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A. Based On Purposes

There are five main types of language tests: proficiency, diagnostic, placement, achievement, and language aptitude. A proficiency test measures overall language ability regardless of training, like the TOEFL. A diagnostic test identifies specific strengths and weaknesses to develop a customized language program. A placement test determines the appropriate level of instruction, such as an ESL placement exam. An achievement test evaluates if course objectives were met, usually at the end of a term. A language aptitude test predicts success in foreign language acquisition over a set period of training.

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83 views3 pages

A. Based On Purposes

There are five main types of language tests: proficiency, diagnostic, placement, achievement, and language aptitude. A proficiency test measures overall language ability regardless of training, like the TOEFL. A diagnostic test identifies specific strengths and weaknesses to develop a customized language program. A placement test determines the appropriate level of instruction, such as an ESL placement exam. An achievement test evaluates if course objectives were met, usually at the end of a term. A language aptitude test predicts success in foreign language acquisition over a set period of training.

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A.

Based on Purposes

There are many kinds of tests; each test has specific purpose and a particular criterion to be
measured. This paper will explain about five kinds of tests based on specific purposes. Those
tests are proficiency test, diagnostic test, placement test, achievement test, language aptitude test.

1. Proficiency Test

The purpose of proficiency test is to test global competence in a language. It tests overall ability
regardless of any training they previously had in the language. Proficiency tests have
traditionally consisted of standardized multiple-choices item on grammar, vocabulary, reading
comprehension, and listening comprehension. One of a standardized proficiency test is TOEFL.

2. Diagnostic Test

The purpose is to diagnose specific aspects of a language. These tests offer a checklist of features
for the teacher to use in discovering difficulties. Proficiency tests should elicit information on
what students need to work in the future; therefore the test will typically offer more detailed
subcategorized information on the learner. For example, a writing diagnostic test would first
elicit a writing sample of the students. Then, the teacher would identify the organization, content,
spelling, grammar, or vocabulary of their writing. Based on that identifying, teacher would know
the needs of students that should have special focus.

3. Placement Test

The purpose of placement test is to place a student into a particular level or section of a language
curriculum or school. It usually includes a sampling of the material to be covered in the various
courses in a curriculum. A student’s performance on the test should indicate the point at which
the student will find material neither too easy nor too difficult. Placement tests come in many
varieties: assessing comprehension and production, responding through written and oral
performance, multiple choice, and gap filling formats. One of the examples of Placement tests is
the English as a Second Language Placement Test (ESLPT) at San Francisco State University.

4. Achievement Test
The purpose of achievement tests is to determine whether course objectives have been met with
skills acquired by the end of a period of instruction. Achievement tests should be limited to
particular material addressed in a curriculum within a particular time frame. Achievement tests
belong to summative because they are administered at the end on a unit/term of study. It analyzes
the extent to which students have acquired language that have already been taught.

5. Language Aptitude Test

The purpose of language aptitude test is to predict a person’s success to exposure to the foreign
language. According to John Carrol and Stanley Sapon (the authors of MLAT), language
aptitude tests does not refer to whether or not an individual can learn a foreign language; but it
refers to how well an individual can learn a foreign language in a given amount of time and
under given conditions. In other words, this test is done to determine how quickly and easily a
learner acquire or learn new language in language course or a given language training program
duration1. Standardized aptitude tests have been used in the United States:

1. The Modern Language Aptitude Test (MLAT)


2. The Pimsleur Language Aptitude Battery (PLAB)

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of test: proficiency, diagnostic, placement, achievement, and language aptitude (see


Dewi & Nastiti, 2012; Butt, 2007; McNamara, 2000).

Proficiency Test (e.g. TOEFL) is given when the purpose is to measure students' universal
knowledge of a language based on their collective training or exposure. The test contains
standardized multiple-choices item on different language areas.
Diagnostic Test (e.g. teacher-made test) is taken by students when the purpose is to

1
determine their specific strengths and weaknesses of a language use and knowledge based.
Often, this test is designed in response to students' real needs by developing a language program,
syllabus, and materials.
Placement Test (e.g. ESL placement test or a university entrance exam) refers to a measurement
intended to determine students' appropriate placement into a particular section of a class at the
university or any institutions. A student’s result from the test determines content, materials, and
activities to be used to improve his/her proficiency.
Achievement Test (e.g. major exams at the university) is used to determine whether objectives of
a particular course have been met at the end of instruction period. It is summative in nature in the
sense that students' amount of learning and skills performance are measured with what has been
taught since the beginning of instruction.
Language Aptitude Test (e.g. the University of Oxford Aptitude Test) is given to predict students'
success if they are to be trained in a foreign language. The challenge is how easily and quickly a
learner acquire or learn a new language in a given language training program duration.

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