Approach to testing • Direct versus Indirect testing: written transcripts of word are supposed to test pronunciation • Discrete point versus integrative testing: one element at a time, i[r]
(1)Background Background in in Tests Tests and and Test Test Preparation Preparation Đặng Hiệp Giang SED-MOET (2) Types of tests • Proficiency tests: TOEFL; IELTS; FCE; CAE; CPE, etc No specific course based, general knowledge and skill based Independent of teaching Measure general language ability • Achievement tests: directly related to classroom teaching and learning Content based or objective based Final or progressive (3) Types of tests • Diagnostic tests: to identify students’ strengths and weaknesses • Placement tests: to classify students according to their language ability (4) Approach to testing • Direct versus Indirect testing: written transcripts of word are supposed to test pronunciation • Discrete point versus integrative testing: one element at a time, item by item versus a combinations of many language elements (5) Approach to testing • Norm-referenced versus criterionreferenced testing: – Norm-referenced refers to the relative ability of the test takers against the same group – Criterion-referenced refers to what the test takers are supposedly able to in real life (6) Approach to testing • Objective versus subjective testing: – Objective testing means no judgement is required from the scorer, the more objective the test, the more reliability the test may bring • Communicative language testing: – Ability of partaking in communication is measured (7) Writing vocabulary test items • Where can we select the words? • How can we choose the question types? • What is the implied skill(s) or purpose in selecting the item? (8) Multiple-choice completion (1) Select the words to be tested (2) Get the right kind of sentence to put each word in (this sentence creating the context is called the stem) (3) Choose several wrong words to put the right word with (these wrong words are called distractors) Three distractors plus the right word are enough for a written item (4) Finally, prepare clear and simple instructions (9) Advantages of Multiple-Choice Completion It helps students see the full meaning of words by providing natural contexts Also, it is a good influence on instruction: It discourages word-list memorization Scoring is easy and consistent It is a sensitive measure of achievement Limitations of Multiple-Choice Completion It is rather difficult to prepare good sentence contexts that clearly show the meaning of the word being tested It is easy for students to cheat by copying what others have circled (10) Word formation Advantages It reflects teaching approaches It is generally faster and easier to construct than are items with distractors Limitations Fewer words can be tested this way than with multiple choice There is some difficulty in avoiding ambiguous contexts (11) Tasks • Work in groups of to complete the tasks, page 21 Refer to the material if needed • In the same group, prepare items, one multiple choice and one word completion and show to the other groups (12)