TESTING Presented by TESTING & ASSESSMENT  Questions for discussion 1.State what you know about innovation/change in testing and assessment. 2.List some test types you usually give your 12-grade students. 3.Suggest what should be done to make fair tests.  Follow-up activity In groups, choose one point to be tested (either language skills or vocabulary or grammar or pronunciation). Design a 45-minute test with key answers. Innovation/Change in Testing  In traditional language teaching, formal and informal tests are given to students by their teachers.  Nowadays, based on student-centered approach, language testing includes tests, continuous/continual assessments. - Formal tests are given to students at the end of a semester/ school year, marked, and assessed by teachers. - Continuous/continual assessments are informal tests given regularly to students during the course. They are assessed by teachers( teacher assessment), or classmates (peer assessment), or the student himself/ herself (self-assessment or individual assessment). CHARACTERISTICS OF A GOOD TEST VALIDITY & RELIABILITY  Validity A test is valid - if it tests what is supposed to test (e.g. test writing ability with essay question that requires specialist knowledge of history or biology) - if it produces similar results to some other measure (i.e. Test A gives the same kind of resuts as Test B). - when there is validity in the way it is marked(e.g. test listening ability but scoring the answers for spelling and grammar  not a valid test of listening) VALIDITY & RELIABILITY  Reliability A good test should give consistent results (i.e. same test same results on each occasion). Reliability depends on - making the test instructions clear; - restricting the scope for variety in the answers; - ensuring test conditions remain constant; - the scorers in particular (i.e. a test is unreliable if the result depends to any large extent on who is marking it.) Testing and Assessment  “…Testing is one kind of assessment. One which is typically used at the end of a stage of instruction to measure student achievement. Assessment is a broader concept: it is part of the whole educational process of teaching and learning…”  “…Whilst tests can be used as a ‘bolt-on’ procedure at end- points in a learning program, assessment is integral to the whole process of teaching and learning…”  Assessment is undertaken and for different purposes. The first purpose is pedagogically motivated, i.e. formative assessment. The second one is to measure learner achievement, i.e. summative assessment. Source: Hedge, T. (2000). Teaching and Learning in the Language Classroom, OUP .(pp 336-337) Formative versus Summative Assessment Source: Hedge, T. (2000). Teaching and Learning in the Language Classroom, OUP .(pp 336-337) Formative assessment  is prepared and carried out by the class teacher as a routine part of teaching and learning.  is specifically related to what has been taught, i.e. content is in harmony with what has been taught.  the information from the assessment is used diagnostically; it focuses on the individual learner’s specific strengths and weaknesses, needs, etc. Summative assessment  is not necessarily prepared and carried out by the class teacher.  does not necessarily relate immediately to what has been taught.  the judgement about a learner’s performance is likely to feed into record-keeping and be used for administrative purposes, e.g. checking standards and targets.  is frequently externally imposed, e.g. by institution or a ministry of education. Some test types Teachers might use a variety of test types which will depend on a) The level of students b) The skills they want to test c) The language points they want to test A. Listening tests 1. Multiple choice questions 2. True-False statements 3. Open-ended questions 4. Grid-filling/ Completing charts with facts & figures 5. Gap-filling 6. Identifying objects/people/speakers’ tones Some test types (cont.) B. Reading tests 1. Multiple choice questions 2. True-False statements 3. Open-ended questions 4. Grid-filling 5. Gap-filling/ Cloze 6. Matching (jumbled headings with paragraphs/written descriptions with pictures of the items or procedure they describe) 7. Transferring written information to charts, graphs, maps,etc. 8. Choosing the best summary of a paragraph or a whole text. Some test types (cont.) C. Speaking tests 1. Prompts/Picture prompts 2. Asking & answering questions(Interview) 3. A set of topics 4. Role-plays 5. Information gap activities (e.g. describe and draw/ describe and arrange) 6. Decision-making activities (e.g. show ten photos of people and ask candidates to put them in order of the best and worst dressed.) 7. Using pictures for candidates to compare and contrast (e.g. to find similarities & differences) [...]... reliable if impossible distractors are used Consider the following question: What color is the sun? A Yellow ( This is intended correct answer) B Orange ( too close to the correct answer) C Soft (not a color & too far from the correct answer) D Yes (It is a bad distractor because this is an answer to a yes/no question) A better set of answers to test knowledge of colors would simply be a list of colors: A . by teachers( teacher assessment) , or classmates (peer assessment) , or the student himself/ herself (self -assessment or individual assessment) . CHARACTERISTICS. TESTING Presented by TESTING & ASSESSMENT  Questions for discussion 1.State what you know about innovation/change in testing and assessment. 2.List some