Language Test Taking in Albanian Schools

PEOPLE: International Journal of Social Sciences
ISSN 2454-5899
Zamira Alimemaj
Vol. 1, No.2, pp. 19-30, November 2015
LANGUAGE TEST TAKING IN ALBANIAN SCHOOLS

CASE OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE
Zamira Alimemaj
University of Vlora, Department of Foreign Languages, Albaniazamiraalimema@gmail.com
Abstract
Test taking is often very stressful and frustrating for students .Experts tend to focus more on the
kinds of tests that work best for students and overlook the emotional aspect of the matter. One of
the most important things in successful test taking is exactly the ability of students to cope with
the situation. We will provide an overview of test types mostly used by teachers and see how
successful and ecient they are. We will rst attempt to draw a denition of test taking in order
to have a starting point for our discussion. The regular assessment of students progress is an
inseparable part of the teaching and learning process. It is a type of information necessary for
students grading and for providing evidence of teaching and learning eectiveness. This
assessment takes various forms as there are many procedures and techniques followed by
teachers to evaluate them. In this process test taking is an essential part.
Keywords
Language, Test taking, Albania, Teaching, Language.
1. Test taking and how it works

But what is generally understood with test taking? Test taking is often conceived as a
procedure of assessment, or a systematic method of assessment in which tests (usually paperbased, nowadays even computer-based, written or oral) are used. It is a means (instructional and
administrative) to measure knowledge, skills, and the general educational level of students basic
formation. During testing students brain focuses automatically on the information given to
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him/her and after having grouped it, it nds out the way for expressing or presenting what he or
she knows or pretends to know about it. What are some of the functions that tests fulll? Let us
mention briey some of them (Evans & William, 1984)
They make clear the students teaching objectives.
They provide teachers with plenty of useful information they need regarding their
students knowledge and progress. (Dembo & Myron, 2000)
They help students to know at what level they are, what things they have to improve,
where (at which parts) they need to work harder and above all, to make them reect on their
achievements.
They motivate students to try harder and to demand more from themselves.
They facilitate students preparation and long-term memorization of the information

obtained.
Hence, we can say that testing is more than a technique, device or tool. It is than a means
of assessment or measurement, more than an indicator or method. It is a mixture of all of
these into one single entity - the test. To put it all in a nutshell, testing is knowing what
students know or what they are supposed to know and not forgetting this in order to be of
service to the students interests and the teachers alike.
2. Test taking in Albanian schools

The main aim of this paper is to consider aspects of test taking in the context of Albanian
classes where English is taught as a foreign language. In order to proceed with the arguments this
study raises, we will try to give an overview of how test taking has worked in the Albanian
educational system in the decades before and after communism. Foreign languages have always
been part of the Albanian curricula. Before the fall of the communist regime , students began
learning a foreign language which, in most cases, was Russian at the age of ten or eleven, that is
to say, as soon as they entered the secondary level of education. The learning of the foreign
language then proceeded onto the other levels of education, high and higher levels of education.
(Frisbie et al., 1991) Texts were prepared by specialized Albanian teachers and were lled
with all sorts of information that suited the ideology of the time. Emphasis was given to
vocabulary work and grammar exercises. Communication activities were either scarce or totally
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lacking. Students testing were either oral or written. The written form of testing usually followed
a periodical frequency. The oral form of testing did not dier much from the written one. The
main types of activities were of the following kinds:
Translate the following from English into Albanian or vice versa.
Retell the text using your own words.
Write about this/that (usually about an event or person related to the Communist/Labor
Party).
What are the days of the week / the months of the year?
Have a look at this picture and write down the objects (usually a picture of the kitchen,
living room, bedroom etc).
What is the past simple of or the opposite of, etc.

