A Guide to Testing in English Language Teaching - Eslbase.com

Diagnostic tests allow us to decide what we need to cover with a student on a course by “diagnosing” weaker areas. Placement tests have the aim of deciding ... HomeTEFLresourcesTEFLtheoryandmethodologyAGuidetoTestinginEnglishLanguageTeaching AGuidetoTestinginEnglishLanguageTeaching byKeithTaylor 2comments WhenwetrainasEnglishlanguageteachers,testingisoftenoneofthepartsofthejobthatdoesn’tgetmuchattention.Sohere’saguidetohow,whyandwhenwetestourstudents,andhowtodoitwell! Whyandhowdowetestourstudents? TherearefourmaintypesoftestinEnglishLanguageTeaching. 1.Informaltesting Whetherwerealiseitornot,wetestourstudentsinformallyallthetimeintheclassroom.EverytimeweaskourstudentstoproduceorunderstandEnglish,wearetestinghowwelltheycandothis. Forexample,youmightaskyourstudentstounderstandsomedetailsfromareadingtext.Theactivityyouchooseforthis“tests”theirunderstanding.Often,thistypeoftestisnotourmainobjective,butisnecessaryinordertoprogresstothenextstageofthelesson,whichmaybeextractingsomegrammarfromthetextorsomethingelsethatrequiresthemtohaveunderstoodthetext. Anotherexampleofinformaltestingintheclassroomiswhenweusepracticeactivities.Ouraimwiththeseistogiveourstudentsanopportunitytopractisewhattheyhavejustlearned.Butwearealsoinformallytestinghoweffectivelytheyhaveunderstoodwhateverlanguagewasthefocusofourlesson.Theresultsofthis“test”maythenhelpusdecidehowmuchmoretimeweneedtospendonthatlanguagepointinafuturelesson. 2.Progresstests Wemightgiveourstudentsaweeklyormonthlyprogresstest,reviewingwhat’sbeentaughtoverthatperiod.Thisisstillusuallyinformal,butcanagaininformourfutureteaching. Thelanguageschoolwherewe’reworkingmightalsoimposetheirownprogresstests,forexampleattheendofaperiodof8weeksteaching,toseeifastudentisreadyto“moveup”tothenextlevelinwhateversystemoflevelstheyhaveinplace. 3.Diagnosticandplacementtests Whereasprogresstestslookback,seeinghowmuchofwhat’sbeencoveredhasbeentakenonboard,diagnosticandplacementtestslookforward,testingastudent’sstrengthsandweaknesseswithEnglish,normallybeforeacoursestarts. Diagnostictestsallowustodecidewhatweneedtocoverwithastudentonacourseby“diagnosing”weakerareas. Placementtestshavetheaimofdecidingwhereonsomepre-determinedscaleastudentshouldbeput.Alanguageschoolmighthaveclassesatlevels1-10,andaplacementtestdecideswhichoftheselevelsthestudentwillbein. 4.Proficiencyandselectiontests Allofthetypesoftestwe’veseensofar–informal,progress,diagnosticandplacementtests–areforteachers(andlanguageschools),forthebenefitofhelpingthestudenttheyhaveinfrontoftheminthebestwaypossible. Proficiencyandselectiontests,ontheotherhand,areforselectors.They’reallaboutdecidingwhetheraparticularpersonisselected–ornot–foraparticularjob,courseortask,orisselectedtoholdacertaincertificate. Proficiencytestshaveacommonlyagreedlevelwhichisindependentofanycoursethatthetesttakersmightbestudying.Everyonetakesthetestatthesamelevelofdifficulty.Iftheygainasufficientlevel,they“pass”,andifnot,theydon’t.Ortheymightbegivenascoreonaslidingscaledependingontheirperformanceinthetest. Peoplewhosejobitistoselectwhichpeopletoofferajob,ataskoraplaceonacoursemightusetheseproficiencytests,oranotherformofselectiontestwhoseaimistodividestudentsinto“yes”and“no”,tomaketheirselections.SelectorsdecidingwhotoadmitontoauniversitycourseinanEnglish-speakingcountryisoneexampleofhowthesetypesoftestsareused. ExamplesofthistypeoftestareTOEFL,TOEIC,andCambridgeEnglishexams. Shouldwetest?Whataretheprosandconsoftesting? Wenowknowwhyweteststudents,butdoesthisautomaticallymeanthatweshouldtestthem?Let’slookatsomeoftheprosandconsoftesting. Someadvantagesoftesting Testscanbemotivatingforstudents