ITTT Diploma in TESOL Course

Dip008

Module 8
Assessment methods

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Where the world is your classroom

Mod o ule 8
Assessment methods

Overview
In this module we will consider when and how to test our
students and perhaps most importantly, why we test
them.

We will look at six different types of test that may be done

'in house' as well as some of the major tests that students
can take as external exams for different purposes such as
TOEIC.

Some consideration will be given to the way the results of

tests can be interpreted and to which of these methods
are most suitable to an EFL-type setting.

There are numerous testing resources available to us, so

where do you find them?

Finally we will look at some readily available testing

materials and attempt to apply all the previous
background work to analyzing them.

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Mod o ule 8
Assessment methods

Background
As teachers, there are obviously many reasons for the
testing of our students:

1. Perhaps first and foremost it will allow us to make

some informed evaluative decisions about the
efficiency of our program.

2. Secondly it will give students an opportunity to monitor

their own progress.

3. Very often it is a requirement of the school or language

training centre.

So what types of test are there and when should you give them?

These are six examples of different types of test:

n Diagnostic
n Placement
n Aptitude
n Achievement
n Proficiency
n Progress

Diagnostic tests are designed to assess students' knowledge and skills in specific areas that have accrued due
to past learning experiences. These tests would therefore take place before a course begins.

Placement tests are designed to enable the teacher to group students by their current ability range in a variety
of areas rather than anything specific. These tests are often multiple-choice in format, which makes their
marking easier particularly if an optical mark reader (OMR) machine is available.

Aptitude tests are designed to predict students' probable future performance on a course. They attempt to
assess if the student will be able to use language in a particular setting.

Achievement tests are designed to assess the students learning of a body of knowledge, e.g. a syllabus. They
are usually constructed to give maximum discrimination between students so that individual progress can be
monitored.

Proficiency tests are designed to assess the students' current knowledge and reference this forward to some
future task. For example will this student be able to study medicine in the medium of the English Language at a
UK university?

Progress tests are designed to assess students' progress in specific areas of learning taught in a class. They
tend to be less formal than external achievement tests and are very often 'created' by the teacher themselves.
They can inform the teacher about the efficiency of their program and help towards student motivation by
informing the students of 'what they don't know'.

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Mod o ule 8
Assessment methods

Having outlined the types of test, we should now consider how we are going to ask the questions that appear. We
should mention that some tests are 'task based' particularly more modern ones, but more of that later.

Question format types, and examples of each

Gap-fill

In this type of question a space appears in a statement or sentence and the student completes the gap with a
suitable word.

A square has _________ corners.

Cloze

This type of question is in essence a multiple gap-fill activity, where the question acts as a medium for several
sub-questions (often referred to as 'wrapped').

The three basic units in physics are mass, length and time. Mass is measured in __________ , length in
__________ and time in seconds. Every other unit can be derived from these basic units, for example,
__________ is measured in kg/cubic meter.

Multiple choice

In this type of question a number of possible answers, usually four (or five in older tests) are given to the
question stem and the candidate chooses the option they think is the correct one.

Which of the following words is an uncountable noun?

a) cigarette b) chair c) beer d) apple

True/false

This type of question usually involves a statement and the student simply decides if it is true or not.

The word ‘she’ is a personal pronoun. T / F

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Mod o ule 8
Assessment methods

Error correction

This type of question typically involves a sentence with some form of grammatical mistake which needs to be
corrected.

Find the grammatical mistake in the sentence below and correct it.

I go to the beach last Sunday.

Order

In this type of question a meaningful sentence is scrambled and presented to the student, the object being to
put the sentence back into a meaningful order, the same thing can be done with single words at a much simpler
level.

Put the following words into a meaningful order: always weekend I cream the ice eat at

Matching

In this type of question there are a number of variables that can be matched. For example, words to pictures,
words to definitions, words to opposites, and so forth. Invariably these types of adjective questions are often not
politically correct!

Match the following words to their opposite meanings: light happy

tall dark

sad slim

fat short

Open ended

In this type of question the student is often asked a why question or even asked to state an opinion.

What do you think the author is trying to tell us in the following extract?

“Let us not pry into the holy mysteries of the hencoop with simian fingers.”

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Mod o ule 8
Assessment methods

Research study sheet

1. The Cambridge examination body offers five levels of EFL examination for adults:

KET PET FCE CAE CPE

What does each of these stand for and how do these exams relate to the levels A1 to C2 of the Common
European Framework (CEF)?

2. Go the following website to fill in most of the chart below: www.cambridgeenglish.org/exams-and-tests/

A couple of examples have already been given. You will need to research other sites to complete it all.

Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR)

Basic user Independent user Proficient user
A1 A2 B1 B2 C1 C2
B2 First
Cambridge English
(FCE)

TOEIC

Pitman

TOEFL

IELTS 4 to 4.5

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Mod o ule 8
Assessment methods

3. Explain the following terms with reference to examinations:

a) Norm referencing b) Criteria referencing

Give an example of a well known examination for each.

4. Most examination bodies offer sample questions at the various levels for their examinations. Find a website
listing sample questions for each of the examinations below, giving the URL for each:

a. Cambridge
b. TOEIC
c. Pitman
d. TOEFL
e. IELTS
f. STYLE

5. State one advantage and one disadvantage for each of the question types in the chart below.

Advantages Disadvantages
Gap fill
Cloze
Multiple choice
True/false
Error correction
Order
Matching
Open ended

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Mod o ule 8
Assessment methods

Task sheet

1. Give six different question formats (e.g. cloze) and write a sample question for each, all on the same grammar
point.

2. What are the advantages and disadvantages of an examination which is criteria referenced rather than norm
referenced?

3. Briefly outline the IELTS suite of examinations.

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Mod o ule 8
Assessment methods

4. Look at this students' sample level test. Answer the test for yourself, and describe, in detail, how you could
use the results to group your students.

Complete the sentences with the word or words you think fits best into the space, from the words given:

1. Too __________ coffee isn't good for your heart.

many much some a lot amount

2. Turn __________ the fan please, I'm hot.

in on off down out

3. I'm __________ the new boss next week.

meet met meted meeting meat

4. Singapore is the __________ country I've visited.

cleanest clean cleaner most clean cleaniest

5. I hate all vegetables. I __________ eat asparagus.

always often never usually sometimes

6. You __________ eat food in the library, as it's against the rules.
should can must mustn't could

7. __________ I look old, I'm only forty-three.

despite even so although when

8. The photocopier has been broken __________ Friday.

on last since next in

9. The chairman said the profits had __________ .

rose risen rosed rised rise

10. If I could be anyone I __________ be Tiger Woods.

may could must would can

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Mod o ule 8
Assessment methods

5. Outline Bloom's Taxonomy and its implications for assessment techniques.

6. Write a multiple choice test question for a high level paper on the grammar point of modal auxiliary verbs,
with a stem and four options, and explain the processes you went through to create both the stem and the
options.

You should now be ready to access the test.

Make sure you have copied and saved a file of your guided study and research answers, so that you can refer to
them during the test.

Good luck.

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and TESOL Training
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Where the world is your classroom Dip 008 Copyright © 2012 International TEFL and TESOL Training. All rights reserved.