Real-Life Communication
There is no doubt about the fact that language assessors must have
strong communication skills.
After all, they are trying to help adults
and children who have difficulty communicating. And they will not be able
to do that if they cannot understand their clients and respond to them.
But
they have to do so in a way that does not make their clients feel uncomfortable.
So they cannot belittle the language difficulties of their clients.
"Just
because somebody cannot properly read or write English does not mean that
they are not intelligent," says language assessor Wes Schroeder. This need
to make those who are assessed feel comfortable is especially great during
the all-important interview. Otherwise, they will reveal very little about
themselves and their language needs.
"From my perspective, the most
important thing is to be able...to encourage the person who is being assessed
to produce as much language as possible," says Helen Patterson.
"The
ideal situation is more like a conversation than an interview for them to
show the full extent of their language [skills]," she says.
Once an
assessment is done, the next step is to recommend an appropriate language
program. Language assessors must make themselves very clear here.
You
are a language assessor. You just assessed a 30-year-old computer scientist
who just moved to the U.S., and whose first language is not English. You must
now tell him the results of his assessment. Here are the details of the assessment.
- He did well in the reading and writing part of the assessment
- He did not do well in the interview
- Under current rules, you would refer him to a lower-level ESL (English
as a second language) class where he can practice his spoken English
- But the higher-level class would be less boring and more challenging
- On the other hand, he may not be able to keep up
- You recommend he should go to the higher level class
- He has a couple of days to decide
- The fact that he is a computer scientist shows that he can learn quickly
Write out what you would say to your client.