Introducing Testing and

Assessment
 Contents

• Measurement, test, assessment, and evaluation

• Types of assessment
• Kinds of tests and testing
• Approaches to test construction
• Test versus examination
• What is a quiz?
Measurement, test, assessment
and evaluation
• Measurement is the process of quantifying
attributes or abilities by using one or more
instruments such as a test or a rating scale.
• Measurement is undertaken to quantify the level
of knowledge or skills acquired by the learner.
• A test is a measurement instrument.
• A test is a method/tool of measuring a person's
ability, knowledge, or performance in a given
domain.
• Assessment is an ongoing process that
encompasses a much wider domain.

• Whenever a student responds to a question,

offers a comment, or tries out a new word or
Structure, the teacher subconsciously makes an
assessment of the student's performance.
• Tests are a subset of assessment; they are only
one among many procedures and tasks that
teachers can ultimately use to assess students.
(Brown, 2003)
 Evaluation

• Evaluation has the broadest scope in which

assessment and tests are the sub-sets of
evaluation.
• Evaluation refers to the systematic gathering of
information for the purpose of making decisions.
It is concerned about forming an idea of a
curriculum or a program as whole, and then
making a judgment about them.
• Evaluation can be formative or summative.
Informal and formal assessment
• Informal assessment can take a number of
forms. It involves the teacher observing the
learners and is embedded in classroom tasks
designed to elicit performance without recording
results and making fixed judgments about a
student's competence.
• Formal assessment is systematic, planned
procedures and techniques constructed to give
teachers and students an appraisal of student
achievement.
Is formal assessment the same as a
test?
• All tests are formal assessments, but not all
formal assessments are tests.
• For example, you might use a student's portfolio
as a formal assessment of the attainment of
certain course objectives.
• A portfolio is a collection of learners` work done
during the semester or a school year.
Formative and summative
assessment
• Formative assessment is used by teachers to
check the progress of their students and to see
how far they have mastered what they should
have learned in order to modify their future
teaching plans.
• Summative assessment is used at the end of a
the term, semester or year to measure what has
been achieved. Here formal tests are usually
called for.
Peer and self assessment
• Peer and self assessment where students
asses themselves or each other is motivating for
them and encourages them to take responsibility
for their learning.
Types of tests
• Tests can be categorized according to the types of
information they provide, and the decisions to be
made.

• There are four types of tests:

o Proficiency tests
o Achievement tests
o Diagnostic tests
o Placement tests
o Aptitude tests (prognostic tests)
(Hughes, 2003)
1. Proficiency tests

• Proficiency tests are designed to measure

people`s ability in a language. The contents of
the test are not based on a course or syllabus
the learners have followed.
• Proficiency tests can measure the learner`s
general ability in language (e.g. IELTS test) or
measure the learner`s ability in using the
language for a particular purpose (e.g. English
for nurses).
2. Achievement tests

• Achievement tests are directly related to language

courses, their purpose is to establish how
successful individual students, group of students
or the courses themselves have been in achieving
objectives.
• There are two kind: final achievement tests and
progress achievement tests.
• Final achievement tests are administrated at the
end of a course and the content of tests are
related to the course.
• Progress achievement tests are intended to
measure the progress the students are making.
They contribute to formative assessment.
3. Diagnostic tests

Diagnostic tests are used to identify learners`

strengths and weaknesses. The information from
these tests help decide what to teach and which
learners need help in which areas of language.
4. Placement tests

The information from a placement test is used to

decide what level of class learners should go in to.
High-stakes versus low-stakes testing

• A high-stakes test is a test used to make

important decisions about students. For
example, if the test results are used to determine
an important outcome, such as whether the
students receives a high school diploma, the test
would be considered a high stakes test.
• Low-stakes tests measure academic
achievement or identify learning problems.
Approaches to test construction
• Direct versus indirect testing
• Discrete point versus integrative testing
• Norm-referenced versus criterion-referenced
• Objective testing versus subjective testing
• Computer adaptive testing
• Communicative language testing
Direct versus indirect testing

• Direct testing requires the candidate to preform

precisely the skill that we wish to measure. For
example if we want to know how well students
can write compositions, we get them to write
compositions.
• Indirect testing attempts to measure the abilities
that underlie the skills in which we are interested.
For example, one section of the TOFEL test was
developed as an indirect measure of the writing
ability. It contains items where the candidate has
to identify if they are appropriate in formal writing.
Discrete point versus integrative testing

• Discrete point testing refers to testing one

element at a time, item by item. For example, the
test can take a form of items ,each testing a
particular grammatical set.
• Integrative testing requires the candidate to
combine many language elements in the
completion of the task. For example, writing a
composition.
Norm-referenced versus criterion-referenced

• Norm-referenced test relates one candidates

performance to that of other candidates. For
example saying that a student has obtained a
score on a test that placed him/her in the top ten
percent.
• Criterion-referenced Test dose not compare an
individual`s performance with other candidates.
For example, a candidate awarded with Berkshire
certificate of proficiency in German Level 1 means
the can speak and react to others using simple
language.
Objective testing versus subjective testing

• The distinction here is between methods of

scoring.
• If no judgment is required on the part of the
scorer, then the scoring is objective. (e.g.
multiple choice test).
• If judgment is called for then it is subjective.
Computer adaptive testing

• All candidates are presented initially with an item

of average difficulty. Those who respond
correctly are presented with more difficult item;
those who respond incorrectly are presented
with an easier item.
• The computer goes on this way until a
dependable estimate of the candidate`s ability is
achieved.
Communicative language testing
• A communicative test requires the students to
complete an authentic task, that is a task that is a
realistic reflection of a learner`s experience in the
outside world.
• There is no focus on any grammar items. The aim
is the successful completion of the task.
• Examples are:
o Ordering food from a restaurant.
o Deciding with a friend which movie to watch.
• Communicative tests are more difficult to assess
as there are no correct or incorrect answers.
Teachers need to use their experience and
common sense to asses each student on the
extent to which they have achieved their
communicative aim.

• There are also more difficult to set up and there

are time constraints as the teacher needs to
witness each student carry out the task.
Test versus examination
• There is no general agreement on what is the
distinction between the two terms.
• Sometimes the distinction is made in terms of
time allowed. A typical examination lasts two to
three hours while a test lasts from half an hour to
one hour.
• Sometimes distinction is hierarchical. A university
professor examines her students while a primary
teacher tests her nine-year olds.
• Distinction may depend on whether the
assessment is subjective or objective. In the first
case, we have an examination; in the second we
have a test.
What is a quiz?
• A quiz is a quick and informal assessment of
student knowledge.
• Quizzes are often used to assess students` level
of comprehension, providing teachers with
insights into students progress and any existing
gaps.
References
• Bachman, L. F. (1995). Fundamental Considerations
in Language Testing. UK: Oxford University press.
• Brown, H. D. (2003). Language Assessment Principles
and Classroom Practices. UK: London, Pearson
Education.
• Hughes, A. (2003). Testing for Language Teachers.
UK: Cambridge University Press.
• Weiss, C.H. (1972). Evaluation Research: Methods of
Assessing Program Effectiveness. Englewood Cliffs
(NJ), USA: Prentice-Hall.
 Thank you for paying
attention.
I wish you an exciting
course with a triumphant
ending!