Designing Classroom Language
Tests
Jacob Luth
Questions to Consider
• What is the purpose of the test?
• What are the objectives of the test?
• Do my test questions match the purpose and
objectives of the test?
• How will you decide the test items?
• What kind of scoring, grading, or feedback is
expected?
Types of Test
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Language Aptitude Tests
Proficiency Tests
Placement Tests & Diagnostic Tests
Achievement Tests
Language Aptitude Exams
• Category I language: 95 or
better[4] (French, Italian, Portuguese, and Spanish)
• Category II language: 100 or better
(German, Indonesian)
• Category III language: 105 or better
(Dari, Greek, Hebrew, Hindi/Urdu, Persian, Punjabi, Rus
sian, Serbo-Croatian, Tagalog, Thai, Turkish, and Uzbek)
• Category IV language: 110 or better (Modern Standard
Arabic, Pashto, Chinese, Japanese, and Korean)
• US Military
High Stakes Proficiency Exam
• http://www.ets.org/toefl/ibt/about/who_acce
pts_scores?WT.ac=toeflhome_whoaccepts_12
1127
Clear Objectives
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What do you want to test?
Ex: I want to test the
Define your objectives.
Example: Students will use the progressive
future tense in written discourse
Designing Multiple Choice Items
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Simple item to create but difficult to do well
Students can guess
Students can cheat
-High Practicality
High Reliability
Multiple Choice Exams
• Design each item for a specific objective
• Make the stem as simple as possible
• The intended answer is the only correct one
Grading
• How will you score the exam?
-- based on your intentions
What is important?
Feedback
• One number (0-5)
• Sub scores
• Listening and reading section
– Signals for what is correct
– Side comments
More Feedback
• Interview or Presentation
Scores for each element on a rubric
A checklist of what elements that need to be
included
Essay
Written comments
Rubric
Ongoing and post conferences
Self assessment
Design Your Own Quiz!