1. TESTING AND LANGUAGE TEACHING

2. Why should we test? What can we test? How can we test?

3. WHY SHOULD WE TEST? (Backwash Effect) A) Benefits for the Students
B) Benefits for the Teacher

4. BENEFITS FOR THE TEACHER (Backwash effect )
- Teachers see how well they have reached their goals and objectives.
- Tests help the teacher construct new goals and objectives for the next year.
- They can define their rotes for the next step.
- They can collect ideas about the instruction material for the next year.
- Good tests can enhance class motivation and aid learning.

5. BENEFITS FOR THE STUDENT

6. BACKWASH EFFECT:
The Effect of Tests on
Teaching and Learning

7. BUT !!! This effect could either be (+) or (-)

8. IF YOU WANT POSITIVE EFFECTS
1) Test the abilities that you want your students to improve
2) Your tests must fit course objectives, aims, and content.
3) Make your students familiar with the test item type you’re going to use in your test.
4) Get feedback from your sts about your tests.
5) Adjust the difficulty level of your tests.
Too difficult = Frustration Too easy = Lack of challenge

9. WHAT CAN WE TEST ?

10. WE CAN TEST LANGUAGE AREAS
Vocabulary
Grammar
Pronunciation

11. WE CAN TEST LANGUAGE SKILLS
Reading
Listening
Speaking
Writing

12. YOU CAN USE THE SAME SKILL
HOW CAN WE TEST?
YOU CAN USE THE SAME SKILL
E.g. To test Writing, use writing To test speaking, use speaking.
…etc

13. LEARN NEW TEST ITEM TYPES

14. MULTIPLE CHOICE

15. MULTIPLE CHOICE HAS BOTH
ADVANTAGES
AND
DISADVANTAGES

16. ADVANTAGES OF MULTIPLE CHOICE
1) Easy and Timesaving for the teacher to check and grade if s/he has large number of students.
3) Good for testing receptive skills (Reading and listening) and the language areas Grammar and Vocabulary.
2) Easy for the students to answer (They just tick or mark the correct alternative).
3) High rate of objectivity. (The same grade for every one)

17. DISADVANTAGES OF MULTIPLE CHOICE
1) Limited to test productive skills. (Speaking, Writing)
2) Easy to cheat during the administration of the test. (You may group sts to prevent cheating).

18. KINDS OF TEST AND TESTING

19. CONTRASTING CATAGORIES OF ESL / EFL TEST
Knowledge Tests
vs.
Performance Tests
Subjective Tests
Objective Tests
Productive Tests
Receptive Tests
Language Subskill Tests
Communication Skills Tests
Norm-referenced Tests (Students are compared to each other )
Criterion-referenced Tests (Students are rated against certain standards)
Discrete-point Tests
Integrative tests
Proficiency Tests
(Measures overall mastery of Language)
Achievement Tests (These tests measure sts’ progress in a certain program)

20. DIAGNOSTIC TESTS

21. DIAGNOSTIC TESTING:
Students’
weaknesses ???
strengths ?????

22. PLACEMENT TESTS

23. PLACEMENT TESTS
Placement tests are used to place students in the appropriate level of language classes.
This is necessary to create homogeneous classes

24. DIRECT TESTING VS. INDIRECT TESTING

25. DIRECT TESTING

26. DIRECT TESTING
We test the skill which we want our sts to perform.
E.g. To test their pronunciation, we get them to speak.

27. INDIRECT TESTING

28. INDIRECT TESTING attempts to measure
the abilities which underlie the skills in
which we are interested in.
Sometimes, the teacher uses dialogue completion to test students’ speaking. The skill used in the test is writing but the aim is to test speaking.
KPDS uses indirect testing for speaking.
Remember any test items???? (Which alternative best fits the blank in the dialogue