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#2 (permalink) Sat Jun 17, 2006 13:28 pm What is your diagnosis? |
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That sounds very strange, Jamie! 
Maybe SAT scores are so low that this student's ESL placement test score was comparable?
I really don't have a clue....
Amy |
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Yankee I'm a Communicator ;-)

Joined: 16 Apr 2006 Posts: 8265 Location: USA
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Spencer I'm here quite often ;-)

Joined: 07 Feb 2006 Posts: 326
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#4 (permalink) Sun Jun 18, 2006 4:57 am What is your diagnosis? |
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Hello, I met the same story few times in London, all accidents happened with Japanese and Korean students, they got extremly high scores at the writting exams and were even granded some certificates advanced English level but their conversation skills were poor really close to zero. The opposite situation happened with my friend he was attending a course in London ( cheap ) were students were just not coming to the class they paid probably for a course to get visa and were enjoing English anywere in the industry togeather with cheaques in pounds afterwards. He was that way alone with a teacher and they finish first in the pub (extended lessons ) A teacher had seduced poor gay ( very extended lessons) and he had profited in amazing accend and really fluent talk. Later somebody convinced him to make this more official on paper but in a time of the exam he found himself unably to spell even his teacher name. Studing alone means sometimes just being away from real word and real place of your skills. Regards Jan |
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Jan I'm here quite often ;-)
Joined: 01 Apr 2006 Posts: 318 Location: At sea
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#5 (permalink) Sun Jun 18, 2006 7:38 am What is your diagnosis? |
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Hi again, Jamie
What kind of a test was it? Did it only test reading and nothing else? Purely a multiple choice test?
Amy |
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Yankee I'm a Communicator ;-)

Joined: 16 Apr 2006 Posts: 8265 Location: USA
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#6 (permalink) Sun Jun 18, 2006 7:42 am What is your diagnosis? |
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Well,in that situation if he was not cheating then maybe just reading so much , or making tests tests tests and once more tests , he managed to achive that level just by reading or doing in mono mono mono the tests (with everything bad togeather involved in such a case) ...??? Jan every student knows learning for an exam doesn't mean to learn really something, it is ultraindustrial age and we score point, points, points,points for the system learning you may at home after duties ha ha .. |
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Jan I'm here quite often ;-)
Joined: 01 Apr 2006 Posts: 318 Location: At sea
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Yankee I'm a Communicator ;-)

Joined: 16 Apr 2006 Posts: 8265 Location: USA
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#8 (permalink) Sun Jun 18, 2006 11:24 am What is your diagnosis? |
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| Yankee wrote: |
What kind of a test was it? Did it only test reading and nothing else? Purely a multiple choice test? |
It was the ESL Compass test, which is ACT's equivalent of the computerized TOEFL.
I think that what happened is that this student's entire focus, probably from the beginning of her English study was passing the TOEFL. She may even have taken TOEFL cram courses, so that now she can do wonders on standardized ESL tests without any real, practical command of English.
A few months ago I was called for private lessons by a South American dentist who claimed that his entire background in English was just one TOEFL cram course that lasted five months. He had an astounding TOEFL score, but his actual English knowledge was approximately low intermediate. The advantage this man had was that he was aware of his predicament and was then trying to actually learn English. Some test-takers don't understand this, and they think that since they scored high on the TOEFL their English must be good. Then they get upset when the college won't allow them to take regular classes. |
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Jamie (K) I'm a Communicator ;-)
Joined: 24 Feb 2006 Posts: 5332 Location: Detroit, Michigan, USA
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Pamela I'm a Communicator ;-)
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