1.

How is it possible for a classroom teacher to improve the design and scoring of extended
writing tests? Provide and explain methods for testing writing.

When testing writing it is best to use direct testing i.e. to get the students to actually write. In
order to know whether the tasks chosen are adequate representatives of the tasks teachers
expect students to perform, they must make it clear from the beginning of what tasks students
should be able to complete with their respective level. This should be identified in the test
specifications. Thus the specifications should note the operations required (e.g. the aim is to
explain, argue, or compare and contrast), the text type (e.g. a letter, essay, postcard), addressee
and topic. Moreover, to test students’ writing ability it would be best to include a number of
different tasks since students might be better at one than another. By doing this, teachers give
them the opportunity of a ‘fresh start’ each time they are presented with a new task. Of course,
due to practical reasons it is simply not possible to include all the possible writing tasks into
one test since it would overburden the students. It is best if teachers know what it is they are
looking to test and comprise tests in accordance with this. Furthermore, it is important to test
only the writing ability and not the student’s creativity, or reading skills. For example, if a
writing tasks demands a higher level of reading ability than the students have their They should
also be well defined at the beginning meaning that the students know what is required of them
before they start writing and cannot therefore stray far from the main task. In regards to the last
point, it is best to use pictures and notes so as to not allow students to reuse full sentences that
have been given as explanations. All students should complete all given tasks and not have the
option to choose. As well as making the grading process easier since tests can be compared,
this also allows the students to demonstrate a variety of their writing skills and not just one
aspect. Finally, the tasks should be of adequate length if the teacher wishes to test the students’
organization skills and command of argument structure and reasoning. Writing tests can be
scored holistically (by looking at the test as a whole) or analytically (by marking certain aspects
of the test – vocabulary, grammar, etc.). The choice for grading will depend on the purpose of
the test which has been decided beforehand.

2. What is meant by speaking a foreign language? What are some of the problems in
measuring speaking ability? What are some of the most useful techniques for testing
speaking?

Speaking in a foreign language refers to a person being able to successfully interact in that
language, which involves comprehension as well as production. In other words, a speaker must
understand what is being said to them and be able to reply and hold a conversation with others
in the foreign language in question. The main issue with testing speaking is that we as teachers
want to compose a representative sample of tasks that we expect the candidates to be able to
perform i.e. tasks that elicit behavior truly representative of the candidates’ oral ability. As was
the case with writing, the specifications should note the operations required by the task (e.g.
the aim is to narrate, explain, etc.), the text type (e.g. dialogue or multi-participant
conversation), addressee and topic of the task. The most basic technique when measuring
speaking ability is an interview, but it has one potential drawback – the relationship of the
candidate and the tester. Since the tester will in most cases be the students’ superior it is likely
that only one style of speech is elicited and many functions of speech are not represented.
Another common technique is interaction with peers where candidates are asked to discuss a
certain topic or make plans with their partner. One possible downside of this technique is that
one candidate’s performance might be influenced by the performance of the other. The third
available technique is response to a tape recording. This is the most uniform and economic
technique since a number of candidates can be tested at once. However, a potential drawback
is that there is no follow up with the candidates after the task. The candidates may also be asked
to provide certain explanations and asked question (yes/no question should be avoided since
they will not test production skills). Moreover, a picture may be given to candidates as a way
to test their description skills or they might be asked to role play as to elicit various other
language functions. Role play tasks can involve two or more candidates, but as has been stated
above this can have the disadvantage of one candidate’s performance being dependent on the
other. Furthermore, discussion can be a valuable source of information, although its potential
drawback is the same as with any partner work. The number of participants in a discussion is
best limited to two so that the examiner can sufficiently observe both and so that each candidate
gets their chance to speak and express their opinion. There is also the possibility of an imitation
task where the candidate will repeat sentences after hearing them. Although this technique does
not test speaking skills as well as the others, it has been shown that students will make the same
sort of errors in these tests as they would in free speech.

3. Specify and describe the procedure for the construction of an educational test.

The essential first step in test construction is to make clear what one wants to know and for
what purpose. There are a number of important questions that therefore need to be asked first
– What kind of test is it to be? (achievement, progress, placement, etc.), What is the precise
purpose? What abilities are to be tested? The teacher should make an effort to search for tests
of a similar kind (since no two testing situations are the same) and use them as possible
suggestions. The specifications of a test will have to include information about its content,
format and timing, critical levels of performance and scoring procedures. Content refers to the
potential content of any number of tests, not one single version of it. The content of the test
will vary dependent on its nature (e.g. the content of a grammar test may simply list all the
relevant structures while a test of a language skill may be specified in greater detail over a
number of dimensions). Furthermore, the operations, the type of text, addressee and topic
should be specified in the content. Secondly, the format and timing should specify the text
structure in regards to the time intended for each component as well as item types and examples
to go along with them. Moreover, it should specify the number of items in each component.
Next, the critical level of performance requires the teacher to specify the required levels of
performance for success (e.g. mastery represents 80% of items being responded to correctly).
Lastly, scoring procedures should be made clear especially when the scoring is to be subjective
so as to achieve a high score of reliability.

