McNamara

One thing I liked about this chapter was that it laid out the history of language tests so that we could clearly understand how the tests and test construction has changed within the last 50 years or so.

When I read about the discrete point tests I could not help but think about the grammar drill exercises I used to receive in grade school. Then, suddenly, when I entered Junior High School the grammar exercises dropped off and I didn't get another grammar lesson until college. We then had to create sentence diagrams to "show" that we knew the parts of speech and where they all belonged on our neat little diagram. I actually liked diagramming (until it got hard) because it helped me to understand sentence structure and patterns.

So, the whole point of this ramble, is that as I was reading this chapter I really didn't feel like I had any gigantic insights or ah!ha! moments. What I did find myself doing as I read this chapter was that I was thinking more and more about all those tests we have to give and what kind of tests they are. Tests kept flashing in my head and I kept thinking about the construct and what type of tests they were.

Another thing that I kept thinking of as I read this chapter is that it has taken quite awhile for tests to change and for people to embrace these changes. I mean, it is 2008 and I'm still required to give students discrete point tests to see if they know what they need to know in terms of English grammar. The horribly sad and frustrating part is that I don't think (even about earning all those credit hours studying English) I could even pass those tests...yet I'm required to give them and have a second language learner pass them. Sigh. I cringe when I see those tests.