The document discusses various methods for testing different areas of language on a language exam, including pronunciation, grammar, vocabulary, listening, speaking, reading, and writing. It provides details on limited response tests, multiple choice tests, reading aloud, and cloze tests as ways to assess pronunciation and grammar. For each method, it outlines the advantages and limitations, such as being easy to prepare but time consuming to score, or providing good control but not directly measuring conversational skills. The goal is to select methods that best evaluate students' language abilities in a valid and reliable manner.

1. Group 2
Khánh Minh Thanh Thư
Hoài Phương Bạch Vân
Phương Thành Thảo Vy

2. OUTLINE
A. Testing Language Areas
• Pronunciation
• Grammar
• Vocabulary
B. Testing Language Skills
• Listening
• Speaking
• Reading
• Writing

3. 1. TESTING PRONUNCIATION
1.1 Pronunciation Tests
1.2 Types of Pronunciation Tests
A. TESTING LANGUAGE AREAS

4. 1.1 Pronunciation Tests
• Ways of evaluating students’
▫ production
▫ and identification of the sounds, stress patterns, and
intonation of English
• Today’s pronunciation items  incorporate context
and meaning  can be useful
• Pronunciation items are not effective in measuring
real communication  measure progress made on
specific points of pronunciation.

5. • On a speaking test, pronunciation becomes important
when it interferes with communication.
• E.g. faulty stress results in miscommunication
She wants the blue ꞌpen,
not the red ꞌone.
She wants the ꞌblue pen,
not the ꞌred one.
1.1 Pronunciation Tests

6. 1.2 Types of Pronunciation Tests
1.2.1 Limited Response
1.2.2Multiple Choice Hearing Identification
1.2.3 Reading Aloud

7. 1.2.1 LIMITED RESPONSE
• Providing ways for testing beginning students
• 2 ways:
#1 Individual Testing: Oral Repetition
#2 Group Testing: Hearing Identification

8. #1 Individual Testing: Oral Repetition
• For students who cannot read or write
• Students simply listen and repeat.
• One of the easiest of all exams
• No distractors, clever sentence frames, or drawings
needed
• Every pronunciation feature can be tested.
E.g. “Did you say I stole the meat?”
 key vowels, diphthongs, consonants, vowel reduction,
word linking, assimilation, consonant clusters, pitch,
intonation, stress or rhythm.

9. • The problem of scoring: too much in each item 
confused and inaccurate results
• A better way: not to test too many things at one time
E.g. check final intonation on questions (echo cues
and question tags):
▫ Where did she put the broom? ↘
▫ She didn’t put it back in the closet? ↗
▫ He cleaned up the place quite well, didn’t he? ↘
#1 Individual Testing: Oral Repetition

10. • Checking two things in one sentence
E.g. check main stress and rising intonation in
the same sentence:
▫ Did it come ꞌyesterday? ↗
#1 Individual Testing: Oral Repetition

11. • Materials: exercises, dialogs, and readings from ESL
books; or made-up materials
E.g. part of an essay or story
 continuity >< time consuming for selection
 Teachers use unrelated sentences or construct their
own story.
#1 Individual Testing: Oral Repetition

12. • When reading the material aloud:
▫ Normal speed, sentence rhythm
▫ Join the words in phrases, keep function words unstressed:
“one of the pans” /wənəvðəpænz/
▫ Say the sentence once
▫ Listen for the marked items on the key (“He said he could
come.”); ignore other errors
▫ Give simple and clear instructions: “Listen and repeat the
sentence.”
#1 Individual Testing: Oral Repetition

13. • For beginners, visual aids in testing can emphasize the
difference in meaning between words that sound similar. 
testing can reinforce teaching
• E.g. “The box is in the back of the truck.”  the distinction of
the presence or absence of a consonant sound
#2 Group Testing: Hearing Identification

14. • E.g. difference in meaning is signaled by word
stress and tested with pictures
▫ He has a toy ꞌstore.
▫ He has a ꞌtoy store.
#2 Group Testing: Hearing Identification

15. • E.g. using pairs of sentences instead of pictures (be
careful with intonation)
▫ What a big mouse!
▫ What a big mouth! S D
▫ It is raining. ↘
▫ It is raining? ↗ S D
#2 Group Testing: Hearing Identification

16. Limited-Response Items – Pros and Cons
Oral Repetition:
• Easy to prepare
• Good for students who
cannot read yet; do not
mix reading
comprehension and
pronunciation
• Can test all
pronunciation features
Oral Repetition:
• Can test English aptitude
as much as present skill
in pronouncing English
• Time consuming when
conducted individually
• A need for a native
speaker to model the
sentence

