Testing, assessing & teaching

Key concepts in language test

development
Nguyen Thi Thu Ngan
Spring semester, 2015-2016
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Which of the following do you think are tests?

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.

Placement tests
Diagnostic tests
Periodic achievement tests
Short quizzes after a unit
Standardized proficiency tests
Final exams
Portfolios
Journals
Oral presentations (prepared & rehearsed)
Impromptu student responses to teachers questions
Student-written response to a reading assignment
Drafting and revising writing
Whole class open-ended discussion of a topic
Written project reports
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What is a test?
- A test is a method of measuring an individuals
ability, knowledge, or performance in a given

domain.

- A test measures performance, but the results imply

the test takers competence.
- Tests are prepared administrative procedures that
occur at identifiable times in a curriculum when
learners muster all their faculties to offer peak
performance, knowing their responses are being
measured and evaluated.
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Consider the following classroom techniques:

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.

Doing choral drill

Practicing pronunciation in pairs
Reading aloud
Doing information-gap task
Singing songs in English
Writing a description of the weekends
activities

What do you think the teacher can read about

learners language proficiency during these
activities?

 observing students performance &

making evaluation of each learner
How the performance compared to previous

performance
Which aspects of the performance were better than
others
The learner is performing up to an expected potential
How the performance compares to that of others in the
same learning community

T assesses Ss most of the time.

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What is assessment?
Assessment is an ongoing process where
the teacher makes various judgment or
evaluation of the students
performance during his/her teaching.

1. TEST, ASSESSMENT & TEACHING

3-member group
discussion:

Do you agree
with this
illustration of
the three terms?

TESTS

ASSESSMENT

TEACHING
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2.1 ASSESSMENT vs TESTS

Assessment
An ongoing process

Tests
occurring at identifiable
times in a curriculum

e.g. When a S responds to a

question, offers a comment, tries
Informal
out a new word

assessment
e.g. When a S takes a test Formal
assessment

There are many forms of

assessment, tests included

When learners muster all their

faculties to offer peak performance,
knowing that their responses are
measured and evaluated.

Tests = a subset of assessment

- relatively time-constrained &
- draw on a limited sample of behavior

2.2 TYPES OF ASSESSMENT:

INFORMAL & FORMAL ASSESSMENT
informal assessment
embedded in classroom tasks
designed to elicit performance
without recording results and
making fixed judgment about
a students competence

formal assessment
Exercises or procedures
specifically designed to judge
skills and knowledge
All tests are formal
assessment.

Not all formal assessment is

tests (e.g. journal, portfolio)

Formative assessment VS Summative assessment

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2.3 FUNCTIONS OF ASSESSMENT:

FORMATIVE & SUMMATIVE ASSESSMENT
formative assessment

Focuses on the ongoing

development of the
learners language

summative assessment

occurs at the end of a

course or unit of
instruction
e.g. final exams, general proficiency
exams

Aimed to help SS continue Aimed to summarize what

a S has grasped
that growth process
All kinds of informal
assessment are formative.
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1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.

12.
13.
14.

Placement tests
Diagnostic tests
Periodic achievement tests
Short quizzes after a unit
Standardized proficiency tests
Final exams
Portfolios
Journals
Oral presentations (prepared &
rehearsed)
Impromptu student responses
to teachers questions
Student-written response to a
reading assignment
Drafting and revising writing
Whole class open-ended
discussion of a topic
Written project reports

Formative
assessment

Summative
assessment

Informal
Assessment

Formal
assessment

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What is the purpose of each of the

following tests?
TOEFL

Final tests at school

To classify students from

high achievers to low
achievers

To determine
how well the student is
learning the desired
curriculum &
how well the school is
teaching that
curriculum

Norm-referenced test

Criterion-referenced test
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2.4 NORM-REFERENCED &

CRITERION-REFERENCED TESTS
norm-referenced tests

criterion-referenced tests

To classify students from high To determine how well the

achievers to low achievers
student is learning the desired
curriculum & how well the
school is teaching that
curriculum
e.g. To place Ss in remedial or e.g. achievement tests
gifted programs.