The list is long. Such types of activities required that the student produced mechanically
what he/she had learned. They tested more the students memory and less their comprehension or
understanding. This was the case not only in foreign language classes. The student was not or
very rarely asked to give his/her own ideas or opinions, judgment freely as he/she perceived and
thought them. The result: when exposed to the native environment, students could not utter a
word in the foreign language. They were unable to produce conversations, even of the simplest
kind, such as greeting or introducing oneself, because they hadnt been encouraged to do so. But
if you asked them about the party or any other such thing, they were uent in producing it. Real
life situation was inexistent in these classes. Unfortunately, activities of this kind persist in many
classes even nowadays.
After the nineties Albania underwent great changes even in the educational system. New
and more practical teaching methods were introduced. Seminars and other activities were
organized to help teachers introduce them in class. (McNeil & Linda, 2000) New course books
suitable for particular age groups were adapted. The introduction of a new methodology of
teaching and assessing students have considerably aected the teaching and learning process as
well as the acquisition of new knowledge, by giving this process more variety and effectiveness.
All these changes were as a response not only to the development of our country, but also to the
possibility to be as near as never before to the more developed countries (European & others).

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In this changed context, test taking is, of course, a crucial part. Many aspects of test
taking have been reconsidered and re-dened. In the past there was more mechanical
reproduction of information and less reasoning or discussion. Now the focus of testing activities
is the development of communicative abilities and not only. Students are greatly encouraged to
talk in the foreign language by being interviewed, by being asked to introduce themselves or to
talk about a particular topic, which are part of oral testing. The students should be able to express
opinions, to give ideas, to write correctly in a foreign language. Students are tested not only
individually but also in pairs or in groups. Pair work and group discussion are given great
emphasis, because they increase the sense of shared work, of coping with the others, of doing the
best to succeed. These activities have increased the sense of community on the whole.
One frequent activity we used to do in class was the kind of activity we called
composition. Students had to try hard to do their best to contrive language in all its possible
forms so as to create variations that went beyond the language of conversation. The more literary
this language was, the better it sounded.. These were very frequent, especially as nal exam
activities. Some common themes students were often asked to develop were: The love for your
country, The love for your mother, teacher etc, Spring day and so on. Now these have been
replaced by essays which are more concrete and well structured, related to real problems that
concern our society or controversial issues which are open to debate and discussion.
Test taking in Albania has improved considerably over the years. This, of course, has
been possible through experience, collaboration, exchange of ideas, and adaptation of the best of
them. One thing that has greatly contributed to these changes is the wide variety and the choice
of selection at the disposal of students and teachers. Learning a foreign language is not part of
the schools curricula only. Students can choose to learn it elsewhere if they wish to do so. There
are many language centers
which operate in Albania. Students often choose to go there and
learn a language. The books they use and the methods of teaching they practise are often better
than the ones offered in class. Their existence increases not only the competition, but also the
teachers awareness of their own teaching. It makes them more reective about their own work.

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3. Types of test practiced nowadays

