Language Assessment Principles and Test Types
Purposes of Language Testing
Different purposes require different kinds of tests. The purposes of testing discussed in this context include:
- 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 students’ strengths and weaknesses, identifying what they know and what they do not know.
- To assist placement of students by identifying the stage or part of a teaching programme appropriate to their ability.
Types of Language Tests
We use tests to obtain information which varies from situation to situation. There are four important kinds of testing:
- Proficiency tests
- Achievement tests
- Diagnostic tests
- Placement tests
Definitions of Test Types
- Proficiency Tests
- Are designed to measure people’s ability in a language regardless of any training they may have had in that language.
- Achievement Tests
- Are directly related to language courses, their purpose being to establish how successful individual students, groups, or the courses themselves have been in achieving objectives.
- Diagnostic Tests
- Are used to identify students’ strengths and weaknesses. They are intended primarily to ascertain what further teaching is necessary.
- Placement Tests
- Are intended to provide information which will help to place students at the most appropriate stage of the teaching programme. Typically, they are used to assign students to classes at different levels.
Direct vs. Indirect Testing
- Direct Testing
- Occurs when it requires the candidate to perform precisely the skill we wish to measure. It is easier to carry out when intended to measure productive skills like speaking and writing.
- Indirect Testing
- Attempts to measure the abilities which underlie the skills in which we are interested. It is superior to direct testing in that its results are more generalizable.
Objective vs. Subjective Testing
The difference lies in the methods of scoring:
- If no judgment is required on the part of the scorer, then the scoring is objective (e.g., a multiple-choice test).
- If judgment is called for, the scoring is said to be subjective.
Discrete Point vs. Integrative Testing
- Discrete Point Testing
- Refers to the testing of one element at a time, item by item.
- Integrative Testing
- By contrast, requires the candidate to combine many language elements in the completion of a task.
Key Questions for Test Construction
When constructing a test, the following questions must be answered:
- What kind of test is it to be?
- What is its precise purpose?
- What abilities are to be tested?
- How detailed must the results be?
- How accurate must the results be?
- How important is backwash?
Criteria for Level Performance
The required levels of performance for different levels of success should be specified. This may involve a simple statement to the effect that, to demonstrate “mastery,” 80 percent of the items must be responded to correctly.
For example, a test of the communicative use of English as a foreign language might refer to criteria such as accuracy, appropriateness, range, flexibility, and size.