3 Kinds of tests and testing Hughes abridged文档格式.docx
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Thischapterbeginsbyconsideringthepurposesforwhichlanguagetestingiscarriedout.Itgoesontomakeanumberofdistinctions:
betweendirectandindirecttesting,betweendiscretepointandintegrativetesting,betweennorm-referencedandcriterion-referencedtesting,andbetweenobjectiveandsubjectivetesting.
Testscanbecategorisedaccordingtothetypesofinformationtheyprovide.Thiscategorisationwillproveusefulbothindecidingwhetheranexistingtestissuitableforaparticularpurposeandinwritingappropriatenewtestswherethesearenecessary.Thefourtypesoftestwhichwewilldiscussinthefollowingsectionsare:
proficiencytests,achievementtests,diagnostictests,andplacementtests.
Proficiencytests
Proficiencytestsaredesignedtomeasurepeople'
sabilityinalanguage,regardlessofanytrainingtheymayhavehadinthatlanguage.Thecontentofaproficiencytest,therefore,isnotbasedonthecontentorobjectivesoflanguagecoursesthatpeopletakingthetestmayhavefollowed.Rather,itisbasedonaspecificationofwhatcandidateshavetobeabletodointhelanguageinordertobeconsideredproficient.Thisraisesthequestionofwhatwemeanbytheword'
proficient'
.
Inthecaseofsomeproficiencytests,'
meanshavingsufficientcommandofthelanguageforaparticularpurpose.AnexampleofthiswouldbeatestdesignedtodiscoverwhethersomeonecanfunctionsuccessfullyasaUnitedNationstranslator.Anotherexamplewouldbeatestusedtodeterminewhetherastudent'
sEnglishisgoodenoughtofollowacourseofstudyataBritishuniversity.SuchatestmayevenattempttotakeintoaccountthelevelandkindofEnglishneededtofollowcoursesinparticularsubjectareas.Itmight,forexample,haveoneformofthetestforartssubjects,anotherforsciences,andsoon.Whatevertheparticularpurposetowhichthelanguageistobeput,thiswillbereflectedinthespecificationoftestcontentatanearlystageofatest'
sdevelopment.
Thereareotherproficiencytestswhich,bycontrast,donothaveanoccupationorcourseofstudyinmind.Forthemtheconceptofproficiencyismoregeneral.BritishexamplesofthesewouldbetheCambridgeFirstCertificateinEnglishexamination(FCE)andtheCambridgeCertificateofProficiencyinEnglishexamination(CPE).Thefunctionofsuchtestsistoshowwhethercandidateshavereachedacertainstandardwithrespecttoasetofspecifiedabilities.Theexaminingbodiesresponsibleforsuchtestsareindependentofteachinginstitutionsandsocanbereliedonbypotentialemployers,etc.tomakefaircomparisonsbetweencandidatesfromdifferentinstitutionsanddifferentcountries.Thoughthereisnoparticularpurposeinmindforthelanguage,thesegeneralproficiencytestsshouldhavedetailedspecificationssayingjustwhatitisthatsuccessfulcandidateshavedemonstratedthattheycando.Eachtestshouldbeseentobebaseddirectlyonthesespecifications.Allusersofatest(teachers,students,employers,etc.)canthenjudgewhetherthetestissuitableforthem,andcaninterprettestresults.Itisnotenoughtohavesomevaguenotionofproficiency,howeverprestigiousthetestingbodyconcerned.TheCambridgeexaminationsreferredtoabovearelinkedtolevelsintheALTE(AssociationofLanguageTestersinEurope)framework,whichdrawsheavilyontheworkoftheCouncilofEurope(seeFurtherReading).
Despitedifferencesbetweenthemofcontentandlevelofdifficulty,allproficiencytestshaveincommonthefactthattheyarenotbasedoncoursesthatcandidatesmayhavepreviouslytaken.Ontheotherhand,aswesawinChapter1,suchtestsmaythemselvesexerciseconsiderableinfluenceoverthemethodandcontentoflanguagecourses.Theirbackwasheffect-forthisiswhatitis-maybebeneficialorharmful.Inmyview,theeffectofsomewidelyusedproficiencytestsismoreharmfulthanbeneficial.However,theteachersofstudentswhotakesuchtests,andwhoseworksuffersfromaharmfulbackwasheffect,maybeabletoexercisemoreinfluenceoverthetestingorganisationsconcernedthantheyrealise.ThesupplementingofTOEFLwithawritingtest,referredtoinChapter1,isacaseinpoint.
Achievementtests
Mostteachersareunlikelytoberesponsibleforproficiencytests.Itismuchmoreprobablethattheywillbeinvolvedinthepreparationanduseofachievementtests.Incontrasttoproficiencytests,achievementtestsaredirectlyrelatedtolanguagecourses,theirpurposebeingtoestablishhowsuccessfulindividualstudents,groupsofstudents,orthecoursesthemselveshavebeeninachievingobjectives.Theyareoftwokinds:
finalachievementtestsandprogressachievementtests.
