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Language TestingLanguage Testing

Main Contents1. Session 01

What is testing Macro/Micro functions of testing Types of test Criteria of a good test

2. Session 02 Test elicitation techniques Test construction Test administration & evaluation

3. Session 03: Alternative assessment

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What is Testing?

Definition: “A test is an activity whose main purpose is to convey (usually to the tester) how well the testee knows or can do something. This is in contrast to practice, whose main purpose is sheer learning.” (Ur 1996:33)

testing

assessment

evaluation

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Functions of Testing

• Macrofunctions: – metric (primary) vs. educative– Issue: test to teach vs. teach to test

• Microfunctions: – Inform teachers/learners about learner level– Assess learners for purposes external to current teaching (e.g.. final

grades, selection)– Motivate learners for further learning/revision– Keep a class quiet or get them concentrate– Add to a sense of structure to the course– Provide practice/revision opportunities through test-doing– Provide learners with a sense of achievement & progress.– etc.

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Types of Tests

• Norm-referenced vs. Criterion-referenced tests (see next page)

• Proficiency vs. Achievement tests

• Summative vs. Formative tests

• Diagnostic vs. Prognostic tests

• Objective vs. Subjective tests

• Integrative vs. Discrete-point tests

NB. Relationships, preferences & priorities …

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Norm-Referenced vs. Criterion-Referenced Tests

• A Criterion-Referenced Test is a test which measures a student’s performance according to a particular standard or criterion which has been agreed upon. The student must reach this level of performance to pass the test, and the student’s score is therefore interpreted with reference to the criterion score, rather than to the scores of other students.

• A Norm-Referenced Test is one which is designed to measure how the performance of a particular student or group of students whose scores are given as the norm. A student’s score is therefore interpreted with reference to the scores of other students or groups of students, rather than to an agreed criterion score.

(Longman Dict. Of LT & AL, J. Richards et al. 1993: 91)

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Test Criteria 1: Validity

• Definition: “… the degree to which a test measures what it is supposed to measure, or can be used successfully for the purposes for which it is intended.”

• Concurrent Validities:– Content Validity (Longman Dict. Of LT & AL, p.81)

– Construct Validity (Longman Dict. Of LT & AL, p.80)

– Face Validity (Longman Dict. Of LT & AL, p.135)

• Predictive Validities: – Response validity (ELT Methodology III, p. 36)

– Statistical validity (ELT Methodology III, p. 36)

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Test Criteria 2: Reliability

• Definition: “ A measure of the degree to which a test gives consistent results. A test is said to be reliable if it gives the same results when it is given on different occasions or when it is used by different people.”

• Reliability & Number of Test Items

• Reliability & Difficulty Level of Test Items

• Reliability & Marking

• Reliability & Rote Learning (Learning by heart)

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Test Criteria 3: Practicality & Washback

• Practicality: related to test administration issues

• Washback/Backwash: – Negative: teach to test, stress & strain– Positive: motivation to learn & to innovate teaching &

learning ways. – In order to achieve beneficial washback, it’s

necessary to ensure:• Focus & content validity• Wide range & unpredictability of samples• Familiarity with test format

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Test Elicitation Techniques: A Critical Analysis

• Qs & As: closed-ended/open-ended

• T/F: for reading & listening mainly

• Gap-filling/Completion• Matching• Cloze• Dictation: ASST format

• Transformation• Rewriting• Essay• Monologue• Translation• Information transfer: from text to graph etc.

• Others …

• NB. Test elicitation techniques need to be discussed in terms of design, marking, its validity as a measuring tool …

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Test Construction

• Specifying test essentials: methodology, content, format, critical level of performance, scoring procedures, timing etc.

• Writing the test: sampling, item writing & moderation, writing & moderating scoring scheme etc.

• Piloting the test

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Test Administration & Evaluation

• Test administration:– Issues attended to BEFORE the test– Issues attended to DURING the test– Issues attended to AFTER the test

• Evaluation of tests:– Purposes– Format– Content– Validity/reliability– Practicality– Washback– etc.

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Alternative Assessment

• Projects: individual or group-based (continuous assessment)

• Formal summative assessment/evaluation

• Formal formative assessment/evaluation

• Informal assessment/evaluation

• Peer assessment/evaluation

• Self-assessment/evaluation

• Internship/practicum

• etc.

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References

• Bachman, L. F. (1990) Fundamental Considerations in Language Testing. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

• Bachman, L. F. (1991) What Does Language Testing Have to Offer? TESOL QUARTERLY, Vol. 25, No. 4.

• Brindley, G. (1991) Developments in Language Testing. Singapore: Regional Language Centre, in Anivan. S (ed.)

• Canale, M. and Swain, M. (1980) Theoretical Bases of Communicative Approaches to Second Language Teaching and Testing. Applied Linguistics Vol.1 No.1.

• Morrow, K. (1981) Communicative language testing: evolution or revolution? In J. C. Alderson and A. Hughes (eds.). Issues in Language Testing. ELT Documents 111. London: The British Council.

• Skehan, P. (1991) Progress in Language Testing: the 1990s. In J. C. Alderson and B. North (eds.). Language Testing in the 1990s. London: Macmillan.

• Spolsky, B.(1989) Communicative Competence, Language Proficiency and Beyond. Applied Linguistics, Vol.10, No.2. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

• To, TH et al (2006). ELT Methodology III. VNU, Hanoi.

• Ur, Penny (1996). A course in language teaching. Cambridge: CUP

• Weir, C. J. (1990) Communicative language testing. London: Prentice Hall.