Knowledge about Language and Testing
THE NON-USE OF KAL
Non-situational Constraints
Interviews with some of the teachers who said that they did not use KAL in testing and those who did not respond to the question on KAL use in testing, revealed that they were not quite sure how KAL could be used in testing. Six teachers went as far as to say that KAL is not applicable. For them the KAL they had learnt about relates to the teaching process only. In their view, once the item is practiced and mastered in class then the students should be able to apply the skills gained to other communication contexts.
Two teachers who thought that it was unnecessary to test the students’ oral skills felt that once a structure is practiced, the students will transfer it to their writing. These teachers believe that this would be all that is required since in the Jamaican context, Standard English is predominantly needed for writing. This means for instance that if the student does oral exercises in the use of past tense structures, then they should be able to transfer what they learnt to the writing situation. This idea suggests that although the teachers claim to believe in communicative competence, either they are not sure of what this means or they are confusing oral and writing skills.
Four teachers of the upper grades added that they only incorporated language work which was required for external examinations, even if this went against their KAL. They saw their job as being to get the students to pass their exams, “so why bother to try to work miracles with the large groups we are asked to teach?”
To the question “What are the thoughts that go through your mind while preparing a test” six of the twelve interviewees said that they have not really thought about it. What they focus on when composing a test are the requirements of the syllabus and external examinations as well as the time limit. The others blamed situational constraints for their non-use of KAL.
