Dear Cambridge English Language Assessment: Your Days are Numbered…
…and thank God for that.
Versión en español aquí.
Now, I must begin with a concession: Nobody can write an English assessment quite like you. And with generally good intentions, you’ve established yourself as one of the most authoritative voices when it comes to evaluating English language abilities. Your exams are long. They are exhaustive. They are thoughtfully constructed. They are internationally recognized.
They are also, generally, around €200.
The absurd cost isn’t my only gripe, though. The Cambridge exams offer life-long certifications. This means that when students (with financial resources) are able to spend a summer cramming for the B2 exam with a private tutor – and when they subsequently pass the exam and receive a certification – they may rest on their B2 laurels until retirement. But language level is fickle – it ebbs and flows as you go through life either maintaining it, or neglecting it. Ask my degree in Norwegian how my Norwegian level is doing (It’s not doing well).
This is a significant flaw – and though I have no statistics to offer you, I can share some anecdotal observations: Many people have shown me their B2 certifications, only to proceed by speaking to me in A2 English. Others have no certificate at all, and yet, somehow, miraculously, speak to me in C1 English. The honest truth is this: If I were on a hiring committee, I wouldn’t ask a candidate for an English certification. Not even one from Cambridge. I’d want to hear the candidate myself.
So therein lies the ultimate – and fatal – defect of these exams. They don’t work because their longevity is manufactured. But that’s not all.
Cambridge English, and institutions like it, foment a culture that prioritizes test-preparation over genuine learning. Today, countless academies all over Spain offer expensive courses that are specifically designed to prepare for these exams – each day of the week pertaining to a different section (e.g. Writing, Listening, Speaking, Reading). Adapting our curriculum to these tests is a costly, ineffective approach to language education. But it doesn’t have to be this way.
As ChatGPT and other models of AI enter the market, we’re having to learn, and learn quickly, how to use these tools to sharpen our every-day work and productivity. Countless articles have already been written about ChatGPT’s many benefits to language learners (and educators!) – but one of its more exciting abilities remains largely untapped: Its language level assessment – which I’ve tried out myself:
I began by writing in Spanish. I explained my language background, the amount of time I’ve been studying, and the things I continue to struggle with. I talked about my day, my work, my hopes for the future – as much as I could (or, at least, as much as I could be bothered to). Then, I asked ChatGPT to evaluate my level according to the CEFR criteria.
Within seconds, it told me that the given sample of grammatical structures and vocabulary indicated a B2 level. That’s what I would have guessed – B2. But it’s nice to have it confirmed. I could have gotten that result through an official exam, but doing it this way provided an accurate evaluation. And what’s more – it saved me €200.
Admittedly, there are limitations. ChatGPT’s language assessment is exclusively text-based, and the technology is still in its early years. But it will only continue to develop and expand in its capabilities. All we have to do is strap in for the ride – work with it, not against it. It’s an exciting possibility, one that promises to democratize the measurement and classification of language level. No more test-taking mania. No more exorbitant fees.
And as for you, Cambridge English: You can go ahead and write up your last will and testament, because you won't be writing exams for much longer.
I can think of nary a person who will lament that fact.
By: Mikkel Undlin
Profesor de inglés en la Academia de Inglés Lincoln, dedicado a la transformación positiva y metodologías innovadoras dentro del campo de la lingüística y los estudios de inglés.