17. Limited-Response Items – Pros and Cons
Hearing
Identification:
• Combine
pronunciation and
meaning
• Enable teachers to test
students with limited
language skills
Hearing
Identification:
• Difficult to find
suitable pictures
• A somewhat limited
number of testing
options

18. • Can be used for students who are literate or not yet
literate in English
• Now sound contrasts are contextualized and
associated with differences in meaning.
• E.g. check the differences between “cat, cap, cab”:
(Students hear) “He bought a new cab.”
(Students read) A. animal B. hat C. car
 Using multiple-choice hearing identification items in
paraphrase or synonym of what is heard
1.2.2 MULTIPLE-CHOICE HEARING
IDENTIFICATION

19. • Another way to contextualize vowel and
consonant contrasts is to use appropriate-
response options.
• E.g. check student ability to differentiate among
“I feel,” “I felt,” and “I’ll feel”:
(Students hear) “I feel sick.”
(Students read) A. Did you?
B. Do you?
C. Will you?
1.2.2 MULTIPLE-CHOICE HEARING
IDENTIFICATION

20. ▫ E.g. meaning behind intonation contrasts (“He is her brother.” ↘
and “He is her brother?” ↗)
(Students hear) “He is her brother.”
(Students read) A. Oh, I didn’t know that.
B. Yes, I thought you knew that.
C. Why do you ask?
1.2.2 MULTIPLE-CHOICE HEARING
IDENTIFICATION

21. • A good way to contrastive stress is to use
multiple-choice paraphrase
• E.g. “ꞌJack just walked into the ꞌstore” can
express different meanings
(Students hear) “Jack just walked ꞌinto the
store.”
(Students read) A. It wasn’t Mary.
B. He didn’t run.
C. He didn’t walk out of it.
1.2.2 MULTIPLE-CHOICE HEARING
IDENTIFICATION

22. • E.g. using sentence completion (checking the
hid/ hit/ ’ll hit contrast)
(Students hear) “She hit the thief ...”
(Students read) A. in the face.
B. from the police.
C. tomorrow.
1.2.2 MULTIPLE-CHOICE HEARING
IDENTIFICATION

23. A helpful
combination
of
pronunciation
and meaning
Difficult to
prepare
suitable
distractors
MULTIPLE-CHOICE HEARING IDENTIFICATION
– PROS AND CONS

24. 1.2.3 READING ALOUD
• Like Oral Repetition, this provides excellent control.
• One problem: the skill of reading aloud is different from
that of taking conversationally
• An ideal way to test mastery of sound-symbol
correspondence (e.g. “said” = /sed/, not /sayd/)
• 3 important points:
1. Evaluate one or two points per sentence
When checking too many things at the same time  difficult to
be accurate and consistent
E.g. check the pronunciation difference between “th” and “d”:
“My father feels quite bad about it.” (no underline in student’s
copy)
E.g. check the use of rising intonation: “Do you need any help?”
↗ (no intonation cue in student’s copy)

25. 2. Use natural language
Tongue twisters and rhythms shouldn’t be used.
The tests should reflect the ability to communicate in
natural everyday language.
E.g. use strange language to test juncture contrasts (the set
of features in speech that enable a listener to detect a word
or phrase boundary):
“I scream for ice cream.”
E.g. check the /br/ consonant cluster:
“I brought the bread that his brother brings.”
1.2.3 READING ALOUD

26. 3. Avoid signaling the point being tested
To get an accurate measure of how students normally express
themselves in English, it is best not to let them know the
specific pronunciation point being tested in each sentence.
E.g. “The leather is near the lever.”
 a minimal pair was used to test the voiced “th” and the “v”
sounds
 sounds unnatural and alerts the student to what is being
tested
E.g. “She loves her brother.”
E.g. a minimal pair is used properly to test contrastive stress:
“They want you to ꞌsail the boat, not ꞌsell it.” (no stress mark on
student’s copy)
1.2.3 READING ALOUD

27. • Carefully prepared paragraphs can be provided for
students to read aloud.
 Provide natural language in a much broader context
than sentence items
• The main problem is deciding how to score a passage
where so many things are being evaluated.
 Teachers should use separate sentences with a fixed
number of points per item.
 The paragraph context would be used for diagnostic
purposes rather than for testing.
1.2.3 READING ALOUD

