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Lesson One

Introduction: Teaching and Testing/Assessment

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Contents What is a test? Why tests? Problems of many tests Qualities of a good test Terms: measurement, test, evaluation, and

assessment Relationship between measurement, test,

evaluation, and assessment Relationship between test/ass.& teaching Formative and summative assessment Formal vs. informal assessment Traditional vs. alternative assessment Questions to think about Homework

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What Is a Test?

Unavoidable, artificial, degrading? How tests make us feel much of the time? (

– A necessary “evil”, “torment”?– Anything positive about tests?

Definition: a method of measuring a person’s ability, knowledge, or performance in a given domain.

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What Is a Test?

We want to create a test.– Consistently provide accurate measures of precisely the

ability in which we are interested– Have a beneficial effect on teaching– Be economical in terms of money and time– For example: the purpose of testing in this class

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What Is the purpose of testing in language leaning?

to measure language proficiency regardless of any language courses that candidates may have followed

To discover how far students have achieved the objectives of a course of study

To diagnose student’s strengths and weakness; to identify what they know and what they do not know.

To assist placement of students by identifying the stage or part of a teaching program most appropriate for their ability.

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Why Tests? (group work)

Measure student’s level; divide them into the right categories

Test what they have learned Give students grades Put pressure on students; concentrating in

class know whether students understand or not Reach some purposes : e.g. admission Diagnose students weakness and strength

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Why Tests?

1. To gather information: Achievement of learners Selection among competitors Comparison for levels/ranking Examination/Evaluation on teaching

methods Identification of problem areas

2. To reinforce learning & to motivate students

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Assessment and Testing

1. Test : Prepared administrative procedures Identifiable times in a curriculum Time-constrained A subset of assessment

2. Assessment Ongoing process ; much wider domain Evaluated by test-takers’ performance and

responses.

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Test

Traditional paper-and-pencil tests A procedure designed to get a specific

sample of a person’s ability at a given time (so time-constrained, a limited sample of behavior)

A measurement instrument

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Assessment

“a set of processes through which we make judgments about a learner’s level of skills and knowledge” (Nuna 1990)

Whole situation included over time An on-going process Includes multiple samples of behavior, not ju

st one single judgment or test

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Relationship between Teaching & Testing/Assessment

A partnership relationship Testing not simply follow teaching Testing should be supportive of good

teaching & have a corrective influence on bad teaching

Depending on purposes of the test:– To reinforce learning, motivate students– A means of assessing Ss’ performance

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Relationship between Test/Assessment & Teaching

Teaching

Assessment

Tests

(Brown 5)

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Teacher’s Role in Testing

Write better tests themselves– Myth: a qualified T vs. a good test maker

Put pressure on professional testers to improve their tests – E.g., TWE (Test of Written Eng.) in TOEFL

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Formal vs. Informal Assessment (1)

Formal assessment:– Systematic, planned– All tests are formal assessments, but not

all formal assessment is testing.E.g., journal, portfolio = formal assessment,

but are not “tests”

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Formal Assessment

Some formal assessments provide teachers with a systematic way to evaluate how well students are progressing in a particular instructional program.

For example, after completing a four- to six-week theme, teachers will want to know how well students have learned the theme skills and concepts. They may give all the students a theme test in which students read, answer questions, and write about a similar theme concept. This type of assessment allows the teacher to evaluate all the students systematically on the important skills and concepts in the theme by using real reading and writing experiences that fit with the instruction. In other situations, or for certain students, teachers might use a skills test to examine specific skills or strategies taught in a theme.

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Formal vs. Informal Assessment (2)

Informal assessment:– Embedded in classroom tasks– To elicit performance without recording

results and making fixed judgments about a student’s competence.

– E.g., marginal comments on papers

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Informal Assessment

including special activities such as group or individual projects, experiments, oral presentations, demonstrations, or performances. Some informal assessments may be drawn from typical classroom activities such as assignments, journals, essays, reports, literature discussion groups, or reading logs.

Other times, it will be difficult to show student progress using actual work, so teachers will need to keep notes or checklists to record their observations from student-teacher conferences or informal classroom interactions.

Sometimes informal assessment is as simple as stopping during instruction to observe or to discuss with the students how learning is progressing. Any of these types of assessment can be made more formal by specifying guidelines for what and how to do them, or they can be quite informal, letting students and teachers adjust to individual needs.

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Formative & Summative Assessment (1)

Formative Assessment:– Evaluating Ss in the process of “forming” their

competences and skills– Goal: helping them to continue the growth

process (i.e., future continuation or formation of learning; on-going development of their language)

– Key: the delivery (by the teacher) and internalization (by the student) of appropriate feedback on performance

– E.g., most classroom assessment

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Formative & Summative Assessment (2)

Summative assessment:– To measure or summarize what a S has grasped

at the end of a course/unit– Not necessarily point the way to future progress– E.g., final exams, general proficiency exams

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Traditional vs. alternative assessment (1)

Traditional assessment:– One-shot, timed– Usually decontextualized– Summative– Product-oriented– Focus on the “right” answer

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Traditional vs. alternative assessment (2)

Alternative assessment:– Continuous long-term assessment, untime

d– Contextualized communicative– Formative– Process-oriented– Open-ended, creative answers

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Questions to Think about

Are all tests summative? Is it possible to convert tests into “learning

experiences”? Again, is testing a necessary evil? What can we use tests for?

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Homework

Read Chapter One in both textbooks (Brown; Bailey)

Preview: Brown chapter 3 (pp. 43-47); Bailey chapters 3 & 6.

Q to think about:– Why is the course called Language Assessment

instead of Language Testing?

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Problems of Many Tests

Poor quality (cf. reliability) Fail to measure accurately what is intended

to be measured (cf. validity) Not practical A harmful effect on teaching/learning

(i.e., harmful backwash)

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Backwash (or Washback)

Definition: the effect of testing on teaching/learning (Bailey 3)

Harmful (negative) backwash:– e.g., a writing test with multiple-choice items

Beneficial (positive) backwash:– e.g., an oral test

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A Good Test Should …

be validbe reliablebe practicalhave beneficial backwashbe authentic