That Generally speaking, three are the basic elements identied to judge a test as good or
bad: 1) Validity, 2) Reliability & 3) Practicality/Standardization. We will draw upon Adkins for
a very brief denition of each. She denes each as follows:
The primary requisite of a test is that it measure what it is desired to measure. A common
denition of test validity is the extent to which the test serves its purpose.(1974:31)
A degree of test reliability is requisite to validity; yet it is useful to distinguish the two
concepts. Test reliability refers to the measurement accuracy of scores on the test as reecting
the underlying or true abilities of the subjects. Some may receive scores that are too high,
others scores that are too low. The test should come as close as possible to measuring the true
score of each individual.(1974: 34)
To be useful, a test must be practical in three featuresconstruction, administration, and
scoring.(1974: 40)
Some other authors identify standardization as the third element, which is the measuring
of test scores against the average of typical scores. When discussing types of tests we can notice
that they fall into dierent classications. They can be: a) Oral or written, b) Subjective or
objective, c) Norm-referenced or criterion-referenced, d) Formal or informal, e) summative or
Formative. Let us explain each of them.
a) The rst type of classication relies on the form of the test. Oral tests are the most
widespread type of tests in our classrooms. Teachers often resort to oral testing to evaluate
students skills. These usually take place in front of the class and the student is asked to answer a
list of questions. The aim of these tests is to evaluate both the knowledge and the communication
skills of the student. The pre-reading activities and the discussion sections are good examples of
this type of activity. In some other cases oral tests may take place before a limited audience, that
is, before the examiner or the examiners. This is usually the case of formal tests, e.g. FCE, CAE
and so on, which have an integrated section for communication in the test.
Written tests are actually the most general category of tests. Anything that is tested in the
written form falls under this category. Unlike the rst, written tests have some advantages. They
give students time to think, to concentrate and to organize their thoughts. They also give students
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control over their emotional state. But oral tests have other advantages. They give students the
possibility to improve and progress, the assessment is transparent and direct. Oral tests lead to
productive debates between individuals or groups. This classication of tests involves the giving
or not of opinions by the students to provide for the answers to the test.
b) Subjective tests are tests evaluated by giving an opinion. Subjective tests are more
challenging and expensive to prepare, administer and evaluate correctly, but they can be more
valid. Most writing activities fall under this category. Subjective tests belong to the essay type
of tests. These are based more on the creative and communicative abilities of the student by
using the free word. The answers may be a) limited, or b) extended. In the rst case the answer
should be one page or up to a limited number of words, while in the second case it can be more
argumentative and without restrictions of words used and the creative space.
This type of test has got both, advantages and disadvantages. To begin with, among the
advantages is the increase in the communicative, expressive and creative abilities. They tell us
much about the students formation in one particular area. Among the disadvantages is the fact
that the student may get distracted and not focus on the theme or it may happen that he/she does
not grasp it properly. On the other hand, there exist considerable diculties in their correction
and evaluation. The diculties presented are not only practical, but also emotional and involve
the teacher as well. The teacher has to follow a work plan and nd the necessary time to correct
the essays since they need a lot of time and tranquility. But the emotional state is more important
for the student and is reected on his/her moments of creation. The lack of the right inspiration is
for example an instance of the emotional state that is not helpful. Below I will list some real
examples of essays taken from my own experience as a teacher of university students.
Are there any cultural characteristics of your country or natural features of your land or
climate that are so unique as to be untranslatable into other languages?
Is the Albanian language headed towards extinction? What are the symptoms of an
extinct language? How can we distinguish between a live and extinct language?
The position of Albania in the context of European Union

These tests belong also to another type of test that is, take-home tests. The students were
allowed to work these tests at home, to nd out materials and to express themselves following
the directions given by the teacher. Some of these directions include 1) Create a scheme for your
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essay, 2) Write it in well-constructed paragraphs (three to ve), with a good introduction, with
body paragraphs in which to bring your arguments pro and cons the matter under discussion, to
give evidences, and with a conclusion.
Objective tests measure the students ability to remember things as well as their
understanding of the course materials. These tests are often designed to make them think
independently, to reason critically as well as make subtle discriminations to determine the best
answer. In such types of tests the students evaluation is not dependent on who the examiner is.
Another characteristic is that they are based on a key for the responses. Objective tests are easier
to correct and require less time than the subjective tests. They are totally structured and do not let
the student be distracted. They have clear boundaries between the right and the wrong answer
and this is one crucial factor in the fair assessment of the student. The student knowledge and
abilities are measured at dierent levels and areas, not restricted to the creative one. The most
common objective test questions are multiple choice, true-false, and matching items:
Multiple-choice tests are a type of test in which the student has to choose the right answer
among three or more alternatives (usually four). The student can answer them by circling one of
the alternatives oered. The student is given a text with some gaps to which one of the
alternatives corresponds. In other cases they may be given a text with some questions to answer.
Multiple cloze test is another test which falls under this category in which the student is given a
text with gaps to ll in by choosing from a set of words for each gap. Multiply-choice tests cover
many levels of teaching objectives. The student answers them directly and relatively quickly but
he has to consider all the alternatives carefully and one by one by eliminating rst the one about
which he/she is most sure and then proceeding with the others.
True-false tests are more frequently nowadays, especially in the high school and
university. A number of statements are presented to the student and he/she has to judge the truth
they bring. Like multiple choice tests, true-false tests can be read quickly and can be corrected
accurately and quickly. Several levels of learning are tested with true-false items. In some cases
it happens that the student has the right information about the statement, but he/she is not clear
about the way it is presented to him. This mostly because the statement is not specic, carries
ambiguity, implies more than one single idea or because some words that qualify the idea make
it absolute. Such words may be adverbs of frequency, adverbs of quantity or quality (usually,
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never, sometimes, all, many, much etc) or specic determiners. Therefore, it is the duty of those
who prepare these tests to avoid statements which carry ambiguity, complexity, and vagueness
and be as close as possible to clarity and specicity. Clarity is the key to these types of tests. Let
us look at some examples taken from a test in the Interpretation course. The course is usually
taken during the second year of the university education.
Interpretation refers to the theoretical aspect of the profession. True /false
Interpreting refers to the activity itself. True / false
In simultaneous interpretation, the interpreter takes notes. True / false
Andre Filene is the head of simultaneous interpreting. True / false
Simultaneous interpretation was introduced in 1927. True / false

