Vocabulary flashcards, grammar checks and review sheets are a familiar phenomenon for students who are testing in language exams provided by St. Paul Academy and Summit School. Testing in a language that may not be the student’s first language can be intimidating, especially when the exam is not targeting what students know, but which students are better at taking tests. Language exams should only be used if they are testing students on skills that they are practicing in classrooms.

“The [National Spanish] exam is a national competition, so it ranks the students results in a percentile fashion, comparing their result of the test to other students who took that test on the national level. When the results come, students tend to look at their result as whatever percentile they get… which is a different way at looking at statistics,” US Spanish teacher Rolando Castellanos said.

“Since it is a national it is a competition, it doesn’t necessarily measure the acquired learning in the class they are taking. It goes way  beyond your natural experience in the classroom, as a way of discriminating and selecting the top test takers in the nation.”

The language department has been using the national language exam because it does provide some good benefits to students who hope to make leaps and bounds in their language.

“[We give the exam to the students] for those who have a passion for it to have a chance to explore how they are doing in comparison to the rest of students in the nation who participate. Also, as a way to have them experience standardized testing that is not in the same style that we teach an assessment, because in the future they might chose to take a subject test or an AP exam or an entry exam,” Castellanos said.

However, the exams were becoming more focused on test taking skills rather than language proficiency. The French and German exams started to change in order to target common practices in classrooms. However, the Spanish exams have failed to change the way they test students.

“The AAT’s are the American Association of Teachers of French, German, Spanish, and Portuguese. The French and the German association have, in the recent years, changed their approach to their exams to be more in line with the proficiency movement of the language teaching profession than the Spanish group has.” Castellanos said. “The Spanish group has been lacking in transforming the test to match what students are practicing in class these days. We as the Spanish teachers are hoping they will change it because the testing is in the effort of discrimination and finding the best test takers. We wish they would rethink their philosophy.”  

The Spanish teachers have been contacting the AAT about the exam’s issues, but if the exam doesn’t change soon, they are planning to discontinue this exam process.