28. • Materials:
▫ sound natural
▫ be read naturally
• Test instructions  emphasize the need for naturalness:
“You will read the following sentences aloud to your
teacher. But first, you should read it silently. Then when
you read it aloud, do smoothly and naturally.”
• Alternate Reading-Aloud Items:
1. Stress marking
E.g. check syllable stress: “intervene”
A B C
2. Sound symbol
E.g. check knowledge of the “o”:
A. go B. got C. close D. smoke
1.2.3 READING ALOUD

29. - Easy to prepare
- Provide good control
- Test almost all
pronunciation features
- Can test how to
pronounce spelling
combinations
- Limited to those who
cannot read yet
- Not a direct
relationship between
ability to read aloud
and pronunciation in
normal conversation
(sentence rhythm)
READING ALOUD – PROS AND CONS

30. 2. TESTING GRAMMAR
A. TESTING LANGUAGE AREAS

31. 2.1 WHY TEST GRAMMAR?
Proficiency tests: language skills are of interest
- Language skills should be tested directly, not the
abilities underlying them
-> The absence of any grammar component in some
proficiency tests
- Large numbers of grammar items can be administered
and scored within a short period of time
-> Most proficiency tests administered on a large scale
still retain a grammar section

32. 2.1 WHY TEST GRAMMAR?
Proficiency tests: content validity is questioned:
If writing ability is tested directly -> limitations in the
number of topics, styles of writing, and grammatical
elements covered
-> Proficiency grammar tests are preferred

33. 2.1 WHY TEST GRAMMAR?
Achievement tests: a grammar component should be
included
-> Not to give grammar component too much prominence
in relation to tests of skills which are the primary objectives
of language courses.

34. 2.1 WHY TEST GRAMMAR?
Placement tests: knowledge of a student’s grammatical
ability is useful to place his/her in the most appropriate
class
Diagnostic tests: gaps in students’ grammatical
performance are discovered -> students can fill the gaps
=> Grammatical ability, or rather the lack of it, sets limits to
what can be achieved in the way of skills performance.

35. 2.2 WRITING SPECIFICATIONS
Sampling
• Select widely from the structures specified to
give the test content validity
• Take into account of what are regarded as the
most important structures
• Don’t deliberately concentrate on the structure
that happen to be easiest to test

36. 2.2 WRITING SPECIFICATIONS
Writing items
Whatever techniques are chosen, it is important for the text
of the item to be written grammatically correct and in
natural language.
Some techniques can be used for testing grammar: limited
response, multiple choice, simple completion, and cloze
procedure.

37. Limited response
1) Individual testing
a. Use oral requests
T: How many books are on the table?
Ss: Six.
b. Use pictures
Is the lady on the house?
What is the lady doing?
2) Group testing
Use spoken instructions

38. Limited response
Avoidance of
students’
unnecessary stress
Avoidance of skills
that have not yet
been developed
Easy and objective
scoring
Individual testing
taking more time
than group testing
Difficulty in finding
suitable pictures
A limited number of
grammatical
structures tested
Advantages
Limitations

39. Simple completion
• Simple completion items consist of a sentence from
which a grammatical element has been removed.
E.g. I would have gone if he had invited me.
• Examinees may be asked to:
• Decide from the context what word or phrase to write in
the blank
• Write in an option from a list
• Change the form of a key word

40. Simple completion
Select the
grammar
points that
need to be
tested
Provide an
appropriate
context
Write good
instructions

41. Simple completion
The three basic kinds of simple completion grammar tests
vary in difficulty and in objectivity and in the degree of
active or passive response that is required:
(1)The option form
(2)The inflection form
(3)The free-response form

42. Simple completion
(1) The option form
Complete the following sentences with “do” or “make”:
a. He … a lot of money last year.
b. I always … my best.
2) The inflection form
Complete the following sentence with comparatives:
He is the … (tall) person in the class.

43. Simple completion
3) The Free-Response Form
Add a question tag to these sentences:
a. Hamlet was indecisive, …?
b. Nobody knew that problem,...?

44. Simple completion
Easier preparation
Measured productive
skills
No exposure to
incorrect grammatical
forms
A sensitive measure of
achievement
More time
consumption to
correct
Students’
possibility to avoid
the structure
being tested
Advantages
Limitations

45. Multiple choice
Choose the
grammar
points that
need to be
tested
Prepare the
right kind of
stem
Select three
logical
distractors
Prepare
clear, simple
instructions

46. Multiple choice
Distractor preparation:
… the ones who know the answers
A. They are B. There C. They’re D. Their
-> Spelling items should not be included
You can get it from the lady … he sold it to.
A. which B. who C. whom D. why
-> Items that only test different levels of formality should be
avoided
If I had a new fur coat, …
A. I showed it to everyone C. I’ve shown it to everyone
B. I’d show it to everyone D. I’ll show it to everyone
-> Repeated words from the distractors should be taken out.

