Before I officially begin my diatribe about the English Language Exam for the WASSCE, let me just say that, in general, I find some value in standardized testing. I believe baseline measures are useful and that for a number of subjects, knowledge of information can be objectively measured, evaluated and analyzed - giving insight into areas where students may or may not be achieving according to standards set. Obviously there are myriads of issues that go into the development, evaluation and analysis of such tests and data and I don't wish to debate all of these at this point. So for the sake of my diatribe, let's just accept that the WASSCE is firmly in place in Sierra Leone. Let's also not point out the rather obvious problem that representatives from a number of West African nations have come together to devise an English Language exam (despite their own various educational backgrounds and differing accents - which will come to play a part farther in my writing) that is supposed to assess how well students in West Africa (which, of course, implies some sort of homogeneity among these nations) speak (?), understand, and can analyze English as a language.
So, let's begin. There are 7 CRC students taking the English Language exam this year. One, Ibrahim, has been especially diligent about attending all help sessions I've offered. He has also scheduled twice weekly extra help sessions on parts of the exam he's particularly worried about. These sections include the oral language part (just wait until I start in on that!), summarizing, identifying phrases and clauses (and their function in particular sentences) and choosing words that are "most nearly opposite" or "most nearly the same" to a given word.
The exam consists of a number of parts. The comprehension section consists of 2 passages and a total of about 15 questions which is given 50 minutes for completion. Let's take a look at a sample question. After reading a passage on species and why they might or might not become extinct, one is asked the following: What is the grammatical name of the expression "although rain forests cover only an estimated 7% of the planet's land surface"? After you noted that the quotation is not really an "expression" at all, the person who really knows his or her English language would recognize that the clause asked about (remembering that you understand the difference between a phrase and a clause) is actually a subordinate clause functioning as an adverb and you wonder if you should also write that it is an adverb of concession. Wait? Are you correct? Think back....You studied 7 different kinds of adverbial clauses alone! Yes, you believe you're correct and you move on. Easy peasy (peasie?) - you're glad this isn't really a spelling test. You're flying through the questions that ask you to describe two main events in the passage, and you're able to find information about Mrs. Nkechi Adeola's plan for her baby, but then you're stumped: What is the grammatical function of "the residents kept sealed lips" in "So, on this occasion, when the welfare officers called, the residents kept sealed lips"? It seems to you that there is a subject, verb, and direct object contained therein - all of which constitutes an independent clause? But an independent clause doesn't have a "grammatical function." You're lost and know you got that one wrong even though it seems to you the question is severely flawed. Part 1 of Part I finished.
Now you have 50 minutes (and not less than 450 words) to answer one question from five. You decide you will answer #2: "Write an article for publication in your school magazine on the problems of indiscipline in schools." Aside from the fact that your school doesn't have a school magazine, you wonder what "indiscipline" is - you've never used this word (or seen it used) in your life. But you do your best.
Finally you're nearing the end. You have a final 50 minutes to read a passage and do some summary. But summary is a bit perplexing. You think back to a practice example. The passage was the following: "Trees are very useful in big cities. Apart from providing shade in cities, they help to cool the environment which would otherwise be very hot in the dry season. Furthermore, trees reduce the noise level in cities by absorbing some of it." Your task was to summarize IN THREE SENTENCES the advantage of trees to cities. The passage itself is three sentences! You haven't time to check a dictionary for the definition of summary, but you're pretty sure that if one wanted to summarize the passage, one would do it in one sentence. Alas, you are not required to do what would actually be correct. How disillusioning and frustrating for a particular English teacher who has traveled to Sierra Leone in part to assist you in getting enough credits on this particular exam to enable you to go to a university of your choice. You know that she has a very difficult time teaching you to do something incorrectly; but she has to do this because she understands that the scorers, themselves, do not know the correct information. But you remain grateful that she told you to memorize the 20 page, four-columned, size 10 font document called "English Language Key Topics" - because rather than having to do any creative thinking, you need to do rote recall of information and this you are able to do because you have been educated this way for your entire academic career.
Okay. Next comes the Objective part of the exam which takes 1 hour. Here your use of vocabulary and understanding of nuances of meaning will be put to the test. You're discouraged after #1: The HANDSOME profit from her fish business made Mrs. Uba stop complaining about her husband's _______________ salary. Should you choose a. ugly; b. meagre; c. modest; or d. lowly ? This is a tough one because you know you have to choose a word that is most nearly opposite "handsome" and you understand that meagre and modest are your two best choices, but the distinction between them is really one of connotation - and you've heard people use "modest" to mean "just a little" which is what "meagre" means as well. Bummer. Better luck on the next one. "One very important aspect of human relationship is ______________trust." Here the choices are a. communal; b. individual; c. mutual; d. personal. Well, "d" is out, but the others are all important in your mind. You think they probably want "c" but you think about your village where communal trust is probably of ultimate importance. Tough call. You move on to questions that ask you to make sense of idioms and expressions like "talked shop" and "at daggers drawn". You curse the British. Other questions ask you to choose between "at" and "with" for sentences like "My mother remained angry_________me" or select a. round wooden beautiful table; b. wooden round beautiful table; c. beautiful wooden round table; d. beautiful round wooden table for "His father has a _____________________." Finally you are finished and all that remains is the oral part.
