Page 23 - ELG2005 May Issue 470

WHAT NEXT: NEW TECHNOLOGY . SPECIAL FEATURE

Is AI poised to dominate testing? Zooming in on teacher training

Can computers replace human language testers? They are getting Has the coronavirus crisis finally cracked the online teaching
close, as John Roscoe finds out practice conundrum, asks Melanie Butler

he ascendance of artificial ondon is in lockdown. Colleges, teaching experience. This remains extremely Covid-19 may have made this necessary,
intelligence (AI) as the ultimate NEEDPIX universities and private language rare, however, for distance degrees, none of but it is new technological tools which have
solution to assessment of English schools are all closed. But the teacher which, as far as we know, have turned to an made it possible. While the earliest online
Tlanguage proficiency has long been Ltraining department at International online alternative. teaching platforms worked well with one-to-
anticipated. While its arrival may be House London is having a “miniboom”, For initial training courses, such as those one teaching, the newer multi-user interfaces
imminent, it is, as of yet, only at the according to Assistant Director, Jessica run by Cambridge, face-to-face teaching have brought the classroom into the
threshold, according to the research findings Andrews. teacher’s home.
of tech start-up, English Without Borders. All their Celta courses, the IH London, for example, uses Zoom,
The company has been researching AI Cambridge four-week initial training In an astonishingly short time, which works best with groups of up to
products and services with a view to programmes, are running, and the part- ten students and allows the teacher to
incorporating them into its platform, which is time ones are proving particularly online teaching practice was simulate group work by putting students
designed to assist business and industry in popular with furloughed Londoners and into digital break rooms.
meeting their needs for an English-proficient those working at home. And there is no possible. Online education is particularly
workforce. shortage of learners wishing to sign up suited to classroom observation, with
It sees AI as on the verge of conquering for the ‘practice classes’ where trainee practice remains a sine qua non. That is, until course tutors able to see what exactly is
the final challenges to fully automated, teachers try out their skills. “We have a the UK government closed schools to most happening without intruding in the lesson.
objective evaluation of the English language waiting list,” reports Andrews. students on 23 March, leaving trainees on While the ease of recording helps teachers in
proficiency of job candidates. An impressive But how are the teaching practice sessions Celta courses stranded in mid-course. While receiving feedback.
number of Fortune 500 companies, including Can educators extract value from AI testing? taking place? The answer is: online. input sessions could be given online, On top of this, in a world where more and
the likes of Microsoft, Adecco and Distance teacher training is nothing new in Cambridge rules required teaching practice more EFL teachers are working online,
Bombardier, are on the client lists of The time required to take the online tests One company’s product offered the world of English language teaching. The to be face-to-face. practising on line will also become
companies developing AI English evaluation. averaged one hour; substantially less than compensatory features, including ‘Distance Delta’, as the
Even some national governments are offering most traditional assessments. While this did reproduction and markings of the test Cambridge Diploma
the tests to employees. much to eliminate the possibility of errors submissions for review by the client (not the programme run by
The formats used in English testing via AI caused by fatigue, there was a feeling that, in test-taker). Its proficiency-level matrices International House and the
mirror traditional proctored, centre-based some areas, the depth of testing might be could also be manually adjusted by the client, British Council is known, is
evaluations. They cover the four barely adequate. meaning it was not a one-size-fits-all now more than 35 years old,
competencies: listening and reading evaluation. while the NILE Norwich
comprehension, and spoken and written The test scores are valuable tools in a Masters course is over 20
expression. They outshine the most The test scores are valuable recruiter’s toolbox but shouldn’t be used years old as, indeed, are
widely-used traditional assessments in as absolute determiners in choosing many of the Masters courses
the ease and flexibility of the on- tools in a recruiter’s toolbox but candidates. listed on page 24. And
demand tests, a much lower cost and shouldn’t be used as absolute The fact that AI demonstrates deficits online Celta courses have
the instantaneous delivery of results. in assessing writing is a well-known been available for a decade.
I am a project contributor to English determiners in choosing phenomenon. Some time ago a provider But until Covid-19, the
