Part 1: English Proficiency Tests and their actual value.

GRE Graduate Record Exam. It is a primary exam which focuses on admission for graduate courses. Its English language testing skills include Critical thinking skills in linking sentences logically and interpreting their meaning to answer various questions in the text with respect to grammar, vocabulary, logical correctness, reasoning and common sense.

IELTS this exam’s primary focus is on the use of the English language in communicating. This test focuses on four aspects of Listening, Speaking, Reading and Writing. This is a much practical than technical approach to usage of English.

TOEFL it is a English proficiency test which tests the students ability to understand and use English on the university level. This test designed for High school graduates to enter into university.

The object of any of these tests is to simple prove the ability of use and understanding of English Language at a certain level to the universities or any governing authority about the students capabilities.

This clearly on the way teaches some of the students who take learning and preparing for these tests very seriously. The entry requirements for majority of the universities are at level which would be considered less than average. This is to keep the influx of the students for approval high.

So in almost all of the cases these tests are seen as a hurdle to enter the gates of an university education rather than an actual learning experience towards the English language. The students who have major influence of their mother tongue and it is not English are deeply affected by this phenomenon.

The result would be that they prove to the universities that the student would be of certain standard which could be to show that the student presents the very basic understanding of English and this being satisfactory for entry for the majority of the universities.

This leaves the student in most cases paralysed when the level technical English is high in an University and the Medium of instruction is in English. This certainly proves that the tests however designed to understand and use English as a language only give the student the illusion that they have firm knowledge to understand the level of English at the university.

The many which this problem could be tackled is listed below.

English Language Support Services.

This could be in the forms of:

Courses:

The no of subjects which could be taken to improve the abilities of student who have not gone through the English as their medium of instruction for the majority of their school years. This courses lay the foundations and focus on the basic needs in building the gap between the school years and technical education.

They should be a must to take to anyone who has not gone through a thorough English curriculum in High School level. There should be test which would required to be taken by the candidates who have not had this education which would clearly state the requirement of the course level.

The course should be a 3 or 4 part course which is divided into two semesters. This should also be seen to strike the interest of the student towards the subject rather bogging the student down with curriculum work.

Provisional training:

Provisional training is an excellent way to lead in learning the language especially training to show competence towards entry requirements. The entry examination training will enhance the performance and understanding In English proficiency which would benefit the student in the regular class subjects.

The main advantage is that provisional training could be done beside the regular classes and it need not interfere with them.

Support groups:

The general students which would be joining the courses would be from different background and ethnicities. It would be normal to assume that some would far ahead by experience and understanding of the English than other students. The students who are limited in their capabilities could be due to many reasons their background from which they come from their culture, their previous education. The students who are ahead in their skills could In their spare time start support groups. The support groups should focus on the many short comings of other individuals. This also gives them the platform for communication without scrutiny towards marks and embarrassment. This group in its supportive nature would make them feel comfortable and help them break the barriers of communication.

They also could public speaking group where the fear of public speaking which is common in many new users of the English Language could be overcome. This is an very important attribute to be overcome as they are times where the a student needs not only to give his assignment on a certain topic but present a presentation related to the topic to the professors. This gives the professors to evaluate the students true capabilities on the topic and it is crucial for the student to overcome the fear of public speaking in order to focus on answering the questions on the topic than being paranoid about public speaking. This skill only gains much importance as they would be times when the student would be representing or promoting his own topic in an seminar away from the comfort zone of familiar audience an example would be of an inter university meet on the research of a certain topic.

General subjects in the curriculum:

Every Major whether it be technical or Business or Finance related course. There are subjects of General study. The general study subject lay the foundation to many skills which must be polished by the students in order to better achieve success in their curriculum and in their careers.

Academic Conduct (course materials and instruction lang in the classes):

Course Material:

1. Descriptive: It has to provide the student a learning experience even without the presence of a teacher. 2. Easy to understand by a wide range of audience which includes many factors such as their mother tongue influence, which to say does not assume that everyone is at a level of understanding of above average which the scores of the various entrance tests suggest. 3. Should cover the Four aspects of English learning. Speaking, Listening, Writing and Reading. 4. Have various levels of study from Beginner, Intermediate to Advanced. 5. Workbooks of different types i. Comprehension ii. Grammar iii. Vocabulary building iv. Speaking and Listening Exercises. 6. Logical derivation from passages to fill in the blanks. Using the right vocabulary meaning to fill in the blanks. 7. Flash cards to learn more vocabulary. 8. Grammar and punctuation exercise books. 9. Argumentative writing topics where a side of the argument is to be supported by the students.

Regulatory Arrangements by universities:

The minimum of 5.5 must be obtained in the IELTS test and in the TOEFL would be 190 in order for the student to formally admitted into the college/university. This is in any case is below a standard required for technical education. This does however grant them to be admitted into the university and save valuable time of their youth.

The university must make the students understand before they start their professional course that how much their marks translate into actual worth towards technical education. The university should provide them with information what would be the difficulties that they would be facing if they have registered a low mark at their entrance tests. This would be realising that the TOEFL or IELTS score does not necessarily prove that he/she has gained much ability in the understanding of the English Language.