4. What steps should a successful test administrator include?

The key to a successful test administration is careful advance preparation. In regards to the
materials and equipment, the tester should prepare the tests well before hand and check that
they are free of any errors. All the test materials should be numbered as well for reasons of
security. The test keys and any equipment (e.g. tape-recorder) that is to be used should be
checked beforehand for possible errors. As far as the examiners are concerned, detailed
instruction should be prepared for all examiners and gone over in detail at least a day before
the test. Moreover, if there are certain directions that examiners need to read out loud they
should practice as well as be familiarized with the equipment. Detailed instructions should also
be given to invigilators and gone over with them some time before the actual exam. Every
candidate should be given full instructions and each should have a candidate number. As for
the space in which the exam is taken, it is ideal that the room be quiet and large enough to
accommodate all the students. Furthermore, it should have solid acoustics for a listening task.
The room plan should be organized before the test begins and a clock should be visible for all
candidate to see during the test. All the candidates should be instructed to arrive early and no
late arrivals should be admitted. Furthermore, they should sit in such a way that they are unable
to communicate and help one another during the test. The test should be timed and the
candidates should stop writing when they are told to do so.
 5. What does testing reading imply? Discuss the merits and drawback of techniques for
testing reading.

Testing reading implies testing the candidates’ micro and macro reading skills. Low level
operations (e.g. testing if a student can distinguish between two letters) and vocabulary and
lexical ability can be tested through observation when talking of the former or through grammar
and vocabulary test concerning the latter, meaning that there is simply no reason to test these
skills with a reading test. There is a number of micro-skills that may be tested through reading
tasks. One example is testing how a student is able to infer the meaning of certain unfamiliar
words based on the context in which they appear. Another micro-skill is understanding the way
in which different parts of the text are related by noticing indicators in discourse and thus
connecting the introduction, development and conclusion of certain arguments. Thirdly, being
able to recognize the referents of pronouns is also a micro-skill that can be tested through
reading. It is important to note that micro-skills are closely connected to macro-skills whose
development they may help to promote. One of the macro-skills that can be tested through
reading tasks is the students’ ability to scan the text in order to get the gist of it. Moreover, the
students can be asked to identify stages in an argument and find supporting details and
examples for them within a given text. Lastly, a macro-skill that can be tested is the students’
ability to scan a text and locate the necessary information in it. When discussing reading
techniques, it is important to note that they should interfere with the reading task as little as
possible and not add a significantly difficult task on top of the reading task. One possible
technique is a multiple choice test where candidates mark the correct answer in relation to the
given text from a number of possible alternatives. This type of test is used since the scoring is
perfectly reliable as well as economical. Due to this, it is possible to have more test items since
the task only asks that the students mark the correct answer. However, there are several
disadvantages as well. Multiple choice tests are difficult to construct since good distractors and
test items have to be carefully constructed. As well as this, students have a great chance of
guessing the correct answer and the teacher can never be certain what part of the score is due
to the students’ knowledge and what part is just the result of a lucky guess. Another possible
technique is using guided short answers. One possible problem with this technique is that the
student might know the answer but is not able to express it well enough. This is a problem,
since the students’ comprehension ability is not being assessed, but rather their production
skills. A way to avoid this problem is to have candidates complete already constructed items
with the information missing from the text. Lastly, identifying the meaning of unfamiliar words
might be given as a task. However, the teacher should be careful since in order for the student
to infer the meaning of the unfamiliar word from the context, they must first understand the
context. Therefore, the text given must be appropriate for their level of language learning and
not be too difficult for comprehension.

