8.

Common test techniques

Techniques that:
 Reliable and valid indicator
 Time and Effort
 Feedback
Evaluate:
 Reading
 Listening
 Grammar
 Vocabulary
Multiple choice items
Structure:
 A few options, one of which being correct, while the other ones being distractors.
 Perfectly reliable, rapid, and practical scoring and evaluation system.
 Better possibilities to include more items than in another type of test or exam.
 It allows the testing of receptive skills without requiring the production of written or
spoken language.
Disadvantages
 Only recognition knowledge: ability’s poor indicator.
 Guessing: assuming.
 Restriction: distractors.
 It is very difficult to written successful items:
 More than one correct answer.
 No correct answer.
 There are clues in the options as to which is correct.
 Backwash may be harmful:
Some benefits:
 Ensure the test is known and understood by students and teacher.
 Use direct testing.
 Provide assistance to teachers.
 Cheating may be facilitated:
 Easy to communicate to the other candidates non-verbally.
 The order of the options is different between versions.
YES/NO and TRUE/FALSE items
 Weakness
  Reason of choices
 Assessments
 Formal test
Short-answers items (listening and reading tests)
Disadvantages
 May take longer and reduce the number of items.
 The test taker analyzes in its own language to answer.
 Scoring takes more time.
 Scoring can sometimes be invalid or unreliable.
Advantages
 Guessing the options should reduce the test score.
 Have distractors with alternatives that resemble the answer.
 Help them no to cheat.
 Answers should be easy to write, this reducing scoring time.
Gap filling items
Fill a gap with a word → Does not always work well
 Tests of grammar and vocabulary.
 Variety of modal verbs.
 Only one word.
Reader activities and further reading
 Fill in the blanks
 Re write technique
 Analysis structure