2/7/2022

What is your
biggest fear at
Introduction to school/uni?
Language Testing &
Assessment
Week 1: Basic Terms & Test Types

Testophobia Students hate

Examinophobia exams?!
Exam fever

Who uses tests/test

Why testing? Discussion 1 results?
For what purpose?

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Aims Objectives
The course is designed to provide learners with Upon the completion of this course, you should be able to:
• principles of language testing and assessment • demonstrate an awareness of assessment types and of
• an overview of the major characteristics & purposes of which are most appropriate for your own teaching
different types of tests situation
• criteria for test construction • differentiate various kinds of tests
• practice in constructing test items • understand key issues in language test development
• ways of testing macro skills: L, S, R, W and Gram-Vocab • produce assessment materials suitable for a range of
abilities and skills

References Assessment
• Bachman, L. F. (1990). Fundamental considerations in language testing.
Oxford University Press. 10% Attendance & Participation
• Brown, H. D. (2018). Language assessment: Principles and classroom
practices (3rd ed.). Pearson Education.
• Hughes, A. (2003). Testing for language teachers (2nd ed.).
30% Mid-term test
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
• McNamara, T. F. (2000). Language testing. Oxford England: Oxford
60% Final assignment
University Press.

Course Content
Week Content
1 Testing – assessment - teaching: Key concepts
and terminology Tests
2
3
Qualities of language tests
Stages of test development
vs.
4 Test design & test item writing Assessment
5 Testing Grammar & Vocab
6 Testing Writing
7 Testing Speaking
8 Testing Listening
9 Testing Reading
10 Classroom assessment issues

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Teaching
Test is just one form of Assessment.

Tests Assessment
Assessment • Usually relatively time- • Covers a broader range of
constrained procedures than testing
• Draw on a limited sample of • Includes both formal and
behaviors informal measures
• All tests are Formal
Tests assessment

Testing is just one form of assessment.

All tests are formal
Informal Assessment Formal Assessment
assessment,
• Incidental, unplanned
comments
• Systematic, planned
sampling techniques
but not all formal
• Coaching => Appraisal of student
achievement
assessment is
• Impromptu feedback
=> Almost always testing.
nonjudgmental
Examples?

Non-test Formal Assessment Formative Assessment Summative Assessment

• Evaluate students in the • Measure what a student

• Portfolio process of forming their has grasped
• Students’ Journal competencies and skills • Typically occurs at the end
• A systematic set of frequency of oral participation => To modify future of a course or unit of
teaching plans instruction
=> As the basis for feedback =>Imply how well that
to students student accomplished
objectives
• E.g. informal quizzes,
observation, student’s • E.g. formal tests
portfolio

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What is a language test? What is a language test?

“A test is a method of measuring a person’s ability, (1st) A test is a method.
knowledge or performance in a given domain” • It’s an instrument – a set of techniques, procedures, or
(Brown, 2004). items - that requires performance on the part of the test-
taker.
• The method must be explicit and structured
• MCQs with prescribed correct answers
• An oral interview based on a question script

What is a language test? What is a test?

(2nd) A test must measure. (2nd) A test must measure.
• A process of quantifying a test taker’s performance • Forms of reporting measurement
according to explicit procedures or rules (Bachman, 1990) • Classroom-based short answer essay test => a letter grade +
marginal comments from teacher
• Some measure general ability, others measure specific
competencies / objectives • Standardized test => numerical score, percentage rank, or sub-
scores
• A multi-skill proficiency test => general ability level
• A quiz on recognizing correct use of articles => specific
knowledge

What is a test? What is a test?

(3rd) A test measure an individual’s ability, knowledge or • (4th) A test measure performance, but the results imply the
performance. test taker’s competence.
• Testers need to understand • A test of reading comprehension, with several short reading
passages each followed by a limited numbers of questions => a
• Who are the test takers? small sample of a learner’s total reading behavior
• Is the test appropriately matched to their abilities? • But the examiner may infer a certain level of general reading
• How should test-takers interpret their scores? ability from the test results

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What is a test
(5th) A test measures a given domain.
• A test of pronunciation – a limited set of phonemic minimal pairs
• A vocab test – a set of words covered in a particular lesson
• A proficiency test – a sampling of skills vs. domain: general
competence in all skills of a language

Challenge: measure the desired criterion and not inadvertently

include other factors.