Progresstests,forexample,cangivestudentsasenseofachievement,motivatingthemtokeeponlearningandtaketheirEnglishtothenextlevel.Aloomingselectiontestcankeepstudentsmotivatedwiththepromiseofacceptanceontoacourse(andthethreatofnon-acceptance).There’stheflipsidetothisaswellthough–seeunder“Disadvantages”below. Testscanbeusefulfortheteacher Bothinformaltestingintheclassroomandmoreformaltestscanhelptomeasuretheeffectivenessofateachingcourse,tellinguswhatweneedtoteachorrevise. Testscanbeusefulforlanguageschools …andassuchareusuallyrequiredbytheminoneformoranother,tobringsomeordertotheorganisationofstudentsintoclassesandlevels. Testscanbeusefulforselectors Selectorsneedsomewaytodecidewhoisgoingtofilltheir50placesonacourse,ortakeoneof5jobs,outofthousandsofapplicants. Theremaybeculturaloreducationalexpectationsofstudents (…andinthecaseofyounglearners,theirparents)tohavesomeformoftest.Testinghelpsmeetthisexpectation. Somedisadvantagesoftesting Ontheotherhand… Testscanbedemotivatingforstudents Testscanalsobedemotivating,particularlyiftheyarenotperceivedtobefair(moreonthislateron)oriftheydon’treflecttheneedsorobjectivesofthetesttakers. Moreformaltestsmaynotbe“necessary”forsomelearners;informaltestingintheclassroommaybesufficienttomeettheirobjectives. Theexistenceofthetestcanaffectthecoursebeingtaught “Teachingtothetest”outofadesireforourstudentstopassthetest,ratherthanteachingtotheneedsofthelearnersiscalledthe“backwash”effect. Testsareveryofteninvalidorunreliable Moreonwhatthismeansbelow… Howcanweensurethatwe’redoingitright? Theadvantagesoftestingthatwesawabovemakeitinevitableinoneformoranotherinmostlearningsettings.Sohowcanweensurethatwhenwedotest,we’redoingitright?Howcanwemakesurethatwe’rebeingfairtoourstudentswhenwetestthem? Well,therearefourthingstothinkabout: Validity Reliability Administration Testingapproach/technique Testvalidity Thisisprobablythemostimportantthingtothinkaboutwhenitcomestomakingatest. Atestisvalidifitmeetstwocriteria: Firstly,itisvalidifittestswhatwewanttotestandnotsomethingelse.Thismaysoundlikeaneasythingtogetright,butsometimeswhenweaimtotestgrammar,weinsteadenduptestingvocabulary.Orwhenwewanttotestphonology,weenduptestinggrammar.Sometimes,ourtestsenduptestingmemory,orsomethingequallyunnecessary,likepersonality. Secondly,tobevalid,themeansoftesting–thewaywecarryoutthetest–needtobeappropriatefortheaimsofthetest. Sowhatwe’rereallyaskingwithvalidityiswhetherornotthetestisfair.Ifittestswhatwewanttotestinawaythatisappropriatefortheaimsofthetest,itisvalidandfair. Let’shavealookatafewexamplestoseewhatwemeanbyallthis: You’vebeenusingacoursebookwhichcontainsonlygradedreadingmaterial.You’veusedthisfor,amongotherthings,extractingthegistfromareadingtext.Youwanttotestyourstudentsontheprogressthey’vemadeinextractinggist.Soyoudecidetouseanauthentictextlikeanewspaperarticle,ofasimilarlengthtothegradedtextsinthecoursebook. Thistestisnotvalid,becausethewayyou’vedecidedtotesttheirprogress,usinganauthentictext,doesnotmatchwithwhatyouaretesting. Youwanttofindoutifyourstudentscandiscriminatebetweenthetwosounds/ɜː/and/ɔː/asin“work”and“walk”.You’retryingtodecidebetweenthefollowingtwowaystotestthis: A.Dictatethefollowingsentences: “Iliketowalkinthemornings.” “Iliketoworkinthemornings.” Studentswritedown1or2accordingtoapreviouslyestablishednumbering. B.Dictatethissentence: “Iwalkedtoworkyesterday.” Studentswritedownthewholesentence. OptionBisavalidtest,whereasoptionAisinvalid.Why? Well,inoptionB,studentscanarriveattheanswerbytheirknowledgeofgrammarandvocabulary.