Are vocab tests a thing of the past?

[TheFourMarys]

My DS is year 8. He has never had vocab learning as part of his MFL homework. No vocab tests in class. Revising this half term for end of year exams has been a read-through of his exercise books. A brief test revealed he could recall less than half the vocab in his book though he is very confident he can do well in the exam and his term time levels are excellent.

Am I being old fashioned? Are vocab tests a thing of the past?

I can't help feeling feel he is being short changed on the teaching front by being expected to learn stuff voluntarily. Some children might press on and do this but surely most will only do what they have to?

I have DC at two different schools, who learn a number of MFLs.

They both have regular vocab tests and regular grammar tests.

Year 7 DS has almost weekly vocab tests (they only take a few minutes) and was given a revision booklet of vocab for the end of year exams.

My DD is now in Year 11. For Years 7-9, she studied Spanish and German and had regular vocab tests in each.

DD1 y10 has regular French and Spanish vocab tests.

DD1 is in Yr8 and doing French, she has vocab and grammar tests every half term. The school also offers an online learning system they can use to test themselves, which she loves to go on.

Thank you for your replies. I did expect him to be having regular vocab tests and am wondering how unusual it is not to.
Are there any MFL teachers out there who could tell me just so I can judge whether I am being unreasonable. I don't want to interfere in the teacher's job, but if this is very unusual then perhaps I should go back to the school (teacher seemed to be saying that this would all come in year 10 when I asked)

I am an MFL teacher. I don't set vocabulary tests every week (perhaps every 3 or 4?). It doesn't suit what my students want/need and their levels are excellent with what I do set (comprehension, research, consolidation tasks). I think it depends on the teacher/school. My first ever school SLT thought that thought it was a lazy 'tick box' homework so it never became part of my 'programme' if that makes sense?

DS1 in year 7 has vocab tests after each topic in French. I don't think he remembers much after the test unless he uses it again! Interestingly, as an adult learner of Spanish, I never had vocab tests and the emphasis was on speaking. I learned loads because I was using it. It would be interesting to know if this is something the teacher is trying on younger students? If they have regular speaking and listening practice, it may well consolidate more vocab over a longer period. You soon realize what you don't know if you are trying to speak the language, if you see what I mean!

My DD learns Spanish as her first MFL and she learns it direct method ie teacher is a native speaker who only speaks to the DC in Spanish. Learning vocabulary is a MAJOR part of the experience!