The rst, the second and the third statements deal with denitions of the terms
interpretation, interpreting, and simultaneous interpretation. The statements are clear and
there is no place for misunderstanding or confusion. In the fourth statement the student has to
focus on the name of a person. With little attention and some memory he/she would respond
correctly. The last statement also requires students memory, more concretely the memorization
of gures. We see that in a few statements the teacher checks much of what the students know,
and many points of the material.
In matching items test, the students are given two dierent lists, one of which is answers
list. The student has to correctly associate the elements of the rst list with those of the second in
order to create relationships between words and events, between categories and examples.
Although these types of tests are used at all levels of language learning, they are mostly typical
of the elementary levels of language learning and are mainly used with very young learners.
Some common matching items tests are matching words with their synonyms/antonyms, words
with the correct picture and so on. Young learners nd these types of tests amusing. Another
type of matching item test is that of matching the paragraphs of a text with a suitable title for
each of them. These are more typical of more advanced levels of language teaching and learning.
Example:
Match the adjectives with their synonyms.
1.lonely
a.anxious
2.surprised
b.abandoned

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3. tired
c. amazed
4. bored
d. exhausted
5. worried
e. uninterested
c) The third classication uses a particular standard as the starting point for dividing tests
into norm-referenced or criterion-referenced. Norm-referenced tests are those standardized tests,
which are intended to compare students performance to that of a norming or sample group who
are in the same grade or are of the same age. Classroom, regional, or national norms may be
established to interpret just how one student compares with another. Students performance is
communicated in percentile ranks, grad equivalent scores, normal-curve equivalents, scaled
scores etc. TOEIC (Test of English for International Communication) and TOEFL (Test of
English as a Foreign Language) are examples of norm-referenced tests.
Criterion-referenced tests are used to measure how well students have learned specic
knowledge and skills. They are the most common types of tests teachers use in class. They tell
teachers how well students have understood a concept, how eective teaching has been or how
much progress students have done. These tests are usually end-of- the chapter tests, end-of-the
term tests etc. This type of classication draws upon the formality of the testing process. If tests
follow certain standards such as time limit, sets of directions, which need to be followed exactly,
they are called formal. For example, FCE (First Certicate of English), TOEFL (Test of English
as a Foreign Language) etc are some such types.
d) If the administration of the test is more exible, then the test is called informal. These
are usually the tests constructed by teachers themselves. This last classication concerns what is
being measured by the teacher. If the test measures what the student has learned, it is called
summative. Such tests are the end-of-chapter tests, nal examinations, standardized state tests. If
it measures how the student has grasped something that is being currently taught, it is called
formative. Such tests include quizzes, homework, portfolios.
As we saw, tests fall under many categories depending on their form, structure, aim and
so on. Despite the diverse classication of the tests they should be given the chance to be
improved with the passing of time in order to reach the highest and most contemporary standards
to achieve a better teaching and learning system.
Collaborative test taking