47. Multiple choice
How to choose a good distractor?
Look at students’ errors in exercises or cloze passages
Alternate forms of multiple choice
1. Space saver: put distractors inside the stem
2. Dialogue context
3. Error identification: ask students to identify the error,
ask them to give the correct form

48. Multiple choice
Students’
impossibilities to
avoid the grammar
point being evaluated
Easy and reliable
scoring
A sensitive measure
of achievement
Uneasy good items
preparation
Students’ cheating
Unmeasured
students’
reproduction
A negative influence
on classwork
Advantages
Limitations

49. Cloze procedure
Cloze tests are prose passages, usually a paragraph or
more in length, from which words have been deleted. The
student relies on the context in order to supply the missing
words.

50. Cloze procedure
1) Preparing a cloze test
Select an
appropriate
passage
Decide on
the ratio of
words to
take out
Write the
instructions
and prepare
an example

51. Cloze procedure
2) Scoring the cloze
2 ways:
- Give credit for only the exact word from the story
- Allow full credit for equivalent words
Problems with scoring
- Misspelling
- Bad handwriting
- Allowance just one word in each blank

52. Cloze procedure
3) Adapting the cloze to test grammar: Delete the
grammar item that has been studied
Remember:
- Don’t need to have exactly the same number of words
between each blank
- Don’t delete the same word too many times

53. WRITING SPECIFICATIONS
Scoring production grammar tests
• Be clear about what each item is testing, and award
points for that only
• Don’t subtract scores for errors in elements of grammar
which are not being tested by the item
• Assign points to each element that is being tested in an
item or just award if all elements are correct
-> To ensure scoring is valid and reliable, careful
preparation of the scoring key is necessary.

54. A. TESTING LANGUAGE AREAS
3. TESTING VOCABULARY

55. WHY TEST VOCABULARY?
Essential to the development and demonstration of linguistics skills
To measure the comprehension and production of words used in
speaking or writing
WHAT WORDS TO TEST?
Choosing difficult words or random lists of words doesn’t make
much sense
Based on the syllabus, textbook, reading materials or lexical errors in
students’ written works.
Michael West (1953): The General Service List (GSL)

56. HOW TO TEST VOCABULARY?
1. Limited response
2. Multiple-choice completion
3. Multiple-choice paraphrase
4. Simple completion (words)

57. 1. LIMITED RESPONSE
o For beginners
o To avoid language skills that haven’t been mastered yet
o Require either a simple physical action or a very simple
verbal answer
o For example:
• Is the book green? What color is the book?
• Please go to the window
• Draw a circle around the tree

58. - Less stress or nervousness
- Avoid language skills that
haven’t been mastered yet
- Be scored easily and
objectively
- Difficult to test abstract
words
- Ambiguous sketches
1. LIMITED RESPONSE

59. 2. MULTIPLE-CHOICE COMPLETION
o Depend on context clue and sentence meaning
o STEPS:
1. Vocabulary choice
2. Context preparation
3. Distractor preparation
4. Instruction preparation
o Alternate forms: definition, phrase completion, phrasal
context, multiple-choice cloze

60. 2. MULTIPLE-CHOICE COMPLETION
o STEPS:
1. Vocabulary choice
- Good way to test more difficult vocabulary items
- Only include content words (N, V, Adj, Adv)
- Be careful of bias (e.g. cultural bias or sex bias)

61. 2. MULTIPLE-CHOICE COMPLETION
o STEPS:
2. Context preparation
- More than one sentence is needed (e.g. a two-line
mini-dialog)
- Find a passage in which the word appears
- Avoid too difficult contexts

62. 2. MULTIPLE-CHOICE COMPLETION
o STEPS:
3. Distractor preparation
- 2 ways:
• Teachers create their own distractors
• Teachers use students’ errors as distractors
(composition, speech, homework and classroom
exercises on vocabulary)

63. o STEPS:
3. Distractor preparation: Teachers create their own distractors
- Distractors are at the same form of the correct answer
- Do not give away the right answer through grammatical cues
- The correct option and distractors should be approximately the same
level of difficulty
- Do not include more than one correct answer
GUIDELINES:

64. 2. MULTIPLE-CHOICE COMPLETION
o STEPS:
4. Instruction preparation
- Brief and clear
- Made more clear by one or two examples

65. - Help students see the full
meaning of words
- Easy and consistent
scoring
- Sensitive measure of
achievement
- Difficult to prepare good
sentence contexts
- Easy for students to cheat
2. MULTIPLE-CHOICE COMPLETION

66. 3. MULTIPLE-CHOICE PARAPHRASE
o Choose the best synonym or paraphrase
o A sentence context is still used to simply show the word
class
o Consist of 4 steps
o Alternate forms: idioms, phrasal context, reading passage
context, related-word and unrelated-word identification

67. 3. MULTIPLE-CHOICE PARAPHRASE
o STEPS:
1 & 2. Vocabulary choice and Context preparation
4. Instruction preparation
- The meaning comes from the emphasized word than its
context  Less effort in preparing sentence contexts
 Follow the guidelines for multiple-choice completion

68. 3. MULTIPLE-CHOICE PARAPHRASE
o STEPS:
3. Distractor preparation
- Get distractors related to the subject
- Avoid using a pair of synonyms or antonyms as distractors
GUIDELINES:

69. 3. MULTIPLE-CHOICE PARAPHRASE
o STEPS:
3. Distractor preparation
- Avoid trick items using close spelling or sound contrast
- All the options should be approximately at the same length
GUIDELINES:

70. - Easy context preparation
- Easy and consistent
scoring
- Sensitive measure of
achievement
- Difficult to find good
synonyms
- Easy for students to cheat
3. MULTIPLE-CHOICE PARAPHRASE

71. 4. SIMPLE COMPLETION (WORDS)
o Fill in missing parts of words A test of active skills
o Emphasize on word building
o Consist of 3 steps, no distractor preparation
o Alternate forms: stem-first procedure, phrasal context,
compounds and inflectional cloze

72. o STEPS:
1. Vocabulary choice
- List the prefixes and suffixes that have been taught
- Match these with content words that students have studied
- For example: -ly: quickly
-er: teacher
4. SIMPLE COMPLETION (WORDS)

73. o STEPS:
2. Context preparation
- Successful students depend in part on the contexts
- More context is needed to clarify the meaning of the words.
4. SIMPLE COMPLETION (WORDS)

74. o STEPS:
3. Instruction preparation
- Vary quite a bit.
- Illustrate a prefix, suffix and an “X” blank
- Put an example on the exam
4. SIMPLE COMPLETION (WORDS)

75. - Reflect teaching
approaches
- Faster and easier to
construct
- Test fewer words
- Difficult in avoid
ambiguous contexts
4. SIMPLE COMPLETION (WORDS)

76. 1. TESTING LISTENING
1.1 LIMITED RESPONSE
1.2 MULTIPLE-CHOICE APPROPRIATE RESPONSE
1.3 TESTING EXTENDED COMMUNICATION
B. TESTING LANGUAGE SKILLS

77. 1.1 LIMITED RESPONSE
1.1.1 Native-Language Responses
1.1.2 Picture Cues
1.1.3 Task Responses

78. 1.1.1 Native-Language Responses
• Activity 1 (beginners)
- T: tape random sentences of English and other
languages
- Ss: indicate in their native language “English”
or “other”
E.g. 1. I like apples. (English)
2. J'aime les pommes. (other)
3. Tôi thích táo. (other)
1.1 LIMITED RESPONSE

79. 1.1.1 Native-Language Responses
• Activity 2 (more advanced)
- Type: true-false questions
- Ss acquiring much vocabulary are likely to get
high scores.
E.g. 1. Horses can fly. Đ S*
2. Houses are bigger than people. Đ* S
1.1 LIMITED RESPONSE

80. 1.1.1 Native-Language Responses
• Activity 3 (more advanced)
- Type: single utterances, dialogs, longer material
- Ss: answer in their native language.
E.g. 1. How far is it to New York?
A. Không xa lắm.
B. Phía Nam của Boston.
C. Khoảng 200 km.
1.1 LIMITED RESPONSE

81. 1.1.2 Picture Cues
“ Although their bikes
are clean, the two
boys are dirty.”
Ss: select picture 2
1.1 LIMITED RESPONSE

82. 1.1.2 Picture Cues
1. Is it starting to rain?
yes* no
2. Are these people in a
city?
yes no*
1.1 LIMITED RESPONSE

83. 1.1.3 Task Responses
# Teacher gives commands
Put the ball
in the box.
1.1 LIMITED RESPONSE

