MA - Integrated ELT Methodology
Lecture handout / Testing
1. Definition: A test is a formal or informal method of measuring students’ knowledge and/or
abilities in a given area. A test inevitably samples performance but infers certain general
competence on the basis of the sampled performance. (Brown, 2001)
2. Negative connotations associated with tests and testing: Stress, fear of failure, one-off
possibility to show what you know, not designed the way you expected the test to look like,
unpleasant surprises, too difficult questions, seems more like punishment than a fair chance to prove
that you made progress, etc…
3. The purpose of testing - the kind of information we would like to obtain
3.1. Proficiency tests measure language proficiency regardless of any language courses that
candidates may have followed.
3.2. Achievement tests are intended to establish how successfully individual students, groups of
students, or the courses themselves have been in achieving objectives.
3.3.Diagnostic tests are used to identify students’ strength and weaknesses, to identify what they
know and what they do not know.
3.4. Placement tests are intended to provide information which will help to place students at the
stage or in the part of the teaching programme most appropriate to their abilities.
4. What makes a good test?
• validity – the test measures what is intended to measure
• practicality – the test has to be practical regarding financial limitations, time constraints,
ease of administration, and scoring and interpretation
• reliability – the score will be the same or similar if the test is taken at another time or if
corrected by someone else; it is consistent and dependable
• advance preparation – teacher can raise awareness of test-taking strategies, lower anxiety,
help students prepare for tests
• face validity – the students feel that the test measures what it is supposed to measure
• the principle of authenticity – the language used in the test is natural, authentic and
provides a familiar context
• washback effect – the effect the corrected test has on the learners (positive or negative)
4. What makes a test/examination standardised, i.e. different from a classroom test prepared by
the teacher?
 gives valid and reliable information on students’ knowledge on a larger scale (national,
international)
 developed by testing specialists
 follows a standardised procedure of development
 follows a standardised practice of administration
 results are evaluated by statistical methods based on testing theories
4.1.Validity is the extent to which a test measures what it is intended to measure: it is
related to test scores and the ways in which test scores are interpreted, and is therefore
always relative to test purpose.
4.2. Reliability is the extent to which the test scores are consistent: if the candidates took
the same test again tomorrow after taking it today, would they get the same result
(assuming no change in their ability)?
5. The testing cycle
5.1.Design and pre-testing
 Write specifications (who wants to know what about whom, why and when?)
 Design test (tasks, procedures, marking scheme, criteria, training of assessors)
 Pre-test (representative population, feedback)
 Analyse pre-test results (standard setting)
 Revise test
 Print and despatch test materials
5.2.The test goes ‘live’
 Train and monitor markers and assessors
 Administer test to candidates
5.3.Analysis and evaluation
 Analyse test results (statistical analysis, feedback, observations)
 Report results
 Evaluate test and procedures
6. Why do we need standardised tests? - The educational context (European tendencies &
Hungary)
 shift from centrally controlled input towards a more flexible decentralised system
 introduction of the National Core Curriculum (identifying ‘what’ to teach giving freedom
to the ‘how’- content control),
 introduction of “Frame curricula” (between NCC and the local curricula)
 need to control the output  more emphasis on evaluation procedures, standardisation
7. How can a teacher use any of these principles in the classroom?
How am I to decide what to test my students on?
How can my tests be more than a set of improvised questions at the end of a course?
How can I better select what to include in my tests?
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Sampling: the test constructor must sample what has been taught.
What?
o the course content
o the course objective
o student errors
How?
o principled choice
o mechanical choice
Tests as compromises
They are compromises by sample: we cannot - should not - include everything in
our tests.
They are compromises by method: there might be something in our sampled list
of desirables which we realise we are unable to test.
Direct/task-based tests vs. indirect/discrete point tests
The driving test is based on a task and is direct. The learner driver has to do a
task, which is very similar to the real thing.
A multiple choice grammar test is based on a number of separate discrete points
of grammar, and is indirect because what the student has to do is rather remotely
like the real thing.
7. Ideas for designing test:
 Teachers who run parallel educational programmes should develop tests jointly.
 Get your colleagues to do your test beforehand and ask them to comment.
 Get some other students to do your test before your students do it.
 Look after clarity of the questions. In the light of trials and criticism be prepared to
drop the items you believed were your best.
 Write specifications for your test too. You will forget most of your decisions and
methodology by the time you want to use it again.
 Train each other. Use scripts from the trials for the written and video for the oral tests.
At least sit in on each other's sessions.
8. Alternative assessment and feedback:
”While tests can be used as a bolt-on procedure at end-points in a learning programme,
assessment is integral to the whole process of teaching and learning. It is the means by which
students’ language learning development and achievement are monitored over time.”
(Hedge, 2000)
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8.1. Aims of assessment:
to help the teacher’s planning of further classroom work (formative assessment)
to measure and document learner achievement
to focus on mistakes /difficulties /weaknesses
to indicate strengths / achievements
to motivate/encourage learners
to give content feedback
to give grades as expected by school and parents
to help learners assess their own progress over time (self-assessment)
to keep track of learners’ progress on a regular basis (continuous assessment)
8.2. Examples of alternative assessment methods:
Tests that actually give real feedback with narrative evaluation to encourage learners and
help them see their strength and areas for improvement
Observation-driven assessment
Portfolios
Learners’ personal diaries