EVALUATION, ASSESSMENT, TESTING

I. Definition of Terms
Evaluation is the beginning, the middle part and the end o the tea!hing"learning pro!ess
be!ause it !an be used as a starting point to measure the students# language level in order to put a
diagnosis, during the tea!hing"learning pro!ess to $eigh ho$ mu!h learning has ta%en pla!e ater
tea!hing a unit, or inall& at the end o the semester to !he!% ho$ mu!h students have a!hieved'
Thus the evaluation is ver& important or both tea!hers and learners as or tea!hers it sho$s
$hether and ho$ mu!h the ob(e!tives set at the beginning o the lesson"term"&ear have been
a!hieved $hilst or the learners it ma%es reeren!e to the a!hievement o their learning
ob(e!tives' Evaluation displa&s the !hara!teristi!s o an a!tivit& at a large s!ale) it has its o$n
aims"ob(e!tives, o$n pro!edures and strategies* it#s a pro!ess in itsel' So, evaluation is a
systematic determination of a subject merit/worth/significance using criteria governed by a set
of standards aiming to enable reflection and improvement.
Assessment is the process of documenting usually in measurable terms, knowledge,
skills, attitudes and beliefs. It !an o!us on individual learner, the learner !ommunit& +!lass,
group,, the institution or the edu!ational s&stem as a $hole' The pro!ess o assessing the
students# perorman!e is done b& using a variet& o te!hni-ues su!h as: testing, portfolio
assessment, project works, etc.
Testing is an area o language tea!hing that man& tea!hers have !ontradi!tor& eelings
about) some are sh& about it, sa&ing that it should be let to e.perts, some !onsider it a distasteul
a!tivit& b& asso!iating it $ith older or traditional !lassroom te!hni-ues, others loo% at it rom a
positive angle thin%ing o the beneits it has or them in !lassroom tea!hing' Man& tea!hers are
not trained ho$ to devise tests, mar% s!hemes, do test anal&sis that is $h& the& need to %no$
e.a!tl& $h& the& test, $hat the test has to test, ho$ language abilities and %no$ledge should be
tested and $hat te!hni-ues should be used
II. Qualities of Evaluation and Language Tests
Irrespe!tive o $hat t&pes o tests tea!hers ma& !hoose the& should !onsider the
ollo$ing -ualities either $hen $riting their o$n tests or $hen de!iding to evaluate students in
order to !he!% progress, a!hievement, et!)
1. Validity/ a test is valid i it tests $hat it is supposed to test leading to goals
a!hievement' Valid tests should assess students# abilities $ithin a !ertain level o
%no$ledge, !omprehension abilities, the& should appre!iate the -ualit& o the ound
solution instead o the vague report !onsidering the solutions variet&, general
%no$ledge or %no$ledge the& are not a!-uainted $ith' Another e.ample o a test that
is not valid is testing $riting abilities $ith an essa& -uestion that re-uires spe!ialist
%no$ledge o histor& or biolog&/unless it is %no$n that students share this %no$ledge
beore the& do the test'
2. Reliability/ a reliable test should give !onsistent results in other $ords reliable tests
must have !lose i not e-uivalent results being ta%en and !he!%ed under dierent
!ir!umstan!es' 0or e.ample having tas%s, evaluation !riteria and the test itsel, the
results o it shouldn#t dier mu!h $hen dierent evaluators !he!% the same test paper
+inter/reliabilit&, and intra/reliabilit& o!!urs $hen the test has similar i not
e-uivalent results $hen being !he!%ed b& one and the same evaluators at dierent
times'
There is a strange relationship bet$een reliabilit& and validit& in the $a& that in!reasing
reliabilit& redu!es validit& and vi!e versa' 0or e.ample non/reliable tests are those that
!he!% attitudes and general %no$ledge su!h as student#s opinions that ma& or e.ample
dier rom the evaluators# or rom one evaluator to another#s' The best tests are those
$hi!h are both reliable and valid at the same time' In order to in!rease reliabilit& tea!her
should !onsider the ollo$ing)
-write unambiguous test items;
-do not allow too much freedom in choosing what to answer;
-provide clear and explicit instructions;
-insure that tests are well laid out and legible;
-try to use items which permit objective scoring;
-provide a detailed scoring key for the test.
3. Evaluation should be formative be!ause it is useless $hen the students aren#t
inormed !onsidering their a!hievements, strong and $ea% points in orm o remar%s,
praise and tips to improvement' Evaluation is summative $hen the students are
presented the results in orm o mar%s or e.ample $ithout an& other eedba!%' A
igurative e.ample o these t$o !on!epts $ould be) hen a cook tastes the soup-it!s
formative, when the guests taste the soup-that!s summative."
1' Evaluation should oer e-ual opportunities to all the test/ta%ers irrespe!tive o
students# individual pe!uliarities !onsidering their language s%ills, level and adaptabilit&'
2' Evaluation should be repeated/the students $ho did not pass the test should have
the opportunit& to reta%e it thus ensuring the idea that edu!ation aims to slo$ progress
rather than ail'
3' Evaluation should impose ade-uate re-uirements/the re-uirements o a good test
shouldn#t be higher than those the& are !apable to !arr& out' Ever&one should have a
!han!e to pass the test i he learns !ons!iousl&'
4' Evaluation should be pra!ti!al/it reers to su!h issues as) e-uipment needed,
availabilit&, spe!ial arrangements in the !lassroom, time allotted to !ompletion and mar%ing' So
all the tests should be ta%en in a time limit, in a limit o e.penses, and their dii!ult& should be
limited as $ell'
5' The evaluation should be e.pli!it/ a6l the students should understand $hat the& have to
do, that is $h& it should rele!t the !ompeten!es o the s&llabus that the& are a$are $ith'
Students should be inormed rom the !ourse beginning !on!erning the $a& the& $ould be
assessed, the bibliograph& re-uired or test preparation, test orm and stru!ture, the value o ea!h
item'
7' Evaluation should be useul/students should ta%e advantage o being evaluated as tests
are designed to a!ilitate learning +revising material, $riting essa&s, doing home$or%, and oer
eedba!% thus helping them identi& their abilities, $ea% and strong points'
III. Types of Tests
!dmission tests are used or s!reening purposes, to ma%e gross de!isions su!h as underta%e a
program o stud&'
dominan"e tests/ the& assess learners# relative strengths in t$o languages to see $hi!h is
stronger'
#ormal tests/given rom time to time+ at the end o the &ear, graduation tests+e.ams,
Informal tests/given b& the tea!her to measure students# progress*
Dire"t tests/ assess real lie language perorman!e, use authenti! materials
Indire"t tests/assess samples o students# language perorman!e+grammar, vo!abular&, et!',
Traditional tests/o!us on a!!ura!& improvement+di!tations, loud reading, translation, error
!orre!tion, et!'
$ommuni"ative tests !he!% students# %no$ledge o the language as a $hole, th& are integrative,
purpose oriented, the& assess the appli!ation o language in real lie situations+ letter/$riting,
problem/solving, oral intervie$, ollo$ing instru!tions, et!'