Note 12 Language testing and student assessment

(Last updated: 11/16/2024)

1. Assessment and language testing

Assessment is part of the learning and teaching process. Tests such as (pop) quizzes, mid-term and final exams have a WASHBACK effect, i.e., they will dictate what and how students learn.

2. Formative and summative assessment

2.1 Formative assessment

• Formative: "... DIAGNOSTIC use of assessment to provide feedback to teachers and students over the course of instruction is called formative assessment." (Boston 2002).
• It occurs while content is been taught and learned and will continue through the period of learning. It is NOT meant to assign grades.
• Benefits:
  • Teachers: Provides feedback about their teaching and thus leads to improvement, ...
  • Students: More motivated, self-awareness, life-long skills of self assessment, ...
• How:
  • Feedback
  • Tests (i.e., pop quizzes)
  • Self assessment
  • Observation
  • Portfolio

2.2 Summative assessment

• Summative: Assessment intended to make a judgment about the learning after a period of instruction.
• It occurs at the end of a certain instructional period and determines if the content is detained (or learned).
• How:
  • Tests (achievement, proficiency)
  • End of unit/semester/book projects
  • Portfolio

2.3 Grading issues

• The need for grading during the formative assementment process
• What counts as 'final' grade?

3. Types of language tests

3.1 Content and purpose

Test can be classified as the following, depending on the content and/or purpose of the test:

• Proficiency tests
  • In some cases, 'proficient' means sufficient command of the language for a particular purpose
  • In others, 'proficient' is more general. (Question: What does 'general' imply?)
  • Proficiency tests are not based on courses that candidates may have previously taken.
  • Proficiency tests are used for exit exams.
  • Examples: Praxis, TOEFL, GRE, etc.; Other starndardized language tests (?)
• Achievement
  • It is the kind of test used most frequently in classroom instruction. Sounds familiar?
  • Syllabus-content based vs. objectives based
  • Differences between proficiency and achievement tests?
• Diagnostic
  • Purpose: Identifying students' strengths and weaknesses.
  • Good diagnostic tests are few on the market.
• Placement
  • Purpose: To place students at the stage of the teaching program according to their ability.
  • Placement tests are better tailor made rather than off-the-shelf. (Question: at MTSU?)

3.2 How tests are scored

A test can also be seen as either objective or subjective, depending on how it is scored:

• Objective: e.g., Multiple-choice
• Subjective: e.g., Short essay questions

4. How to write a test

4.1 The process

1. Identify what is to be tested, i.e., specify the content
2. Select tasks with appropriate item formats that would meet the testing objective
3. Write the test
4. Pre-test (whenever possible)
5. Modify the test after the pretest

4.2 Item formats

4.2.1 Written tests

• Multiple choice, T/F, etc.
• Fill-in blanks
• Short answer: one or two sentences
• Essay question
• Dictation
• Cloze
• Matching
• ...

4.2.2 Spoken tests

• (One-on-one) interview
• Group task and interaction
• Monologue
• ...

4.2.3 Subjective or objective

• Selection items
• Open-answer items: Short-answer, essays

Question: Where does 'fill-in blanks' fall under?

4.3 Comprehension questions

c.f. http://www2.hawaii.edu/~readfl/rfl/April2005/day/day.html

5. What is a good test

5.1 Validity

A test is valid if it measures accurately what it is intended to measure.

5.2 Reliability

A test is said to be reliable if the answer to either of the above two questions is yes.

1. If the same group of students take the same test twice with one day apart, will they obtain the same score on both tests?
2. If two comparable groups of students take the same tests, will they obtain similar scores?

5.3 Item analysis

• Index of difficulty
• Index of discrimination
• Example: c.f. this document

6. Giving a final grade fairly

Sample file