Evaluation – Measurement - Testing Evaluation – Measurement - Testing

• Test scores => an example of measurement • Measurement is the process of quantifying the
• Interpreting the meaning of scores => evaluation observed performance of learners
• If a student achieve a score of 4/10 (measurement) => resulted • Quantitative descriptions => assigning numbers (grades&
in a failure (evaluation) rankings)
• Qualitative descriptions => written descriptions, oral feedback,
& other nonquantifiable reports

Evaluation – Measurement - Testing Evaluation - Testing

• Evaluation is the systematic gathering of information for • Evaluation does not necessarily entail testing.
the purpose of making decisions. E.g. Important information to evaluate individuals
• Ratings, test scores
• Decision makers need to collect reliable and relevant
• Performance profiles, letters of reference, overall impressions
information
• Tests are not always evaluative.
E.g. For pedagogical purposes
• Motivating students
• Reviewing material taught

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Types of Tests Proficiency Tests

Achievement tests • Measure people’s ability in a language regardless of any

training they may have had in that language.
Proficiency tests • Not based on the content or objectives of language
courses.
Test purpose Language Aptitude Test • Based on a specification of what candidates have to be
able to do in the language in order to be considered
Placement tests “proficient”.
Diagnostic tests
NB: “proficient” means having sufficient command of
the language for a particular purpose

Proficiency Tests
• Examples:
Examples of •
•
TOEFL, IELTS
TOEIC

Proficiency Test? •
•
PET, FCE, CPE
Occupational English test for health professionals

Achievement tests
• Aim to establish how successful individual students,
groups of students, or the courses themselves have been Achievement tests
in achieving objectives.
• 2 kinds: are formative or
• final achievement tests (end of course)
• progress achievement tests (during the course)
summative?

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Final assessment tests: 2 approaches Language Aptitude Test

• Measure capacity or general ability to learn a foreign
Syllabus- The test content is based directly on a language and ultimate success in that undertaking
content detailed course syllabus or on the
• Examples:
books and other materials used.
approach • The Modern Language Aptitude Test (MLAT) (Carroll & Sapon,
1958
• The Pimsleur Language Aptitude Battery (PLAB) (Pimsleur, 1966)
Course
The test content is based directly on • No research to show that those kinds of tasks predict
objective the objectives of the course. communicative success in a language => aptitude tests
approach seldom used today

Placement Tests Diagnostic Tests

• Place students into a particular level or section of a language • To identify students’ strengths and weaknesses (where
curriculum or school gaps exist in their command of the language)
• Usually include a sampling of the material to be covered in • Create profiles of students’ ability
various courses in a curriculum
• Ascertain what further teaching is necessary
• Students’ performance on the test indicates the point at which
students will find material neither too easy nor too difficult but • Sometimes, placement tests and diagnostic tests may be
appropriately challenging indistinguishable from each other: placement test that
• May use existing proficiency tests
offers info beyond simply designating a course level may
serve diagnostic purposes.
• Tailor-made (produced ‘in house’) rather bought off the peg

Types of testing: Approaches to test Types of testing: Approaches to test

construction construction

Direct Requires the candidate to perform Discrete

precisely the skill that we wish to Examines one element at a time
testing measure point testing

Indirect Attempts to measure the abilities Integrative Requires the candidate to combine
that underlie the skills in which we many language elements in the
testing are interested testing completion of a task

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Types of testing: Result Interpretation Types of testing: Methods of scoring

Norm-
No judgement is required
referenced Relates one candidate’s performance to that of
Objective
other candidates in the same test
on the part of the scorer.
testing
Criterion- Rates students against certain standards,
regardless of how other students do.
referenced Provides information about what a student can Subjective Judgement is called for.
testing actually do in the language.