By: Eric Ditchon

BSED- English

What is a Test Technique?

Means of eliciting behavior from candidates which will tell us about their

language abilities.

What is the purpose of a test?

To assess how well students are achieving the stated goals.

To provide the instructor with an opportunity to reinforce the stated objectives and highlight what is important for students to remember.

To provide a learning experience for students.

TEST TECHNIQUES

DIRECT VS. INDIRECT

DISCRETE POINT VS. INTEGRATIVE

NORM-REFERENCED VS. CRITERION-REFERENCED

OBJECTIVE VS. SUBJECTIVE

DIRECT TESTING

1. Requires the candidate to perform precisely the skill that the test wishes to measure.

2. Intended to measure the productive skills of speaking and writing.

3. Has a number of Attractions:

3.1. Relatively straightforward to create conditions.

3.2. Assessment and interpretation are also quite straightforward.

3.3. There is likely to be helpful backwash effect.

INDIRECT TESTING

Attempts to measure the abilities that underlie the skills in which the test is interested.

Contains underlined items which the student needs to identify as ERRONEOUS or INAPPROPRIATE in formal standard English.

EXAMPLES

DIRECT

• Composition writing to know students’ writing skills.

INDIRECT

• A writing test that requires students to identify grammatical errors in sentences.

Some test are referred to Semi-Direct

Examples:

Tape recorded speaking skills.

DISCRETE POINT

• Refers to the testing of one element at a time, item by item or series of items each testing a particular grammar structure.

INTEGRATIVE TESTING

• Requires the candidate to combine many language elements in the completion of a task.

Discrete point will always be indirect while integrative tests will tend to be direct.

DISCRETE POINT

• Form of a series of items testing a particular grammatical structure.

• Diagnostic test of grammar.

• Ex. Choose the correct meaning of the word paralysis.

• a. Inability to survive

• b. State of unconsciousness

• c. State of stuck

INTEGRATIVE TESTING

• Writing a composition, making notes while listening to a lecture.

• Demonstrate your comprehension of the following words by using them together in a written paragraph: “paralysis”, “accident”, and “football.”

EXAMPLES

Sometimes an integrative item is really more a PROCEDURE than an item.

Norm-Referenced

• Scores are interpreted relative to each other in a normal distribution scheme.

• The idea is to spread the students out on a continuum of knowledge

Criterion-Referenced

• Interpretation of scores is absolute and may be representational

• Measures students’ ability against the predetermined standard, e.g. the learning objectives of a specific course or unit of a course.

Objective

• No judgment is required – There is only one right answer.

Subjective

• If judgment is called for- free composition, looking for series of factors (creativity, style, cohesion and coherence, grammar and mechanics.

• If the scorer is not looking for any one right answer

THE END……

THANK YOU AND GOD BLESS…