Finalachievementtestsarethoseadministeredattheendofacourseofstudy.Theymaybewrittenandadministeredbyministriesofeducation,officialexaminingboards,orbymembersofteachinginstitutions.Clearlythecontentofthesetestsmustberelatedtothecourseswithwhichtheyareconcerned,butthenatureofthisrelationshipisamatterofdisagreementamongstlanguagetesters.
Intheviewofsometesters,thecontentofafinalachievementtestshouldbebaseddirectlyonadetailedcoursesyllabusoronthebooksandothermaterialsused.Thishasbeenreferredtoasthesyllabus-contentapproach.Ithasanobviousappeal,sincethetestonlycontainswhatitisthoughtthatthestudentshaveactuallyencountered,andthuscanbeconsidered,inthisrespectatleast,afairtest.Thedisadvantageisthatifthesyllabusisbadlydesigned,orthebooksandothermaterialsarebadlychosen,theresultsofatestcanbeverymisleading.Successfulperformanceonthetestmaynottrulyindicatesuccessfulachievementofcourseobjectives.Forexample,acoursemayhaveasanobjectivethedevelopmentofconversationalability,butthecourseitselfandthetestmayrequirestudentsonlytouttercarefullypreparedstatementsabouttheirhometown,theweather,orwhatever.AnothercoursemayaimtodevelopareadingabilityinGerman,butthetestmaylimititselftothevocabularythestudentsareknowntohavemet.YetanothercourseisintendedtopreparestudentsforuniversitystudyinEnglish,butthesyllabus(andsothecourseandthetest)maynotincludelistening(withnotetaking)toEnglishdeliveredinlecturestyleontopicsofthekindthatthestudentswillhavetodealwithatuniversity.Ineachoftheseexamples-allofthembasedonactualcases–testresultswillfailtoshowwhatstudentshaveachievedintermsofcourseobjectives.
Thealternativeapproachistobasethetestcontentdirectlyontheobjectivesofthecourse.Thishasanumberofadvantages.First,itcompelscoursedesignerstobeexplicitaboutobjectives.Secondly,itmakesitpossibleforperformanceonthetesttoshowjusthowfarstudentshaveachievedthoseobjectives.Thisinturnputspressureonthoseresponsibleforthesyllabusandfortheselectionofbooksandmaterialstoensurethattheseareconsistentwiththecourseobjectives.Testsbasedonobjectivesworkagainsttheperpetuationofpoorteachingpractice,somethingwhichcourse-content-basedtests,almostasifpartofaconspiracy,failtodo.Itismybeliefthattobasetestcontentoncourseobjectivesismuchtobepreferred;
itwillprovidemoreaccurateinformationaboutindividualandgroupachievement,anditislikelytopromoteamorebeneficialbackwasheffectonteaching.
Nowitmightbearguedthattobasetestcontentonobjectivesratherthanoncoursecontentisunfairtostudents.Ifthecoursecontentdoesnotfitwellwithobjectives,theywillbeexpectedtodothingsforwhichtheyhavenotbeenprepared.Inasensethisistrue.Butinanothersenseitisnot.Ifatestisbasedonthecontentofapoororinappropriatecourse,thestudentstakingitwillbemisledastotheextentoftheirachievementandthequalityofthecourse.Whereasifthetestisbasedonobjectives,notonlywilltheinformationitgivesbemoreuseful,butthereislesschanceofthecoursesurvivinginitspresentunsatisfactoryform.Initiallysomestudentsmaysuffer,butfuturestudentswillbenefitfromthepressureforchange.Thelong-terminterestsofstudentsarebestservedbyfinalachievementtestswhosecontentisbasedoncourseobjectives.
Thereadermaywonderatthisstagewhetherthereisanyrealdifferencebetweenfinalachievementtestsandproficiencytests.Ifatestisbasedontheobjectivesofacourse,andtheseareequivalenttothelanguageneedsonwhichaproficiencytestisbased,thereisnoreasontoexpectadifferencebetweentheformandcontentofthetwotests.Twothingshavetoberemembered,however.First,objectivesandneedswillnottypicallycoincideinthisway.Secondly,manyachievementtestsarenotinfactbasedoncourseobjectives.Thesefactshaveimplicationsbothfortheusersoftestresultsandfortestwriters.Testusershavetoknowonwhatbasisanachievementtesthasbeenconstructed,andbeawareofthepossiblylimitedvalidityandapplicabilityoftestscores.Testwriters,ontheotherhand,mustcreateachievementteststhatreflecttheobjectivesofaparticularcourse,andnotexpectageneralproficiencytest(orsomeimitationofit)toprovideasatisfactoryalternative.
Progressachievementtests,astheirnamesuggests,areintendedtomeasuretheprogressthatstudentsaremaking.Theycontributetoformativeassessment(referredtoinChapter1).Since'
progress'
istowardstheachievementofcourseobjectives,thesetests,too,shouldrelatetoobjectives.Buthow?
Onewayofmeasuringprogresswouldberepea
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