There are quite a number of reasons why an examiner cannot understand the person being examined. One is that the examinee has different accent or intonation that the examiner is not very used to. The accent of an American speaking English is totally different from the accent of a Chinese or a Japanese speaking English. Not only is the accent different but the pronunciation of each syllable as well. Japanese people seem find it hard to pronounce words with letter L. They instead substitute the letter L with letter R as they pronounce the word. For example, halo-halo is one of the most delicious desserts of the Filipino culture. Japanese pronounce this word as haro-haro instead of halo-halo. In the Amoy dialect, the word Si can either mean death or the number four or the word yes. The only difference for this syllable is its intonation. If the examinee would utter the wrong intonation, chances are he would be misinterpreted by the examiner. I myself almost got into trouble because of my wrong intonation. I was often misunderstood without me being aware of it. Luckily someone was kind enough to inform me about it. In another place, somebody almost got himself killed because of his different accent. He tried to speak the native language with his accent and the people there thought he was insulting them. He was exasperated as he tried to explain and defend himself from their violent attacks. He was finally rescued by some of his teammates who were aboard a helicopter. Our accent and intonation can actually make us or break us or even kill us!
There is also the factor of difference in culture. There is a word or a phrase that would mean “ I’m sorry” to a certain province of a particular culture but mean “I wish you would die” to another province of the same culture. The examiner must be quick and broadminded enough to understand that the examinee may mean no harm and that it is just a matter of cultural differences. There was one time I heard of a foreigner who was trying to invite the native people to join him in eating dinner. He was being polite and he surely meant very well but it did not come out that way to the people he was inviting. The way it was said, sounded as “you eat and you have no shame.” I had to tell these people that what the foreigner meant was to invite them to join him to eat dinner and not to insult them. Good thing that the people did not take offense and politely smiled at the foreigner. They also did not forget to thank him for his kind gesture to them. Luckily, there was a translator for them so that both parties could understand each other clearly.
There was once a Japanese man who married a lady from Thailand. This lady was meek, sweet, submissive and have a tiny voice. She tried her best to learn Japanese language in order to understand and be understood by the people she is now surrounded with. She also made efforts to enhance her English speaking skill. Because of her hard work and persistence, there was progress on her part. Though she could now speak fluent Japanese language, she was not able to master the proper accent, intonation and diction. This caused trouble for her with her mother in law. While she tried her best to fit in to the Japanese culture, it sounded as if she was being rude to the mother of her husband. Of course the mother in law would complain to her son about the rudeness of his wife. The confused wife would then tell his husband about what happened and what words she said to her mother in law. The husband came to the analysis and conclusion that everything was just about cultural differences.
Let’s also take into consideration that examiners have their own personal biases too. When they see an examinee who seems not to meet their taste or standard, most examiners would become closed minded and refuse to make an effort to understand the poor examinee at all. They become impatient and irritable that it would be obvious to the examinee that the examiner is already annoyed with him. This would then lessen the confidence and increase the nervous feeling of the examinee. This in effect would cause him to make more mistakes as he tries his best to stay in focus. A foreigner who is not so much familiar with the language he is trying to speak tends to stutter a lot. Since the examinee is making more and more errors, the effect is that the examiner gets more and more impatient with him.
There was one time that an examiner was having problems with his personal life. Unintentionally and unknowingly, he was already bringing his problems and extra luggage plus hang ups with him to his work. He became grouchy, complained a lot and caused minor problems to become big issues. According to his colleagues, he became very hard to deal with thus everyone started to dislike and avoid working with him. The poor examinees became the unwilling victims of this problematic examiner. They were the ones who bore the consequences of the negative attitude of their examiner. He was unreasonably, unbelievably and extremely strict with them that it was impossible to pass his standards. The school noticed that the number of their students began to decrease. News about the way this examiner handles his examinees came to the attention of the school’s administrators. They realized that since nobody passes the standard of the problematic examiner, it would mean lesser students to enroll to their school. The school administration sent a warning notice to the said examiner. Good thing that the examiner quickly realized his mistakes and began to go back to his old self that is calm, considerate and sensitive towards the examinees.
There are also times that the examinee should speak loudly and clearly for them to be heard and understood. Quite a number of examinees tend to be shy and timid causing them to speak little or too softly. Some become tongue tied because their fear and nervous feeling is overwhelming. Some examinees could not meet the examiners in the eye and their heads are bowed down as they speak. These demonstrate lack of confidence and will not be of advantage to them. Examinees should try their very best to be eloquent. They should know their weaknesses beforehand and try to work on them before they have themselves examined especially if they are applying for a job or enrolling for a school. Of course being examined so that one would know how he rates would also be good for him. This way, he would know which area to focus and work on. Foreigners may be able to speak fluent English but their listening skill rates very low. On the other hand, there are some people who rates high in their listening skill but find it hard to speak a straight sentence.
It is usually the examinees who are required to study and prepare hard before they have their examinations. But in my opinion, the examiners should also do their part in the preparation process. Language examiners should try their best to learn languages and accents from all over the world. Of course we do not require them to actually learn and master all the languages. Getting exposed to every country’s language would make it easier for the examiners to familiarize themselves with the accents and intonation of a particular country. This way, they would not have culture shock and would not find it hard to understand an examinee that would be coming from another country.
The schools, learning centers and offices should be very careful in hiring good and quality examiners. The human resource department should take special note if the examiners are cultivated people or not. Examiners are allowed to give their criticisms to their examinees granted that it would be relayed in a constructive way. Most people would show their dislike or annoyance at once but not so with cultivated people. They have mustered the skill of being calm and they carefully select their words especially if they would need to rebuke or say a constructive criticism to somebody. “A gentle answer turns away wrath but a harsh word stirs up anger.” This is a verse from the book of Proverbs that a wise examiner should live by. If the school can afford it, they should hire a person who is well traveled and learned. This type of people are broadminded because they have been exposed to the world so they are able to understand and respect different cultures. They would not be petty and hopefully not materialistic. Some examiners cannot help but focus on the physical appearance of the examinee. This is normal because proper grooming is expected whether in school or at work. But unfortunately, some examiners would rate the examinee very low just because their appearance was not pleasing to the examiners. They forget that it was the language skills of the examinee that they were supposed to evaluate and not the physical aspect.
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