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TSL 3112 – LANGUAGE ASSESSMENT

TSL 3112 – LANGUAGE ASSESSMENT. WEEK 1 – TOPIC 1 OVERVIEW OF ASSESSMENT: CONTEXT, ISSUES AND TRENDS. TERMINOLOGY. Assessment : The process of gathering information to make informed decisions.

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TSL 3112 – LANGUAGE ASSESSMENT

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  1. TSL 3112 – LANGUAGE ASSESSMENT WEEK 1 – TOPIC 1 OVERVIEW OF ASSESSMENT: CONTEXT, ISSUES AND TRENDS

  2. TERMINOLOGY • Assessment: The process of gathering information to make informed decisions. • Test: An instrument or systematic procedure for measuring a sample of behaviors by posing a set of questions in a uniform manner. • Measurement: Process of obtaining a numerical description of the degree to which an individual possesses a particular characteristic. • Evaluation :refers to the process of making judgments, assigning value, or deciding worth.

  3. ASSESSMENT In educational practice assessment: • refers to the full range of information gathered and synthesized by teachers about their students and their classrooms. • is a continuous process and is tied to instruction. • can be gathered through- • informal means such as through observation and verbal exchange. • formal means such as homework, tests and written reports,

  4. ASSESSMENT • All situation included over time • An on-going process • Includes multiple samples of behavior, not just one single judgment or test

  5. TESTS • Test: An instrument or activity used to accumulate data on a person’s ability to perform a specified task. • A subset of assessment (a genre of assessment technique)

  6. ASSESSMENT VS. TESTING • Testing is assessment, assessment is not testing • Assessment should be ongoing

  7. 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

  8. WHY TESTS? • Achievement of learners • Selection among competitions • Comparison for levels/ranking • Examination/Evaluation on teaching methods • Betterment of tests • Pressure on professionals

  9. OTHER USES OF TESTS • Motivation • Achievement • Improvement • Diagnosis • Prescription • Grading • Classification • Prediction

  10. PROBLEMS OF MANY TESTS • Poor Reliability • Poor Validity • Not Practical • Negative Backwash • Backwash: the effect of testing on teaching and learning

  11. QUALITY OF A GOOD TEST A Good Test should … • be valid • be reliable • be practical • have beneficial backwash

  12. QUALITY OF A GOOD TEST A test is said to be : • reliablewhen it produces dependable results consistently. • validwhen it measures what it claims to measure. • fair if it offers all students the same chance to doing well and if it does not discriminate against a particular group of students because of race, ethnicity, or gender.

  13. HISTORY OF DIFFERENT APPROACHES • The Essay Translation Approach • The Structuralist Approach • Integrative Approach • Communicative Approach

  14. THE ESSAY TRANSLATION APPROACH • 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

  15. THE STRUCTURALIST APPROACH • 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

  16. INTEGRATIVE APPROACH • 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

  17. COMMUNICATIVE APPROACH • 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

  18. Measurement and Evaluation

  19. MEASUREMENT • Quantifies the characteristics (both physical and mental) of persons • Examples: height, motivation, aptitude • Involves both tests and non-tests

  20. MEASUREMENT • A measurement takes place when a “test” is given and a “score” is obtained . • If the test collects quantitative data, the score is a number. • If the test collects qualitative data, the score may be a phrase or word such as “excellent.”

  21. EXAMPLE: TEST • Reading/writing tests • A procedure designed to get specific samples of a person’s ability • A measurement instrument

  22. EVALUATION • Evaluations are either formative or summative. • It can be: • Quantitative • Numbers involved; e.g., scores or • Qualitative • Analyze data; e.g., letters of reference • Systematic gathering of information for decision making • Determination of adequacy

  23. SUMMARY Assessment Measurement (test) Measurement (non-test) Evaluation

  24. HOMEWORK • Read Chapter One • Read Handout One: • Brown, J. D. Testing in Language Programs. NJ: Prentice Hall Regents, 1996. (pp. 2-15)

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