Introduction to Language Test.docx
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Introduction to Language Test.docx
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IntroductiontoLanguageTest
IntroductiontoLanguageTesting
PartI
ByXueJinqiang
Topics
•Measurement,testsandevaluation
•Testingandteaching
•Purposesoflanguagetests
Measurement,testsandevaluation
•Measurementistheassignmentofnumeralstoobjectsoreventsaccordingtorulesthatgivenumeralsquantitativemeaning.
•Measure:
(1)tofindthesize,lengthoramountof
somethingusingstandardunits:
Couldyoumeasuretheheightofthewallforme?
(2)tojudgetheimportance,value,ortrue
natureofsomething(估量):
Educationshouldnotbemeasuredpurelyby
examinationresults.
phr.:
measuresth.bysth.measuresth.orsb.against
Measurement:
(U)theactofmeasuringsomething:
AlanDaviesdefinesmeasurementinhisDictionaryofTesting(2002.8)asfollows:
Theprocessofquantifyingtheperformancesoftesttakers.Itthusinvolvesboththeproductionandtheuseofaninstrument(atest),calibratedormarkedonsomekindofscale,thepurposeofwhichistodifferentiateamongtesttakersonthebasisofabilityorknowledge.
WhatIsaTest?
•Atestmaybedefinedasataskorseriesoftasksusedtoobtainsystematicobservationspresumedtoberepresentativesofeducationalorpsychologicaltraitsorattributes.Typicallytestsrequireexamineestorespondtoitemsortasksfromwhichtheexaminerinfers/getssomethingabouttheattributebeingmeasured.
WhatisEvaluation?
Evaluation
(1)isaprocessthatincludesmeasurementandpossiblytesting,butitalsocontainsthenotionofavaluejudgment.
Evaluation
(2)
•Ifateacheradministersalanguagetesttoaclassandcomputesthepercentagesofcorrectresponses,measurementandtestinghavetakenplace.Thescoresmustbeinterpreted,whichmaymeanconverting/transferringthemtovalueslikeAs,Bs,Csandsoon,orjudgingthemtobeexcellent,good,fair,orpoor.Thisprocessisevaluation,becausevaluejudgments-eitherimplicitorexplicit-arebeingmade.
ExamplesofEvaluation
•Anexampleofevaluationthatdoesnotinvolveeithertestsormeasures(area“1”)istheuseofqualitativedescriptionsofstudentperformancefordiagnosinglearningproblems.Anexampleofanon-testmeasureforevaluation(area“2”)isateacherrankingusedforassigninggrades,whileanexampleofatestusedforpurposesofevaluation(area“3”)istheuseofanachievementtesttodeterminestudentprogress.
Evaluation(3)
•Themostcommonnon-evaluativeuseoftestsandmeasuresareforresearchpurposes.Anexampleofteststhatarenotusedforevaluation(area“4”)istheuseofaproficiencytestasacriterioninsecondlanguageacquisitionresearch.Finally,assigningcodenumberstosubjectsinsecondlanguageresearchaccordingtonativelanguageisanexampleofanon-testmeasurethatisnotusedforevaluation(area“5”).
Testingandteaching
•Alargenumberofexaminationsinthepasthaveencouragedatendencytoseparatetestingfromteaching.Bothtestingandteachingaresocloselyinterrelatedthatitisvirtuallyimpossibletoworkineitherfieldwithoutbeingconstantlyconcernedwiththeother.
•Testsmaybeconstructedprimarilyasdevicestoreinforcelearningandtomotivatethestudentorprimarilyasameansofassessingthestudent’sperformanceinthelanguage.
•Alanguagetestwhichseekstofindoutwhatcandidatescandowithlanguageprovidesafocusforpurposeful,everydaycommunicationactivities.Suchatestwillhaveamoreusefuleffectonthelearningofaparticularlanguagethanamechanicaltestofstructure.
•Inthepastevengoodtestsofgrammar,translationorlanguagemanipulationhadanegativeandevenharmfuleffectonteaching.Agoodcommunicativetestoflanguage,however,shouldhaveamuchmorepositiveeffectonlearningandteachingandshouldgenerallyresultinimprovedlearninghabits.
•Theeffectoftestingonteachingandlearningisknownasbackwash(反拨).Backwashcanbeharmfulorbeneficial.Ifatestisregardedasimportant,(forexample,theNationalMatriculationTests=高考)thenpreparationforitcancometodominateallteachingandlearningactivities.
•Andifthetestcontentandtestingtechniquesareatvariancewith/differentfromtheobjectivesofthecourse,thenthereislikelytobeharmfulbackwash.
•AninstanceofthiswouldbewherestudentsarefollowinganEnglishcoursewhichismeanttotraintheminthelanguageskills(includingwriting)necessaryforuniversitystudyinanEnglish-speakingcountry,butwherethelanguagetestwhichtheyhavetotakeinordertobeadmittedtoauniversitydoesnottestthoseskillsdirectly.
•Iftheskillofwriting,forexample,istestedonlybymultiplechoiceitems,thenthereisgreatpressuretopractisesuchitemsratherthanpractisetheskillofwritingitself.Thisisclearlyundesirable.
