1. 1.0 INTRODUCTION.
This English test paper is constructed as a medium of assessment in the Ujian Selaras 2
for the Form 4 students. It is designed to assess learners at the upper intermediate level of
English proficiency. The test functions as the formative assessment as the items constructed are
extracted from the topics taught in the classroom prior the test. According to Weaver (2012) the
general purposes of assessment can be categorized into two which are: 1) to provide more
effective instruction, 2) to evaluate achievement or learning. Since there are two classes of Form
4 learners, the test is distributed as a standardized test at school. This test is categorized as the
norm-referenced testing as its major reason for conduct is to classify the learners. Stiggins (1994)
as cited in Bond (1996) mentions that ‘norm-referenced tests (NRTs) are designed to highlight
achievement differences between and among students to produce a dependable rank order of
students across a continuum of achievement from high achievers to low achievers.’ Bond (1996)
also states that ‘the content of an NRT test is selected according to how well it ranks students
from high achievers to low.’ This test aims at assessing learners on their understanding on the
topics taught in the English lessons and at the same time to rank the learners according to their
performance in the test. This test consists of seven (7) topics adapted from the KBSM English
textbook which include:
1. Wired Youth
2. Random Acts of Kindness
3. Active Ageing
4. Helping Hands
5. Water, Water Everywhere
6. The Competitive Edge
7. For the Common Good.

2. 2.0 PLANNING.
2.1 Table of Specification
In constructing the test, many aspects were taken into considerations in order to ensure its
validity and reliabilities. As there are seven (7) topics to be assessed in the 30-questions-test,
careful planning is required throughout the construction of the test items. Thus the table of
specification is utilized as a blueprint of the test construction in determining the allocation of the
number of questions according to the topics. Table of specification is a plan prepared by teachers
as a basis for test construction especially a periodic test. A table of specifications also provides
the proof needed to make sure the test has content validity. Stated below is the table of specification mapped out
in the process of item construction:
BLOOM’S TAXONOM
Y
TOPIC KNOWLEDG COMPREHENSIO APPLICATIO ANALYSIS SYNTHESIS EVALUATIO TOTAL
E N N N
Wired Youth 2 2 4
Random 1 1 1 3
Acts of
Kindness
Active 1 3 1 5
Ageing
Helping 2 4 6
Hands
Water, Water 1 2 3
Everywhere
The 2 2 4
Competitive
Edge
For The 1 2 2 5
Common
Good
30
Percentage 5/30 = 17% 14/30 = 46% 3/30 = 10% 8/30 = 27% 0 0
(100%)
Table 1 – Table of Specifications.

3. 2.2 Instructional Objectives and Content
The test is designed with references to the topics taught in the classroom during English
period. These topics are listed in the English KBSM textbook and the teacher also refers to the
English language curriculum specifications outlined by the Ministry of Education (2003) for the
English language curriculum objectives and as the guideline to predict the learning outcomes.
The Curriculum Specifications for English Form 4 document (2003) outlines the objectives of
the English language curriculum to enable learners to obtain, process, and use information from
various audio-visual and printed sources; and present the information in spoken and written
form and listen to, view, read and respond to different texts, and express ideas, opinions,
thoughts, and feelings imaginatively and creatively in spoken and written form. According to the
Curriculum Specification for English Form 4 (2003), among of the learning outcomes expected
in the English lessons are for the learners to obtain information for different purposes by reading
materials in prints such as reports and articles and comprehend a variety of texts. Other than,
learners are also expected to be able to process information by skimming and scanning for
specific information and ideas and also to interpret non-linear texts such as maps, charts,
diagrams, tables and graphs.
2.3 Test Specification
This test consists of 30 multiple-choice questions (MCQ) and the learners are required to
complete it within one hour. There are 6 printed pages in the test paper and the questions are
grouped according to the topics taught. The test was carried out in the middle of the second