“Iworkedtowalkthismorning”doesn’tmakesense,andsotheycandeducethatthecorrectanswermustbe“Iwalkedtowork”.SooptionBisinvalidbecauseitdoesn’ttestwhatwewanttotest. WithoptionA,though,thereisnowaythatthestudentscanusetheirknowledgeofgrammarorvocabularytoarriveatthecorrectanswer,becausebothsentencesarecorrectgrammatically.Thismeansthattheonlywaytheycanarriveatthecorrectanswerisbylisteningforthedifferentsounds. Youwanttotestyourstudents’abilitytoproduceaquestioninthesimplepastusing“How…?”You’retryingtodecidebetweenthefollowingquestionstotestthis: Makeaquestionfromthissentence: “HewenttoFrancebycar.” Makeaquestionfortheanswerbelow: “…toFrancelastyear?”“Iwentbycar.” Makeaquestionfortheanswerbelow: “Bycar.” Makeaquestionaboutthephraseunderlined. “IwenttoFrancebycar”. Writethequestionoutinfull: How/go/France? Onlyoneofthesetestsisvalid.Alloftheothershavethepossibilityoftestingsomethingotherthanthegrammarwewanttotest.Let’shavealookattheminturn. Innumber1,wecouldaskaboutanything:“Where’sFrance?”/“HowoftendoeshegotoFrance?”/“WhendidhegotoFrance”andsoon. Number2,atfirstglance,lookstobevalid,butinfactthereisanotherquestionwecouldaskwhichdoesn’tuse“How”:“WhowenttoFrance?” Innumber3,wecouldaskaquestioninjustaboutanytense,forexample:“HowareyougettingtoFrance?” Number4istheonlyvalidtest.It’stheonlyoneinwhichwecanbeabsolutelysurethatwearetestingwhatwewanttotest. Number5givesawaytheword“How”. Here’satypeoftestthatoftengetsusedasapracticeactivityduringaclass: Completethesentencesinpastcontinuouswithaverbfromthelist:   walk   play   work   sleep   eat   WhileI________tennis,itstartedraining.   ShearrivedwhenI_____breakfast. Thislooksvalidatfirst,butitisinfactatestofvocabulary.Oncethestudenthastheformofthepastcontinuous,thegrammarisjustamechanicalexercise,andwhatwe’rereallytestingistheirvocabulary–whichverbfitsinthecontextofeachsentence.Veryoftenweseeworksheetsortestslikethiswiththefirstanswerfilledinasanexample.Thisthenbecomesevenlessvalid,asthestudentsjusthavetocopytheexample. Facevalidity Justasimportantasvalidityiswhatwecallfacevalidity.Facevalidityaskswhetherthetestisperceivedtobefairbythestudents.Atestmaybevalid,butifitisperceivedasbeingunfair,thenitdoesn’thavefacevalidity. Let’ssayyouhaveadetailedtextaboutaveryspecificsubject,likeR&BmusicorCristianoRonaldo.Youhaveasetofquestionsrelatedtothetextwhichonlyrequireknowledgeofaparticularlanguagepointtoanswer(thelanguagepointyou’retesting),soyouknowitisavalidtest.However,becausethesubjectmatterissospecific,studentswhoknownothingaboutR&Bmusic,orwhohavenointerestinorknowledgeoffootball,mayperceiveitasunfair–theymayperceivethatstudentswhodohavethisknowledgeorinteresthaveanunfairadvantage. Testreliability Thesecondthingtothinkaboutwhenwemakeatestisreliability.Inotherwords,dotheresultsvary(orcouldtheyvary)ifthetestismarkedbydifferentpeopleoratdifferenttimes,orifitistakenagain?Thisisespeciallyimportantifthetestistakenforofficialpurposes,forexampleasaselectiontest. Sohowcanweensurethatatestisreliable?Well,thereareanumberofdifferentthingswecando: Wecanmakesurethatthetestisnottooshortandthatitteststhesameareaindifferentways. Wecanaskafewnativespeakerstodothetest–theiranswersshouldbethesame. Wecanpilotthetest,assesswhatisnotclear,whatquestionsstudentshaveandhowlongthetesttakes. Wecanhavethetestmarkedbyseveraldifferentpeople. Wecanalsochoosedifferenttypesoftest,andwe’llseemoreonthisunder“Testingapproach/technique”below. Testadministration Thethirdthingtothinkaboutwhenmakingatestishoweasyitistoadminister.By“administer”wemeantosetupandactuallyrunthetest.Doyouhaveadequatesoundintheroomforalisteningtest?Ifyouaregivingaspeakingtest,doyouhaveenoughtimeforeveryonetotakeitindividuallywithyou?Doyouhavetheresourcesrequiredtomarkthetest? Soinotherwords,weneedtomakesurethatthetestissuitableforthecontextinwhichitwillbeused.The“cost”ofadministeringatest(intermsoftimeandorganisation)increasesthemorecomplexyoumakethetest,sowenormallyneedtofindsomekindofbalance. Testingapproach/technique