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2. ASSESSMENT & TESTS: wrap-up

TYPE
S

ASSESSMENT
Formal
Informal
Journal
TEST
Non- Answers to Ts
questions during
test
learning
NormCriterionreferenced referenced

(Portfolio
)

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2. ASSESSMENT & TESTS: wrap-up

FUNCTIONS

ASSESSMENT
Summative
Formative

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3. APPROACHES TO LANGUAGE TESTING: HISTORY

Historically, language-testing trends & practices have
followed the shifting sands of teaching methodology.
Grammar
Translatio
n Method

Direct
Method

19th
century

Early 20th
Century

AudioLingual
Method
1950s

1950s
Contrastive
analysis of
linguistic
elements b/w 2
languages
Discrete-point
testing

Total
Physical
Respons
e 1977

1970searly
1980s
More
integrative
view
Integrative
testing

Communi
cative
Lang.
Teaching
1970s-now

mid 1980sCommunicative
Language
Testing
PerformanceBased
Assessment
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3.1 DISCRETE-POINT & INTEGRATIVE

TESTING (1970s & 1980s): Oller, 1979
discrete-point testing
-language can be broken down
into its component parts
(4 skills, phonology,
morphology, syntax, etc.)
- those parts can be tested
decontextualized successfully

integrative testing
vocab, grammar, phonology, the
four skills &other discrete
points of language could not be
separated in language
performance

e.g. dictation &

cloze test

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3.2 COMMUNICATIVE LANGUAGE TESTS (mid 1980s-)

Bachman & Palmer (1996)
More concern with authenticity of tasks and the

genuineness of texts
to measure language proficiency, the following must
now be taken of:
o where, when, how, with whom, &
o why language is to be used, &
o on what topics, &
o with what effect.
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3.3 PERFORMANCE-BASED ASSESSMENT

Typically involves:
- oral production + written production
- open-ended responses
- integrated performance (across skill areas such as

writing and reading, listening and speaking)

- group performance
- & other interactive tasks
e.g.: interviews, portfolios, oral reports
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4. CURRENT ISSUES IN CLASSROOM TESTING

Issues of effective assessment:

4.1 New views on intelligence
4.2 traditional & alternative assessment
4.3 computer-based testing

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Traditional view of Intelligence

IQ (intelligence quotient), smartness
- Linguistic / verbal-linguistic

intelligence (good at language, ability to read &

write well)
- Logical-mathematic intelligence (ability
to use numbers effectively, to reason well, to recognize

and solve problems using logical patterns, to infer,

make generalizations, and test hypotheses)
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Find someone who

1. Sings in the shower.
2. Finds it hard to sit for long periods of time.
3. Likes doing puzzles and mazes.
4. Calculate numbers easily in his/her head.
5. Regularly spend time meditating.
6. Draw a picture of his/her favorite food.
7. Loves to teach people new skills.
8. Can easily identify at least 10 different kinds of
flowers.
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The Intelligence

The person

Bodily-kinesthetic

Is good at activities involving fine or gross motor skills

Interpersonal

Is sensitive to others
Interacts effectively with others

Intrapersonal

Is sensitive to ones own feelings

Uses self-knowledge

Linguistic

Uses language and words in many different forms to

express meaning

Logical/Mathemati Approaches problems logically

cal
Recognizes patterns easily
Uses reasoning skilsl
Musical

Is sensitive to sounds in the environment

Is aware of patterns in rhythm, pitch & timbre

Naturalist

Is sensitive to the natural world

Sees connections in the plant and animal kingdoms

visual/spatial

Is aware of the relationship between objects in space

Perceives or draws the visual world accurately
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4.1 MULTIPLE INTELLIGENCES

Take two intelligences and think of one

teaching activity for each which fosters that

type of intelligence.