6. How can grammar be roughly defined? How can students’ level of L2 grammar be
checked?

Grammar can roughly be defined as the whole system and structure of a language, usually taken
as consisting of syntax and morphology. Control over grammatical structures was thought to
be at the core of language ability and was therefore extensively tested in the past. Although
testing grammar is not as prominent as it once was, grammatical ability is still crucial is
developing certain skills. For example, not mastering certain grammatical structures will
severely limit a student’s writing and speaking ability since they will not be able to advance
not having adopted certain grammatical patterns. One possible way of testing L2 grammar is
through multiple choice tests. This type of test is used since the scoring is perfectly reliable as
well as economical. Due to this, it is possible to have more test items since the task only asks
that the students mark the correct answer. However, there are several disadvantages as well.
Multiple choice tests are difficult to construct since good distractors and test items have to be
carefully constructed. As well as this, students have a great chance of guessing the correct
answer and the teacher can never be certain what part of the score is due to the student’s
knowledge and what part is just the result of a lucky guess. In addition to multiple choice, there
are three other possibilities. Firstly, grammar can be tested through a paraphrase task which
requires the students to write a sentence equivalent in meaning to the one that is given. In this
type of task, it is helpful to give a part of the paraphrase, so that the students are limited with
regards to their answers. Another possible task is completion which can be used to test a variety
of structures. By providing context (a few sentences) before the part that the student needs to
complete, the teacher can greatly limit the number of possible response and therefore elicit
particular structures. Finally, a modified cloze test can also be administered to test grammar.
By using this technique, the teacher can test a specific part of the grammar. One example would
be to test students’ use of articles through omitting only them in the modified cloze task.

7. What purpose do vocabulary tests serve? What are the most commonly used techniques
for testing vocabulary? Discuss the typical advantages and disadvantages.
As was the case with grammar tests, vocabulary is a crucial part in advancing learners’ skills
in various domains of language learning. For one, a student may not improve in regards to their
writing or speaking skills if they do not acquire new and more complex vocabulary over time.
In order to encourage students to work on and pay attention to the development of their foreign
language vocabulary, achievement tests may be given to measure the extent of their learning.
One possible way to test vocabulary is through multiple choice tasks that require recognition.
This type of technique is encouraged when testing vocabulary proficiency since distractors are
readily available and guessing the meaning of a word is something that should be encouraged
(unlike guessing the correct answer on a reading task). There are various ways in which
vocabulary can be tested through multiple choice tasks. The teacher could ask the student to
mark the correct synonym of a given word or its definition. Furthermore, it could be a gap
filling multiple choice, where the context could be given and the task to choose which word of
the available ones, best fits it. One disadvantage of such a technique is that the teacher needs
to pay close attention when creating the distractors. If the correct answer is too apparent or too
difficult to notice, the task may not be successful. Conversely, vocabulary can be tested by
testing t students’ production rather than their recognition skills. The problem with testing for
production is that the teacher is required to limit the candidate to the specific lexical item that
they have in mind. One way of doing this is to provide pictures or definitions. However, it
should be noted that the latter only works with some lexical items since a definition of one
lexical item is unlikely to exclude all of its potential synonyms. Gap filling is problematic in
the same way that providing definitions and asking for production is.

8. What is implied by successful listening? Give guidelines for a successful listening test?
What techniques for testing listening are you familiar with?

Successful listening is technique that is used in counseling, training, and solving disputes or
conflicts. It requires that the listener fully concentrate, understand, respond and then remember
what is being said. In testing students’ listening ability they are required to use the active
listening technique in order to complete the task. The first step in conducting a successful
listening test is to choose an adeqaute sample of speech that the students will listen to. When
choosing the sample, the teacher must have the test specification in mind. An abundance of
different speech samples are readily available and depend on what the teacher intends to test
(e.g. how the students cope with the language intended for native speakers or how they
understand language that is addressed to them as non-native speakers). One thing that the
teacher should pay attention to is the quality of the recording and if it is not satisfactory i.e. if
it will interfere with the students’ performance, then the teacher should either make a transcript
and re-record the sample or find another one of better quality. Furthermore, if the recordings
are made specifically for testing purposes then they should sound as natural as possible (e.g.
not be a paragraph from a book since this does not mimic natural speech). In extended listening
tasks, the teacher should first listening to the recording and take notes as to see what it is that
the students should be able to get from the passage. Moreover, the teacher should keep in mind
to keep testing items sufficiently far apart from each other in order to provide students with
enough time to complete all the test items. Students should also be given a cue for when
relevant information is about to appear in the speech sample by using a similar word or phrase
in the questions related to the sample. They should also be given a sufficient amount of time
before listening to the sample to read and examine the tasks that they need to complete. When
it comes to testing listening, one possible technique is multiple choice. One additional problem
that candidates might have with multiple choice tasks in listening exams is that they need to
hold a number of alternatives in their heads for each test item. In turn, if the items are too long
the task might be too difficult for the student. Another technique is requesting short answers
which works if the items are themselves short and has the advantage of requiring minimal
writing on the part of the student. Lastly, another possible technique is note taking which
requires the students to take notes during the listening portion after which they get the questions
and tasks and must answer them based on thier notes. With this type of task, the teacher must
make sure that the sample is one which notes can be taken from.