1. 1 An Introduction to Language Testing Fundamentals of Language Testing Fundamentals of Language Testing Dr Abbas Mousavi American Public University

2. 2 What is Language Testing?  A discipline in applied linguistics  Determining the growth or achievement by which the success of a student can be evaluated  A way of quantifying an unobservable ability.  A measure of usefulness of a particular teaching methodology, curriculum, approach, etc.

3. 3 Types of Assessment Assessment Formative: An approach to assessment which provides immediate and ongoing feedback to the students’ progress “during” a course of study (e.g., frequent quizzes) Summative: An approach to assessment which delays the measurement of a skill and provides feedback “at the end of” a course or unit of instruction (e.g., final exams)

4. 4 Purposes of Tests PAST FUTURE

5. 5 Achievement vs Proficiency Tests Tests Achievement: A test that measures how much of a language someone has learnt with reference to a particular course of study or program of instruction. The content of this test is based on a course or program. Proficiency: A test that measures how much of a language someone has learnt irrespective of where, when, how, and under what conditions language learning has taken place. The content is general and is not based on any course or program.

6. 6 Marking/Scoring Tests Scoring Criterion-referenced: Marking or interpreting an examinee’s test with reference to a well-defined criterion level of ability. The test taker(s) must reach this level of performance to pass the test. Norm-referenced: Marking or interpreting an examinee’s test with reference to the performance of other candidates who took the same test.

7. 7 Fundamental Qualities of a Good Test Reliability Validity Practicality

8. 8  Number of tests to be produced  Length of test in time  Cost of test  Cost of training  Cost of monitoring  Difficulty in piloting / pre-testing  Ease of interpreting / analysing the results  Time to report results Practicality: The practical (financial, logistic) considerations of a test. In designing a test, the following factors are in order:

9. 9 Reliability Reliability: A quality of test scores which refers to the consistency of measures across different times, test forms, raters, and other characteristics of the measurement context. Reliability addresses the following questions:  If I take the test again tomorrow, will I get the same result?  If I take a different version of the test, will I get the same result?  If the test had had different items, would I have got the same result?  Do all markers agree on the mark I got?  If a marker marks my test again tomorrow, will I get the same result?

10. 10 Validity Validity: the appropriateness of a given test or any of its component parts as a measure of what it is purported to measure. A test is said to be valid to the extent that it measures what it is supposed to measure. It follows that the term valid when used to describe a test should usually be accompanied by the preposition for. Any test may then be valid for some purposes, but not for others. A test should be able to defend its name. Hence, a “reading comprehension test” should measure “reading comprehension” ability.

11. 11 Relationship between Reliability & Validity A B C Reliable but Invalid Both Reliable and Valid Neither Reliable nor Valid A test cannot be valid unless it is reliable (C). A test can be reliable without being valid (B). Reliability is a prerequisite for validity (C). If a test is valid, it is to some extent reliable (C). If a test is neither valid nor reliable, it is irrelevant (A). A test that is not reliable cannot, by definition, be valid (A). Conclusion