Testing, education

1. TESTING OVERALL ABILITY Paola Enríquez D.
4.14.14

2. Obtain separate
information on
each of the
language abilities
Estimate candidate’s
overall ability
Previous chapters

3. PROFICIENCY TESTS
Number of components
Specificiations for the
individual components
Indication of the weight
that e/component has
Add scores = overall
ability
Individual scores
may be ignored

4. OVERALL ABILITY
Commonsense idea that someone can be
good (quite good, poor) at a language
Performance in one skill is usually a
reasonable predictor of performance in
another
Skills share some features (vocabulary,
grammar)

5. TECHNIQUES FOR TESTING OVERALL ABILITY
Reduced
redundancy
More information
available than
what is needed
NS can cope
well when
redundancy is
reduced
Deliberate
reduction of
redundancy for
estimating NNS
language ability

6. CLOZE PROCEDURE
Remove words from a
passage
Attempt to replace the
original words
Blanks usually about
every 7th word

7. CLOZE PROCEDURE
Considered as a language testing
panacea
To replace the word -> go beyond the
immediate context
Make use of the abilities that underlay
language performance
Easy to construct, administer and score
The chosen passage did not matter
neither the deleted words

8. CLOZE PROCEDURE
Considered as a language testing
panacea
To replace the word -> go beyond the
immediate context
Make use of the abilities that underlay
language performance
Easy to construct, administer and score
The chosen passage did not matter
neither the deleted words
Do you
agree
or not?

9. CLOZE PROCEDURE
Different passages gave different
results
Deletion of different words gave
different results
Close examination of the context
Intelligent & educated NS varied quite
considerably in predicting the words
Unfortunately…

10. SELECTED DELETION CLOZE Careful selection
of texts
Careful selection
of words to
delete
Avoid
problematical
items –
impossible to
predict the
missing word

11. CONVERSATIONAL CLOZE
To reflect oral as
well as written
ability
Passages
representing
spoken
language
Kind of
language that is
relevant for the
overall ability

12. CONVERSATIONAL CLOZE

13. ADVICE ON CREATING CLOZE TYPE PASSAGES
Appropriate
level of difficulty
Appropriate
style
Present a couple
of uninterrupted
sentences
Deletions should
be made at
every 8th to 10th
word
Try the passage
with NS
Determine the
range of
acceptable
responses
Devise clear
instructions
Test takers should
be familiar with
the technique
Scores are not
directly
interpretable
Scoring is easier
in this layout ->

14. ADVICE ON CREATING CLOZE TYPE PASSAGES

15. MINI-CLOZE ITEMS
Cover the
structures and
vocabulary we
want to
Limited as to
what features of
language can
be tested
Once a
passage is
chosen
Include a
number of
passages

16. THE C-TEST
The 2nd half of every
2nd word is deleted
Exact scoring
Shorter (and so more)
passages are possible

17. THE C-TEST
The 2nd half of every
2nd word is deleted
Exact scoring
Shorter (and so more)
passages are possible
Disadvantages
?

18. THE C-TEST
The 2nd half of every
2nd word is deleted
Exact scoring
Shorter (and so more)
passages are possible
Puzzle-like nature
Harder to read
Correct answers can often be
found in the surrounding text
Disadvantages

19. DICTATION
The order of word is
given
Words are given
It is possible to identify
words from context
Word order
Vocabulary
Aural
perception
Does not test
1960
Misguided

20. DICTATION
The order of word is
given
Words are given
It is possible to identify
words from context
Spelling
Punctuation
Tests
1960
Misguided

21. DICTATION
Word order is not given
Words are not given
Only a stream of sound is heard –
decoded, stored, and recreated
Identify words from context =
desired ability
End of the decade

22. DICTATION
Results similar to the
ones from cloze tests
Includes listening ability
Easy to create
Easy to administer
End of the decade
Advantages
Disadvantage
Not easy to
score

23. DICTATION
Scoring
# of words
appearing in
their original
sequence
Misspelled words
taken as correct as
long as no
phonological rule is
broken
Time-
consuming
Tedious with
poorer
students

24. PARTIAL DICTATION
Part of what is dictated
is already printed
Fill in the gaps
Scoring is likely to be
more reliable

25. CONSIDERATIONS FOR DICTATION
Break passages
into stretches that
will be spoken
without a break
Read the entire
passage straight
through
Read out
stretches, not too
slowly
Give enough time
to write down
Spell silently the
stretch twice

26. TESTS FOR YOUNG LEARNERS

27. 5 TO 12 YEARS OLD

28. WHY TEST YOUNG LANGUAGE LEARNERS
• Check if the teaching programme is
effective
• Develop positive attitudes towards
assessment

29. SOME CONSIDERATIONS
Relative short attention span
Enjoy stories and play
Respond well to pictures, attractive
typography, colour
Not long
Brief
Varied

30. SOME CONSIDERATIONS
L1 & cognitive abilities are still
developing
Learn through social interaction
Teaching & learning involve
“integrated” tasks

31. SOME CONSIDERATIONS
Sympathetic
teachers
Familiar
surroundings
Understandable
instructions
Easy tasks at
the
beginning ->
confidence

32. TECHNIQUES TO TEST LISTENING
Placing objects or
identifying people
Multiple choice
pictures
Colour and draw on
existing line drawing Information transfer

33. TECHNIQUES TO TEST READING
Multiple
choice Pictures

34. TECHNIQUES TO TEST WRITING
Anagram with
picture Cartoon story Gap filling
with pictures

35. TECHNIQUES FOR TESTING ORAL ABILITY
Straightforward
questions about the
child and their
family
Direct questions
from a scene in a
card
Ask for differences
among cards with
pictures
Tell a story from a
set of pictures
From a set, identify
an element that
does not belong
and explain why
Describe classmates Guess cards among
students