Tests 考試

People in Taiwan love tests, or it least it seems that way. Every time I turn around someone is taking a test, or studying for a test, or correcting a test, or even wishing they didn't have to take another test. In big cities like Taipei this is especially true, in places like Taitung it is only slightly less so. 臺東這裡的人喜歡考試,在每個角落都可以聽到人們談論考試的相關事情,這應該是都市中人們的的共相.

Tests, tests, tests - all the time, and after a while you wonder if there is any aspect of Taiwanese existence that doesn't depend on or relate to a test in some way.有時會懷疑是否有任何臺灣人可以跳脫考試的壓力.

Which is not to say that people like me aren't occasionally part of this problem. I am a teacher, and I am both required and encouraged to give tests. These tests, of course, can serve an important diagnostic function. They allow me, the teacher, to know at least something about what my students have learned, and by the same token they allow my students to measure their own progress against both the goals of the class and the progress of other students.我也是考試網絡中的一員,因為我是個老師,需要對學生考試而且也被要求這麼做,考試可被用來了解學生的學習狀況,也可以讓學生了解自己的學習成效.

This said, tests aren't the end-all-be-all of any class. In a language classroom, for example, testing speaking and listening can present significant problems, especially with regard to accents being used, time allowed for responses, authenticity of responses, and other limitations imposed by a classroom setting. If I have 60 or more students, for instance, accurately gauging both their listening and speaking ability is going to be an enormous task. Furthermore, if I was to test them individually in the context of a two-hour class, how much time does that leave me to test each student? Two whole minutes?在語言教室中,聽力與口說的測驗可以了解學生的口說正確性,也讓學生有時間直接與老師對談.但是在時間的限制上很難達到預定目標,例如我有六十個學生好了,在進行英聽與口語測驗時就會是一個很大的工程 ,因為在兩小時的一對一測驗中每個學生實際分到的時間只有兩分鐘而已,另外就只剩下兩分鐘的時間學習.

Or in two classes, four whole minutes. In three classes, six whole minutes, and so on. Given a university semester of ten class sessions, that would give me a total of 20 minutes per student - were I to turn the ENTIRE SEMESTER into a giant listening and speaking test.如果整個學期都以這樣的方式進行,那每個小朋友分到的總學習時數就只有二十分鐘而已.

And sure, I can use one of the abstract sort of listening tests, wherein students respond in written form to the spoken word. But how accurate is that? How often have you been asked to respond in writing to what someone has said?當然我也可以利用其他的考試方法,就讓學生考聽寫,但是這樣對他們的口語表達實在沒多大幫助,因為沒機會講.

I can also ask students to speak into microphones, and record their verbal responses for later use, but this is only slightly more authentic than having them respond in writing. After all, it takes two people to have a conversation, and having students respond question-by-question without really providing any input of their own falls short of a true exchange between individuals. It is not a conversation. How then, is it a test of conversational ability?對話的進行需要兩個或兩個以上的人,對著麥克風錄下答案就只是單方面的說,沒有另一方的回應,所以說到最後的問題是對話是否適合列入考試之一.

Comparatively speaking, reading and writing are much easier to test. Hence the emphasis on these skills throughout Taiwan. Unfortunately, the overemphasis on these two skill leads to a kind of "lopsided English" divorced from any real capacity to understand and respond to the spoken word.英文的讀寫考試是較簡易的考試方式,這應該也是現今會這麼盛行的原因吧!

I suppose what I am trying to say is that tests can't measure everything, and this is especially true in the case of languages. I can give you a math test and your score on that test will be a fair measurement of your level of  accomplishment in math, but any "conversational" test is likely to fall very short of the mark. Tests can be useful when used with discretion, and they can also be the gateway to promotions, schools, and new jobs, but they are not necessarily a reflection of how much you know. I know many people with excellent English who would probably test poorly in this subject, either because they possess a skill-set that is not being tested or they are just poor test-takers.考試的好壞不能完成代表能力的好壞,尤其在語言的考試上更是如此,我認識的一些朋友當中有的英文能力很好,但是考試成積就不理想,這可能是他自己不適合考試或是考得剛好是他不在行的.

It is also worthwhile to reflect on the difference between knowledge and wisdom. There are many knowledgeable people who are not wise, and many wise people who are not knowledgeable. Knowledge is just being smart: it is the ability to retain and recall information. Wisdom is being wise: it is the ability to live in harmony with oneself, others, and the world at large. In many contexts tests are good at measuring knowledge, but they are less-than-adequate indicators of how much wisdom one possesses.知識與智慧是有區別的,知識是指一個人處理訊息的能力;智慧則是處世的能力,考試能測的主要是知識的部分.

A wise person takes tests because they may prove useful to him or her. A wise person gives tests with an understanding of their limitations. Tests, it should be remembered, are not the ends in themselves but merely a means to an end. In this I try, at least, to be wise.有智慧的人接受考試是因為知道它有所用,而且也清楚自己的能力到那裡,考試應該只是一種學習的過程而不是學習的終止符.