Unit 05 paper 04

english language teaching:

Language teaching ;the construction and
use of language tests
What is the importance of testing and evaluation?

INTRODUCTION:

Testing and evaluation has been a part of the learning process since ages employed
to assess the success of the impartation of knowledge or skill.

the purpose of testing is always to render information to aid in making intelligent

decisions about possible courses of action. Sometimes these decisions affect only
the future design or used of the tests themselves, in which case we are dealing with
solely experimental uses of tests. Sometimes the decisions have to do with the
retention or alteration of courses of training, as when one decides that poor tests
results are due to in effective training.

It can thus be said that tests are a part of the evaluation system to find out the
extent of learning that has taken place; level of comprehension of students; if they
are being able to follow the teaching method of the teacher and the problems and
difficulties they are encountering? Tests also assess the knowledge of the students
as a mode of comparison between the students in the same group. The term
evaluation is used generally for tests and examination, and is a more
comprehensive term. Tests and evaluation are an important part of every learning
process not only to assess the impartation of knowledge and skill but also to take
decisions for further improvement and changes.

Language teaching thus involves not only the imparting of language skills but also
various criteria of decision making and implementation throughout the process that
is the what, when, how involved is answered with the help of the testing and
evaluation process to determine how much of the learning outcome has been
achieved and what further improvements or modifications are required to address
any shortcoming. In fact test and evaluation are primarily concerned with the
decision making process.

“Learning conditions and learning outcomes are important concerns for teachers”
claims Desmond Allison in his book Language Testing and Evaluation (1999).
Testing and evaluation are prominent concerns in language education to assess the
learning outcomes and judge the achievement of learning goals. According to
Allison the awareness of testing and evaluation helps the teacher in making
“informed decisions” about the teaching methodologies to be implemented,
judging the learner’s progress and identifying the weaknesses.

The purpose of a language test is to determine a person’s knowledge and/or ability

in a language. Tests consist of specified tasks through which language abilities are
obtained. The term language assessment is sometimes used for language testing;
although it is also used to include classroom testing as well.

Evaluation includes informal and formal evaluation of the learner’s progress.

According to Bloom’s Taxonomy, evaluation is the last step of the learning process
that provides the necessary feedback of the learner’s learning progress.

Knowledge – Comprehension – Application – Analysis – Synthesis – Evaluation

Test and evaluation provide feedback about the student’s learning. Feedback is a
crucial part of the learning process as it will determine the future learning process.
Testing and evaluation not only provides feedback to the teacher but the student
can also do self analysis of his/her progress on its basis. Consequently testing and
evaluation enables to have a better understanding of the progress or shortcoming of
the teaching-learning process and achievement of the intended learning outcome.

Language testing and evaluation primarily focuses on the acquirement of the four
basic skills of language, namely: listening, speaking, reading and writing.
Language unlike other subjects is skill based and requires a level of proficiency.
Thus language test can be used to test the proficiency of the student or to test the
achievement of a particular instruction or language module like for instance a
grammar. If the former kind of test assesses the student’s ability to use the
language for communication and practical purposes, the latter assesses the
student’s progress or comprehension of a particular unit of the curriculum.

According to Md. M. Rahman there are three major components that constitute the
concept of evaluation and testing:

Content:

The general assumption is that whatever has been taught is to be tested. Hence,
whatever is assumed as content for teaching will become the content for testing
too?

In L2 teaching, structure gets focused as main content.

In L1 teaching, meaning gets the main focus and in the area of education, the traits
of personality.
Method: Method is the means or manner of procedure, especially a regular and
systematic way of accomplishing something. In other words, it refers to the plans
or procedures followed to accomplish a task or attain a goal. In testing, it refers to
the procedure to be followed according to a definite, established, logical or
systematic plan.

Purpose: In the field of testing it is defined as the reason for which something
exists/happens. It is synonymously used to represent the terms goal, aim and
objective. Goal refers to a very broad and ultimate category, aim to a more specific
set of purposes, and objective as the most precisely defined ends which can be
described in terms of behavioural outcomes in the field of education.

