Testing, Assessing, and Teaching

TESTINGTEST = a method of measuring a person’s ability,

knowledge, or performance in a given domain

method

measure

individual ability, knowledge

performance

given domain

a WAY.., HOW TO DO…Techniques, Strategy,

Process, Procedures, …with characteristics of

Structured, Explicit

Instruments/tool to grade…, Specific Student’s Level of Competence

Individual Skill, CompetenceBackground experience

Ability in performing language

Specific area, -Reading, Speaking, Listening, Writing,…

ASSESSING

TEST= is prepared administrative procedures that occurs at identifiable times.

ASSESSMENT= is an ongoing process.

example:

-student responds to a question assessed by:

-offers a comment -teacher

-tries out a new word -himself

-tries out a structure -other students

- makes essay, listens to recorder

TEACHING-Teacher-students interaction-Students must have the freedom to experiment-Students try out their own hypotheses-Freedom to practice their skills in a classroom without

being formally graded-No teacher’s judgment in terms of their trials and errors

TEACHING=the opportunities for learners to listen, think, take risk, set goals, process feedback from the teacher and then recycle through the skills that they are trying to master.

DIAGRAM

TEST

TEACHING

ASSESSING

teaching goal

interaction

skill, competence, performance

assessing goal

reflection(more informal tool)

improvement feedback

testing goal

measure(formal tool)

judgment(passed or

failed)

level/grade

goal

evaluation(analytical tool

resulted values for feedback)

PROPOSED DIAGRAM

TEST

TEACHING

ASSESSING

EVALUATION

DIAGRAM

TEST

TEACHING

ASSESSING

EVALUATION

TEST

TEACHING

ASSESSING

Class “A”Class “B”

compare

INFORMAL AND FORMAL ASSESSMENT INFORMAL ASSESSMENT:

- It is designed to elicit performance without recording results and making a fixed judgments about a student’s competence.

- Example:

- At the end of continuum are marginal comments on paper, responding to draft of an essay, advice of how to better pronounce a word, suggestion for strategy, showing how to modify a better note-taking to better remember of the lecture contents.

INFORMAL AND FORMAL ASSESSMENT FORMAL ASSESSMENT

-exercise specifically designed to tap into storehouse of skill and knowledge.

-constructed to give an appraisal of students’ achievements.

Is a formal assessment always a test?

ALL TESTS ARE FORMAL ASSESSMENTS

NOT ALL FORMAL ASSESSMENTS ARE TESTS

FORMATIVE AND SUMMATIVE ASSESSMENT FORMATIVE

it deals with the function.

- evaluating students in the process of ‘forming’ their competencies and skills with the goal of helping them to continue the growth process

CHARACTERISTICS:

- delivered by the teacher

- feedbacks are internalized by the students

- eyed toward the future continuation

- informal

FORMATIVE AND SUMMATIVE ASSESSMENT SUMMATIVE

It aims to measure or to summarize what a student has grasped.

- A summation of what a student has learned implies looking back and taking stock of how well that student has accomplished objectives.

NORM-REFERENCED AND CRITERION-REFERENCED TEST

Norm-Referenced TestsEach test-taker’s score is interpreted in relation to a mean

(average score), median (middle score), standarddeviation (extend of variance in scores), and/or percentilerank.

The purpose is to place test-takers along a mathematicalcontinuum in rank order.

Scores are usually reported back to the test-taker in the form ofa numerical score. (230 out of 300, 84%, etc.)

Typical of these tests are standardized tests like SAT or TOEFL.These tests are intended to be administered to large audiences,

with results efficiently disseminated to test takers.They must have fixed, predetermined responses in a format

that can be scored quickly at minimum expense.Money and efficiency are primary concerns in these tests.

Criterion-Referenced Tests

They are designed to give test-takers feedback, usually inthe form of grades, on specific course or lesson objectives.Tests that involve the students in only one class, and areconnected to a curriculum, are Criterion-ReferencedTests.Much time and effort on the part of the teacher arerequired to deliver useful, appropriate feedback tostudents.

The distribution of students’ scores across a continuummay be of little concern as long as the instrumentassesses appropriate objectives.As opposed to standardized, large scale testing with itsemphasis on classroom-based testing, Criterion-Referenced

Testing is of more prominent interest than Norm-Referenced Testing.

