The document discusses key concepts in testing, assessment, and evaluation in TESOL methodology. It defines testing, assessment, formative and summative assessment. Formative assessment monitors student learning to provide feedback, while summative assessment evaluates student learning at the end of a unit. Evaluation assesses teaching effectiveness. The document also discusses norm-referenced tests, criterion-referenced tests, placement tests, diagnostic tests, progress tests, and proficiency tests. It outlines validity, reliability, and practicality as characteristics of a good test and describes evaluating speaking based on fluency, accuracy, and complexity.

1. TESOL Methodology
LANGUAGE
ASSESSMENT

2. TESOL Methodology
● Testing, Assessment, and Evaluation are all tools, and
tools by nature can be used masterfully or poorly according
to their intended purpose.
● We use them to identify the strengths and weaknesses of
our students’ language ability.
● With them, students can demonstrate the gains achieved
through their efforts and become more convinced of their
progress and development as English language learners.

3. TESOL Methodology
Before looking at different kinds of tests used to
evaluate students, let us define the following
keywords:
● Testing
● Evaluation
● Assessment.

4. TESOL Methodology
Testing
It is a general term that refers to any activity or
document used to measure a skill , a database,
or a content domain in an educational setting.

5. TESOL Methodology
In order to measure the result of student performance, we:
● choose some representative samples of language.
● measure whether a student can use these samples.
● try to quantify this by turning it into a grade.
● keep a record of these grades and use this to give
an end assessment.

6. TESOL Methodology
The terms assessment and evaluation are often
used synonymously. However, in education they
do not refer to the same thing.

7. TESOL Methodology
Assessment
● It refers to the measuring of student abilities.
● It is a measure of the proficiency a language user has in any
given language.
● It provides feedback to the teacher on how effectively
students are learning and may offer insight on how to
improve the learning process.

8. TESOL Methodology
Assessment falls into two categories:
● Summative
● Formative

9. TESOL Methodology
Formative Assessment
The goal of formative assessment is to monitor student learning
to provide ongoing feedback that can be used by instructors to
improve their teaching and by students to improve their
learning.

10. TESOL Methodology
Formative Assessments:
● help students identify their strengths and
weaknesses and target areas that need work
● help the instructor/teacher recognize where
students are struggling and address problems
immediately

11. TESOL Methodology
Examples of formative assessments include asking students
to:
● work in pairs and talk/discuss about a particular topic
● submit one or two sentences identifying the main point
of a lecture
● turn in a paragraph or essay for early feedback

12. TESOL Methodology
Summative Assessment
The goal of summative assessment is to evaluate
student learning at the end of an instructional unit
by comparing it against some standard or
benchmark.

13. TESOL Methodology
Examples of summative assessments include:
● a midterm exam
● a final exam
● a final project
● a written test (essay/paragraph)
● an oral presentation

14. TESOL Methodology
Evaluation
● Evaluation is concerned with assessing the effectiveness of
teaching, teaching strategies, methods and techniques.
● It provides feedback to the teachers about their teaching and
the learners about their learning.

15. TESOL Methodology
Types
of
Tests

16. TESOL Methodology
Norm-Referenced Tests (or NRTs)
They compare an examinee’s performance to that of other
examinees.
Examples of norm-referenced tests are:
● SAT, TOEFL, or TOEIC

17. TESOL Methodology
Criterion-Referenced Tests (or CRTs)
● They have specific criteria or specific information that is
being tested for that particular test.
● They determine whether or not the candidate has the
demonstrated mastery of a certain skill or set of skills.
● The results are usually “pass” or “fail”.
For example, during a term you have studied the simple
past tense now you are going to be tested on that specific
information.

18. TESOL Methodology
Common Tests for Students
Placement Tests
These tests are evaluations that sort students into different
levels according to their language abilities when they enter
a language school or language program. The program will
determine ahead of time what objectives students must
demonstrate to move from one level to the next.

19. TESOL Methodology
● They may have a calculated number of easy and difficult
items so that students can be sorted into levels according to
their final score.
● They have a traditional paper test along with an interview
component and sometimes a writing sample.

20. TESOL Methodology
Diagnostic Tests
These tests are given prior to a course in order to determine
students’ strengths and weaknesses. Tests results are not used
as grades; rather, results, help the teacher or program
coordinator to adapt the instruction to student needs and
abilities.