OBJECTIVES:

Testing and evaluation aims to:

1. Develop an understanding of the principles and purposes underlying

evaluation.
2. Become familiar with the variety of procedures to be used for an evaluation.
3. Be able to identify and use criteria for the evaluation of textbooks and
materials.
4. Understand the purposes and procedures of teacher evaluation.
5. Be able to discuss uses of language tests for different purposes and contexts.
6. Develop basic competence in writing classroom tests and evaluating
published tests.
7. Become familiar, at a basic level, with the concerns of professional test
writers.
8. Become aware of issues related to second language assessment such as
reliability, validity, fairness, test taker’s characteristics, holistic versus
analytical assessment
9. Be able to identify different types of tests (both teacher-prepared and
standardized) and various types of test items.
10. Be able to design different testing exercises to measure students’ learning
and competence.
11. Use testing terminology to describe test elements.
12. Be able to distinguish between well and poorly written test items.

TYPES OF EVALUATION & TESTING

It was M. Scriven (1967) who in his work, “The Methodology of Evaluation”, first
distinguished between formative and summative evaluation. While formative
evaluation helped in understanding the development and improvement of an
ongoing activity, summative evaluation helps in assessing if the result of a
particular ability being evaluated has attained the intended objective.
Formative evaluation is done to gather feedback that can be used by the instructor
or the learners to guide improvements in the ongoing teaching and learning
context. For example: classroom interactions, question-answer sessions,
discussions, etc. Also known as educative assessment or classroom assessment, it
helps in identifying the weaknesses and strengths of the learner as well as his/her
preferences. Formative evaluation thus helps the teacher to assess the progress of
the learner and modify and improvise his/her teaching methods. It also provides the
students with the ability to assess their own progress.

Summative evaluation is employed to assess the level of success or proficiency

obtained at the end of an instructional unit by comparing it with some benchmark.
For example: Examinations or tests. Summative evaluation refers to the more
formal kind of evaluation and tests. Done periodically, usually at the end of a unit
or an academic term, they help in the preparation of grades or in evaluating the
effectiveness of a

CRITERIA OF A GOOD TEST

A good test can be created keeping in mind the objective of the course or module
for which it is being made. The teacher has to determine the objectives of the test
as well as prepare and plan in advance.

In language teaching all the basic language skills – LSRW are important. Language
tests are to be made as per this criterion where the students’ language skills and
comprehension are to be assessed from their performance.

Time being a significant factor in the preparation and implementation of a test, its
duration and regularity has to be kept in mind. As such, Md. M. Rahman has
mentioned three main stages of preparation of a test, which are:

Planning: It covers outlining test, listing of topics, casting of ideas for items and
material collection.

Composition: This includes the composition of actual items and choice for
objectivity.

Analysis: It consists of determining difficulties and discrimination of test items.

Designing a good test is very important. The task is not an easy one but requires
great care and responsibility. The aim for which the test is being designed should
be clearly specified in order to get valid interpretation of its result. The test should
be prepared in such a manner as to get the desired outcomes.

It was Robert Lado who first used the term ‘validity’ for language testing in 1961.
Lado concluded that a test should provide meaningful answers and measure what it
is supposed to measure. In other words it has to be valid. Validity is thus
considered as one of the most important qualities of a language test together with
reliability. A test is considered valid when test content and test conditions are
relevant and there are no irrelevant problems which are more difficult than the
problems being tested.

Thus the three vital features that a good test should have are:

• Reliability:

The test should be reliable and generate similar results under the same testing
conditions. In other words it should be consistent.

• Validity:

The test should fulfil the desired outcome and provide meaningful information.

• Practicality:

The test should be practical, that is it should be economical and manageable in

time.

A good test should fulfil the objective for which it has been designed and should
give information that can be meaningfully interpreted. In order for the test to be
reliable, valid and practical it is necessary that one should:

 Decide the objective of the test – why and for what purpose the test is being
taken.
 Maintain consistency – course objective, teaching method and the goal of
the test.
 Use appropriate testing methods – for instance multiple choice question to
test memory and recall.
 Avoid ambiguous questions and confusing directions – questions that can be
interpreted in more than one way and thus give rise to confusions.
 Maintain clarity – instructions should be clear.
 Employ simple and precise language – students should understand the
instructions clearly.
 In multiple choice questions provide good distracters and one clear answer.
 Avoid clues.