84. 1.1.3 Task
Responses
1.1 LIMITED
RESPONSE

85. #1 Focus on meaning
E.g. When Jack leaves, they’ll hire you, won’t they?
A. Yes, you will.
B. Yes, he’s leaving.
C. Yes, they will.
#2 Keep the options simple
#3 Learn to adjust the difficulty of the items
1.2 MULTIPLE-CHOICE
APPROPRIATE RESPONSE

86. 3.1 Short lecture contexts
- 3 or 4 brief lectures > 1 long lecture
- Ss should be told to take notes.
3.2 Social/Business contexts
- It should not be too difficult to understand.
- T should not ask Ss to take notes (it is not
authentic).
1.3 TESTING EXTENDED
COMMUNICATION

87. 2. TESTING SPEAKING
B. TESTING LANGUAGE SKILLS

88. 2.1 REPRESENTATIVE TASKS
Cambridge
CCSE test of
Oral
Interaction
Test based on
Bygate (1987)

89. CAMBRIDGE CCSE TEST
• Operations:
▫ Expressing
▫ Directing
▫ Describing
▫ Eliciting
▫ Narration
▫ Reporting
• Types of text: discussion
• Addressees: interlocutor
• Topics: unspecified
• Dialect, accent, style: unspecified
2.1 REPRESENTATIVE TASKS

90.  TEST BASED ON BYGATE
(1987)
• Skills:
▫ Informational skills
▫ Interactional skills
▫ Skills in managing
interactions
• Types of text:
▫ Presentation (monologue)
▫ Discussion
▫ Conversation
▫ Service encounter
▫ Interview
• Addressees:
▫ May be of equal or higher
status
▫ May be known or unknown
• Topics: familiar and interesting
to the candidates
• Dialect: Standard British
English/ Standard American
English
• Accent: Standard American
• Style: formal/ informal
• Vocabulary range: non-
technical
• Rate of speech: vary according
to the task
2.1 REPRESENTATIVE TASKS

91. Test based
On Bygate is
more valid
than
Cambridge
CCSE Test
Fuller set of
content
specifications
Division into
three
categories
 The greater the detail in the specification of
content, the more valid the test is likely to be
2.1 REPRESENTATIVE TASKS

92. 2.2 ELICIT A VALID SAMPLE OF
ORAL ABILITY
1. Choose
appropriate
techniques
2. Plan and
structure
the testing
carefully

93. 2.2.1 Choose appropriate techniques
• Format 1: Interview
▫ Questions and requests for information
▫ Pictures
▫ Role play
▫ Interpreting
▫ Prepared monologue
▫ Reading aloud
• Format 2: Interaction with fellow candidates
▫ Discussion
▫ Role play
• Format 3: Responses to audio- or video-recordings
▫ Described situations
▫ Remarks in isolation to respond to
▫ Simulated conversation

94. 2.2.2 Plan and structure the testing
carefully
Make the oral test as long as is feasible
Plan the test carefully
Give the candidate as many “fresh start” as
possible
Use a second tester for interviews
Set tasks and topics causing no difficulty in the
candidate’s own language

95. Carry out the interview in a quiet room with
good acoustics
Put candidates at ease
Collect enough relevant information
Do not talk too much
Select interviewers carefully and train them
2.2.2 Plan and structure the testing
carefully

96. 2.3 ENSURE VALID AND RELIABLE
SCORING
Create appropriate scales for scoring
Rating scales may be holistic or analytic.
• The ratings are weighted and totaled based on
weighting table holistic scoring
• The resultant scores are looked up in a conversion
table  analytic scoring

97. Scales for scoring speaking ability
▫ Accuracy
▫ Appropriateness
▫ Flexibility
▫ Range
▫ Size
▫ Accent
▫ Grammar
▫ Vocabulary
▫ Fluency
▫ Comprehension

98. Calibrate the scale to be used
Generally the same procedures are followed in
calibrating speaking scales as were described for
writing scales, with the obvious difference that
video-recordings are used rather than pieces of
written work.
2.3 ENSURE VALID AND RELIABLE
SCORING

99. Train scorers/ interviewers
The outline of a training programme
Background and
overview
Assigning
candidates to
levels
Conduct
interviews
Assessment
2.3 ENSURE VALID AND RELIABLE
SCORING

100. Follow acceptable scoring procedures
Great care must be taken to ignore personal
qualities of the candidates that are irrelevant to an
assessment of their language ability
2.3 ENSURE VALID AND RELIABLE
SCORING

