Lesson One
Introduction: Teaching and
Testing/Assessment
Contents
Why tests?
 Problems of many tests
 Quality of a good test
 History of different approaches
 Comparison: measurement, test,
evaluation, and assessment
 Relationship between measurement,
test, evaluation, and assessment
 Homework
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Why tests?
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Achievement of learners
Selection among competitions
Comparison for levels/ranking
Examination/Evaluation on teaching
methods
Betterment of tests
Pressure on professionals
Problems of Many Tests
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Poor Reliability
Poor Validity
Not Practical
Negative Backwash
• Backwash: the effect of testing on
teaching and learning
A Good Test should …
 be
valid
 be reliable
 be practical
 have beneficial backwash
History of Different Approaches
1.
2.
3.
4.
The Essay Translation Approach
The Structuralist Approach
Integrative Approach
Communicative Approach
The Essay Translation Approach
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Also called Grammar-translation Approach
Before 1950s
Pre-scientific: required no special expertise
in testing; based on T’s intuition &
experience
Subjective
Testing = Art
Anyone can make a test.
Not reliable
The Structuralist Approach
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Also called Psychometric Structuralist
Approach
Early 1950s - late1960s
Decontextualized, discrete-point tests
Tries to include more samples of the test
taker’s ability at the same time
Testing = Science (objective & reliable)
Test one single area at a time
Emphasis: form & structure
Standard Format—Multiple-Choice
Integrative Approach
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1970s – early 1980s
Under the influence of
psycholinguistics and sociolinguistics
Testing of language in context
May test more than one skill at a time
(e.g., cloze)
Emphasis: meaning
Communicative Approach
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1980s – NOW
Emphasis: language use—how people
use language for different purposes
Uses authentic materials from the real
life
Has to use language both accurately
and appropriately
Measurement
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Quantifies the characteristics (both
physical and mental) of persons
– Examples: height, motivation, aptitude
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Involves both tests and non-tests
Test
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Reading/writing tests
A procedure designed to get specific
samples of a person’s ability
A measurement instrument
Evaluation
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Quantitative
– Numbers involved; e.g., scores
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Qualitative
– Analyze data; e.g., letters of reference
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Systematic gathering of information
for decision making
Determination of adequacy
Assessment
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All situation included over time
An on-going process
Includes multiple samples of behavior,
not just one single judgment or test
Assessment
Measurement
Measurement
(non-test)
(test)
Evaluation
Homework
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Read Chapter One
Read Handout One:
Brown, J. D. Testing in Language
Programs. NJ: Prentice Hall Regents,
1996. (pp. 2-15)