proof of comprehension

[Sheila Collins]

I teach ESL over the internet to China, and have run into a problem trying to prove how much my students understand.

We use PowerPoint slides for visual cues, and Skype; there is no visual contact between any two people in the class. We all understand the drawbacks to this type of learning, but the students are working on conversation, reading and writing. My teaching style leans as firmly towards Whole Language as the technology allows.

In my experience, the students do *eventually* clue in to intangible (or indemonstrable) concepts through reading and conversation; within a year or so, the students are able to fluently discuss concepts such as "wanting" and "thinking". However, even after a year and a half, most of my students are not able (willing?) to translate an entire story or article. My employer is particularly concerned with a younger class (Level 1, between the ages of 8 and 11), who are not able to translate English concepts into Chinese, even when it seems they understand the concept and are able to use it in several different sentences in English. He feels understanding is only complete when they can translate the whole story into their first language. At the moment, this class is only willing to translate one word at a time; my Level 2 and 3 classes will only translate a couple of words at a time.

Is translation into L1 accurate proof? Is the ability to use the vocabulary in L2 enough proof? How would one judge comprehension without visual demonstration?