Monday March 17 2008 14:40 IST
WANNA take the Graded Examinations in Spoken English (GESE) being conducted by the prestigious Trinity College of London? If yes, here is good news for you. After China, Trinity College of London, is introducing GESE examinations in India with native trainers.
"We have been in association with Trinity since 2000, and it was our ambition to introduce exams which are suitable for Indian students. In the beginning, we will be conducting GESE exams for lower grades, using native examiners trained by Trinity," said Joe Tun Sein, Consultant, Examinations Divisions Orient Longman. Orient Longman is the National Manager (ESOL Examinations), Trinity College London in India. "Primary education in India is at the crossroads, and the GESE would be the answer to that," he added.
The first GESE, using native trainers in India was held at St Joseph's School, Chennai, recently, followed by other selected schools in Tamil Nadu.
"Since the trainers from Trinity were replaced by Indian teachers, the fee for examinations can be brought down by nearly 50 per cent. We also have plans to train the teachers at the schools itself, and conduct similar kind of exams all over India," added Joe.
"As a beginning, local examiners will monitor the exams for lower grades. The higher grades will be done by trainers from the UK," said Mary Jaffer, an examiner trainer from Trinity College, London, who was in the city recently to monitor the examination process in schools in Tamil Nadu. Elaborating on why Indian trainers, Mary said, "India has excellent teachers. Here English is not considered a ‘foreign language’ and many speak in English on a regular basis." "Currently, we are entertaining native trainers only in China and India, where the population is high and we need local trainers," she said.
Orient Longman also has plans to offer exams using local trainers for higher grades in the near future.
"The Indian examination system is focused on learning things by heart. There are a lot of assessments in writing, reading and grammar, but not in spoken English. GESE is spontaneous communication, and as it advances from lower to higher grades, the examiner would be replaced," added Mary Jaffer.
Graded examinations in spoken English (GESE) Trinity's Graded Examinations in Spoken English provide a reliable and valid scheme of assessment, through which candidates, teachers and parents may measure progress and development, whether for educational and vocational purposes or as a leisure activity.
GESE are designed for speakers of other languages (ESOL), and set realistic objectives in listening to and speaking with other English speakers. The grades take the learner from a very low level of proficiency (Grade 1) to an advanced level of proficiency comparable with first language ability (Grade 12).
The examinations take the form of a one-to-one, face-to-face interview, between the candidate and an examiner. The examinations replicate real life exchanges in which candidates and examiner pass on information, share ideas and opinions, and debate topical issues. The students' ability to communicate through conversation is tested in GESE, and since it is available in 12 grades, students can choose the grade that best suits their level of proficiency.
Students' skill in conversation, presentation of the topic, interactive tasks and listening capability are assessed in the test.
Assessment criteria include coverage, accuracy and appropriate, of the listed communication skills, language functions and grammatical, lexical and phonological items, and fluency and promptness of response appropriate for the grade.
For more details about the exam and the syllabus, you can visit www.trinitycollege.co.uk.
For registration details mail to exams@orientlongman.com.
Trinity Graded Examinations
The exams are conducted at 12 levels, grouped into 4 developmental levels:
The Initial Level Grades-1, 2, 3
Test Pattern - Conversation
The Elementary Level
Grades - 4, 5, 6
Test Pattern – Conversation + Topic Discussion
The Intermediate Level
Grades - 7, 8, 9
Test Pattern- Conversation +Topic Discussion + Interactive task
The Advanced Level
Grades-10, 11, 12
Test Pattern- Conversation +Topic Discussion + Interactive task + Listening task
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