4. semester, precisely in July in the Ujian Selaras 2 examination week which acts as the monthly
test. This test is constructed by an English teacher form the English Panel of Sekolah Agama
Bantuan Kerajaan Maahad Ehyak Diniah Islamiah, Kampung Gajah, Perak. Upon constructing
the test items, approval by the expert in the English language was sought. The test was endorsed
by the Head of the English Panel of the school, Mr. Mior Amran Bin Mior Abdullah for its face
and content validity. The learners are instructed to read the questions and study the information
provided, identify the best answer for each questions before marking the correct answers on the
answer sheet. Besides, the learners are also reminded to make clear corrections if they decide to
correct their answers or else their answer will be invalid.
2.4 The Items
In constructing the test, it has been decided that for the Ujian Selaras 2, only multiple choice
questions will be utilized as the test items. This is because, according to Cranton, Pascal & Notar
(1977) as cited in Seaman (2003), the multiple choice items have the identified advantages of the
‘abilities to be objective (only one right answer, no interpretation of answers), efficient use of
marking time, high reliabilities and the opportunity to test on more topic areas than one can do in
essay testing.’ Moreover, Conkin & Serra (1997) and Fuhrman (1996) as cited in Seaman (2003)
also suggest that through MCQ items ‘one can eliminate the opportunity for students to write
large volumes of material, hoping to hit the points that are required for marks.’ There are various
aspects taken into consideration. The 30 MCQ items are topical items selected from the Form 4
reference and exercise books and grouped according to the respective topics taught during the
English lessons. In selecting the items, the teacher paid great attention to the learners’ level of
English proficiency. The items selected are suitable for the learners’ cognitive abilities to ensure

5. that the test is not too easy or too difficult for the learners and able to measure their achievement.
Other than that, reference on the English Panel’s question bank has also been made in the quest
to search for suitable questions to be assessed with regards to the content of the topics.
2.5 Marking Scheme
One of the advantages of distributing the multiple choice questions is the ease at marking the
test paper. This is because, as learners state their answer in the answer sheets, it is a convenience
for teachers to mark only the answer sheets as there is only one exact answer. Furthermore,
teachers are able to grade the learners without having to flip through the questions paper or
facing the hustle to correct learners’ grammatical and structural errors. The learners’ answer
sheets were marked and the numbers of correct answers were calculated. Next, the fraction is
converted into percentage to obtain the grades of the learners. The formula of grading calculation
is as stated below while the answer key for the test paper is included in the Appendix section.
N [the number of correct answers] x 100% = _______ %
30 [the number of overall questions]
Table 2 – Formula of marking and grading.

6. 3.0 CONSTRUCTING AND REVIEWING.
3.1 The Process of Constructing and Reviewing
In the process of constructing the test paper, planning and strategizing is very crucial. In
the planning stage, the teacher needs to identify the topics to be included in the test. Furthermore,
the teacher needs be aware of the level of English proficiency among her learners in order to
select the suitable items to be included in the test. Then, the types of test and items to be
distributed are taken into consideration. Upon deciding on the multiple choice questions, the
teacher starts to locate potential items in the reference and exercise books which relate to the
topics decided. Next, the suitable items selected will be improvised according to learners’
proficiency level. The questions are carefully arranged and the answer key is prepared. After
distributing the test papers and collecting them back, the teacher marks the papers and gives
scores to the learners. The learners’ marks are then analyzed for the teacher to evaluate their
performance and the effectiveness of the English lessons.
3.2 Items Construction
As the potential items are identified from the various resources, the teacher makes
necessary changes so that the items included cater the learners’ cognitive abilities. The potential
topical items are improvised to make them simpler or a little bit challenging in order to assess the
learners’ comprehension and thinking skills. The finalized questions for this Ujian Selaras 2 are

7. at the lower level of the Bloom’s Taxonomy which test learners on their lower order thinking
skills such as their knowledge, comprehension and simple application of grammar rules.
The breakdown of the topical questions depends on the time spent in the classroom
teaching the topics. The teacher has spent 7 English periods to teach on the topic Helping
Hands, thus the topic has the most number of questions tested. On the other hand, the least
classroom lesson spent on the topics of Random Act of Kindness and Water, Water Everywhere
leads to the small numbers of questions asked related to those topics.
3.3 Input from Experts
The test paper is submitted to the Head of English Panel in the school, Mr. Mior Amran
Bin Mior Abdullah for comments and approval. Upon examining the test paper, Mr. Mior
provides the feedback that content wise, the test paper is valid as it consists of questions related
to the topics taught in the classroom. However, he suggests that the distracters to be improved as
there are a few questions which have weak distracters that enable learners to guess the correct
answers. Moreover, he gives a few tips on writing plausible distracters and answers. He mentions
that in writing the correct answers, they should not be too lengthy and the distracters should not
be too short as this will give in to the learners to guess the correct answers. This is supported by
Just (2009) who states that it is important to write plausible distracters because of three reasons:
1. Poorly written distracters can invalidate a question.
2. You can control the question difficulty through the distracters.
3. The frequency with which the students choose each distracter is meaningful.

