Over the Wall of Silence

Getting Students to Talk 25

Chapter 1

(3) Before performing their conversations, students usually prac tice it quite seriously and end up internalizing a lot of quality linguis tic content. H OW OFTEN SHOULD I TEST ? It’s true that many speaking courses do include testing, but by and large these tests are conducted only once, at the completion of the course. These tests, or rather exams , are designed to assess compe tence of the language learned over an entire semester. This is not the kind of testing we will discuss here, as it has very little impact on week-to-week motivation and participation. We are talking about testing every single week . That’s right. As regularly as possible, and from as early in the course as possible. If you wait too long to start testing, you’re missing the opportunity to have students vault the wall of silence and form positive habits. You might get a shocked reaction from students when you explain they will be having regular tests from the first or second week of the course. But they will come around. Students will soon see that (1) the tests are very doable (2) they can make some progress (3) they can actually enjoy it. These are all huge discoveries for the student, so they won’t all be grasped straight away. That’s why it’s best to start testing early and give students time to attune to the system. You can simultaneously give focus to the class, lay down the law, and show students their potential. From the very first class, students need to get started, get speaking, get the satisfaction of realizing they are starting to progress. This isn’t easy, because you are asking them to spend their energy on ac tivities that don’t mean anything to them at the outset. As we all know, students who have been taught to approach language learning