Director of Operations, South Asia, Cambridge English Language Assessment (CELA) , Angela ffrench, was in Hyderabad recently to interact with school principals, educationists, institutions and State education officials to discuss on a host of issues ranging from communication skills, Cambridge examinations and of course, the English language.
The top Cambridge official for South Asia believes that to be able to survive and achieve success in the corporate world, be it in India or elsewhere, an understanding of English is mandatory. During her visit, Angela ffrench interacted with M. SAI GOPAL and spoke on the role of Cambridge assessment tests, what the industry wants and what needs to be done.
How useful is CELA for students and job seekers in India?
At Cambridge, we have been developing high quality examinations in English for over 100 years. We have students taking our exams from all over the world because our tests are internationally recognised markers of English language competence.
There are a good number of people in India who speak and have fantastic communicative ability in English. However, there are also an aspiring number of Indians who would like to improve their English for better job prospects. So, one of the things that we do is to help such people improve their job prospects. My experience is that India has incredible talent but many have difficulty in expressing their knowledge. Our exams are there to really help such brilliant brains and enable hem to share that knowledge.
What are the kind of exams that CELA has?
We have English tests for young children between 7 and 12 years. These tests make language learning fun and everybody passes. Such tests are aimed at getting an indication of how good they are in four skills i.e. Listening, Speaking, Reading and Writing (LSRW). We also have exams for older schoolchildren of 12-16 age group. We are the examining board that produces examination papers for IELTS and validate scores of candidates.
Then, we have another series of examinations that are particularly important in India for students in higher education. So this range of qualifications is called Business English Certificate (BEC). These are typically used across the country by students who are about to leave their college and are going for employability.
How do exams like BEC help students who are seeking work?
There are 20,000 institutions and industries that recognise our examinations worldwide. That means a company, for example, Cognizant, knows the significance if a candidate in a job application says that he or she has BEC certificate. The company understands that applicants have a particular level of LSRW skills in English. There are IT companies who have made it mandatory for applicants to have BEC qualification. In fact, in China if you apply for P&G, their online admissions website asks applicants whether they have BEC or not.
So what is the difference between Cambridge exams and exams of English language courses offered by schools and universities?
Cambridge exams treat English as a skill and not as a subject. So, we don’t test someone’s understanding of Shakespeare, Wordsworth or Milton. We don’t test their ability to write a good novel or a story. What we test is their ability to write a report, a review or perhaps a proposal. Sort of things that are needed while one works in this world. We test whether someone can speak for an extended period than just superficial chit chat.
Does one need to prepare for such exams?
Students with good English language skills could appear for the tests without any extra preparation. However, they would need to be familiar with the kinds of questions one has to face in the test.