Without Borders research and of traditional English language tests had impossibility of providing
development, having worked for two candidates. its AI essay evaluation algorithm good teaching practice
decades with English proficiency exams, ‘gamed’ by a prep-instructor, resulting in online, especially for group
including, Teofl, Toeic and Ielts, as well as Some of the multiple-choice questions outrage, backlash and a renewed emphasis on classes, has meant that all
preparing students for the English essay seemed arbitrary, with options that were human markers. pre-experience training had
portion of the Brazilian Foreign Service synonymous and without discernible Newer technology appears on track to a face-to-face element.
Exam. connotative differences. The identification of eliminate this problem. As any of the 500 It is worth noting that
I was recruited to evaluate the accuracy of the passive-voice was tested, but not its use – million daily users of Google Translate know, teaching practice, or
the AI tests, and the user interfaces. A the value of this in screening a potential AI language capacity has advanced by leaps practicums, are not given
sample of Brazilian English speakers, ranging employee seems unclear. and bounds, since Google went from Phrase- the same importance across Online meeting rooms can work well for practicums, and particularly for observations
from basic to highly advanced, were recruited Overall, it emerged that AI appeared to Based Machine Translation to Google Neural all cultures. In the US,
to take the tests and native English speakers corroborate previous subjective assessments Machine Learning in 2008. practicums are often optional, with theory Faced with trainees, like those at IH increasingly necessary.
with graduate degrees also participated. of the Brazilian test-takers. However, it If test providers can similarly eliminate the taking pride of place. In China, observation London, who had only one more session to But this is not a panacea. Younger learners
Finally, project contributors took the tests seemed to be inordinately harsh to all of the problems in assessing writing, the advantages of ‘master’ teachers is seen as key. In Britain, do before they could complete their course, may bridle at the physical restrictions, and it
themselves. native speakers in scoring. Even native of AI will far outweigh the disadvantages, for and to a lesser extent throughout the Cambridge initially allowed for one of the may be harder to vary the pace and rhythm
We evaluated several assessment suppliers. speaker consultants scored just 40 percent on both test-takers and test-givers. Commonwealth, experience in the classroom compulsory classroom practices to take place of the lesson and to build group cohesion. It
Privacy agreements mean I cannot name the the essay! Project team members agreed that One remaining caveat is the prevention of is seen as essential for pre-experience online. may also, as some IH London students have
companies, test content or mechanisms. the AI algorithm may have interpreted a fraud and cheating offered by proctored tests training, though not for post-graduate They then contacted many of the larger commented, be less fun.
I can, however, report that interfaces challenge to the premise of the essay question at registered sites. While a valid concern, it is courses like Masters degrees, which in the training providers to see how the situation Certainly, online practicums should not be
varied. Some were slightly confusing and ill- as ‘irrelevant content’, whereas a human worth noting that in light of the Covid-19 UK have traditionally been taken by teachers could be managed. Discussions ensued seen as a complete replacement for face-to-
timed, with little orientation offered to evaluator may not. quarantine, ETS is now offering off-site Toefl after several years of classroom experience. involving technological tools and possible face practice, although they can certainly
presumably nervous test-takers. Others were Grammatical assessments failed to note testing. However, demand from overseas markets tweaks to criteria such as group sizes and complement it. When the lockdowns are
considerate and intuitive, giving test-takers one mistake and did not accept an idiomatic for Masters degrees which do not require observation schemes. In an astonishingly over, Cambridge should certainly reinstate
adequate instruction and practice examples, inclusion. A second attempt, written in a John Roscoe is an EFL consultant working classroom experience, but which do offer short time, online teaching practice was face-to-face practice. Were they to banish
along with sufficient time to digest more straightforward manner, scored 80 in Brazil. classroom practice, has meant that campus- possible. But only for as long as the online teaching practice completely, they
instructions offered in the test-takers’ L1. percent higher. based post-graduate degrees now offer coronavirus crisis made it necessary. would be banishing a useful tool.

22 May 2020 editorial@elgazette.com 23