This document discusses assessment and testing in the classroom. It outlines the purposes of assessment, which include providing feedback to aid learning and measuring students' competence. Different types of classroom assessments are described, such as exercises, projects, quizzes, and observations. The document also discusses developing tests for specific purposes, characteristics of good tests, reporting test results using band descriptors, and developing in-house tests and test questions for English for Specific Purposes courses. Key points covered include using assessment for evaluation, feedback, and course design, as well as ensuring tests are fair, consistent, and provide students with useful information.

1. Assessment: Continuous assessment
andtesting
Dudley-Evans & St. John

2. outline
• What is assessment?
• Why assess?
• Classroom assessment
• Classroom tests
• Reporting test results: band descriptors
• In-house test development
• ESP test questions

3. What is assessment?

4. Why assess?
• Two reasons:
 For feedback to aid learning
o Reinforcement
o Confidence building
o Involvement
o Building on strengths
 For a comparable measure of competence
o Public examinations
o In-house assessments

5. Why assess? (con’t)
• For ESP course
 Proof of learner’s success
 But, it may not be seen immediately!
 Therefore,
o Learners – Progress report
o Teacher – course evaluation
o Institutions – Present Situation Analysis (PSA) for course design
and learners’ grouping

6. Classroomassessment
• Group discussion
 Form a group of 3
 Discuss:
o What types of classroom assessment you have
experienced?
o What are the differences of formal tests and
classroom assessments?
 Report your answers

7. Classroomassessment (con’t)
• Classroom assessments
 Exercise
 Projects
 Quiz
 Discussion
 Presentation
 Practicum
 Paper, report
 Observation
 Journal

8. Classroomassessment (con’t)
• The differences

9. Classroomassessment (con’t)
• Teacher assessment
 Written assignments (class or homework)
 Tasks on reading passages
 Pair or group interactions
• Benefits
 Progress report
 Feedback
 More complete information

10. Classroomassessment (con’t)
• Peer and self-assessment
 Anonymous questionnaire
 Suggestions on writing
• Benefits:
 Supplementary to teacher assessment
 Aid to learning
 Consistent
 Help the teacher in large class

11. Classroomtests
• Purposes
 A part of PSA
o Placement tests
o Progress tests – mastery of classwork
o Achievement tests – mastery of syllabus
o Proficiency tests – performance in target
language tasks

12. Classroomtests (con’t)
• Characteristics of good tests
 Carroll (1980)
o Comparability
o Acceptability
o Relevance
o Economy

13. Classroomtests (con’t)
 Bachman & Palmer (1996)
o Fairness
o Authenticity
o Impact
o Reliability
o Validity
o Practicality

14. Classroomtests (con’t)
• Setting, administering & marking
 Cost of copies
 Speed of reliable marking
• Backwash/washback/impact
 positive – good test, good teaching, good learning
 negative – focuses on learning test strategies than content

15. Reporting test results: band descriptors
• Band descriptors – specific criteria
• Important and useful:
 standardizing marking
 Fairness
 Real info for students
 Time-saving
• How?
 Use band descriptors to mark and report results
 Follow steps in Figure 11.6

16. Reporting test results: banddescriptors (con’t)
• For language competence:
 Specific
o marking and maximum info
o Skill-based
 Overall
o simple report
 5, 7 or 9 levels
 See p. 218

17. Reporting test results: banddescriptors (con’t)

18. Reporting test results: banddescriptors (con’t)
• Writing & spoken interaction
 Holistic (p. 219)
o Experienced users
o Global impression
o Overall perspective
o How?
 Assign the test takers to a band
 Mark the test takers within the band

19. Reporting test results: banddescriptors (con’t)

20. Reporting test results: banddescriptors (con’t)
 (multi trait) analytic
o Diagnostic
o Initial reliability

21. In-house test development
• Tests
 Decision makings
 Self-confidence
 To enable students to perform
 Not to trick or to confuse
 Fair, consistent, share much info
• Adaptation and modification is OK

22. a. setting
• Steps
 See p. 222
 Involves several people

23. a. Setting (con’t)

24. a. Setting (con’t)
• Step 1-4
 Not linear or uni-directional
 Selection of objectives
o Must be course objectives
o Have been taught
 Clarification
o Length of test
o Number of marks

25. a. Setting (con’t)
• Step 5-8
 Everybody must read and write comments
 Everybody must do the test in written –
validity
 Redrafting over and over

26. a. Setting (con’t)
• Step 9-12
 Layout and proofing
o time – include organization time
o Accuracy – outsider as proofreaders

27. b. marking
• Steps:
 Confirming the answer key & mark scheme
for reading and listening (p. 225)
 Standardizing the marking of writing and
spoken interaction
• All markers must present

28. ESP test questions
• Not different
• Frequency of a question type
• Every item should be used in teaching

29. a. writing
• An integrated task with reading is preferred
• Provision of input
• Specification of purpose & audience
• 20-30 minutes production
• 10 minutes reading & preparation

30. b. reading
• Selection of carrier content and lexical load
• Comprehension questions
• Contextual answers
• Can be integrated with writing
• EAP – 2 medium length passages
• EOP – several shorter texts

31. c. Spoken interaction
• Pair or group interaction
• Equal pair, chosen by test takers
• Purposeful & authentic interaction
• Usually three phases:
 Introduction (relax!)
 Stimulus-based interaction
 Open discussion
• More complex interchanges? Use continuous assessment

32. d. listening
• Non-verbal or short answer formats
 Form-filling
 Fax or memo writing