1. Learning About Language Assessment. Albany: Heinle & Heinle
Evaluation
From:
Bailey, Kathleen M. (1998).
Learning About Language Assessment. Albany: Heinle & Heinle

2. Testing
Test: a method of measuring a person’s ability or knowledge in a given domain, with an emphasis on the concepts of METHOD and MEASURING.
Tests: instruments carefully designed with identifiable scoring rubrics.
Used periodically when Ss can offer peak performance

3. Assessment Ongoing process that encompasses a wider domain.
Tests are subsets of assessment

4. Does ALL teaching involve assessment?

5. Informal assessment Teacher’s observation – constant
Embedded in classroom tasks
Not intended to provide recorded results

6. Formal Assessment Exercises, procedures to check skills and knowledge
Based on learning objectives

7. Principles of Language Assessment
PRACTICALITY
RELIABILITY
VALIDITY
AUTHENTICITY
WASHBACK

8. Practicality A PRACTICAL test:
within financial limitations,
time constraints,
ease of administration, scoring and interpretation.
Norm-referenced vs Criterion-referenced tests

9. Norm-referenced tests
Purpose: to place the taker in a rank order
Mean, median, standard deviation, percentile rank…
Predetermined responses
Practicality is of utmost importance

10. Criterion-referenced Tests
Designed to give Ss feedback on specific course or lesson objectives.
Connected to curriculum
T’s time and effort to give feedback
Practicality is secondary

11. Reliability Consistent and dependable Sources:
The test itself (test reliability)
Its administration
The test-taker (Student-related reliability)
The scoring (rater reliability)

12. Validity
The degree to which the test actually measures what it is intended to measure.
Content validity
Face validity
Construct validity

13. Content validity
If test actually samples subject matter

14. Face validity
“Does the test, on the face of it, appear from the learner’s perspective to test what it is designed to test?”

15. Construct validity
Does the test actually tap into the theoretical CONSTRUCT as it has been defined?
Construct: proficiency, communicative competence.

16. Authenticity
The degree of correspondence, of the characteristics of a given language test to the features of a target language task.
Real-world tasks
Language is natural
It’s contextualized
Interesting topics
Thematically organized

17. Washback Feedback provided based on Ss’ performance
Diagnoses of strengths and weaknesses
Effects of assessment on teaching and learning
Washback enhanced by comments
Praise strengths
Give constructive criticism of weaknesses
Give strategic hints on how to improve
Strategies BEFORE and AFTER giving a test

18. Principles of Language Assessment
PRACTICALITY
RELIABILITY
VALIDITY
AUTHENTICITY
WASHBACK

19. Kinds of Tests Proficiency Tests Diagnostic Tests Placement
Achievement
Aptitude

20. Techniques and Procedures
Scoring
Open-ended to structured
Design formats
Written to oral performance modes

21. The Role of Background Knowledge in the Assessment of Receptive Skills
Listening comprehension task

22. Fill-in, Cloze, C-tests
The cat ate the ____________.

23. Skills involved Syntagmatic competence: syntax
Paradigmatic competence: semantics

24. “Fill-in” Items 1. A fill-in item typically consists of one ______.
2. Syntagmatic competence involves rules of _______ order.
3. Paradigmatic competence involves _______ sets.
Criticism: discrete-point approach.
One and only one possible answer (good or bad?)

25. 1. A fill-in item typically consists of one BLANK.
2. Syntagmatic competence involves rules of WORD order.
3. Paradigmatic competence involves SEMANTIC sets.

26. 1. A fill-in item typically consists of one SENTENCE.
2. Syntagmatic competence involves rules of SYNTACTIC order.
3. Paradigmatic competence involves LEXICAL sets.

27. CLOZE TESTS
Cloze tests consist of texts of at least one paragraph in length (usually longer). The first sentence is left intact, BUT thereafter every “nth” word is systematically REMOVED / DELETED (every fifth, seventh, or ninth word), SO / AND the students’ task is to write AN / THE appropriate and grammatical word in each BLANK. The ability to do so depends ON the learners’ syntagmatic competence and paradigmatic COMPETENCE. as well as their discourse competence. THERE are usually thirty to fifty blanks IN each cloze passage.
Although originally devised AS a test of first language reading COMPETENCE / SKILLS / ABILITY the cloze test is thought to ASSESS the general proficiency (in the written FORM / MODES) of second language learners. The two MOST common scoring procedures are the “exact WORD method” and the “acceptable word method.” ALTHOUGH the latter is more generous to STUDENTS / LEARNERS (it yields higher scores), the two SCORING systems yield similar rankings among the RESULTS / SCORES of the test-takers.

28. Authentic Assessment
Alternative assessment consists of any method of finding out what a student knows or can do that is intended to show growth and inform instruction, and is an alternative to traditional forms of testing, namely, multiple-choice tests (Stiggins 1991).
Alternative assessment is by definition criterion-referenced and is typically authentic because it is based on activities that represent classroom and real-life settings (Bailey 1998)

29. Contrasting Traditional and “Alternative” Assessment
One-shot tests
…………………
Continuous, longitudinal assessment
Indirect tests
Direct tests
Inauthentic tests
Authentic assessment
Individual projects
Group projects
No feedback provided to learners
Feedback provided to learners
Speeded exams
Untimed exams
Decontextualized test tasks
Contextualized test tasks
Norm-referenced score interpretation
Criterion-referenced score interpretation
Standardized tests
Classroom-based tests

30. Internationally used standardized tests National standardized tests
An Example Continuum of Standardized Assessment to Individualized Assessment
Internationally used standardized tests
National standardized tests
Statewide or provincial standardized tests
Schoolwide tests
Programwide tests
Classroom-based tests
Individualized assessment

31. Portfolio Assessment
A portfolio is a purposeful collection of student work that exhibits the S’s efforts, progress, and achievements in one or more areas.
The collection must include student participation in selecting contents, the criteria for judging merit, and evidence of student self-reflection

32. Direct vs. Indirect Tests Discrete-Point vs. Integrative Objective vs
Direct vs. Indirect Tests Discrete-Point vs. Integrative Objective vs. Subjective Scoring