EFL TEACHER DEVELOPMENT COURSE

Assessment
Pre-task:

1. Do tests and exams always adequately assess students’ knowledge? Why \ why
not?

2. How can students’ achievements be measured if not by tests?

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Worksheet 1
Testing a 21st Century paradigm
Speakers: John de Jong, Dave Allen (co-founder of NILE),
Raquel Villanueva Bergasa (Language Coordinator, Ceste, Zaragoza),
Zeynep Urkun (Assessment Coordinator from Sabanci University, Istanbul)

While watching task:

1. What are the most important problems about measuring students’ progress?

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2. What kind of advantages can technology bring into the testing?

3. What are the reasons for adapting to technology in testing?

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 EFL TEACHER DEVELOPMENT COURSE

4. How can teachers design integrated skills tests to diagnose students’ level
effectively and accurately?

5. Do students do better when they know they are being tested?

Post-watching activities:

How would you answer the following questions:

1. What are the most important problems about measuring students’ progress?

2. What kind of advantages can technology bring into the testing?

3. Do students do better when they know they are being tested?

Департамент английского языка факультета экономики НИУ ВШЭ

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 EFL TEACHER DEVELOPMENT COURSE

Worksheet 2
Alternative assessment using Web 2.0 tools
Deniz Atesok (English instructor at Sabanci University, teacher trainer, DELTA tutor)

While watching task:

4. Why is it difficult to be authentic?

5. Fill in the table:

tool functionality use for assessment

1.

2.

3.

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 EFL TEACHER DEVELOPMENT COURSE

4.

Post-watching activities:

1. Do you think you would use any of these tools in your class? Why? Why not?

2. Do you know any other useful tools for assessments?

Tool Functionality and use for assessment

3. What characteristics should good tests possess? Make a list.

4. What difficulties are associated with designing effective tests?

Департамент английского языка факультета экономики НИУ ВШЭ

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 EFL TEACHER DEVELOPMENT COURSE

Difficulties to develop communicative tests

If teaching is carried out according to the communicative approach, then tests must be designed
accordingly. However a lot of teachers believe that communicative tests are hard to prepare. In
fact various challenging difficulties emerge when teachers develop communicative tests.

1. One crucial concern is the problem of developing useful assessment instruments which can be
employed accurately and efficiently in a range of typical classroom situations.
2. Another challenge is to develop a  framework  which is based on attending to the theoretical
requirements of both communicative teaching goals and test design principles.

3. There are also difficulties associated with the English as a Foreign Language context. While
communicative theory emphasizes the importance of using authentic materials and of practicing
meaningful communication in realistic social situations, these goals are almost impossible to
achieve in EFL  settings.

4. The EFL settings make it impossible for learners to consolidate and practice what is learned in
the classroom in real world situations which makes it very difficult to develop communicative
tests.

5. Some teachers admit that it is inevitable that marking communicative tests may be subjective as
it is difficult to distinguish right from wrong responses in real life situations.

Tests requirements
Validity

The term validity refers to the extent to which a test measures what it says it measures. In other
words, test what you teach, how you teach it! Types of validity include content, construct, and
face. For classroom teachers, content validity means that the test assesses the course content and
outcomes using formats familiar to the students. Construct validity refers to the "fit" between the
underlying theories and methodology of language learning and the type of assessment. For
example, a communicative language learning approach must be matched by communicative
language testing. Face validity means that the test looks as though it measures what it is
supposed to measure. This is an important factor for both students and administrators. Other
types of validity are more appropriate to large-scale assessment.

Reliability

Reliability refers to the consistency of test scores. It simply means that a test would give similar
results if it were given at another time. Three important factors effect test reliability. Test factors
such as the formats and content of the questions and the length of the exam must be consistent.
For example, testing research shows that longer exams produce more reliable results than very
brief quizzes. Administrative factors are also important for reliability. These include the
classroom setting (lighting, seating arrangements, acoustics, lack of intrusive noise etc.) and how
the teacher manages the exam administration. Affective factors in the response of individual
Департамент английского языка факультета экономики НИУ ВШЭ
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 EFL TEACHER DEVELOPMENT COURSE

students can also affect reliability. Test anxiety can be allayed by coaching students in good test-
taking strategies.

Practicality

Classroom teachers are well familiar with practical issues, but they need to think of how
practical matters relate to testing. A good classroom test should be "teacher-friendly". A teacher
should be able to develop, administer and mark it within the available time and with available
resources. Classroom tests are only valuable to students when they are returned promptly and
when the feedback from assessment is understood by the student. In this way, students can
benefit from the test-taking process. Practical issues include time, resources (everything from
computer access, copying facilities, audiovisual equipment to storage space), and administrative
logistics.

Tips to develop communicative tests

The bottom line of communicative tests is that they should test appropriateness rather than mere
production of (inappropriate) grammatical sentences.  In addition tests have to be pragmatically
relevant. They should revolve around three main areas, namely grammar, discourse,
sociolinguistics and illocutionary competence.

Merill Swain (1984) listed four primary criteria for the construction of communicative tests:

 Starting from somewhere (knowledge, principles theoretical framework which is the foundation
for devising any communicative tests.)
 Concentrating on content (interesting and motivating content that may include situations that
use context and that are integrative and interactive.)

 Biasing for the best. That is tests need to do everything possible to elicit the very best
performance. (stress free environment, enough time to complete the task…)

 Working for washback. (Tests as feedback for further improvement.)

The following are tips for developing communicative tests:

 Communicative tests may be context specific. That is a test for a group of business learners may
differ from a test designed for university students
 Testees must respond to real life situations.

 Some criteria for communicative tests may be related to the degree of politeness , formality, …

 Performance in communicative tests reflects an underlying competence that is linguistic,

sociolinguistic, pragmatic, strategic…

 Any communicative testing should consider this multi-dimensional nature of language.

Examples of communicative tests

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 EFL TEACHER DEVELOPMENT COURSE

1. Information gap.
This involves two (or more) learners. Each testee has part of the information. They have
to negotiate in order to get the missing information. A clear context must be specified for
the test.
2. Letter writing.
learners may be asked to write, for example, a business letter to ask for information or to
respond to a complaint by a customer
3. Note taking.
Testees are involved in a listening activity in which they have to take notes and, for
example, write a report

Creating Effective Classroom Tests, by Christine Coombe and Nancy Hubley http://taesig.8m.com/createii.html

http://myenglishpages.com/blog/communicative-tests/

Further reading (any edition):

Heaton, B - Classroom Testing (Longman)
Hughes, A – Testing for Language Teachers
Underhill, N - Testing Spoken Language (CUP)

Portfolio task: Designing a test.

Situation. At the Higher School of Economics administrative staff working with

students and professors is supposed to be able to communicate with international
students in English. To assess whether employees meet the criteria a language test
is required. Design the test. Describe the kinds of activities you will include in the
test.
Before designing the test, consider the following questions:
What communicative skills do these employees need to do their job properly?
What kind of test should be designed in order to assess their ability to perform these
tasks adequately?

When the test is ready, ask your colleagues assess the test according to the criteria
of validity, reliability and practicality.

Департамент английского языка факультета экономики НИУ ВШЭ

Издательство Pearson ELT
ИЮНЬ 2013
EFL TEACHER DEVELOPMENT COURSE

Департамент английского языка факультета экономики НИУ ВШЭ

Издательство Pearson ELT
ИЮНЬ 2013