'Stressful' oral tests to be axed

February 18, 2008

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ORAL tests look set to be dropped from GCSE language exams because they are `too stressful'.

They will be replaced by more in-class assessment after a teaching review said the format of brief oral tests put students off taking languages.

But the move has been condemned as lowering standards.

Shadow schools secretary Michael Gove said pupils are `being told they can now pass without speaking' a foreign language.

"This Government is moving the goalposts on examinations and instead of proper rigour we have got a watering down of standards," he said.

The Qualifications and Curriculum Authority insists it is right that speaking and listening should account for half the marks in a language GCSE but that the current test is not a reliable way to measure ability.

It hasn't confirmed oral exams will be scrapped, but says it accepts last year's education report by Lord Dearing which called for change and will give more details next week.

Lord Dearing's report, which was accepted by then-Education Secretary Alan Johnson, said: "We recognise that any change has to be made in a way that does not weaken the validity of the assessment.

"But that has to be balanced against the risk that a test that is often highly stressful and short is not a reliable test of the candidates' capability."

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Pravda (18/02/2008 at 11:59)

Yet another example of promoting the 'loser' culture in this country. Failure gets rewarded while any type of enthusiasm is frowned upon.

traffordtroublemaker (18/02/2008 at 16:18)

I have a degree in French and Spanish, and sat GCSE oral tests in both languages in the summer of 97. I would say that while they were a bit nervewracking, they weren't any more difficult than what we had practised in role plays in class and I would even say that some aspects were a lot easier. The test was done by the class teacher, rather than an outside examiner (which they do at A Level and is more stressful), and the experience of many of my friends was that the teacher tended to put you at ease, and the familiarity you had with the teacher did much to remove the pressure. But at the end of the day, it is an exam, and an exam is supposed to see how you do under pressure. They are not supposed to be easy.

I have been abroad a lot to France and Spain and often feel ashamed to be british when kids over there speak far better english than the majority of brits speak a foreign language. We should be improving the standard of language teaching in this country to make it something we should be proud of - not lowering the standard of language knowledge and teaching in this country. When you go abroad, most communication is spoken, therefore it is logical that you should prove you can speak the language to get a certificate.

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