Assignment

Teaching English as a foreign language

Submitted To
Sir Waleed Butt
Submitted By
Syeda Linta
Rida Khadim
Sadaf Aslam
Shiza Afzal
Topic
Testing and Evaluation
Submitted On
14 .04.2020
 Test and Evaluation
Testing and Evaluation is the process by which a system or components are compared against
requirements and specifications through testing. The results are evaluated to assess progress of
design, performance, supportability, etc.
Testing:
It is a technique of obtaining information needed for evaluation purposes. (Tests, quizzes,
measuring instruments) are devices used to obtain such information. A test is a method of
measuring a person’s ability on knowledge in a given area
Types of testing
Placement Test:
It is used to sort new students into relatively homogenous language ability groupings so that they
can start a course at approximately the same level as the other students in the class. It is one of
the most frequently used test at different levels of language instruction.
Diagnostic Test
It is designed to show what skills or knowledge a learner knows or does not know. In other
words, it is used to identify students’ strengths and weaknesses. It is in the reverse side of
achievement test in the sense that while the interest of the achievement test is in success, the
interest in the diagnostic test is in failure, what has gone wrong, in order to develop remedies.
Achievement Test:
It is designed to measure the degree of students’ learning from a particular set of instructional
materials. It is directly related to language courses. It means that such tests normally come after a
program of instruction or items of the test are drawn from the content of instruction directly.
E.g. final, midterm, and class examinations
Proficiency Test:
It is used to measure the overall language ability of the learners regardless of any training they
may have had in that language. It seeks to answer the question: “having learned this much, what
can the student do with it?” e.g. Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL)
What are the main reason of testing?
Achievement/Attainment tests:
Usually more formal, designed to show mastery of a particular syllabus (e.g. end-of-year tests,
school-leaving exams, public tests) though similar (re-syllabus) to progress tests. Rarely
constructed by classroom teacher for a particular class. Designed primarily to measure individual
progress rather than as a means of motivating or reinforcing language.
Progress Tests:
Most classroom tests take this form. Assess progress students make in mastering material taught
in the classroom. Often given to motivate students. They also enable students to assess the
degree of success of teaching and learning and to identify areas of weakness & difficulty.
Progress tests can also be diagnostic to some degree.
Diagnostic Tests:
It can include Progress, Achievement and Proficiency tests, enabling teachers to identify specific
weaknesses/difficulties so that an appropriate remedial programmer can be planned. Diagnostic
Tests are primarily designed to assess students' knowledge & skills in particular areas before a
course of study is begun. Reference back to class-work. Motivation. Remedial work.
Placement Tests:
It sort new students into teaching groups so that they are approx. the same level as others when
they start. Present standing. General ability rather than specific points of learning. Variety of
tests necessary. Reference forward to future learning. Results of Placement Tests are needed
quickly. Administrative load.
Proficiency Tests:
It measure students' achievements in relation to a specific task which they are later required to
perform (e.g. follow a university course in the English medium; do a particular job).
Aptitude Tests:
It measure student’s probable performance. Reference forward but can be distinguished from
proficiency tests. Aptitude tests assess proficiency in language for language use (e.g. will S
experience difficulty in identifying sounds or the grammatical structure of a new language?)
while Proficiency tests measure adequacy of control in L2 for studying other things through the
medium of that language.
Evaluation:
It has been defined in a variety of ways. In general, it refers to the systematic gathering of
information for purposes of decision making. In other words, evaluation is a professional
judgment or a process that allows one to make a judgment about the desirability or value of a
measure.
It is the process of making overall judgment about one’s work or a whole school’s work.
Evaluation is typically broader concept than assessment as it focuses on the overall, or
summative experience. So, testing is not the only way in which information about people’s
language ability can be gathered. It is just one form of assessment.
Types of evaluation:
Process Evaluation
It refers to evaluation taking place during the program or learning activity. It is conducted while
the event to be evaluated is occurring & focuses on identifying the progress towards purposes,
objectives, or outcomes to improve the activities, courses, curriculum, program or teaching and
student. It is also known as formative evaluation.
Product Evaluation
Product evaluations examines the effects of outcomes of some object.  It conducted at the end
of course.  It is also known as summative evaluation. It evaluates the progress towards an
established outcomes.
Purpose of Evaluation:
 Clarify and define objectives.
 Facilitate the improvement program.
 Motivate Participants.
 Establish and maintain standards to, meet legal, professional and academic credentials.
 Test the efficiency of teachers.
Characteristics of Good Evaluation
A good tool which has the following characteristics
 Validity.
 Reliability.
 Usability.
 Validity
Quality of a tool which enables it to determine what it was designed to determine. Validity is
always concerned with the results of a test & not to the test itself. Validity is a matter of degree
[we say high validity, low validity or moderate validity]. Validity is a specific & not a general
quality.
Reliability
It is the quality of consistency that the tool maintains over a period of time.
Example: If two teachers use the some tool & obtain similar ratings it can be concluded that the
results have a high degree of reliability from one teacher to another.
Consistency is an important quality but it is useful only if validity is also there which has
determined independently.
Reliability refers to the results obtained with an evaluation instrument & not to the instruction
itself.
An estimate of reliability always refers to a particular type of consistency.
 Reliability is a necessary but not a sufficient condition for validity. Unlike validity, reliability is
primarily statistical in nature.
 Usability
Practicability of procedure. Economical from time & money.
Selection of evaluation instruments, case of administration, time factor, ease of scoring, ease of
interpretation & application, availability of equivalent or comparable forms & cost are important.
Assessment:
It is the process of collecting information or evidence of a learner’s learning progress and
achievement over a period of time in order to improve teaching and learning.
Formative Assessment:
To check on the progress of their students. To see how far they have mastered what they should
have learned. And then to use this information to modify their future teaching plans. It can also
be the basis for feedback to the students’ e.g. informal test or quizzes Teachers use it.
Summative Assessment:
It is used at the end of the term, semester, or year in order to measure what has been achieved
both by groups and by individuals. E.g. final examination in most cases grades are assigned on
the basis of performance on tests in addition to classroom performance
When we ASSESS our students we commonly are interested in “how and how much our students
have learnt”, but when we EVALUATE them we are concerned with “how the learning process
is developing