Language and Literature Assessment

1. TEST TECHNIQUES
Prepared by: Mitschek, Ariane B.
BSE-ENG3A

2. 1. Direct vs. Indirect Testing
TWO APPROACHES TO TEST CONSTRUCTION
• Direct Testing – requires the candidate to
perform precisely the skill that the test
wishes to measure.
Example:
objective: how well candidates pronounce a
language
direct testing method: get them to speak

3. Direct testing has a number of attractions:
1. It is relatively straightforward to create the
conditions which will elicit the behavior on
which judgment will be based.
2. At least in the case of productive skills, the
assessment and interpretation of students’
performance are also quite straightforward.
3. Since practice for the test involves practice
of the skills to foster, there is likely to be a
helpful backwash effect.

4. • Indirect Testing - attempts to measure the
abilities that underlie the skills in which the
test is interested.
Example:
Grammatical knowledge contributes to
writing ability, then a grammar test may be
used as an indirect test of writing.

5. Additional examples:
• underlined items which the student needs to
identify as erroneous or inappropriate in
formal standard English
• a paper and pencil test in which the student
has to identify pairs of words which rhyme
with each other (Lado, 1961)

6. • Semi-direct tests - these tests are semi-
direct in the sense that, although not direct,
they simulate direct testing.
Example:
Candidates respond to tape-recorded
stimuli, with their own responses being
recorded and later scored.

7. 2. Discrete Point vs. Integrative Testing
• Discrete Point - refers to the testing of one
element at a time, item by item.
Example:
One-point objective: Testing for the meaning
of a word in isolation.

8. Choose the correct meaning of the word
paralysis.
A. Inability to move
B. State of unconscious
C. State of shock
D. Being in pain

9. • Integrative Testing - requires the candidate
to combine many language elements in the
completion of a task.
Examples:
• writing a composition
• making notes while listening to a lecture
• taking a dictation
• completing a cloze passage.

10. • Integrative test - refers to an integrative item
that would test more than one point of
objective at a time.
Example:
Instruction:
Demonstrate your comprehension of the
following words by using them together in a
written paragraph: "paralysis," "accident,"
and "football."

11. 3. Norm-referenced vs. Criterion-
referenced Testing
TWO BASIC TYPES OF LANGUAGE TEST
• Norm-referenced testing - students' scores
are interpreted relative to each other in a
normal distribution scheme (bell curve).
• Criterion-referenced Testing – measures
student ability against a predetermined
standard.

12. 4. Objective vs. Subjective Testing
• Objective Test – there is only one right
answer .
• Subjective Test - the scorer is not looking
for only one right answer, but rather for a
series of factors.

13. THANK YOU