Speakers
María Luisa Castanedo
María Luisa has been involved in language teaching, teacher training and testing for over 16 years. She holds a BA in Chemical Engineering from Universidad La Salle, the University of Cambridge COTE, and an MA in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages from Canterbury Christchurch University.
The examinations dirty dozen
Commercial materials and resources to prepare students to sit international examinations tend to focus on the most relevant linguistic aspects that characterize the different levels, and on the development of strategies to cope with the demands of the different tasks commonly included in language tests. Exam preparation courses are popular and indeed useful for candidates to know what to expect on the exam.
And yet, it is common to have students who feel they could have done better, and teachers whose expectations of a certain group or candidate are not fulfilled. Something seems to be missing in the equation of the competent candidate, as they usually have the knowledge and skills, but intangible factors seem to dent at their performance. Even though it is evidence that has not been scientifically collected, the factors that are to be revised in this session are present with striking regularity and constitute a body of knowledge acquired over almost 9 years of carrying out speaking examinations and grading writing tests. We will go over the “Examinations Dirty Dozen”, in order to raise attendants’ awareness of the seemingly trivial factors that can make or break exam results.