My EFSET Experience
Introduction
Before going any further, let us again give a brief explanation of what is an EFEST and how it is going to help language learners and English teachers in the learning-teaching process and most of all how can we integrate this assessment tool in our classrooms today and finally we will close this essay by giving a brief evaluation of the whole experience of taking this proficiency test. The EF Standard English Test (EF SET) is considered as a free proficiency test , it is an online English test that was created to meet the high technical standards which is similar to the other standardized tests such as the TOEFL or IELTS. The Test creates a challenge to learners and teachers, as it not only provides reliable measurements, but also affordable, simple to use, and an always accessible assessment materials. According to the description given by the site web, it is the world’s first completely free standardized English test for learners of all levels, from beginners to advanced. Just like any other test, the EFSET is yet another proficiency test which is designed to assess learners’ performance and measure their linguistics skills. In this light, any language learner will find this test highly beneficial and helpful in determining their level and mastery of English as a second language. As for learners, this free test will definitely be a great tool to assess their learning skills as well as help them work on areas that they may be weak at. Regarding teachers, this assessment tool will be of a great help in terms of measurement of their own skills as well as having an idea of assessments resources that can be adopted later in the classroom with their students. Such tests can also be used as an example or a guideline that teachers can follow or take ideas from. In order to reuse them in class room instruction and assessment, by doing so, it would make the process easier, engage more students and facilitate the evaluation process. |
Reflection
As far as this test has to do with us, one may say that the test was in general very informative, easy, simple and effective. The only problems or issues that are to be improved have to do with time, number of tasks and skills to be measured. At the beginning, it was of a great excitement to finally take a proficiency test for the first time. The form filling was simple and easy, as well the sign in, that was not that complicated at all. While starting the test, it was noticeable that the test only measures two language areas, the receptive skills “reading and listening”. This kind of restriction does not give a valid measurement of the language proficiency, because we may be good readers and listeners and not good speakers and writers and vice versa. Another concern one will face while taking this standard test, which is time; and here when we mention time it is automatically linked to the content and the number of tasks given. The test was a two hours test; an hour for reading and another one for listening. Regarding the reading test, it contains of 3 parts each part consists of two sections and each section includes a whole text of six paragraphs accompanied with eight comprehension questions and each question requires as to give two answers. If we multiply this by three it will be 48 questions and 6 texts of 36 paragraphs which seem to be impossible to read and process in 60 minutes only. This will bring us to the conclusion of not taking into consideration all types of readers, since not all of us can fast-read, and there are people with ADHD and dyslexia whom abilities to read are much slower than the average. Eventually, one hour is not an option to complete that big number of tasks. Regarding the listening test, it also consists of the same number of tasks but differs in the number of questions as they were six questions instead of eight. The test was better in comparison with the reading one, as the audio clips were clear and varied in terms of accents from the American to the British one. The questions were all clear and to the point .However, once again the problem of time constraint which made it difficult to finish all tasks in the requested time. |
Conclusion
As an MA student and an English teacher, one may say that the test was in term of complexity very simple and reachable, the only problem that has been faced is the short time given and the number of tasks, but in general the test was of a great help and benefit to us as researchers and future teachers.
To sum up, the EFSET is a free standard test that was designed to measure learner’s language reading, listening skills only. The test is simple, easy and accessible. The only problem would be the timing and the number of tasks givens otherwise one may obtain proficient level instead. |