Job Discussion Forums

[chinatwin88]

It takes a whole village to pass a test

[Hansen]

Part, a big part, of the problem is the teachers themselves. They care not a whit, usually, about cheating students. So called proctors are a joke. Students cheat and pass answers around right under their noses.

Cheating is common at many levels of society. Certain jobs promotions require English proficiency. People simply hire a local Chinese English teacher to take the test. Usually, the people giving the test understand what is going on. Nothing is done, except steps are taken to make sure the fraud goes off smoothly.

I agree with the poster who said to not take your job as a teacher too seriously. Failing too many students will put you in conflict with the school authorities. Grades at the best universities are routinely cooked to meet certain statistical standards. I cooked scores at a top university, under the direction of my supervisor. Students at the 40% level were passing. The supposed standard is 60%.

In their defense, it does seem a bit harsh to suddenly hold students to a much higher standard than they are capable of achieving. Cheaters have always been cheating. Are you going to suddenly wipe out half your class? The onus is on you.

Most schools require you to give them a make up exam. Fail a lot of students and you will be the one doing a lot more work.

Shift your priorities around until you can recognize your job for what it is. Do what you can to help each student, grade easily, look to help them.

[mat chen]

Well said Hansen. It is the same in Korea. Students are expected to help each other. Is this bad? My policy whether judging a speech contest or grading, is to try and keep the top mark not too far from the bottom but have the pecking order correct. I spent much time teaching in middle schools and high schools and realize there is drastic differences in capabilities of Chinese English teachers. So I try not to punish students who have not had a great background in learning.
It takes more than 8 years to learn a language and if you talk to some of the top translators in the world you will learn that even they realize they are not perfectly bilingual. It's an art that should be enjoyed and test are not enjoyable.

[Ariadne]

Some of my students really do enjoy taking tests. If they have studied and paid attention in class they like being able to demonstrate their accomplishments. My tests are oral. For Listening classes, the students write the answers. I do one on one for the Speaking classes, and yes, it takes forever. Role plays can work sometimes, but it's hard to get all the students to participate equally and that makes it hard to evaluate the students individually.

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[mat chen]

I test my students three times. My second class I give them a quick listening test. I have them ask questions to each other for a mid term and for the final they do a role play where I grade the script and they give marks for entertainment value. I learned my trade from long term teachers. You must always be assessing your students. I pair the good with the bad, or I will put all the weak students together so I can spend more time with them. All my students names are on cards and I constantly write comments.

[The Great Wall of Whiner]

Q: What do I do about it?

A: I take their paper and rip it up. Then I mark on the grade sheet -35, or -65, or however many questions there were on the exam.

[killian]

pass 'em all. let the job market sort them out. grow the corporate "english trainer" market (better pay) at the same time.