APPROACHES TO LANGUAGE TESTING 1950’s an era of behaviorism-----testing focused on

linguistic elements such as the phonological, grammatical, and lexical contrast between two languages

1970-1980’s era of communicative theories----testing focused on the whole communicative event.

Today-----testing focused on authentic and valid instruments that stimulate real world interaction.

DISCRETE-POINT AND INTEGRATIVE TESTING

DISCRETE-POINT TESTING

constructed on the assumption that language canbe broken down into its component parts andthose parts can be tested successfully.

e.g. of skill components:

listening, speaking, reading, writing

e.g. of unit of language:

phonology, graphology, morphology,lexicon, syntax, discourse

DISCRETE-POINT AND INTEGRATIVE TESTINGINTEGRATIVE TESTING

(Oller, 1979) argued that language competence isunified set of interacting abilities that can not betested separately.

Communicative competence is so global and requires such integration that it can not be captured in additive tests of grammar, reading, vocabulary, etc.

Examples: cloze test, dictation

COMMUNICATIVE LANGUAGE TESTING

In order for a particular language test to be useful forits intended purposes, test performance must correspondin demonstrable ways to language use in non-test situations.

Integrative tests such as cloze only tell us about a candidate’s linguistic competence. They do not tell us anything directly about a student’s performance ability (Knowledge about a language, not the use of language)

Communicative Language testing presented challenges to test designers because they began to identify the real-world tasks that language learners were called upon to perform.

COMMUNICATIVE LANGUAGE TESTING

But, it was clear that the contexts for those tasks were

extraordinarily widely varied and that the sampling

of tasks for any one assessment procedure needed to be

validated by what language users actually do with

language.

As a result, the assessment field became more and more concerned with the authenticity of tasks and the genuineness of texts.

PERFORMANCE-BASED ASSESSMENT

In language courses and programs around the world,test designers are now tackling this new and morestudent-centered agenda (Anderson, 2001, 2002).

Instead of just offering paper-and pencil selectiveresponse tests of a plethora of separate items,

performance-based assessment of language typically

involves oral production, written production,

open-ended responses, integrated performance

(across skill areas), group performance, and other

interactive tasks.

PERFORMANCE-BASED ASSESSMENT

Such assessment is time-consuming and therefore

expensive, but those extra efforts are paying off in the

form of more direct testing because students are

assessed as they perform actual or simulated real-

world tasks

Computer-based testing Some computer-based tests are small-scale. Others

are standardized, large scale tests (e.g. TOEFL) inwhich thousands of test-takers are involved.

A type of computer-based test (Computer-Adaptive Test / CAT) is available.

In CAT, the test-taker sees only one question at atime, and the computer scores each questionbefore selecting the next one.

Test-takers cannot skip questions, and, once theyhave entered and confirmed their answers, theycannot return to questions.

Computer-based testing

Advantages of Computer-Based Testing

Classroom-based testing

Self-directed testing on various aspects of alanguage (vocabulary, grammar, discourse, etc)

Practice for upcoming high-stakes standardizedtests

Some individualization, in the case of CATs.

Scored electronically for rapid reporting ofresults.

Computer-based testing Disadvantages of Computer-Based Testing

Lack of security and the possibility of cheating inunsupervised computerized tests.

Home-grown quizzes may be mistaken forvalidates assessments.

Open-ended responses are less likely to appearbecause of need for human scorers.

The human interactive element is absent.

An overall summary

Tests

Assessment is an integral part of the teaching-learning cycle.

In an interactive, communicative curriculum,assessment is almost constant.

Tests can provide authenticity, motivation, andfeedback to the learner.

Tests are essential components of a successfulcurriculum and learning process.

An Overall summaryAssessments

Periodic assessments can increase motivation asmilestones of student progress

Appropriate assessments aid in the reinforcement andretention of information.

Assessments can confirm strength and pinpoint areasneeding further work.

Assessments provide a sense of periodic closure tomodules within a curriculum.

Assessments promote student autonomy byencouraging students’ self-evaluation of theirprogress.

Assessment can aid in evaluating teachingeffectiveness.