•Backwashneednotalwaysbeharmful;indeeditcanbepositivelybeneficial.SupposeweweretodevelopanEnglishlanguagetestforanEnglishmediumuniversityinanon-English-speakingcountry.
•ThetestistobeadministeredattheendofanintensiveyearofEnglishstudythereandwillbeusedtodeterminewhichstudentswillbeallowedtogoontotheirundergraduatecourses(taughtinEnglish)andwhichstudentswillhavetoleavetheuniversity.
•AtestisdevisedwhichisbaseddirectlyonananalysisoftheEnglishlanguageneedsoffirstyearundergraduatestudents,andwhichincludestasksassimilaraspossibletothosewhichtheywillhavetoperformasundergraduates(readingtextbookmaterials,takingnotesduringlectures,andsoon).
•Theintroductionofthistest,inplaceofonewhichhasbeenentirelymultiplechoice,hasanimmediateeffectonteaching:
thesyllabusisredesigned,newbooksarechosen,classesareconducteddifferently.Theresultofthesechangesisthatbytheendoftheiryear’straining,thestudentsreachamuchhigherstandardinEnglishthanhaveeverbeenachieved.Thisisacaseofbeneficialbackwash.
Purposesoflanguagetests
•Itmustbeemphasizedthattheevaluationofstudentperformanceforpurposesofcomparisonorselectionisonlyoneofthefunctionsofatest.
•Althoughmostteachersalsowishtoevaluateindividualperformance,theaimoftheclassroomtestisdifferentfromthatoftheexternal(outside-school)examination.
•Externalexaminationsaregenerallyconcernedwithevaluationforthepurposeofselection;theclassroomtestisconcernedwithevaluationforthepurposeofenablingteacherstoincreasetheirowneffectivenessbymakingadjustmentsintheirteachingtoenablecertaingroupsofstudentsorindividualsintheclasstobenefitmore.
•Agoodclassroomtestwillalsohelptolocatethepreciseareasofdifficultyencounteredbytheclassorbytheindividualstudent.
•Thetestshouldalsoenabletheteachertoascertainwhichpartsofthelanguageprogramhavebeenfounddifficultbytheclass.Inthisway,theteachercanevaluatetheeffectivenessofthesyllabusaswellasthemethodsandmaterialsheorsheisusing.
•Tomakethepictureclearer,wecansummarizethefollowingpurposesoflanguagetests.
1.Diagnosisandfeedback
•Perhapsthemostcommonuseoflanguagetests,andeducationaltestsingeneral,istopinpointstrengthsandweaknessesinthelearnedabilitiesofthestudent.
Aseverycoinhastwosides;everybodyandeverythinghashis/her/itsstrengthsandweaknesses,advantagesanddisadvantages,meritsanddemerits.
Everythingexistswithareason.
•Wemaydiscoverthroughtestingthatagivenstudenthasexcellentpronunciationandfluencyoforalproductioninthelanguageofinterest,butthatheorshehasalowlevelofreadingcomprehension.Onfurthertesting,wemightfindthatalowortoohighlyspecializedvocabularyisamajorfactorunderlying(突出)lowreadingcomprehensionforthisstudent.Wemightrecommendsuitableapproachesforvocabularyexpansion.
•Thisuseoftests,frequentlytermeddiagnostictesting,isofvalueinthatitprovidescriticalinformationtothestudent,teacher,andadministratorthatshouldmakethelearningprocessmoreefficient.Withoutthespecificinformationthusmadeavailable,theteachermightpersistinteachingpronunciationtothisstudentandfailentirelytoaddressaweaknessintheareaofvocabulary.
2.Screeningandselection
•Anotherimportantuseoftestsistoassistinthedecisionofwhoshouldbeallowedtoparticipateinaparticularprogramofinstruction.
•Ineveryinstructionalprogram,teachingstaffandfacilitiesarelimitedinnumberandcapacity.Itbecomesamatterofseriousconcerntofindanequitable/fairmeansofdeterminingwhoshouldbeallowedtoparticipatewhentherearemoreapplicantsthanspacesavailable.Suchselectiondecisionsareoftenmadebydeterminingwhoismostlikelytobenefitfrominstruction,toattainmasteryoflanguageorcontentarea,ortobecomethemostusefulpractitionerinthevocationaldomainrepresented.
•Intheareaoflanguagetesting,acommonscreeninginstrumentistermedanaptitudetest(Carroll,1965).Itisusedtopredictthesuccessorfailureofstudents’prospectiveinalanguage-learningprogram.
•Closelyrelatedtothenotionsofdiagnosisandselectionistheconceptofplacement(编班).Inthiscasetestsareusedtoidentifyaparticularperformancelevelofthestudentandtoplacehimorheratanappropriatelevelofinstruction.
Programevaluation
•Anothercommonuseoftests,especiallyachievementtests,istoprovideinformationabouttheeffectivenessofprogramsofinstruction.
•Inthiswaythefocusofevaluationisnottheindividualstudentsomuchastheactualprogramofinstruction.Therefore,groupmeanoraveragescoresareofgreaterinterestin
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