Standardized and Non-Standardized Tests

There are two sides of Standardized Tests: (1) It is considered as an economical, reliable, and valid assessment in determining whether someone could enter, continue or exit institutions such as school, university, business, and government. The tests usually use multiple-choice format tests. (2) According to Psychometrics such test covers only a narrow band of specialized intelligence. Examples of Standardized Tests: TOEFL (Test of English as Foreign Language, TOEIC (Test of English for International Communication), IELTS (International English Language Testing System), GMAT (Graduate Management Admission System), etc.

Differences between Standardized Test and Teacher Made Test

Standard test
1. generally prepared by specialists who know very well the principles of test construction; 2. prepared very carefully following principles of test construction; 3. given to a large proportion of the population for which they are intended for the computation of norms; 4. generally correlated with other tests of known validity and reliability or with measures such as school marks to determine their validity and reliability; 5. generally are high objective;

Teacher-made test
1. made by teachers who may not know very well the principles of test construction; 2. Often prepared hurriedly and haphazardly to be able to meet the deadline for administration; 3. Usually given only to a class or classes for which the tests are intended; usually, no norms are computed; 4. Teacher-made tests are not subjected to any statistical procedures to determine their validity and reliability; 5. May be objective and may essay in which case scoring is subjective;

 6. have their norms computed for purposes of comparison and interpretation; 7. measure innate capacities and characteristics as achievement; 8. intended to be used for a long period of time and for all people of the same class in the culture where they are validated. 9. accompanied by manuals of instructions on how to administer and score the tests and how to interpret the results; 10. generally copyrighted

6. Have no norms unless the teacher computes the median, mean, and other measures for comparison and interpretation; 7. Generally measure subject achievement only; 8. Intended to be used only once or twice to measure achievement of students in a subject matter studied during a certain period; 9. Do not have manuals of instructions, only the directions for the different types of tests which may be given orally or in writing. 10. Not copyrighted

TOEFL test consists of four sections outlined as follow: (1) Listening Section The listening section measures the examiner s ability to understand English as it is spoken in North America. (2) Structure Section. The structure section measures an examiner s ability recognize language that is appropriate for standard written English. (3) Reading Section The reading section measures the ability to read and understand short passages similar in topic and style to academic tests used in North America colleges and universities. (4) The writing section measures the ability to write in English, including the ability to generate, organize, and develop ideas, to support those ideas with examples or evidence, and to compose a response to one assigned topic in standard written English. Petunjuk,menyusun jawaban

TOEFL (Test of English As Foreign Language)

TOEFL evaluates the potential success of an individual to use and understand standard American English at a college level. TOEFL is required for non-native applicants at many US and other English-speaking colleges and universities. There are 2 types TOEFL test; Computer Based (CB) A traditional Paper-Based (PB) iBT (TOEFL) administered by internet.

TOEIC (Test of English for International Communication)

TOEIC measures the ability of nonnative English-speaking people to use English in everyday work activities. TOEIC test is used particularly for business, commerce, and industry contexts. TOEIC test is administered for 2 hours with multiple-choice responses both for computer-based and paper-based tests. TOEIC is divided two sections of tests; Listening Comprehension Reading Comprehension

(1) Listening Comprehension 100 items administered by audiocassette. Four types of task; statements, questions, short conversations, and short talks (approximately 45 minutes) (2) Reading 100 items. Three types of task; Cloze sentences, error recognition, and reading comprehension (75 minutes)

IELTS (International English Language Testing System)

Using of TOEIC
TOEIC used International Test of English proficiency in workplace or vocational settings where English is required for job performance. The content includes many different employment settings such as conferences, presentations, sales, ordering, shipping, schedules, reservations, letters, and memoranda. Scale Test 5 495 points. Total Score 10 990 points. The TOEIC certificate consist of five colors, corresponding to achieved results: -orange (110-215) -brown (220-465) -green (470-725) -blue (730-855) -gold (860-990)

It is managed by the University of Cambridge ESOL, the British Council, and IDP Education Australia. IELTS is accepted in most Australian, British, Canadian, Irish, New Zealand, South African, and USA. IELTS consist of : Two types test; (1) Computer based (for Reading and Writing sections; (2) Paper based (for the Listening and Speaking modules) Two types responses; (1) Multiple Choice (2) Essay Time : 2 hours and 45 minutes.

IELTS features
According to Vancouver English Center IELTS has important features: A variety of accents and writing styles are presented in text materials in order to minimize linguistic bias; (2) IELTS tests the ability to speak, read, listen and write in English; (3) Two test formats can be chosen from Academic and General Training; (4) Band scores are used for each language sub-skill (Speaking, Listening, Reading and Writing). Band scale ranges from 1 (Non User) 9 (Expert User)

Reading Candidates choose between academic reading or general training reading (60 minutes). Writing The same option, academic writing or general training writing (60 minutes) Listening Four sections, for all candidates (30 minutes) Speaking Five sections, for all candidates (10-15 minutes)