Page 30 - ELG1710 Oct Issue 451

INTERVIEW .
REVIEWS & RESOURCES
The small independent

putting the fun in testing

Andrew Stokes, managing director of the Hong Kong-based EFL software company
Clarity English, talks to Melanie Butler about testing on mobile phones, the perils of
unanswered emails and high tech toasters

n Clarity always strikes me as an ELT disruptor, a company we talked to about large-scale digital placement testing, had 2,000 freshers
started by two guys, a Tefler and a nerd, in a spare bedroom to test. And a computer room with just 20 desktop machines, so it would
in Hong Kong. This year you went handheld – producing a have taken half a semester to test them all. We soon realised that every
placement test for mobile phones. Are you taking on the edtech one of those 2,000 students had a powerful computer sitting right in front
giants? of them: their phone. And of course, a smartphone is not only convenient
No, I don’t think so. We are quite happy as a small independent (and paid for by the student); it’s also an ideal tool for a basic language
publisher with the freedom to take on projects we enjoy and which we test. For most people, especially of that generation, their handheld device
think will be useful. For example, we are currently working on an online is their primary means of communication.
course to help nurses in the Philippines get the 7.0 in Ielts Writing that
they need to work in the UK. That’s way too small for an edtech giant. n What was the biggest technical challenge that you faced in
terms of the test?
n You developed the Dynamic Placement We wanted a test We wanted a test that is as democratic as
WRITE A CAPTION
Test with the German test specialists Telc. possible. It needs to be able to run in less developed
Did the test already exist and you adapted that is as democratic areas, such as remote parts of the Philippines.
it – or did you develop the test to fit the This means that we can only rely on intermittent
technology? as possible. It needs to internet connections, so we had to make sure that
be able to run in less it continues to run even when the connection is
For our first online test, the concept was to lost, which we achieved. But actually, the biggest
digitise a paper test, which meant a lot of gapfill developed areas, such challenge has been administrative. For example,
and multiple choice. This time we realised that the system sends out emails to students with a
with digital tests we have opportunities to do new as remote parts of the download link for the app. We were surprised to
things. For example, rearranging words to form a discover that a lot of students never check their
sentence. Think of all the skills involved in that. Philippines email. That kind of issue comes from out of the
You need to understand the words individually blue and finding solutions (Facebook? Instagram?
and how they relate to each other. You also need Whiteboard?) is part of the fun of it.
to be able to cope with the grammar, and to interact with the functional
intent of the sentence. It’s complex and challenging; it‘s not possible n Taking out your crystal ball, where do you see the love affair
just to skim through clicking a, b or c at random. We hope that it is also between tech and testing in ten years time? Will our toaster be
more fun — there doesn’t seem to be very much fun in testing these days. testing us too?
One thing I admire about Telc is that they are interested in making tests Yes, and that will be a proper test with consequences. Anyone who has
engaging and enjoyable.. used Amazon’s Alexa knows that you will tell your toaster that you want
your bagel ‘lightly done’, ‘slightly overdone’ or ‘burnt to a crisp’. You will
n Why put a test on mobile phones? Isn’t this just a gimmick? be able to assess the accuracy of your vocabulary against the surface of the
It’s a question of logistics. Asia University in Taiwan, the first institution bagel that pops up.

30 October 2017 Month 2017 00