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Which activity is to develop which MI?

Lecture
Using charts and maps
Small group discussion
Field trips
Mime
Using a video clip from a
movie
7. Personal journal keeping
8. Storytelling
9. Using student-created art
10. Problem-solving
11. Memorization
12. Strip stories
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.

A.
B.
C.
D.
E.
F.
G.
H.

Linguistic Intelligence
Logical Inte.
Visual Inte.
Bodily Inte.
Naturalistic Inte.
Musical Inte.
Intrapersonal Inte.
Interpersonal Inte.

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OTHER FORMS OF SMARTNESS

Robert Sternberg (1988, 1997)

Creative thinking: Thinking beyond the normal

limits (Gorilla illusion video)

Manipulative strategies: Having ability to

persuade others to think their way (e.g. debaters,

politicians, successful salespersons, smooth talkers, etc.)

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EMOTIONAL QUOTIENT
Daniel Goleman (1995)
EQ (Emotional Quotient) ability to manage

emotions like (anger, resentment, selfdoubt, etc.) to get peak performance

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Traditional view

IQ (intelligence quotient), smartness

-Linguistic intelligence
-Logical-mathematic intelligence

Gardner
(1983, 1999)

Different intelligences:
- Linguistic intelligence
- Logical-mathematic intelligence
- Spatial intelligence (ability to form mental images of reality)
- Musical intelligence (ability to perceive and create pitch and
rhythmic patterns)
- Bodily-kinesthetic intelligence (fine motor movement, athletic
skills)
- Interpersonal intelligence (ability to understand others and how
they feel, and to interact with them)
- Intrapersonal intelligence (ability to understand oneself and to
develop a sense of identity)
Creative thinking: think beyond the normal limits
Manipulating strategies: e.g. debaters, politicians, successful
salespersons, smooth talkers, etc. ability to persuade others to
think their way
EQ (Emotional quotient) ability to manage emotions

Robert Sternberg
(1988, 1997)

Daniel Goleman
(1995)

4.1 views on intelligence

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4.2 TRADITIONAL & ALTERNATIVE ASSESSMENT

Traditional test designs
Alternative assessment
- One-shot, standardized exams - Continuous long-term
assessment
- Timed, multiple-choice format - Untimed, free-response
format
- Decontextualized test items
- Contextualized communicative
tasks
- Scores suffice for feedback
- Individualized feedback and
washback
- Norm-referenced scores
- Criterion-referenced scores
- Focus on the right answer
- Open-ended, creative answers
- Summative
- Formative
- Product-oriented
- Process-oriented
-Non-interactive performance - Interactive performance
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What are the advantages and disadvantages of

traditional and alternative assessment?

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4.3 COMPUTER-BASED TESTING

Share any experiences with computer-based testing
Evaluate the advantages and disadvantages of those

experiences.

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4.3 COMPUTER-BASED TESTING

ADVANTAGES
Self-directed testing

DISADVANTAGES
possibility of cheating in classroombased, unsupervised computerized
tests

Large-scale standardized tests that

can be administered easily to a lot of
test-takers at many different stations, Occasional home-grown quizzes that
then scored electronically for rapid
appear on unofficial websites may be
reporting of results
mistaken for validated assessments
potential for flawed item design (esp.
in multiple-choice test format)

Lack of open-ended responses (cost,

reliability, and turn-around time)
The human interactive element is
absent
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MAJOR POINTS
Testing, assessing & teaching
Formal assessment VS. informal assessment
Formative assessment VS. summative assessment
Norm-referenced testing VS. criterion-referenced
testing
3. Approaches to language testing:
- Discrete-point testing
- Integrative testing
- Communicative testing
- Performance-based assessment
4. Current issues in language testing:
- Intelligent
- Traditional assessment VS. alternative assessment
- Computer-based testing
1.
2.

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