Module 6 Testing & Assessment

Part 1

ELT Methodology III

Outline

Definition Reasons for testing Types of tests Alternatives to testing Qualities of a good test

What is a test?

What is a test?

TestA performance or series of performances, simulating/ representing or sampled from the criterion

Observable

Eg.: Listening to a lecture in a test

CriterionA series of performances subsequent to the test; the target

Unobservable

How a person would cope with listening to lectures in the course he/ she is aiming to enter

Inferences

about

What is a test?

A test, in plain words, is a method of

measuring a person’s ability or

knowledge in a given domain.

Why Do We Need Tests?

Work in groups. Discuss the purposes of testing.

(5 mins)

Why Do We Need Tests?

Provide opportunities for learning

Students Professionals

-Knowledge gained from test

preparation (w/ T, or by themselves)

-While taking tests: Opportunities for

developing what they know and what

they can do

-After the tests: feedback from their

own reflection & from professionals

-Increased motivation

-What Ss know & do not know abt L2

-What Ss can & cannot do in L2,

what they likely to be able to do

-Ss’ progress

-Teaching effects on Ss

-What Ss need to learn

-What can be done to help Ss

-Compare w/ other Ss

Why Do We Need Tests?

Diagnosis/ Evaluation

Motivation

Teaching tool

Official assessment

TYPES OF TEST AND TESTING

According to testing methods:

Test items

True/ False/ NG

Gap-fill (no choice given)

Listening and ordering pictures

Multiple choice questions

Jumbled sentences

Composition writing

Underlining mistakes

Speaking on a topic

TYPES OF TEST AND TESTING

According to test- scoring procedure:

• According to the interpretation made from the test scores

NORM- REFERENCED TEST (NRT):

a student's performance on an NRT is interpreted in relation to the performance of a large group (choosing candidates for a gifted program)

CRITERION REFERENCED TEST (CRT):

CRTs give detailed information about how well a student has performed on each of the educational goals or outcomes included on that test

OBJECTIVE: True/ False; Correct/ Incorrect

SUBJECTIVE: Basing on teacher’s judgment

TYPES OF TEST AND TESTING

DIRECT & INDIRECT

DISCRETE POINT& INTEGRATIVE

RECOGNITION &PRODUCTION

According to construction approach:

TYPES OF TESTS AND TESTING

Types of Tests Purposes Examples

Proficiency tests measure people’s language ability, regardless of any training they have had; based on a specification of what candidates have to be able to do <= ‘proficient’

TOEFL, IELTS, CAE

Achievement tests

directly related to language courses, to measure how successful Ss/courses have been in achieving objectives

End-of-term testsFinal tests

Placement tests to provide info that helps place Ss at a stage of the teaching program most appropriate to their abilities

A test by Language Link for new students enrolling in their courses

Diagnostic tests to identify Ss’ strengths & weaknesses 15-min (surprise) mini-tests by a teacher for her class

According to the purpose:

Alternatives to Testing

Continuous assessment

Port-folio

Self-assessment

Teacher’s assessment

=> How can teachers use these at (Secondary/High)

schools?

Qualities of a good test

Reliability

Validity

Practicality

Reliability

A test should measure precisely

whatever it is supposed to measure

1 test on two occasions

Result 1 = Result 2

Which is the more reliable rifleman?

Reliability

Reliability and Size:

Size of test items

Size of sample (pilot audience)

Reliability and Test Item Level of Difficulty

1/3 – 2/3 students get the correct answers

1/3 students 1/3 students 1/3 students

< 45% test 45%- 60% test 60%- 100% test

Reliability

Reliability and marking

Reliability and syllabus

Validity

Are we actually measuring what we are

intending to measure?

He went to the supermarket to buy an air-

conditioner and had it installed in his room.

Question: What can an air- conditioner do?

A. Make a room nicer

B. Stop the noise from entering a room

C. Change the temperature in a room

D. Light up a room

It’s so hot in the room that he decides to have an air- conditioner installed.

Question: What can an air- conditioner do?

A. Make a room nicer

B. Stop the noise from entering a room

C. Change the temperature in a room

D. Light up a room

Validity

Types of validity

Face validity

Content validity

Response validity

Statistical validity

Question 6, p. 38: Match the types of validity with their correct definition

Validity- Qualities of a good test

Face validity(non-expert judgement)

The test is what students and parents want, and it looks familiar to them

Content validity(professional judgement)

Other teachers agree that the methodology used in the test and the language items tested are the right level and approach for their students.

Response validity

The test layout and instructions are clear so students’ wrong answers are because of their lack of ability in English, not because the answer sheet was badly designed and made them put the tick in the wrong box, for example.

Statistical validity The same students who got high, average and low marks on this test will get high, average and low marks on another test.

Practicality (Administrative)

A test must be carefully organized

well in advance When?

How long?

Equipments?

Marking?

“Washback” (backwash)

What? => The effect of testing on the teaching and learning processes

Harmful or beneficial? Testing Teaching & Learning(regarded as important, (dominated by the test, ignores Ss’ language needs for the test’s sake) not widely & unpredictably-designed

Testing Teaching & Learning(based on Ss’ language needs, (teaching & learning changed accordingly,tests the abilities desired, syllabus redesigned, wide-scoped, unpredictable, new books selected, etc)understandable)

How to achieve a positive washback?

Test what you want Ss to develop Sample widely & unpredictably Ensure the test is known & understood

by Ss & Ts => (increase test reliability)

Review questions

What are the three main qualities of a good

language test?

If a language test is unreliable, what will

happen to students’ marks the second time

they take the same test?

Review

Complete the following passage:

A reliable test contains ……………. of test items of

…………… difficulty, based on ………….. within the

textbook, not ………….. such a test will have been

piloted ……………… and can be marked

………………

Review

Complete the following passage:

A reliable test contains a large number of test items

of different levels of difficulty, based on the syllabus

within the textbook, not the book itself. Such a test

will have been piloted across the whole country

(widely) and can be marked clerically.