Assessing English on the Global Stage - The British Council and English Language Testing, 1941-2016 - Authors :
3. Testing the Academic English of Overseas Students Coming to Britain, 1954-1982: The British Council Interview and the English Proficiency Test Battery
Assessing English on the Global Stage - The British Council and English Language Testing, 1941-2016 - Authors :
Authors :
Description
Chapter 3 considers the British Council’s increasing responsibility for government sponsored overseas students coming to Britain in the 1960s, which led to their direct involvement in actual language test development particularly in the important area of assessing academic English proficiency. In the 1960s the British Council staff in Spring Gardens became directly involved in a test development project that resulted in the English Proficiency Test Battery (EPTB). EPTB was intended to assess the language proficiency of those overseas students wishing to study at tertiary level in Britain. The language related study skills required for academic study in the UK and the problems overseas students had with these in the 1970s are then explored through a systematic review of the literature of the time. This review suggests why a revised test, which more closely mirrored the language activities students would need to carry out on their courses, was urgently required to replace EPTB.