Brian Barabe On AP Language Testing

I got this from Brian recently:

Hi, Ben,

This is in response to Laura Goley’s plea for advice on the moretprs list after her students got low scores on the AP Spanish exam:

Point #1: Language acquisition, for first and second languages, is basically and predominantly an unconscious process.

Point #2: The AP language tests, at least for Spanish and French, favor four percenters, those who are good at left-brained, conscious language learning. They may do well on the test without necessarily having acquired the language in a deep and lasting sense, nor even be on their way to such acquisition. By this I mean acquisition in the sense of unconscious absorption of the language as opposed to consciously learning to manipulate language rules.

Point #3: A test should align or be compatible with the methods used by the teacher and learners to reach the stated goal, in our case acquisition of a second language, and not the other way around. That is, what goes on in the classroom should not be determined by the form and methodology of the test. If there’s a bad match between the test and the classroom approach and methods, it’s the test that should be questioned.

Point #4: The results of districts, administrators, and teachers buying into AP classes for second languages are several: most importantly, 95% of kids, the ones who need to learn a language through comprehensible input, unconscious, low affective filter methods, don’t succeed in learning a second language. They are children who are perfectly capable of learning a second language – just not by means of the program dictated by the College Board for the AP test. Those kids and their teachers become frustrated and demoralized because they measure themselves according to an unrealistic, left-brained yardstick. Demoralized? Haunted with a sense of failure expresses it more accurately. That is the result on a personal level. On a national level our country doesn’t increase its number of citizens who can speak a language in addition to English, and we remain a monolingual nation, to our detriment.

Point #5: Follow the money. What are the economics of AP language tests? First, students making certain scores are allowed to skip certain levels of college level language courses. In reality, this means that they may start taking the same language at a more advanced level than 101, 102, 201, or 202—or they may simply skip taking a foreign language in college, thus saving the cost of 6, 8, 12, 16 or more undergraduate hours. I have no statistics on how many do which, but the question must be asked: Is a student deciding not to take any more 2nd language classes after they get to college consistent with our goals of getting more Americans who can speak at least one other language well? The company that produces and sells AP language tests makes money on that plus all the study materials and the expensive workshops offered to AP teachers. In other words, AP testing is a business – a big, lucrative business. Administrators look good when many kids take AP tests, and especially when the kids do well – regardless of whether or not they have acquired the language. As long as there are a few fours and fives in the group, most administrators can sell that to their bosses. But should administrators be purveyors for the AP testing company? Should administrators be procurers, or that other word that starts with p, providing the company with kids who pay to take the AP tests and with teachers who, for the sake of their job security, will take the AP workshops and order the AP materials for their classes?

Tagged as: Assessment/Grading