Thefourththingtothinkaboutwhenmakingatestistheapproachortechniquethatwechoose.Therearetwomainapproachestotests:objectiveandsubjective. Objectiveandsubjectivetests Everytestthatwegiveourstudentsiseitherobjective,subjectiveorsomewhereinbetween. Fullyobjectivetestsallowforonlyonecorrectanswer(wecallthesediscreteitemtestsandwe’llseesomeexampleslater). Subjectivetestsarethosewhicharemorecommunicative,forexamplewritingaparagraphoranessayaboutasubject,orspeakingaboutasubject.Communicativetestslikethesearesubjectivebecausetheyallowforawiderangeoflanguagetobeused.Theysay“showmewhatyoucandowiththelanguage”. Let’shavealookatsomeoftheadvantagesanddisadvantagesofobjectiveandsubjectivetests,bearinginmindwhatwesaidaboutvalidity,reliabilityandadministrationabove. Havealookattheseexampleswhicharedesignedtotestlanguageforgivingadvice: TestA: Completethesentencewithasuitablewordorphrase. A:“Adamfailedhisdrivingtest,youknow.” B:“Well,it’shisownfault.He…………………………harder.” TestB: Readtheextractfromaletterbelowandfollowtheinstructions. “MyEnglishfriend,Michael,hadhisfirstdatewithaSpanishgirl,Carla,lastSaturday.Heplayedfootballintheafternoonandthenwenttoapub,sohedidn’thavetimetotakeashower.Hejustbrushedhisteeth,changedhisshirtandrushedtothecinema.Hewas20minuteslate.Michaeldoesn’tspeakSpanishandthefilmhehadchosenturnedouttobeaviolentwarmovie.AftertwentyminutesCarlaaskedtoleaveandRoberthadanargumentwithherinthecinema.Hemadesomuchnoisethatthemanagercameandaskedthemtoleave.Anyway,itwasstillearlyandCarlawasverypatientsotheywenttoarestaurant,andattheendofthemeal,Michaelaskedifshewouldpayhalfthebill.Whentheygotoutside,hesaidhewantedtogotothepubtomeethisfriends,andcouldshefindherownwayhome?Hecalledheryesterdaybutshesaidsheneverwantedtoseehimagain.” Althoughit’stoolatenow,whatadvicewouldyougiveMichaelaboutlastSaturday? TestAismoreobjective(althoughnotcompletely–severaldifferentanswersarepossible:“Heshouldhaveworkedharder”/“He’dbetterworkharder”/“Hecouldhaveworkedharder”…). TestBismoresubjective. Sowhichisbetter?Well,thereareprosandconstoeach. TestAisquicker,bothtotakeandtomark,andittestsoneparticularstructure.Butitdoesn’treallygivethestudenttheopportunitytoshowwhatsheiscapableof. TestBsays“showmewhatyoucandowiththelanguage”andsoisclosertowhathappenswithlanguageinreallife,butthestudentmaybeabletoavoidusingthelanguagethatyou“want”themtouse. ItwouldbepossibleforastudenttopassTestAthroughknowingastructureforgivingadvice,buttofailTestB,becauseTestAdoesn’tnecessarilyshowunderstandingofareallifelanguagesituation,whereasTestBrequiresthis. TestBcouldbelessreliable(moreonthisbelow) TestBismoretime-consumingandexpensivetomarksoposesmoreproblemsintermsofadministration. Withtheseprosandconsofeach,thechoiceofwhichtousecomesdowntothereasonfortestingandwhetherit’spossibletomeetthechallengesofvalidity,reliabilityandadministrationthatwetalkedaboutabove.Let’slookatoneofthesechallengeswithsubjectivetests. Subjectivetestsandreliability Ifweuseasubjectivetest,reliabilitybecomesmoreofachallenge.Therangeoflanguageusedismoreopentotheinterpretationofthemarker. Sohowcanwemakesubjectivetestsmorereliable? Well,weneedtohaveclearlydefinedcriteriaformarkingthem.Veryoften,thecriteriaweusetoevaluatecommunicativetestsarequitelimitedandsystemic.Forexample,whenmarkingapieceofwriting,withoutclearcriteria,amarkermightjustfocusonaccuracyofgrammar,orspelling,orcorrectchoiceofvocabulary.Butifwejustusetheseverylimitedsystemiccriteria,itcandefeattheobjectofdoingacommunicativetestinthefirstplace. Sowecannormallydobetterwiththecriteriawechoose.Belowaresomepossiblemarkingcriteriayoucanusetohelpwithreliabilityofsubjectivetests.Someofthesecriteriamaybemoreorlessappropriatetouseindifferenttestsandcontexts. Possiblecriteriaforsubjectivetests