About the English Test on 2010 SAT

Yesterday, the two-day 2010 SAT was over.   English was tested.  Click on the link and you can find the test items.

http://www.ceec.edu.tw/abilityexam/AbilityExamPaper/99SATPaper_Index.htm

I haven't had time to go over the whole test, only taking a look at the composition task.   It's an interesting task.  The examinees were asked to write a story based on a four-panel comic strip, with the fourth panel having only a question mark on it, which leaves the ending open.  Genius!   I believe the raters of the compositions will find their work much more interesting this year.

The following links are the comments from the examinees or teachers.

命題／大叔掉錢包…英文作文飆創意 寫結局  http://mag.udn.com/mag/campus/storypage.jsp?f_ART_ID=233657

命題／學測英文作文考漫畫 自由發揮 http://mag.udn.com/mag/campus/storypage.jsp?f_ART_ID=233648

命題／試考生 英文作文妙寫捲款潛逃 

http://mag.udn.com/mag/campus/storypage.jsp?f_ART_ID=233659

命題／英文作文化身小男孩…考生讚好發揮  http://mag.udn.com/mag/campus/storypage.jsp?f_ART_ID=233658

學測英文 跟文法說拜拜  http://udn.com/NEWS/OPINION/X1/5398112.shtml

Here I'd like to copy and paste the last of the above on my blog since it is related to English education as a whole.

學測英文 跟文法說拜拜

【聯合報╱陳超明／政大英文系教授（台北市）】

2010.01.31 04:44 am

「考試領導教學」這句話，其實在大考中似乎未得到印證！看完今年大學學測的英文題目，個人感慨很深！此次英文考題再一次支持我的看法：學測不考文法！

My comments: Well, just because grammar wasn't tested doesn't mean students don't need to learn grammar.   Some basic grammatical rules are still essential, especially when it comes to writing.

然而，我們的高中教學是否還在繁瑣文法規則中打轉呢？補習班老師，是否仍繼續疾呼哪種句型與文法規則很重要呢？

My comments: No, we don't need to go into too many details.

攤開今年學測英文題目，嚴格說只有一兩題文法題，其他題目大都是理解題，也就是必須看上下文語意才知道答案！

從單字題開始，大都以所謂上下文語意，或是英文所謂的搭配詞或是慣用的語法，就連很多老師都認為是考文法的綜合測驗（所謂的克漏字），也都與語意及上下文相關，跟文法無關。

My comments: Teaching collocation seems to have been a trend for quite a long time. 

理解的測驗，考的才是學生的綜合語言能力，一是單字的掌握（包括定義、用法及搭配詞）；二是英文語法的邏輯性（如字的排列次序、因果關係或是推理的能力）；三是大量的閱讀。這三者才是提升英語能力的基礎，文法只是輔助理解工具，並非考試重點，也不是掌握英文唯一關鍵。掌握了單字用法、語意，知道上下文的連接，也就會造句、翻譯及寫作文了！

這幾年來學測英文考試，幾乎都以測驗學生理解力與語文的使用能力為主，也配合學生的生活經驗及認知能力。學測的命題委員似是要告訴大家，語言學習的重要途徑：大量閱讀不同類型的文章，然後去使用所學到的字詞。透過對單字的掌握及上下文的連結，英文能力得到提升。讓我們一起放棄文法規則的教學，從語意及如何使用單字著手！