21. TESOL Methodology
A typical example of a diagnostic test would be writing prompt to elicit
a specific genre of text from the student. The teacher would review the
sample to determine the student’s knowledge of grammar and
vocabulary (in reference to the level), writing conventions, familiarity
with genres, and critical thinking skills. If the hypothetical student
demonstrates clarity in overall writing, but inadequate vocabulary for
the topic, the teacher would then incorporate vocabulary-building
strategies into the course.

22. TESOL Methodology
Progress / Achievement Tests
A common type of evaluation that occurs during a program or
course is a progress or achievement test.
● These tests are what most students think of when you say
the word “test”.
● They are intended to measure the student's’ achievement of
course objectives over time.

23. TESOL Methodology
● These tests are usually given at set times during the term,
semester or course. Quizzes, midterms, and final
examinations are also progress/achievement tests, as are
large projects and assignments designed to measure
students’ achievement of objectives. Final exams are usually
comprehensive, testing all the information from the course
and not just what was taught since the previous exam.

24. TESOL Methodology
Proficiency Tests
● These tests are evaluations that attempt to measure a
student’s overall language ability.
● TOEFL, TOEIC, and Cambridge English Language
Assessment are examples of commercially offered
proficiency tests.

25. TESOL Methodology
● These tests cost money to take and are offered by licensed
centers in many different countries.
● They are documentation to prove the student’s score, which
may be required on a job or university application. Students
often need test preparation of some kind (books, tutoring,
courses) in order to score well on commercial exams.

26. TESOL Methodology
Characteristics of a Good Test
A good test should take into account:
● validity
● reliability
● practicality.

27. TESOL Methodology
Characteristics of a Good Test
A good test should take into account:
● validity
● reliability
● practicality.

28. TESOL Methodology
Validity
Validity is a key consideration in texting. (Baxter 1977) proposes
three types of validity:
● content validity
● construct validity
● face validity.

29. TESOL Methodology
Content Validity
In order for a test to demonstrate content validity, it must “test
what it’s supposed to test” (Baxter, 1977: p. 19).
Tests should accomplish their intended purpose: a placement
test should separate students into groups according to level, a
diagnostic test should provide insight on how to help students in
future lessons, and a progress test should evaluate students’
uptake of target language and skills.

30. TESOL Methodology
Construct Validity
A test has construct validity when it “tests what it is supposed to
test and nothing else” (Baxter, 1997: p. 19). The test should test
the target language and skills, not world knowledge, memory, or
abilities in other subject areas. In addition, tests activities should
be intuitive, with clear instructions and prompts.

31. TESOL Methodology
Face Validity
A test has face validity when it “appears to test what it is trying
to test” (Baxter, 1997: p. 20). Test takers should feel that the
test is fair and meets the intended objectives.

32. TESOL Methodology
Reliability
A reliable test is a test that produces consistent results from
different groups or at different times, or between different
versions of the same test.

33. TESOL Methodology
To maintain reliability:
● Always give clear instructions.
● Try to keep test procedures and conditions the same for all the
students.
● Use grading rubrics to score speaking and writing tests that would
otherwise be subjective.
● Avoid activities with only two or three items; a large number of
times (within reason, according to age and level) will ensure
that scores are not due to luck or guessing.

34. TESOL Methodology
Practicability
When designing and administering a test, it is important to
consider practicability:
● How will you discourage cheating?
● Will students have enough time to complete the test? What
would you do if some students cannot finish? How will you
occupy students who finish early?

35. TESOL Methodology
● Are the photocopies clear? Does the audio equipment work
properly? Do you have extra supplies for students who
forget their own?
● Can the design of the test reduce the time required for
grading and feedback?

36. TESOL Methodology
Evaluating Speaking
When you score students’ speaking skills, you need to have a
clear way to measure their performance. Typical criteria involve
some combination of fluency, accuracy, and complexity.

37. TESOL Methodology
Fluency
● It refers to “the production of language in real time without
undue pausing or hesitation.
● The speaker does not have unnaturally long silences
between his or her words and that the speaker is producing
speech in real time.

38. TESOL Methodology
Accuracy
● It refers to the speaker’s ability to use language correctly
according to his intentions.
● The speaker chooses the correct words and structures and
uses them in a correct way to express a particular meaning.
● Generally, students should demonstrate accuracy with
language that they have been practicing recently and with
language that they have learned in the past.

39. TESOL Methodology
Complexity
● It refers to the sophistication of the speaker’s message and
the forms that he or she uses to express it.
● It can include the range of vocabulary, the type of
grammatical structures, and the awareness and use of
subtle differences in meaning. These linguistic elements are
often determined by the message that the student desires to
express.