Accuracy Aswejustmentioned–towhatextenthasthestudentmasteredcorrectusage,andhowcorrectistheinformationshetakesfromatextorpresentsinatask? Appropriacy Hasthestudentusedlanguageappropriatetothecontextyou’reaskingthemtocommunicatein,meetingtheexpectationsofthelistenerorreader? Independence Howindependentisthestudentfromanyreferencesourcesorquestioningofthetester? Repetition Howmuchdoesthestudentneedtore-readatext,oraskforsomethingspokentoberepeated? Hesitation Howmuchofadelayisthereinastudentstartingataskandhowmuchhesitationistherewhenperformingit? Flexibility Howwelldoesthestudentadapttoswitchesinthefeaturesofatask? Speed Howquicklydoesthestudentperformthetask? Rangeandcomplexity Doesthestudentuseavarietyofskills,functions,tonesandstylesofpresentationinaspeakingorwritingtask?Howwelldoesthestudentcopewiththisvarietyinareadingorlisteningtask? Size Howlargeisthetextthatthestudentproducesorisaskedtocomprehend? Typesofobjectivetest Ifwechooseanobjectivetest,eitherforaformaltestorforapracticeactivityintheclassroom,wehavequiteafewdifferenttypeswecanchoosefrom. Herearesomethatyoucanuse,dependingonthelanguagepointthatyou’retesting.Mostofthesearediscreteitemtests(testswhichhaveonlyonecorrectanswer)andsoarefullyobjective.Withthelasttwo,differentanswersarepossible,buttheyarestillfairlyobjective. Transformation Thesetypesoftestaskthetesttakertotransformlanguageintoanotherform. He’saslowswimmer. Heswims………. Changethewordincapitalstofitthesentencegiven. Therewerealotof………………..forthejob.(APPLY) Completethesecondsentencesothatithasthesamemeaningasthefirst. “I’mthirsty”,Juliesaid. Juliesaid……………….. Insertion Theseaskthetesttakertoaddawordorphraseintoasentence. Putthewordincapitalsintotherightplaceinthesentence: Shelivesinanoldfarmhouse.(HUGE) Combination Jointhesentencesusingthewordincapitals: Hehadacold.Hesentswimming.(ALTHOUGH) Rearranging Jumbledwords,sentencesorparagraphsthatstudentshavetoputinthecorrectorder. Matchingfunctions Matchthesentencewithwhenyouuseit: CouldIcomeinthere? Persuading IsthereanywayIcould…? Generalising Theytendtobeshort. Interrupting Split-sentencematching Matchthehalvesofsentencesbelow: Wouldyoumindmy closethewindow? Wouldyoumindif closingthewindow? CouldI Iclosethewindow? Skeletonsentences Makeasentencefromthewordsbelow: Thispicture/paint/Picasso/longtimeago Errorrecognition Whichpartofthesentenceiswrong? I’mworried thathe’ll feelangry tome. A B C D Sentencecompletion Mybedroomwouldbeallrightif……………….. He’llbeagoodtennisplayerif……………….. Situations Youwantadayoff.Howwouldyouask: a)yourboss? b)acolleaguewhoworkswithyouintheoffice? Dependingonwhereandwhomyouteach,testingmaymakeupaverylargeoronlyasmallpartofyourjob.Howevermuchyoudotestingthough,it’simportant,forourstudents’sake,todoitright.Ihopethisarticlehelpspointyouintherightdirection. Ifyou’relookingformoreguidanceorinformationaboutEnglishlanguagetestingandassessment,theEnglishLanguageTestingSocietyisworkingtodevelopunderstandingofguidelinesandbestpractices,andcanbeavaluableresource. WrittenbyKeithTaylor KeithisthefounderofEslbase.HehasbeenanEnglishteacherandteachertrainerforover15years. ShareonFacebook ShareonTwitter ShareonLinkedIn Downloadableworksheets... Downloadfreegrammarworksheets,gamesandactivitiestouseintheclassroom. Readmore “Usedto”lessonplan Passengers–apersonalisedlisteningactivity Writing–Storygrids 2comments Omkar IlikethisinformationtoreadandIrememberhowtosolveQUESTIONTAG,thanks Reply Tomas Hi,Keith.Veryinformativeinformation.WouldyouconsideritpossibletoaddtheReferenceList? Thanksinadvance. 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