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LG 228

LG 228. TESTING. ACHIEVEMENT TESTS.

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LG 228

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  1. LG 228 TESTING

  2. ACHIEVEMENT TESTS. • Most teachers may be involved in the design of achievement tests. In contrast to proficiency tests, achievement tests are directly linked to specific language courses, their purpose being establish how successful individual students, groups of students, or the courses themselves have been successful in achieving the objectives of the course.

  3. PROFICIENCY TESTS • Proficiency tests are designed to measure peoples ability in a language regardless of any training they may have received or any course they may have taken. The content of a proficiency test is not based on the syllabus or content of a language course which people taking the test may have followed. It is based rather, on the specification of what candidates have to be able to do in the language in order to be considered proficient

  4. DIAGNOSTIC TESTS • Diagnostic tests are used to identify students strengths and weaknesses, they are used in order to ascertain what further teaching is necessary. So it is possible, from a writing task in a test, to define the students ability in such respects as ‘grammatical accuracy’ or ‘vocabulary appropriacy’, or form a spoken test to decide their level of fluency and what kind of pronunciation problems they may have, that need further attention in the classroom.

  5. Placement tests • Placement tests maybe very familiar to people who have worked as teachers in private language schools, where a placement test is often the first thing a learner has to do when he/she enrols at the school. Placement tests are to provides information which helps to place the learners at the correct stage of the teaching/learning programme to match their abilities. So in a, private language school this corresponds with deciding which level class the new student will join

  6. DIRECT AND INDIRECT TESTING. • Testing is said to b e direct when it requires the candidate to perform precisely the skill which we wish to measure. If we want to know how well they can write essays for example, we get them to write an academic essay, as does the IELTS Academic exam. • Indirect testing measures the underlying skills of the candidates, so aspects such as vocabulary, pronunciation, knowledge of grammar, may be tested.

  7. COMMUNICATIVE LANGUAGE TESTING. • This refers to testing communicative ability and using communicative events as test items. Thus items usually relate directly to language use; tasks in the test are as authentic as possible, knowledge of language function and appropriateness of expression and language to the social situation are tested as well as knowledge of structure and word meaning

  8. TESTING SPEAKING. • Testing speaking is assessing whether a candidate can interact successfully in th language, so this involves both comprehension and production. The problem with testing speaking is that we need to set tasks that form a representative sample the range of oral tasks that we would expect the candidates to be able to perform. The tasks should elicit behaviour which truly represents the candidates ability, and which can be scored with validity and reliability.

  9. Properties of a good test • Validity (does the test measure what it is supposed to measure?) • Reliability (does the test give consistent results?) • Practicality (is it feasible in your situation?) • Note: tension between reliability and validity + ease of setting/marking • Marking: how to make more reliable?

  10. REFERENCES • Heaton, J.B. 1990. Classroom Testing Longman • Hedge, T. 2000. Teaching and learning in the language classroom OUP • Hughes, A. 2003. Testing for Language Teachers Cambridge • Weir, C.J. 1990. Communicative Language Testing Prentice Hall • Weir, C.J. 1993. Understanding and Developing Language Tests Prentice Hall • Weir, C.J. 2005. Language Testing and Validation Palgrave Macmillan

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