Scribd
Upload
6 views

Chapter I - Assessment in English Language Teaching

Uploaded by

banggalaps
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
6 views

Chapter I - Assessment in English Language Teaching

Uploaded by

banggalaps
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 2

Assessment in English Language Teaching

Chapter 1

1.1 What is a test?


Test is a method of measuring a person’s ability; knowledge, or performance in a given domain.
- Test is method
It is an instrument – a set of techniques, procedures, or items – that requires
performance on the part of the test taker. To qualify as attest, method must be explicit
and structured; multiple choice questions with prescribed correct answers; a writing
prompt with a scoring rubric; an oral interview based on a question script and a checklist
of expected responses to be filled in by the administrator.

- Test must measure


Some test measure general ability, while others focus on very specific competencies or
objectives. A multi-skill proficiency test determines a general ability level; a quiz on
recognizing correct use of definite articles measures specific knowledge. The way the
results or measurements are communicated may vary. Some test, such as a classroom-
based short-answer essay test, may earn the test-taker a letter grade accompanied by
the instructor’s marginal comments. Others, particularly large-scale standardized test,
provide a total numerical score, a percentile rank, and perhaps some sub-scores. If an
instrument does not specify a form of reporting measurement - a means for offering the
test-taker some kind of result – then that technique cannot appropriately be defined as
a test.

- A test measures an individual’s ability, knowledge, or performance.


Testers need to understand who the test-takers are. What is their previous experience
and background? Is the test appropriately matched to their abilities? How should test-
takers interpret their scores?

A test measure performance, but the results imply the test-taker’s ability, or, to use a
concept common in the field of linguistics, competence. Most language tests measure
one’s ability to perform language, that is, to speak, write, read, or listen to a subject of
language. On the other hand, it is not uncommon to find tests designed to tap into a
test-taker’s knowledge or about language; defining a vocabulary item, reciting a
grammatical rule, or identifying a rhetorical feature in written discourse. Performance-
based tests sample the test-taker’s actual use of language, but from those samples the
test administrator infers general competence. A test of reading comprehension, for
example, may consist of several short reading passages each followed by a limited
number of comprehension questions – a small sample of a second language learner’s
total reading behavior. But from the results of that test, the examiner may infer a certain
level of general reading ability.

Finally, a test measures a given domain. In the case of a proficiency test, even though
the actual performance on the test involves only a sampling skill, that domain is overall
proficiency in a language – general competence. In all skills of a language. Other test
may have more specific criteria. A test of pronunciation might well be a test of only a
limited set of phonemic minimal pairs. A vocabulary test may focus on only the set of
words covered in a particular lesson or unit. One of the biggest obstacles to overcome in
constructing adequate tests is to measure the desired criterion and not include other
factors inadvertently, an issue that is addressed in chapters 2 and 3.

A well-constructed test is an instrument that provides an accurate measure of the test-


taker’s ability within a particular domain. The definition sounds fairly simple, but in fact,
constructing a good test is a complex task involving both science and art.

1.2 Assessment and Teaching


Test are prepared administrative procedures that occur at identifiable times in a curriculum
when learners muster all their faculties to offer peak performance, knowing that their responses
are being measured and evaluated. While assessment is an on-going process that encompasses a
much wider domain.
1.3 Informal and Formal Assessment
Informal assessment can take a number of forms, starting with incidental, unplanned comments
and responses, along with coaching and other impromptu feedback to student. An advice about
how to pronounce a word, a suggestion for a strategy for compensating for a reading difficulty,
and showing how to modify a student’s note-taking to better remember the content of lecture
are also included as informal assessment.
Formal assessment are exercise or procedures specifically design to tap into a storehouse of
skills and knowledge. They are systematic, planned sampling techniques constructed to give
teacher and student an appraisal of student achievement. All tests are formal assessment, but
not all formal assessment is testing. For example, student’s journal or portfolio might be used as
formal assessment, but it is problematic to call those two procedures “tests.”

1.4 Formative and Summative Assessment


The function of an assessment is commonly identified in the literature; formative and summative
assessment.
Formative assessment; evaluating students in the process of forming their competencies and
skills with the goal of helping them to continue that growth process. All kinds of informal
assessment are formative.
Summative assessment aims to measure, or summarize, what a student has grasped, and
typically occurs at the end of a course or unit of instruction. Final exams in a course and general
proficiency exams are examples of summative assessment.

1.5 Norm-referenced and Criterion-referenced Test


Norm-referenced tests, each test-taker’s score is interpreted in relation to a mean (average
score), median (middle score), standard deviation (extend of variance in scores), and/or
percentile rank. The purpose in such test is to place test-takers along a mathematical continuum
in rank order.
Criterion-referenced tests, are designed to give test takers feedback, usually in the form of
grades, on specific course or lesson objectives. Classroom test involving the students in only one
class, and connected to a curriculum, are typical of criterion-referenced testing.

1. Brown’s (2003) basic concepts of assessment presented above shows us the close
connection between assessment and teaching, between informal and formal assessment,
and between summative and formative assessment. Show these connections in a diagram.
2. After reading the above concepts, which one relates to you the most now? Why these
particular concepts? Explain.

You might also like