8. 4.0 ASSEMBLING AND ADMINISTERING.
4.1 How Selected Items Are Assembled?
Upon deciding on the number of questions to be included for each topic, the teacher
organizes the questions in the test paper. Questions are arranged according to the topics,
according to the sequence of the topics in the KBSM textbook which is from Chapter __ to
Chapter ___. The question paper starts with the questions from the topic Wired Youth (4
questions), followed by Random Acts of Kindness (3 questions), Active Ageing (5 questions),
Helping Hands (6 questions), Water, Water Everywhere (3 questions), The Competitive Edge (4
questions) and For the Common Good (5 questions).
Within the topical arrangement, the questions are organized according to the difficulty
levels which are easy, intermediate and difficult. For example, under the topic of Wired Youth,
the first 2 questions are at the easy level, followed by 1 intermediate level question and finally 1
difficult question. The rationale of this arrangement is to provide a sense of achievement to the
learners. If they are able to answer the 2 easy questions, they will be motivated to continue
answering the rest of the questions.

9. 6.0 INTERPRETING THE SCORE
6.1 Frequency Table
The frequency of a particular data value is the number of times the data value occurs. A
frequency table is constructed by arranging collected data value is ascending order of magnitude
with their corresponding frequencies.
The marks awarded for a test set for a Form 4 class of 16 students were as follows :
65 67 85 75 60 72 48 60 72 77 59 71 77 57 59 54
The frequency table:
Mark Tally Frequency
48 // 2
49
50
51
52
53
54 / 1
55
56
57 / 1
58
59 // 2
60 // 2
61
62
63
64
65 / 1
66
67 / 1
68
69
70
71 / 1
72 // 2

10. 73
74
75 / 1
76
77 // 2
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85 / 1
6.3 Mode
The mode of a set of data values is the value(s) that occurs most often.
The mark of 16 students in this test are given below :
65 67 85 75 60 72 48 60 72 77 59 71 77 57 59 54
The data values have no mode since there is no data value that occurs most frequently.
Median
The median of a set of data values is the middle of the data set when it has been arranged in
ascending order. That is, from the smallest value to the highest value.
The data vales from the lowest value to the highest value :
48 54 57 59 59 60 60 65 67 71 72 72 75 77 77 85
The number of values in the data set is 16, which is even. So, the median is the average of the
two middle values.
Therefore,
Median = 8th data value + 9th data value
________________________
2

11. = 65 + 67 = 132 = 66
_______ _____
2 2
6.4 Mean
The mean or average of a set of a data values is the sum of all data values divided by the number
of data values.
Mean = Sum of all data values
__________________
Number of data values
The mark of 16 students in this test are given below :
65 67 85 75 60 72 48 60 72 77 59 71 77 57 59 54
Therefore,
65+67+85+75+60+72+48+60+72+77+59+71+77+57+59+54
_________________________________________________
16
= 1058 = 66.125
_____
16
So, the mean mark is 66.13

12. ANALYSIS OF THE TEST ITEMS.
This section will study the discrimination index of the items and their reference to
Bloom’s taxonomy.
REFERENCES.
1. Bond, Linda A. (1996). Norm- and criterion-referenced testing. Practical Assessment,
Research & Evaluation, 5(2). Retrieved December 10, 2012 from
http://PAREonline.net/getvn.asp?v=5&n=2
2. Weaver, (2012). The Importance of Assessment. Retrieved on December 11, 2012 from
http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/article/importance-assessment
3. Seaman, P. (2003). Multiple Choice Testing: Will It Work For Me? Retrieved on
December11, 2012 from http://www.lib.unb.ca/Texts/Teaching/JAN03/seaman.htm
4. Just, S. (2009). Writing Distracters for Multiple Choice Questions. Retrieved on
December 11, 2012 from
http://www.pedagogue.com/articles/writing_distractors_SBJ.htm
5. Curriculum Specifications for English Language (2003), Ministry of Education.
Retrieved on December 11, 2012 from
http://www.scribd.com/doc/489022/BInggerisTingkatan-4
6.