more questions about the exams

[duyi]

Thanks for your help. I will remember you the questions I made because I need more help.
-Is it a good idea the use of translation exercises into a grammar exam?
- Is it better to use the teacher voice or a cd when you apply a listening exam?
I had a discussion with my partners at work about these questions. They said that it was a good idea (the first question) because in that way the parents and my partners could see the children learning progress and the children could demonstrate that they understood the language. However I disagree.
About the second question, we use cds and technology resources in class. And my partners say that the use of the teacher voice and cd in exams help children to distinguish different pronunciations. I disagree because our native language is Spanish so I prefer the cd in exams.
Please, I appreciate your opinion.

[Tdol]

1 Translation is a skill in itself and does not test grammar effectively IMO. For example, many languages don't use articles, so the translation into that language wouldn't use articles; does this demonstrate an understanding of the use of the articles in English? Also, the texts to translate would give the students the grammatical forms, so they are not being asked to produce, manipulate, edit, etc, the forms in the target language. If they make vocabulary errors, should they lose marks?
Your colleagues say that the parents can see the results, but this is meaningless unless the parents speak English too and can compare the forms; merely seeing some sentences written in Spanish won't show a great deal without points of comparison. Surely, the teacher's report will help clarify the issue of progress.

2 In an exam, every effort should be made to ensure objectivity so using CDs strikes me as the better choice. If the teacher reads a text, there is always the risk of signals, often unintentional ones, that will guide the students towards the correct answers.