KINDS OF TESTS/TESTING
 |
| Type of tests and testing |
1. Proficiency test:
Measure
people’s ability in a language regardless of the courses they have taken.
‘Proficient’ means having command of a Language for a particular purpose (e.g.
translator, studying abroad, etc) general proficiency (SAT)—depending upon
difference in content and level of difficulty. Their backwash effect can be
both positive and negative
You may also like reading Mistakes and corrections in learning.
Achievement Test
Directly related to Language courses. How
successfully students have achieved the course objectives
Ø Progress Achievement Test
Measure progress in short term objectives and progress towards final achievement (midterms). Quizzes/informal class tests are additional tools. Teachers can make necessary changes at this level.Ø Final Achievement Test
Taken at end of course by ministry of education, examining boards, or educational institutions.
ü “Syllabus-content
approach”—final test based directly on the books used during the course. Disadvantage—poor selection of
syllabus/books will give misleading results (e.g. course objectives require
conversational abilities, but the books/course design makes them utter only
prepared sentences)
ü Base
test content directly on objectives. Advantage—puts
pressure on course designers to be more explicit about objectives , to select
relevant books/syllabus , accurate info about student’s progress in realistic
objectives , positive backwash.
2. Diagnostic Test:
Identify student’s strengths/weaknesses
(similar to proficiency test) and indicate what further studies are needed. They
should be specific (test on nouns should include only nouns, not the whole
grammar)—that way teachers/students know which area to work on.
You may also like reading Errors in Learning
3. Placement Test:
Places students on levels most appropriate
for their abilities. These tests vary according to situations/key features (no
one placement test will work for every institution)
4. Direct/Indirect testing:
Direct testing requires
candidate to perform skill that is wished to be measured. Advantages: straightforward requirements +
assessment/interpretation of student’s performance + easy to construct + helpful
backwash.
Indirect testing—measure underlying
abilities, e.g. test of pronunciation would require a candidate to identify
rhyming words. Advantage—indirect
testing is considered superior because it’s broader in application. Disadvantage—result on direct objectives
is weak and uncertain.
5. Discrete point/Integrative testing:
Discrete point tsting: testing one element at a time (particular
grammatical structure).
Integrative: combining many elements in completion of a
task (notes while listening to a lecture)
6. Norm-reference/Criterion-referenced testing:
Norm-referenced: performance of candidates is compared. No
info is given about individual’s capabilities (e.g. CSS, ISSB). Criterion-referenced: actual capability of student (e.g. SAT,
GAT). It doesn’t matter whether all
candidates fail or pass. Advantages—set meaningful standards +
motivate students who fear being judged only through comparison with others (+
backwash)
7. Objective/Subjective testing:
Objective: no judgement made by examiner (e.g. MCQ). These
are more reliable as there is more agreement between different examiners.
Subjective: judgement made by examiner (e.g. scoring of an essay).
8. Communicative testing:
measuring ability to
use Lang for communication. Communicative abilities are mostly tested all over
the world.
No comments:
Post a Comment