101. 3. TESTING READING
3.1 Limited response
3.2 Testing sentence comprehension
3.3 Testing passage comprehension
B. TESTING LANGUAGE SKILLS

102. 3.1.1 Purpose: to check students’ ability
to tell the difference between words that
look very similar to each other
3.1 LIMITED RESPONSE

103. 3.1.2 Techniques for limited response:
#1 Same –different technique:
E.g.: 1) sad 2) sat S D
1) red2) red S D
#2 Circle the odd item:
E.g.: 1) net 2) net 3) ten
1) naps 2) span 3) naps
3.1 LIMITED RESPONSE

104. 3.1.2 Techniques for limited response:
#3 Key word: circle the matching word from
a list of four items
E.g.: pots
1) stop 2) pods 3) pots 4) spot
3.1 LIMITED RESPONSE

105. #4 Alternate forms of limited – response items:
#4.1. Advanced odd items: look for the word that
is different from the others. BUT now all three can be
different or all three can be the same.
E.g.: All different All the same
1) speak 2) peaks 3) seeks ___v___ ________
1) Peace 2) peace 3) peace ________ ___v___
3.1 LIMITED RESPONSE

106. #4 Alternate forms of limited – response items:
#4.2 Key word and option: find the word that
does not match the key item
E.g.: pleasure
1) pleasing 2) pleasure 3) pleasure 4) pleasure
3.1 LIMITED RESPONSE

107. - Be easy to construct
and score
- Require only the
recognition of letters
 simple task for
beginning students
- Be not an
integrative skill
involving actual
reading
- Reduce of reading
speed
3.1 LIMITED RESPONSE

108. 3.2 TESTING SENTENCE IN COMPREHENSION
3.2.1 Purpose: to check vocabulary, grammar and
sometimes even social appropriateness all the same
time

109. 3.2.2 Technique of testing sentence in
comprehension
#1 Elicitation techniques
#2 Picture cues
3.2 TESTING SENTENCE IN COMPREHENSION

110. Picture cues:
- Use the sentence
E.g. The children are playing on their new toy.

111. Picture cues:
- Use the true – false items
E.g. The robbers cannot see the TV. T F

112. Picture cues:
- Use yes -no questions
E.g. Is the lady reading newspaper? Yes No

113. - Be easy to write true –
false items on pictures
- Be good for testing the
skills of near beginning
students
- Be a rapid way to test
reading comprehension
- Be time –
consuming when
choosing good
pictures
- Not cover all
reading skills
3.2 TESTING SENTENCE COMPREHENSION

114. 3.3.1 Context selection
- Depend on what kind of reading matter teachers
have used with their students
- Sources: articles, stories, advertisements…
3.3.2 Question techniques for beginners
- Use true – false items
- Use matching technique
3.3 TESTING PASSAGE COMPREHENSION

115. 3.3.3 Question techniques for more advanced students
#1 Standard multiple – choice:
+ Selections for less advanced students will run from
about 100 – 200 words
+ More advanced students will range from 150 – 300
words
+ Types of question
• Paraphrase
3.3 TESTING PASSAGE COMPREHENSION

116. • Paraphrase
E.g.:
In this passage we learnt that karate_____
A. is being taught to many young Americans
B. and training for the mind are both being taught
C. can remove the weapon from someone’s hand
D. is used to start a fight

117. • Synthesis item: requires integration of ideas from
more than one sentence – sometimes from the
entire selection
E.g.:
A good title for this selection would be:
A. American Import a Japanese sport
B. Karate weaponless protection for people of all ages
C. School children enjoy a new kind of physical education
class
D. Self – perfection through self - protection

118. • Inference item: requires students to see
implications in what they read
E.g.:

119. 3.3.3 Question techniques for more advanced students
#2 Multiple – choice cloze:
E.g.:
3.3 TESTING PASSAGE COMPREHENSION

120. - Be objective and
easy to score
- Be the most
integrative type of
reading test
- Can evaluate
students at every
level of reading
development
- Be time consuming
to take than other
kinds of tests
- Utilize questions
that deal with trivial
details
- Use questions on
trivial details
 Encourage word –
by – word reading
3.3 TESTING PASSAGE COMPREHENSION

121. 4. TESTING WRITING
4.1 Limited response
4.2 Guided writing
4.3 Free writing

122. 4.1.1 Purpose: to check vocabulary, grammar
4.1.2 Techniques:
#1 Sentence combining
- Adding a connective: demonstrate the
understanding of what various connective mean
E.g.: He likes ice cream but he won’t eat any.
- Combining sentences: ask students to make
internal changes in the grammar
E.g.: Some people come late. They will not get good
seats
 People that come late will not get good seats.
4.1 LIMITED RESPONSE

