What is test? How many types of test are there?
Discuss the qualities of a good test. Discuss the
difference between test and assessment.
Test is an inevitable element of learning process and plays a
significant role especially in language learning. It is a reliable
way by which a teacher can evaluate his or her students'
knowledge of something which he/she has taught them. The
students also get a chance to prove their skill or competence
of what they have learnt. So it is significant for both the
learner and the teacher.
Definition of test:
The very term ‘Test’, in ELT, refers to a process of measuring
learners’ knowledge or skill in a particular issue through
some oral or written procedures. It is a means to show both
the students and the teacher how much the learners have
learnt during a course.Tests could be used to display the
strength and weaknesses of the teaching process and help
the teacher improve it. Now we will look into what the test is.
Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary defines test as:
“…an examination of somebody's knowledge or ability,
consisting of questions for them to answer or activities for
them to perform”
Cambridge Advanced Learner’s Dictionary describes test as:
“…a way of discovering, by questions or practical activities,
what someone knows, or what someone or something can do
or is like”
Andrew Harrison in his “A Language Testing Handbook”
(1983) writes:
“A test is seen as a natural extension of classroom work,
providing teacher and students with useful information that
can serve each as a basis for improvement.”
Types of Test:
According to some scholars like Thompson, 2001; Hughes,
1989; Alderson, 1996; Heaton, 1990; Underhill, 1991, there
are four main reasons for testing which give rise to four
traditional categories of tests.
1. Placement tests:
Placement tests, as their name suggests, are intended to
provide information that will help to place students at the
stage of the teaching programme most appropriate to their
abilities. Typically they are used to assign students to classes
at different levels.The term “placement test” does not refer
to what a test contains or how it is constructed, but to the
purpose for which it is used. “Longman Dictionary of LTAL”
defines ‘placement test as:
“…a test that is designed to place test takers at an
appropriate level in a programme or course.”
Various types of test or testing procedure such as dictation,
an inter-view, a grammar test can be used for placement
purposes.
2.Diagnostic Tests:
Diagnostic testsareused to spot the learners’ strengths and
weakness. Heaton (1990:13) compares such type of test with
a diagnosis of a patient, and the teacher with a doctor who
states the diagnosis. “Longman Dictionary of LTAL” defines
‘diagnostic tests’ as:
“…a test that is designed to provide information about L2
learners’ strengths and weaknesses.”
Underhill (1991:14.) adds that a diagnostic test provides the
student with a variety of language elements, which will help
the teacher to determine what the student knows or does not
know. Thus, when the teacher identifies what the learners’
problems are, he can do something about them.
3.Progress or achievement tests:
Progress or achievement tests aim to measure what has been
learnt over a longer period of time. Jeremy Harmer in his
“The Practice of English Language Teaching” writes:
“These tests are designed to measure learners' language and
skill progress in relation to the syllabus they have been
following.”
Here the progress is significant and, therefore, is the main
point which is tested.Achievement tests at the end of a term
should reflect progress, not failure. They should reinforce the
learning that has taken place, not go out of their way to
expose weaknesses. They can also help teacher to decide on
changes to future teaching programs where students do
significantly worse in the test than expectation.
4. Proficiency Tests:
Proficiency tests give a general picture of a student's
knowledge and ability rather than measure
progress. Longman Dictionary of LTAL suggests:
“A proficiency test is not linked to a particular course of
instruction, but measures the learner’s general level of
language mastery.”
The examples of such tests could be the TOEFL that is used
to measures the learners’ general knowledge of English in
order to allow them to enter any high educational
establishments or to take up a job in the USA.
Types of test item:
There are two types of test item which we are going to
discuss bellow.
1. Direct test item:
A test item is direct if it asks candidates to perform the
communicative skill which is being tested. Direct test items
also try to “replicate real-life interaction” as much as
possible. In direct test item types, candidates usually face an
essay type question on such a topic which creates a “level
playing field” for all. It means that all candidates have the
same chance of success to answer the question such as:
“Some businesses now say that no one can smoke cigarettes
in their offices. Some governments have bannedsmoking in
all public places - whether outside or inside. This is a good
idea but it also takes away some of our freedom. Do you
agree or disagree? Give reasons for your answer.”
2. Indirect test items
Indirect test items, unlike direct test item, try to measure a
student's knowledge and ability by getting at what lies
beneath their receptive and productive skills.Indirect items
also try to find out about a student's language knowledge
through more controlled items, such as multiple choice
questions or grammar transformation items etc.
Discrete-point testing and integrative testing:
Whereas discrete-point testing only tests one thing at a time
such as asking students to choose the correct tense of a
verb, integrative test items expect students to use a variety
of language at any one given time - as they will have to do
when writing a composition or doing a conversational oral
test.
Characteristics of Good Tests:
There are four principles should be taken into consideration
in order to judge the effectiveness of any test, as follows:
1. Reliability: This is the ability of a test to produce
consistent results whatever the conditions. A test should give
reliable results for students. For example, If a student takes
the same test on two separate occasions, s/he should get the
same marks each time. Similarly, if two students of same
level of ability take the test they should get similar marks,
whereas if two students of differing abilities take the test, the
better student should get higher marks. Reliability is
particularly important where different students take different
versions of the same test.
2. Validity: A test is valid if it tests what it is supposed to
test. Thus it is not valid, for example, to test writing ability
with an essay question that requires specialist knowledge of
history or biology - unless it is known that all students share
this knowledge before they do the test.
There are mainly two types of ‘validity’: ‘Content Validity’ and
‘Face Validity’. The content validity means that the test
should cover all the areas to be assessed in suitable
proportions. The face validity means that the test should
look, on its 'face', as if it is valid. If the learners feel the test
unreasonable for its being too difficult or irrelevant then it
loses its face validity.
3. Practicality: A test should not be too time-consuming. It
should not be too expensive to produce nor should it take too
long to mark. Finally, it should not need equipment which is
not usually available. Test should be set considering time,
physical facilities and expense. The contents and questions of
test should be kept secret at all times prior to the day of
each test.
4. Accountability: teachers should be able to provide
learners parents, institutions and wider society with
information about the aims of tests and what progress has
been made, also about how the test results reflect students’
achievement. The teachers should be able to explain their
rationales and how decisions have been made about the test
content, rather than keeping the information secret.
