Advanced Assessment in Language Teaching

There are several steps which the teachers need to consider to

design a test.
 The purpose
of the test

Scoring,
grading, The objective This is the first step
and/or of the test in constructing the
feedback
tests.
You need to
questions
yourselves these
critical questions in
order to design or
Selecting the How the test revise the tests.
task and reflect on both
arrange the purposes
items and
objectives
A teacher may not have chance to
A teacher needs to create
create

Language
Aptitude Placement Diagnostic
Test Test Test

Language Achievement
Proficiency Test
Test
A Language Aptitude Test is designed to measure capacity or
general ability to learn a foreign language and ultimate
s u cces s in that undertaking. Language aptitude tests are
ostensibly designed to apply to the classroom learning of any
language.
Brown, 2004

 To predict a person’s future success in learning a

(any) foreign language
 Taken before actual learning
Modern Language
Aptitude Test U S A has two
standardized aptitude

(MLAT)
test. Both are
English language
tests and require
students to perform a
number of language
Pimsleur related tasks.
The MLAT and PLAB
Language Aptitude show some significant
correlations with
ultimate performance
Battery (PLAB) of students in
language courses.
(Carroll, 1981)
 Standardized multiple
choice of items on
grammar, vocabulary,
Test overall ability
reading
comprehension, and
aural comprehension
 Perform
Provide the The results are
legitimate
form of single the gate
samples of
score keeping
English

Time
consuming and
costly process
Assessing comprehension and production
A sampling of the
Responding through written and oral performance
material to be
covered in the
Open-ended and limited responses
various courses in a
curriculum.
Multiple choices and gap filling formats To assign students
to classes or
programs
appropriate to their
level of proficiency.
A diagnostic test is designed to sh ow what
skills or knowledge a learner knows and doesn’t
know.
Ephonological
. g. A test in features of Emight
pronunciation n glishdiagnose
that are
difficult
the for learners and should therefore
become part of a curriculum.
 Identify a students’ strengths and weaknesses
 To benefit future instruction
Midterm examination outline, high intermediate
Section A. Vocabulary
Part I (5 items): match words and definition
Part II (5 items): use the word in sentence
Closely related to the
Section B. Grammar content of a particular
lesson/course/
(10 sentences): error detection curriculum.
Section C . Reading Comprehension To determine whether
(2 one-paragraph passages): four short answers course objectives have
been met – and
Section D. Writing appropriate knowledge
and skills are
acquired – by the end
of the period of
instruction.
The tests are often
summative .
The specification for an achievement test should be
determined by:
1. the objectives of the lesson, unit, or course being
assessed.
2. the relative importance (weight) assigned to each
objective.
3. the tasks employed in classroom lessons during the
unit of time.
4. practically issues, such as the time frame for the test
and turnaround time.
5. the extent to which the test structure lends itself to
formative washback
Assessing Clear, Unambiguous Objectives

Drawing up Test Specifications

Devising Test Tasks

Designing Multiple-Choice Test Items

Examine the
objectives of the unit
you are testing.
Eac h objective needs
to be stated in terms
of the performance
elicited and the target
linguistic domain.
These informal,
classroom-oriented
specifications give you
a n indication of:
• The topic (objectives)
you will cover
• The implied
elicitation and
response formats for
items
• The number of items
in each section
• The time to be
allocated for each
In revising the draft, the teachers should consider these
questions:
 Are the directions to each section absolutely clear?
 Is there an example item for each section?
 Does each item measure a specific objective?
 Does each multiple-choice item have appropriate distractors;
that is, are the wrong items clearly wrong and yet sufficiently
alluring that they aren’t ridiculously easy?
 Is the difficulty of each item appropriate for the students?
 Do the s u m of the items and the test as a whole adequately
reflect the learning objectives?
Hoghes (2003:76-78) cautions against a number of
weaknesses of multiple – choice items:
 The technique tests only recognition knowledge
 Guessing may have a considerable effect on test
scores.
 The technique severely restricts what can be
tested
 It is very difficult to write successful items
 Wash back may be harmful
 Cheating may be facilitated
1. Multiple choice items are all receptive, or selective, response
items in that test-taker chooses from a set of responses
(commonly called a supply type of response) rather than
creating a response. Other receptive item types include true-
false questions and matching lists.
2. Every multiple choice item has a stem, which present
stimulus, and several (usually between three and five)
options or alternatives to choose from.
3. One of those options, the key, is the correct response, while
the others serve as distractors .
Revised Flawed

Voice: Exc u se m e, do you know ?

Where did George go after the a. where is the post office
party last night?
b. where the post office is
S reads:
a. Yes, he did. c. where post office is

b. Because he was tired.

c. To Elaine’s place for another
party
d. Around eleven o’clock
My eyesight has really We went to visit the
been deteriorating lately. I temples.
wonder if I need glasses. I fascinating.
think, I’d better go to the a. which were
to have my eyes
checked. beautiful
a. pediatrician b. which were
b. dermatologist
especially
c. which were holy
c. optometrist
Voice:
Where did George go after the party last night?
S reads:
a. Yes, he did.
b. Because he was tired.
c. To Elaine’s place for another party
d. Around eleven o’clock
General Overview
 Percent of Possible
Total Total Correct
Grade
Oral interview 40% 4 scores, 5 to 1 range x 2 40

Listening 20% 10 items @ 2 points each 20

Reading 20% 10 items @ 2 points each 20

Writing 20% 4 scores, 5 to 1 range x 2 20

Total 100
 The country, culture, and context of
English classroom.
 Institutional expectations
 Explicit and implicit definitions of grades that you
have set forth.
 The relationship you have established with this
class.
 Student expectations that have been engendered in
previous tests and quizzes in the class.
 The appropriate form of feedback on tests will
vary, depending on the purpose.
 For every test, the way results are reported is
an important consideration.
 Under some circumstances, a letter grade or score
may be appropriate.
 Other circumstances may require that the teacher
provide detailed feedback to the students.