IMPORTANCE OF TESTING AND EVALUATION

Testing and evaluation is an integral and important part of the teaching– learning
process. It provides the essential feedback about the teaching–learning process
regarding the student’s progress, weakness, strength, inclinations, problems
encountered, etc. The feedback helps in adapting, changing, improvising or
improving the teaching-learning process, the curriculum or the execution of the
curriculum. To sum up the importance of testing and evaluation it can thus be said
that it helps in:
 1. Finding out about student strengths and weaknesses.
2. Determining learning styles that would be more effective for students.
3. Learning about student inclination and interests.
4. Classifying students into different levels: they can be divided into groups as
per their learning abilities, interests, characteristics and achievements.
5. Monitoring and following the progress of individual students.
6. Providing feedback about students’ achievement.
7. Specifying suitable teaching materials and activities.
8. Discovering what students have learned and what they still need to learn.
9. Deciding what to teach next.
10.Determining how to adapt lesson content to student need and learning styles.
11.Evaluating the effectiveness of teaching methods.
12.Assigning grades and feedback to students.
13.Giving feedback to parents.
14.Giving feedback to other teachers in the school and the principal.
15.Communicating with other professionals to provide more effective courses.
16.Revising previous lesson content.

CONCLUSION

Language testing and evaluation is an important and integral part of language

teaching. In other words it can be termed as a crucial and determining factor of the
decision making process. It not only provides evidence of the student’s progress or
achievement but also reveals the problems they might be facing. The information
gathered through tests and evaluation provides important clues as to the changes
that need to be brought into the curriculum or the teaching methods in order to
attain the desired outcomes. Testing and evaluation are thus significant indicators
of the success to be judged or shortcomings that have to be addressed.

Planning, designing and preparing a test are thus crucial parts of the teaching-
learning process. The tests, evaluation and assessment in fact set the benchmarks of
the entire educational process, giving relevant information as to the success or
failure, and the reasons thereof. They are a prominent part of course design and
plan for they provide direction to future plans and course of action to be
undertaken. A part and parcel of the teaching-learning process, it is vital for the
teacher to have proper knowledge of the testing and evaluation process. More
importantly it is of prime importance for the language teacher to be familiar with
the process because testing and evaluation in language teaching unlike other
subjects is both skill and content based: comprehension as well as proficiency in
performance of the language skills.

Valid test
When you talk to test designers and test providers, you hear the
word validity a lot. It’s clearly important ‒ everyone wants a test to
be valid. But what is validity? And how do you tell if a test is valid or
not?
Let’s take the example of a driving test. Do we just ask people to do
a classroom test to check they know the rules of the road? No, we
obviously want to find out whether they can actually drive a car. Do
we take them to an empty car park and observe them driving round
and parking in a bay? No, we want to see whether they can drive in
the real world. So we design a test in which candidates have to
drive in streets with other traffic and pedestrians, and show they
can cope with real-life, everyday scenarios. The purpose of the test
is to differentiate between those who are ready to drive safely on
their own and those who aren’t. If the test can achieve that and can
do it reliably (i.e. regardless of where and when someone takes it
and who the examiner is), then it is valid.
How does this translate to language testing? A valid English-
language test is one that demonstrates whether a test-taker can
use English to meet their real-world needs. For a new migrant, that
means the ability to carry out everyday tasks in English; for a
university student, it means the ability to study an academic
subject in English; for an IT support call agent, it means the ability
to communicate with customers about technical queries, by phone
or by email. In each case, the range of English-language skills is
different, so we can’t use the same test to assess the test-taker’s
skills in all those areas. That is a key factor of validity ‒ a test isn’t
valid in itself; it’s valid for a particular use. When testers analyse
the validity of a test, what they aim to evaluate is: Does the test tell
us whether the test-taker can use English for the particular target
use?
In the early days of testing, there was a reliance on
measuring reliability: i.e. does the test provide consistent scoring
across candidates? But with the growth of testing, testers realised
that reliability is not enough on its own; statistical consistency
doesn’t tell you whether the test is evaluating the right skills. So
testers developed a multifaceted view of validity, focusing on a
range of issues, such as:
 Construct: Do the questions test the real-world skills required for a particular use? Are
the questions representative of the full range of skills?
 Consequences: Does the nature and content of the test encourage teachers and learners
to develop relevant and useful skills or just focus on exam technique?
  Usefulness: Does the test give stakeholders useful results? In other words, does
success in the test mean people actually succeed when they go into the real-world
environment which the test was designed for?
 Fairness: Is the test equally accessible to everyone, regardless of background and
personal characteristics? Does it give a fair chance to all?
English-language tests have consequences for a test-taker. The
result can be the difference, for example, between receiving or not
receiving a visa to stay in an English-speaking country, or it can
mean being placed in the wrong class, with negative effects on both
student and teacher. That’s why validity matters and why testing
organisations put so much effort into ensuring that their tests are
valid for the purpose for which they are designed.