Methods of Assessment

Accommodating Complete Beginners during a 60 minute Placement Test

It is important to detect who the complete beginners are, before leaving them with 60 minutes in which to complete an impossible task.

In an ideal world, language schools would know the names and host families of learners who have no previous knowledge of the English alphabet and would be able to send them directly to classrooms where teachers are equipped to focus on basic literacy. These classes need special resources, which would not be appropriate for learners who are already familiar with the Roman alphabet.

True beginners, who have no previous contact with the Roman alphabet, need to be taught in very small groups using materials such as those listed below or the free handwriting worksheets I have provided in the basic literacy section of this site. Plenty of teacher time, input and encouragement will be needed before these learners will be ready to progress to very elementary general course books.

Schools ready to offer English to true beginners should have a bank of literacy materials to provide for their special needs and staff with experience in teaching basic literacy. There are good phonics handbooks on the market now that look and say methods alone have proved insufficient and phonics have undergone a revival. Although many of these materials are intended for children, they are a good source of ideas for developing your own worksheets for adults.