Designing classroom language tests

DESIGNING CLASSROOM LANGUAGE TESTS

Week 4Sutrisno Sadji Evenddy, M.Pd.

Critical Questions to Start Designing a Test

• What is the purpose of the test?• What are the objectives of the test?• How will the test specifications reflect both

the purpose and the objectives?• How will the test tasks be selected and the

separate items arranged?• What kind of scoring, grading, and/or

feedback expected?

1. What is the purpose of the test?

• Why are you creating this test, or why was it created by a textbook writer?• What is its significance relative to your course (for example, to evaluate overall proficiency or place a student in a course)?• How important is the test compared to other student performance?• What will its impact be on you and your students before and after the assessment?

2. What are the objectives of the test?

• What exactly are you trying to find out?• What language knowledge and/or skills are

you assessing?

3. How will the test specifications reflect both the purpose and the objectives?

• To design or evaluate a test, you must make sure that the test has a structure that logically follows from the unit or lesson it is testing.

• The class objectives should be present in the test through appropriate task types and weights, a logical sequence, and a variety of tasks.

4. Selection & Arrangement of Tasks?

• The test tasks need to be practical.• For the test to be valid, they should also

mirror tasks of the course, lesson or segment.• They should be authentic (i.e. reflect real‐

world language use).• The tasks must be ones that can be evaluated

reliably by the teacher.

5. Scoring, Grading, Feedback?

• The appropriate form of feedback on tests will vary, depending on the purpose.• For every test, the way results are reported is an important consideration.• Under some circumstances, a letter grade or score may be appropriate.• Other circumstances may require that the teacher provide detailed feedback to the students.

Tests Types

• Language Aptitude Tests• Proficiency Tests• Placement Tests• Diagnostic Tests• Achievement Tests

Aptitude tests

• To predict a person’s future success in learning a (any) foreign language

• Taken before actual learning

Proficiency tests

• Measure general ability in a language• Regardless of previous training

Placement tests

• To assign students to classes/programs appropriate to their level of proficiency

• Define characteristics of each level of proficiency

Diagnostic tests

• Identify students’ strengths and weaknesses• To benefit future instruction• Difficult to construct. Lack of good ones.

Achievement tests

• Measure how successful students are in achieving objectives of a lesson/course/curriculum

• Closely related to the content of a particular lesson/course/ curriculum

• Syllabus content approach OR course objectives approach?

• Final achievement tests / progress achievement tests (formative assessment)

• Frequency?

Practical Steps To Test Construction

1. Assessing Clear, Unambiguous Objectives2. Drawing up Test Specifications3. Devising Test Tasks4. Designing Multiple-Choice Test Items

Assessing Clear, Unambiguous Objectives

Test Specification

Devising Test Task

Design each item to measure a specific objective

State both stem and options as simply and directly possible

Make certain that the intended answer is clearly the only correct one

Thank You