123. #2 Sentence expansion: add words such as
adjectives and adverbs or it can require adding
phrases and clauses
E.g.: The (___) man hurried (____) to the
(____) horse.
The old man hurried out to the frightened
horse.
#3 Sentence reduction: provide a cue word to
show how to begin the new phrase
E.g.: He told us about the man who had a wooden
leg.
(with)
 He told us about a man with a wooden leg.
4.1 LIMITED RESPONSE

124. #4 Copying: make students more aware of
extended discourse and also of mechanics
(especially punctuation and spelling)
E.g.:
4.1 LIMITED RESPONSE

125. #5 Oral cloze: combine dictation with selected
cloze using high – frequency deletion
E.g.:
4.1 LIMITED RESPONSE

126. - Be easy to construct
- Be suitable for
students with limited
ability in English
- Be rather objective
for a writing –
related task
-Not measure actual
writing skill
- Be rather slow to
correct – especially
the open – ended
variety
4.1 LIMITED RESPONSE

127. 4.2 GUIDED WRITING
4.2.1 Purpose: to check student ability to handle
controlled or directed writing tasks
4.2.2 Techniques:
#1 Changing a passage
- Use an artificial paragraph: when the sentences are
changed as directed, we have the properly written
story
E.g.:

128. #1 Changing a passage
- Use passive sentences
E.g.: The broken typewriter was fixed.
Anwar fixed the broken typewriter.
- Use spoken English
E.g.:
Or use indirect speech:
Mrs. Farias asked her daughter Joana to tell her about…
4.2 GUIDED WRITING

129. #1 Changing a passage:
- Use a specific grammatical change
E.g.: change the passage from the singular form to the
plural form or from the present continuous to the
past…
4.2 GUIDED WRITING

130. #2 Building from a paragraph outline:
- Testing writing controls the content and the
grammar
E.g.:
4.2 GUIDED WRITING

131. #2 Building from a paragraph outline
- Testing writing relaxes the grammar control a little
more. although this particular sample promotes the
present perfect tense.
E.g.: Students are told to write s paragraph beginning
with a topic sentence: “Several things have
contributed to my being an educated person”.
4.2 GUIDED WRITING

132. #2 Building from a paragraph outline
- Testing writing controls the content of the writing
but not necessarily the grammar
E.g.:
4.2 GUIDED WRITING

133. - Be rather quick and
easy to construct
- Give the
appearance of being
an effective measure
of writing
- Provide appropriate
control for those
students who are not
ready to write on
their own
- Not measure
ingredients such as
organization found in
extended writing
- Be rather time
consuming and
difficult to grade
- Be difficult to score
with real consistency
(paragraph – outline)
4.2 GUIDED WRITING

134. 4.3 FREE WRITING
4.3.1 Purpose: evaluate the effectiveness of the total
composition including sentence – level accuracy,
larger rhetorical matters such as unity, coherence and
organization as well as effectiveness in conveying ideas
to the intended audience - including socially
appropriate language and appropriate selection of
supporting details.

135. 4.3.2 Example of free writing
4.3 FREE WRITING

136. - Have a good effect
on instruction:
students will be more
motivated to write in
and out of class,
knowing that their
test will be an actual
writing task
- No chance of
getting a passing
grade on a free –
writing test by
cheating
- Grading of free
writing tends to lack
objectivity and
consistency.
- Be time consuming
to grade
4.3 FREE WRITING

137. 4.4 EVALUATING WRITING
EVALUATINGWRITING
ANALYTICAL
HOLISTIC

138. 4.4.1 Analytical method
- Points off method:
+ Begin with 100 points or grade A
+ Lose points or fractions of a grade for errors that
occur in the piece of writing
+ Mechanics include:
- Capitalization
- Punctuation
- Spelling
- Grammar (sentence sense, verb tense and word
order)
- Vocabulary choice and ability to follow the assigned
writing tasks.
4.4 EVALUATING WRITING

139. 4.4.1 Analytical method
- Another analytical approach reverses the procedure
described above
Points are given for acceptable work in each of
several areas
- Mechanics 20%
- Vocabulary choice 20%
- Grammar and usage 30%
- Organization 50%
TOTAL 100%
4.4 EVALUATING WRITING

140. 4.4.2 Holistic method
- Be one of the best way to evaluate the complex
communicative act of writing
4.4 EVALUATING WRITING