Language Testing - Approaches and Techniques
Language Testing - Approaches and Techniques
Language Testing - Approaches and Techniques
TESTING:
Approaches &
Techniques
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
At the end of the Module, students should be
able to:
Identify and differentiate the different
approaches to language testing.
Explain their strengths and weaknesses.
Discuss the various language test
techniques.
Realizes the usefulness of the lessons in
testing students.
APPROACHES TO
LANGUAGE TESTING
EssayTranslation Approach
Structuralist Approach
Integrative Approach
Communicative Approach
The
Essay-
Translation
Approach
CHARACTERISTICS AND
TYPES OF TESTS IN
ESSAYTRANSLATION
APPROACH
This is commonly referred to as the pre
scientific stage of language testing.
No special skill or expertise in testing is
required.
Tests usually consist of essay writing,
translation and grammatical analysis.
CHARACTERISTICS AND
TYPES OF TESTS IN
ESSAYTRANSLATION
APPROACH
Tests have a heavy literary and cultural
bias.
Public examinations resulting from the
tests using this approach sometimes
have an oral component at the upper
intermediate and advance levels.
Strengths of Essay
Translation Approach
This approach is easy to follow because
teachers will simply use their subjective
judgement.
The essaytranslation approach may be used
for testing any level of examinees.
The model of tester can easily be modified
based on the essentials of the tests.
Weaknesses of Essay
Translation Approach
Subjective judgement of teachers tends to be
biased.
As mentioned, the tests have a heavy literary
and cultural bias.
The
Structuralist
Approach
CHARACTERISTICS AND
TYPES OF TESTS IN
STRUCTURALIST
APPROACH
CHARACTERISTICS AND
TYPES OF TESTS IN
STRUCTURALIST
APPROACH
Strengths of Structuralist
Approach
In testing students’ capability, this approach
may objectively and surely be used by testers.
Many forms of tests can be covered in the test
in a short time.
Using this approach in testing will help
students find their strengths and weaknesses
in every skill they study.
Weaknesses of Structuralist
Approach
It tends to be a complicated job for teachers to
prepare questionnaires using this approach.
This approach considers measuring non
integrated skills more than integrated skills.
The
Integrative
Approach
CHARACTERISTICS AND
TYPES OF TESTS IN
INTEGRATIVE
APPROACH
CHARACTERISTICS AND
TYPES OF TESTS IN
INTEGRATIVE
APPROACH
Strengths of Integrative
Approach
The approach to meaning and the total
communicative effect of discourse will be very
useful for students in testing.
This approach can view students’ proficiency
with a global view.
Strengths of Integrative
Approach
A model cloze test used in this approach
measures the reader’s ability to decode
‘interrupted’ and ‘mutilated’ messages by
making the most acceptable substitutions from
all the contextual clues available.
Dictation, another type using this approach,
was regarded solely as a means of measuring
students’ skills of listening comprehension.
Weakness of Integrative
Approach
Even if many think that measuring integrated
skills is better, sometimes there is a need to
consider the importance of measuring skills
based on students’ need, such as writing only,
speaking only, etc.
The
Communicati
ve Approach
CHARACTERISTICS AND
TYPES OF TESTS IN
COMMUNICATIVE
APPROACH
CHARACTERISTICS AND
TYPES OF TESTS IN
COMMUNICATIVE
APPROACH
Strengths of Communicative
Approach
Communicative tests are able to measure all
integrated skills of students.
The tests using this approach face students in
real life so it will be very useful for them.
Strengths of Communicative
Approach
Because a communicative test can measure all
language skills, it can help students in getting
the score. Consider students who have a poor
ability in using spoken language but may score
quite highly on tests of reading.
Detailed statements of each performance level
serve to increase the reliability of the scoring by
enabling the examiner to make decisions
according to carefully drawnup and well
established criteria.
Weaknesses of
Communicative Approach
Unlike the structuralist approach, this
approach does not emphasize learning
structural grammar, yet it may be difficult to
achieve communicative competence without a
considerable mastery of the grammar of a
language.
It is possible for cultural bias to affect the
reliability of the tests being administered.
TEST
TECHNIQUES
Direct
versus
Indirect
Testing
Direct Indirect
Requires the Attempts to
candidate to measure the
perform precisely abilities that
the skill that the underlie the skills
test wishes to in which the test is
measure. interested.
Direct Indirect
Easier to carry out Attempts to
when it is intended measure the
to measure abilities that
speaking and underlie the skills
writing skills. in which the test is
interested.
Direct Indirect
Has a number of Attempts to
attractions: measure the
• Relatively abilities that
straightforward underlie the skills
to create in which the test is
conditions. interested.
• Assessment
and
interpretation are
also quite
straightforward.
Direct Indirect
Has a number of Attempts to
attractions: measure the
• There is likely abilities that
to be a helpful underlie the skills
backwash effect. in which the test is
interested.
Examples
Direct Indirect
Composition Underlined items
writing to know which the student
students’ writing needs to identify as
skills erroneous in
formal standard
English
Examples
Direct Indirect
Composition Lado’s (1961)
writing to know proposed method of
students’ writing testing
skills pronunciation
ability
Some tests are referred to as semidirect.
Discrete Point
versus
Integrative
Testing
Discrete Integrative
Refers to the Requires the
testing of one candidate to
element at a time, combine many
item by item. language elements
in the completion
of a task.
Discrete point tests will always be indirect
while integrative tests will tend to be
direct.
Examples
Discrete Integrative
Form of a series of Comprehension of
items testing a words and the
particular ability to use them
grammatical correctly
structure Free composition
Diagnostic tests of Cloze test
grammar
Referenced
versus
Criterion-
Referenced
Testing
NRT CRT
Scores are Interpretation of
interpreted scores is absolute
relative to each and may be
other in a normal representational
distribution
scheme (bell curve).
The idea is to
Measures students’
spread the ability against the
students out on a predetermined
continuum of standard
knowledge
Objective
versus
Subjective
Testing
Objective Subjective
If no judgement is If judgement is
required on the called for
part of a scorer
Objective in the If the scorer is not
sense that there is looking for any one
only one answer right answer
…The End…
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