Animal training
I’m an educator. (Cue mocking laughter.) I spent last weekend in Malaysia on a training course. This meant having excessive amounts of information pumped into my head, little of which my mind managed to retain. What I do remember clearly is InterBac assessment = lots of work . Lots. (Because I was aware of that, I didn’t make my surprised face.) I also remember that the workshop leader only has ten students. I have about 60 of my own. It’s also not hard for students to be adequate in the InterBac programme. Like the IGCSE ESL mark scheme, the InterBac mark scheme is so relaxed that it’s horizontal. Guaranteed to flatter should be the slogan. In fact, when I was making suggestions about things we could do to stretch the best students, it struck me that EFL is for the hard of thinking (in the “hard of hearing sense”). Yes, I know it’s all about testing language rather than intellect. Once upon a time, the rubrics for different IELTS bands used to refer to the effect a pi...