Please choose an option:

• What tests are available in CILL?
• How can I test myself
• Why should I test myself
• Problems and questions about teaching yourself

What tests are available in CILL?

• The Language Assessor
  A CD-ROM to test you level. Each test takes about 45 minutes. Tells you what exam you are ready for.
• Online Multiple-choice grammar tests
  Contain 50 questions with answers and follow-up references.  Identifies your problem areas

How can I Test Myself?

Click one of these links to see how to test yourself:

reading writing listening speaking

grammar vocabulary pronunciation learner pathways

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Reasons for Testing Yourself

1. to find out your strong and weak areas
2. to compare your present ability to the ability you want
3. to motivate yourself to achieve the abilities you want
4. to show you how well you are learning
5. to give you greater responsibility for your progress.


Problems and Questions about Testing Yourself:

How can I Test Myself? - I'm Not a Teacher!
Traditional school culture in Hong Kong does not encourage student responsibility in assessment, but the only person who really knows if you understand something is you! In school and university you can often pass exams if you only know 50% of a subject. If you do your own testing, you can find out how much you really know.

Assessment is the Responsibility of the Teacher, Isn't it?
In school and university partly 'Yes'. However, after you leave university you still have to learn things for your career. You will need to assess yourself, for example to find out what you don't know, so that you can plan what to learn. This is called 'Needs Analysis'.

I Need a Lot of Support and Guidance from the Teacher in Self-assessment.
That's OK. While you are learning and practising how to test yourself the CILL tutors will help you if you like. But your aims should be to learn how to assess yourself, so you need less and less support. After you leave university the CILL tutors will not be able to support you (unless you join the Alumni Association).

I Don't Know How to Test Myself
That's OK, you can find out on the Reading, Writing, Listening, Speaking, Grammar, Vocabulary, Pronunciation, and Learner Pathways pages.

My English Isn't Good Enough to Test Myself
Everyone can assess themselves. Everyone is always assessing themselves when they speak English to a person who does not speak their language. Research shows that many learners, especially female Chinese students, give themselves a lower ability rating than is really true from tests.

How Can I Test Myself?

Click these links to find out how to test yourself on reading, writing, listening, speaking, grammar, vocabulary and pronunciation.

Click here for a Needs Analysis / Planning / Studying / Assessment Form that you can print out and fill in.

Research Reference:

Thomson, Chihiro Kinoshita (1996) Self-assessment in self-directed learning. In Pemberton, Richard; et al.(1996) Taking Control: Autonomy in Language Learning. Hong Kong, Hong Kong University Press, 77 - 92.

If you have any suggestions or questions, please e-mail us at .

Last updated on: Thursday, February 23, 2006.