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Test taking is the process during which the student experiences many emotions,
especially negative ones due to stress and the high level of anxiety. Collaborative test taking is
one type of test aimed at reducing such eects. Collaborative test taking allows student to work
together by building peer cooperation and by developing teamwork skills. Collaborative testing
has a signicant positive association with test performance. It has been widely used mostly at the
primary and secondary levels of education. It would be a good idea to use collaborative testing
where appropriate. We consider, it would be a good idea if Albanian teachers resort to it.
Collaborative testing facilitates the development of higher order thinking skills and consequently
aects students performance. This testing focuses on cooperation rather than competition.
Students work together as equals by creating a brainstorming of their ideas. By working with
each other they gain similar insight into their classmates. But this does not mean that they would
not assume total responsibility for their answers. The students do the work necessary to consider
the material being covered but the teacher maintains control of the process at each stage. (Mealey
et al., 1992).
Collaborative test taking is more than a usual kind of test or technique. It is an individual
philosophy, where people come together in groups, deal with people, and respect one another,
where individual group members abilities and contributions are highlighted. There is a sharing
of authority and acceptance of responsibility among group members for the group actions. The
collaborative work is based upon consensus and cooperation by group members. So, it is a
philosophy of interaction where students are responsible for their actions while working together
in groups.
But even the teacher plays his role in collaborative test taking. He should take into
account some primary things such as: a) to choose the material for the exam carefully, b) to make
sure students understand that wrong answers can come from other students, as well as correct
ones, c) to introduce the concept of collaboration on exams at the beginning of the semester and
reinforce it during test reviews. Antonio Russo and Susan H. Warren (1999: 20) sum up the
benets of collaborative test taking as follows:
Teachers Conclusion:
Collaborative test taking can be an eective educational tool in any course or discipline.
Students manage, retrieve, and apply information, work cooperatively to solve problems, and
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learn communication skills that are valuable in other classes and in professional settings. They
learn how to use alternative resources (including people), and they develop other assets:
condence in their knowledge, assertiveness, and skill in discerning whom to trust for accurate
information.
Students Conclusion
Cooperation and group eort are facts of life in the real world. The nal product of any
education is not just how much of what you have been taught you can remember and apply to
basic principles, but also how well you can participate in any given society. Collaborative test
taking can help students develop their ability to contribute positively in many settings long after
graduation day.
4. Conclusions
In summary, the identication of test-taking strategies and methods to teach them
continue to be areas needing further development. Good test takers possess a variety of
strategies, at least some of which require a certain level of cognitive development. Although the
idea of teaching improved test-taking strategies is intuitively acceptable, few researchers have
reported success. Perhaps the techniques take a long time to learn or require more intensive
instruction or learning. It is also possible that individual dierences such as personality, anxiety
level, and intelligence aect the application of test-wiseness skills in actual testing situations.
In this study we also tried to introduce certain aspects or techniques of test taking which
are now practiced in Albania but collaborative test taking and is still missing in the Albanian
culture.
REFERENCES
Adkins, Dorothy C., Test Construction: Development and Interpretation of Achievement Tests,
Charles E. Merrill Publishing, pp.37.
Dembo, Myron H., Motivation and Learning Strategies for College Success A Self-Management
Approach. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 2000.
Evans, William, Test Wiseness: an Examination of Cue-Using Strategies, Journal of
Experimental Education 52.3 (1984): 141-144.
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Frisbie, David A., and Douglas F. Becker., An Analysis of Text-book Advice About True-False
Tests, Applied Measurement in Education 4.1 (1991): 67-83.
McNeil, Linda M., Contradictions of School Reform, Educational Costs of Standardized Testing,
New York: Routledge, 2000.
Mealey, Donna L., Timothy R. Host, Coping with Anxiety, College Teaching. Volume 40, Issue
4, 1992, pp. 147-150.
Russo, Antonio; Warren, H. Susan, Collaborative Test Taking, Collage Teaching 47,1, 1999,
pp.18.

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PEOPLE: International Journal of Social Sciences