In the oral exam, you will listen with loads of other students to a cassette tape on which a man and a woman are recorded. You think they might be from some West African country and they are speaking English. There is a sort of pseudo-British accent going on but not enough to make one secure about pronunciation. So, this is going to be especially tough. Your first task is to identify which of three words the speaker is pronouncing. The words are on your exam sheet. You have to pick out, for example, whether the speaker is saying "ball", "bull" or "bowl". Given one's accent, this can be a tricky pick! The thought crosses your mind that usually when one speaks English, one is having a conversation - and a great deal of understanding the words one hears has to do with context. But, after all, why should one try to recreate the real world in an exam? Moving on. You get to do that same task with four words, and then you get to do it with sentences. For example, did the speaker say "He's just shot a goal," "He's just shot a girl," or "He's just shot a gull." Don't think you can get the correct answer by selecting what might be the best sentence! (i.e. the first one). Nope. You have to now pick out which word on your answer sheet rhymes with the word the speaker says; how often does that come up when you're conversing with your buddy? But, dutifully, you complete this task because the worst is yet to come. Now you hear a series of questions and answers. Your job is to pick the correct answer. Let's look at this example. The questions you hear are the following: a. Who borrowed your newspaper? b. Did John borrow your newspaper? c. Did he steal your newspaper? The answer is "He BORROWED my newspaper." So, the correct answer is "c" because the speaker stressed "BORROWED" and only in question "c" might one stress the "borrowed". Should I stab myself in the eye now or later? Let's pick later because after completely this section, my next task is to listen to a conversation in which I have to determine things like which speaker is being more polite or which one is very sure while one is doubtful or which one expected the outcome. This, to me, is probably the most ludicrous aspect of this exam (aside from incorrect usage, etc.) because interpretation of tone/attitude is entirely dependent on culture. What I might interpret as impolite in America might be entirely polite in Britain - our intonations are entirely different - and a lot more information needs to be gathered (by observing body language, facial expression, etc.) before a judgment on attitude can be made. All that aside, does an ability to accurately identify a speaker's attitude mean that one understands and can use a language with facility?
Let me now inform you that I and you are not the only ones to whom I have expressed displeasure. At Bo Commercial Secondary School's invitational (which you might recall I attended a couple of weeks back) I had the opportunity to meet a minster of education (one of Rev. Koroma's 41 siblings - I think if they organized themselves well enough they could probably run the entire country). He was there showing the government's/dept. of education's support - making the rounds, etc. etc. I made a few comments about the exam (much more diplomatically put than here, of course) and when he related to the Reverand what I had said, he noted that I had said "the exam is missing a few things." I guess that's one way of putting it. It actually was quite interesting talking to him. Only about 20 students (out of around 1000 seniors) had the marks to get into the best universities. We lamented about "youth today" and how they're more interested in hanging out with their friends - school's not cool, etc. etc. etc. I'm hearing a familiar refrain...(the anomoly that is NOVA aside)...
Now that I've worked myself up into a sweat over this stuff (actually I was sweaty before I began) it's time to wrap it up. I hope that my help will do some good. I've spent a lot of time on phrases and clauses - identifying all the types and functions of each. We've practiced proper use of prepositions - which ones go with which verbs. I've given Ibrahim some hints with the oral section - how to listen for which word is stressed as a clue to the answer, etc. I think he'll do well since he's studying like a mad man and he's practicing practicing practicing. He sees me three times a week. The exam is in March, so there's not much time left!
He'll also be taking English Literature; we have 5 students taking that one. Texts for this year are Lord of the Flies, Arms & the Man, and The Tempest. If I can wind myself back up at a later date, perhaps I'll address the teaching of literature here. Let's just say, I do it much differently. In any case, Ibrahim has a good handle on these and I think he'll do fine. He's the boy in the picture, by the way! Pictured is one of our first sessions - on Lord of the Flies. I was laying out some context and asking him to consider themes in the novel given its publication date of 1955. After telling me that WWII happened sometime in the late 1800's and informing me that he had no idea what the Cold War was, I more fully realized that context is clearly not part of teaching in Salone. A topic for another time...
So, all you teachers out there who complain about SOL's, No Child Left Behind, etc. etc. etc. (and I'm right there with you!) count your blessings. Things could be worse!
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