1. Richard West February 2012

2. GENERAL LANGUAGE TESTS  Content is general/social  Population is large/wide  Objectives are derived from the syllabus/textbook  Backward looking – testing what has been taught  Focus is often on usage/grammar  Tasks are not authentic  Results are often norm-referenced EAP/ESP TESTS?

3.  Utility: gives information to - students about their progress - teachers about the success of the course - institution about the success of the course - employers/other HEIs about proficiency  Motivating  Quality assurance

5.  International + internationally-recognised  Two versions – Academic & General Training  Tests all 4 skills  No separate test of grammar, vocabulary, etc  Tests academic language skills - `authentic’  Criterion-referenced (9 bands)  Scoring is criteria-based:

7.  ADVANTAGES - recognised internationally - acknowledged quality - motivating for students - good model of an EAP test: 4 skills, banding, criteria  DISADVANTAGES - expensive - certificates valid for only 2 years - broad EGAP

8. Very few available:  Business English, e.g. BEC  Legal English – ILEC  Financial English - ICFE

9.  PLACEMENT TESTING - commercial placement test, e.g. OPT - self-placement using the CEFR global scales  DIAGNOSTIC TESTING - few diagnostic tests available commercially - self-diagnosis/profiling using CEFR sub- scales

10.  PROGRESS TESTS - narrow focus: letter-writing, presentations, etc - self-assessment using the CEFR or ELP  ACHIEVEMENT/ATTAINMENT TESTS - large-scale tests - testing all skills - sampling whole syllabus

11. How can we develop parallel, narrow versions of a test for different fields?  Validity?  Practicality?  Comparability?

12.  Write a set of instructions for a piece of equipment or a process that is used in your academic field or profession. [500 words]  Students then apply their specialist knowledge & experience to the task.

13.  GENERIC TEST ITEM 500-word report for profession based on analysis of a graph and a prediction. - Candidate is given a graph showing a trend. - Candidate explains the graph and describes the trend. - Candidate makes predictions based on graph. `Study the graph above. Write a report of 500 words for your boss. Describe and analyse the situation and suggest possibilities.’

15.  SPECIFICATIONS - same skill - same genre - same instructions + input - same time - same length  MARKING - same marking scale - same marking criteria  ASSESSOR TRAINING & STANDARDISATION

16. west46@btinternet.com