TESTING

AND
EVALUATION
What is a Test?
a test is a yardstick uses by a teacher to
measure the performance of a student;
tests can be divided into formal and
continuous tests;
Testing vs. teaching
Tests :
focus on assessing the products of learning;
assess students previous learning

Teaching :
concentrates on enabling students to succeed in the
process of learning;
prepares a student for current and future learning

Types of Tests
Formative tests
are used during the course to monitor the
progress of the students;
mostly informal
e.g. topical tests
Diagnostic tests
are designed to diagnose areas of difficulty
help teacher to decide for whom and in what
areas remedial work needs to be given
to obtain information about pupils strengths and
weaknesses in a specific area
give input for decisions on materials design, provision
of remedial classes

Summative tests
are used to test all that has been taught in a
course;
usually come at the end of the course or at the
end of each year of the course;
e.g. end of the year examination
Placement tests
are tests used to help group students
according to overall entry-level of students
proficiency ;
they assess all that a student knows at the
point he begins a new course of study;
Characteristics of a
good test:
Validity
- it should test what it claims to be testing
- 5 types of validity (face, content,
predictive, concurrent, construct)
Reliability
- how precise the test measures what
the tester wants to know
Practicality
- is not cost-consuming
Type of validity test
Face looks like a good one to learner
Content accurately reflects the syllabus it is
based on
Predictive accurately predicts future
performance
Concurrent give similar results to already
validated tests or other immediate
external criteria (e.g. teachers
subjective assessment)
Construct reflects closely a valid theory of
foreign language learning that it
takes as its model
Types of test Items:
Close-ended and open-ended test
items
Subjective and objective tests

Type of test Strengths weaknesses
Objective 1.Easy to mark
2.Can be used for mass
testing because
computer marking is
possible
3.High reliability
4.Item banking for
recycling is possible
1.Difficult to construct
2.Low validity
3.Sometimes skills and
areas are tested not
because they are
important but
because they are
testable
subjective 1.Easy to set
2.High validity
3.Can assess affective
and interpretive
aspects of language
skills
1.Marking is time-
consuming
2.Reliability is low
Test Procedures
1. Identifying the purpose of testing
2. Writing test specifications
3. Test construction
4. Test administration
5. Scoring procedures
6. Reporting procedures

1. Identifying the purpose of testing
- What kind of test to be administered?
- What do I want to be able to say or
do with the results I obtain?
- What skills do I want to test?
- What kind of backwash effects do I
want?
- What are the practical constraints I
have to work with?

2. Writing test specifications
- Tasks choose tasks that give you a good
indication of the skills you want to test
- types of text refers to what the candidate
has to process and what he has to produce
- Topics topics can be selected form the
syllabus specifications or related topics
- Format choose format that can be used to
test particular skill
- Weightage allocate different marks to
different items
- time allocation allocating time to different
task
3. Test construction
- work as a team
- check each others work at every
juncture
- check the stimulus/input material
- appropriateness
- balance and bias
- check the component after test items are
written
- clear instruction
- answers acceptable
- layout of items well arranged
4. Test administration
- When and where will the test be
administered?
- How will it be administered?
- Who will administer the test?
- What apparatus/facilities would be
necessary for the successful
administration of the test?
5. Scoring procedures
- Some tests has only one way of marking;
- teacher needs to decide what is the
easiest, fastest and most efficient way of
getting the marking done;
- teacher can use computer facilities or
templates to mark the test papers;
- in marking subjective tests, many
decisions have to be made;
- scoring procedures suitable for each skill
or format has to be carefully selected;

6. Reporting procedures
- the raw score obtained by pupil is
converted into a grade and ranking is
given
- a teacher can also used profile reporting
for grading specific skill
80 100 A
60 - 79 B
Speaking A excellent. Performs at near-native
level of proficiency
Listening B very good. Occasional errors in use
but generally error-free
Designing and constructing
a monthly or end of the year
test
1. Determine the aim of the test
2. Decide what weightage you should give
3. Decide on testing formats for each skill
4. Make decisions on the duration of test,
the number of test items for each
section and the time frame of setting
the test paper from start to finish

5. Draw up a table of specifications
6. Establish administration procedures
7. Check on items written
8. Pro-test the test
9. Do item analysis and build a test bank after
the test

Section Skill Format No. of
items
Marks
A Listening: main
idea inference
MCQ 10 20
B Speaking:
describing people
Interview: using picture
stimuli to describe
people
15
C Writing:
description of
places
a.150-word guided
composition
b.20 blank cloze
20

10
D Grammar: past
tense
Cloze: 30 blanks 15
E Reading: for
meaning
150-word test
Rational cloze

Open-ended questions
20

5
10

10
Table Of Specifications