Ibb University

MA Programme – TESOL Track

Kinds of Tests
Main Source: Testing for Language Teachers by Hughes

Dr. Marwan At-Tayar

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❖ Theoretical Part
Discussing:
▪ The different types of tests

▪ Subjective vs. objective tests

▪ Norm-referenced and criterion-referenced tests.

❖ Practical Part

▪ Differentiate between these types of test and their

purposes
▪ Differentiate between subjective and objective tests.

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 Tests can be classified according to
- The purpose or the information they provide
(proficiency tests, achievement tests, diagnostic
tests, and placement tests).
- Test construction (direct testing vs. indirect
testing)
- The manner by which they are scored (objective
vs. subjective, criterion-referenced vs. norm-
referenced).
- Their focus (discrete point testing vs. integrative
testing).

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1. Proficiency tests
2. Achievement tests
3. Diagnostic tests
4. Placement tests

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 Proficiency tests measure people’s ability in a language,
regardless of any training they may have had in that language.
 They are not based on courses that candidates may have
taken previously. Rather, they are based on a specification
of what candidates have to be able to do in the language in
order to be considered proficient (having sufficient
knowledge and skills of the language for a particular
purpose).
 Examples
- A test for the postition of translator in the United
Nations.
- A test for following a course of study at a British
university.
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 Other proficiency tests are designed to show whether
candidates have reached a certain standard with respect
to certain specified abilities.
 They are based on detailed specifications of what
candidates can do, indicating what successful
candidates have demonstrated that they can do.
 Examples
- Cambridge First Certificate in English examination
(FCE)
- Cambridge Certificate of Proficiency in English
examination (CPE)

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 Tests for a Purpose Tests for a More General Purpose
Not based on courses that Not based on courses that
candidates have previously taken. candidates have previously taken.
Function: Measuring people’s Function: Showing whether
ability in a language. candidates have reached a certain
standard in relation to a set of
specified abilities.
Content: Based on a specification Content: Based on detailed
of what candidates have to be able specifications of what candidates
to do in the language in order to be can do.
considered proficient.
Example: Examples:
A test for the position of FCE, CPE
United Nations translator.
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 Achievement tests are used to determine whether or not
students have mastered the course content and have
achieved its objectives.
 The content of achievement tests, which are commonly
given at the middle or end of the course, is generally
based on particular syllabus or textbook.
 They are of two types:
a. Final achievement tests
b. Progress achievement tests

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 Final achievement tests are those administered at the end of a
course of study.
 They are usually written by ministry of education, official
examining boards, members of teaching institutions.
 They should be based directly on a detailed course syllabus or
on the books and other matetials used. That is why it is referred
to as the syllabus content approach.
 The problem with this test:
- If the syllable is badly designed, or the books and materials
are badly chosen, the results of a test can be very misleading.
 This test is advantageous in terms of
- It compels course designers to be explicit about objectives.
- It makes it possible for performance on the test to show how
far students have achieved the objectives.
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 Progress achievement tests are used at various stages
throughout a language course to determine learners'
progress up to that point and to see what they have
learnt.
 They are based on short-term objectives.
 They are usually produced by teacher and narrower
in focus than final achievement tests because they cover
less material and assess fewer objectives.
 In addition to formal achievement tests, teachers can set
their own pop quizzes that can provide a rough check
on students’ progress, keeping them on their toes.

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 Diagnostic tests are used to identify those areas in
which a student needs further help.
 They can be general, and show, for example, whether a
student needs particular help with one of the four
language skills.
 They can also be more specific, seeking to identify
weaknesses in a student’s use of certain grammatical
structures, which is not easy.

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 Placement tests assess students’ level of language
ability so that they can be placed in an appropriate
course or level.
 The primary aim is to create groups of learners that are
homogeneous in level.
 No one placement test will work for every institution.
 Successful placement tests are those constructed for
particular situations. They depend on the identification
of the key features at different levels of teaching in
the institution.

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 Direct testing requires the candidates to perform
exactly the skill being measured. For example, asking
students to write compositions to measure their ability
in writing, getting students to speak to measure how
well they pronounce a language.
- The tasks are used should be as authentic as
possible.
- It is easier to carry out direct testing to measure
productive skills, as the act of speaking and writing
can provide us with information about the
candidate’s ability.
- With direct tests, there is likely to be a helpful
backwash effect. 13
 Indirect testing attempts to measure the abilities that
underlie the skills in which we are interested. For
example, in Institutional TOEFL (ITP), sentence
correction exercises are an indirect measure of writing
ability.

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 Direct Testing Indirect Testing
It is clear about what abilities It tests the skills indirectly
we want to assess. through testing the abilities
undetlying them.
The assessment and Weak relationship between
interpretation of students’ performance on tests and
performance is quite performance of the skills.
straightforward.
It is limited to a rather small It can test a finite number of
sample of tasks. abilities which underlie an
indefinite number of
manifestations of them.

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There are two different types of tests:
 Discrete point testing refers to the testing of one
element at a time. This can take the form of a series of
items, each testing a particular grammatical structure.
 Integrative testing requires the candidate to combine
many language elements to complete a task. It includes
activities that assess skills and knowledge in an
integrated manner (e.g., reading and writing, listening
and speaking).
- Less attention is paid to specific lexico-grammatical points.
- Examples include writing a composition, taking a dictation,
completing a cloze passage, etc.

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1. Criterion-referenced Vs. Norm-referenced tests
2. Objective Tests vs. Subjective tests

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➢ A criterion-referenced test is a test that measures
knowledge, skill or ability of a candidate in a specific
domain against preset criteria of performance.
 A norm-referenced test is a test in which the
performance of one candidate is related to that of other
candidates.

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 Criterion-referenced Norm-referenced
• To determine whether students • To rank each student with
have acquired specific skills respect to the achievement of
Purpose

or knowledge. others in broad areas of

• To find out how much knowledge.
students know before • To discriminate between high
instruction begins and after it and low achievers.
has finished.
Measure specific skills which Measure broad skill areas
make up a designated sampled from a variety of
curriculum. Each skill is textbooks, and the judgments of
Content

expressed as an instructional curriculum experts.

objective.

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 Criterion-referenced Norm-referenced
They tell what a student can They do not tell directly what a
Inf.

actually do in the language. student can do in the language in

relation to particular demands.
Criteria of performance are Criteria of performance are
Criteria

developed in advance. developed after the test has been

administered.
A student’s achievement is A student's achievement is
measured with respect to the interpreted with reference to the
Scoring

degree of learning/mastery of achievement of other students,

pre-specified content. rather than to an agreed criterion.
Example

The student is able to greet, The student is in the 10% of

exchange information, introduce students who took the exam.
himself, etc. 20
1. Objective tests are scored by comparing student
responses with an established set of correct responses
on an answer key.
- They are ideal for computer scanning and do not
require particular training or knowledge of the
examined area.
- Examples of objective tests include multiple choice
questions, T/F, matching, etc.
2. Subjective tests require scoring by opinion or
personal judgment. Examples include essay tests,
comprehension questions, interviews.

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 Communicative Tests are interaction-based, open-
ended (that is, responses cannot be predicted as in
natural communicative environments), authentic,
behavior-based and so on.
 They are supposed to measure communicative
competence which includes:
- Linguistic competence
- Sociolinguistic competence
- Strategic competence

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