anything.
So, if I’m going to learn, I
must do it by listening.”
Larry King

42. REFERENCES:
www.Anna.Voronina@pearson.co
m
www.hongkongtesol.com/blog/20
16
www.ITTTteaching.internationalT
EFLTeacherTraining