Today, we'll talk about the language tests. As we know, the testing history in the world can be traced back to nearly two thousand years ago. And in today's lecture, I'd like to mainly discuss the different types of language testing. The first one is a placement test, which is designed to sort new students into teaching groups, so that they can start a course at approximately the same level as the other students in the class. It is concerned with the student's present standing, and so relates to general ability rather than specific points of learning. As a rule, the results are needed quickly so that teaching may begin. A variety of tests is necessary because a range of different activities is more likely to give an accurate overall picture of a student's level than a single assessment. Sometimes one member of staff sees each student individually before the final class allocation is made. This procedure has several advantages. It helps to complete the assessment for each individual student by disclosing factors which are not revealed by the written tests, either positive ones such as a friendly, outgoing character or a higher level of production than a writing test suggests, or negative ones such as a slight stammer or more than average shyness. Perhaps the greatest advantage of the interview is that there is now the opportunity to assess both oral production (the ability to make English sounds) and fluency (the ability to sound English in a social situation) at one and the same time.