Republic of the Philippines

Davao Oriental State College of Science and Technology

INSTITUTE OF EDUCATION AND TEACHER TRAINING
Guang-guang, Dahican, City of Mati, Davao Oriental, 8200

Name: Hannah Kerby C. Madanguit Course/Year: BSEDE-IV

Subject: Eng150 – Language and Literature Assessment Date: August 27, 2019

WRITTEN REPORT
ASSESSMENT
- refers to the wide variety of methods or tools that educators use to evaluate, measure, and
document the academic readiness, learning progress, skill acquisition, or educational needs of
students.
- is the systematic process of documenting and using empirical data to measure knowledge,
skills, attitudes and beliefs. By taking the assessment, teachers try to improve the student's
path towards learning.

PRINCIPLES OF LANGUAGE ASSESSMENT

A. Practicality
An effective test is practical. This means that it
 Is not excessively expensive,
 Stays within appropriate time constraints,
 Is relatively easy to administer, and
 Has a scoring/evaluation procedure that is specific and time-bounded.

A test that is prohibitively expensive is impractical. A test of language proficiency that takes a
student five hours to complete is impractical-it consumes more time and money than necessary to
accomplish its objective. A test that requires individual one-on-one proctoring is impractical for
a group of several hundred test-takers and only a handful of examiners. A test that takes a few
minutes for a student to take and several hours for an examiner to evaluate is impractical for
most classroom situations.

B. Reliability
A reliable test is consistent and dependable. If you give the same test to the same student or
matched students on two different occasions, the test should yield similar result. The issue of
reliability of a test may best be addressed by considering a number of factors that may contribute
to the unreliability of a test. Consider the following; variations in the student, in scoring, in test
administration, and in the test itself.
  Student-Related Reliability
He most common learner-related issue in reliability is caused by temporary illness, fatigue, a “bad
day,” anxiety, and other physical or psychological factors, which may make an “observed” score
deviate from one’s “true” score. Also included in this category are such factors as a test-taker’s
“test-wiseness” or strategies for efficient test taking.

 Rater Reliability
Human error, subjectivity, and bias may enter into the scoring process. Inter-rater reliability occurs
when two or more scores yield inconsistent score of the same test, possibly for lack of attention to
scoring criteria, inexperience, inattention, or even preconceived biases. In the story above about
the placement test, the initial scoring plan for the dictations was found to be unreliable-that is, the
two scorers were not applying the same standards.

 Test Administration Reliability

Unreliability may also result from the conditions in which the test is administered. I once witnessed
the administration of a test of aural comprehension in which a tape recorder played items for
comprehension, but because of street noise outside the building, students sitting next to windows
could not hear the tape accurately. This was a clear case of unreliability caused by the conditions
of the test administration. Other sources of unreliability are found in photocopying variations, the
amount of light in different parts of the room, variations in temperature, and even the condition of
desks and chairs.

 Test Reliability
Sometimes the nature of the test itself can cause measurement errors. If a test is too long, test-
takers may become fatigued by the time they reach the later items and hastily respond incorrectly.
Timed tests may discriminate against students who do not perform well on a test with a time limit.
We all know people (and you may be include in this category1) who “know” the course material
perfectly but who are adversely affected by the presence of a clock ticking away. Poorly written
test items (that are ambiguous or that have more than on correct answer) may be a further source
of test unreliability.

C. Validity
By far the most complex criterion of an effective test-and arguably the most important principle-
is validity, “the extent to which inferences made from assessment result are appropriate,
meaningful, and useful in terms of the purpose of the assessment” (Ground, 1998, p. 226). A valid
test of reading ability actually measures reading ability-not 20/20 vision, nor previous knowledge
in a subject, nor some other variable of questionable relevance. To measure writing ability, one
might ask students to write as many words as they can in 15 minutes, then simply count the words
for the final score. Such a test would be easy to administer (practical), and the scoring quite
dependable (reliable). But it would not constitute a valid test of writing ability without some
consideration of comprehensibility, rhetorical discourse elements, and the organization of ideas,
among other factors.

 Content-Relate Evidence
If a test actually samples the subject matter about which conclusion are to be drawn, and if it
requires the test-takers to perform the behavior that is being measured, it can claim content-related
evidence of validity, often popularly referred to as content validity (e.g., Mousavi, 2002; Hughes,
2003). You can usually identify content-related evidence observationally if you can clearly define
the achievement that you are measuring.

 Criterion-Related Evidence
A second of evidence of the validity of a test may be found in what is called criterion-related
evidence, also referred to as criterion-related validity, or the extent to which the “criterion” of the
test has actually been reached. You will recall that in Chapter I it was noted that most classroom-
based assessment with teacher-designed tests fits the concept of criterion-referenced assessment.
In such tests, specified classroom objectives are measured, and implied predetermined levels of
performance are expected to be reached (80 percent is considered a minimal passing grade).

 Construct-Related Evidence
A third kind of evidence that can support validity, but one that does not play as large a role
classroom teachers, is construct-related validity, commonly referred to as construct validity. A
construct is any theory, hypothesis, or model that attempts to explain observed phenomena in our
universe of perceptions. Constructs may or may not be directly or empirically measured-their
verification often requires inferential data.

 Consequential Validity
As well as the above three widely accepted forms of evidence that may be introduced to support
the validity of an assessment, two other categories may be of some interest and utility in your own
quest for validating classroom test. Messick (1989), Grounlund (1998), McNamara (2000), and
Brindley (2001), among others, underscore the potential importance of the consequences of using
an assessment. Consequential validity encompasses all the consequences of a test, including such
considerations as its accuracy in measuring intended criteria, its impact on the preparation of test-
takers, its effect on the learner, and the (intended and unintended) social consequences of a test’s
interpretation and use.
  Face Validity
An important facet of consequential validity is the extent to which “students view the assessment
as fair, relevant, and useful for improving learning” (Gronlund, 1998, p. 210), or what is popularly
known as face validity. “Face validity refers to the degree to which a test looks right, and appears
to measure the knowledge or abilities it claims to measure, based on the subjective judgment of
the examines who take it, the administrative personnel who decode on its use, and other
psychometrically unsophisticated observers” (Mousavi, 2002, p. 244).

D. Authenticity
Fourth major principle of language testing is authenticity, a concept that is a little slippery to
define, especially within the art and science of evaluating and designing tests. Bachman and
Palmer (1996, p. 23) define authenticity as “the degree of correspondence of the characteristics of
a given language test task to the features of a target language task,” and then suggest an agenda
for identifying those target language tasks and for transforming them into valid test items.

E. Washback
A facet of consequential validity, discussed above, is “the effect of testing on teaching and
learning” (Hughes, 2003, p. 1), otherwise known among language-testing specialists as washback.
In large-scale assessment, washback generally refers to the effects the test have on instruction in
terms of how students prepare for the test. “Cram” courses and “teaching to the test” are examples
of such washback. Another form of washback that occurs more in classroom assessment is the
information that “washes back” to students in the form of useful diagnoses of strengths and
weaknesses. Washback also includes the effects of an assessment on teaching and learning prior
to the assessment itself, that is, on preparation for the assessment.

NECESSITY OF ASSESSMENT

In creating a quality test, the teacher should consider the characteristics of good test.
- a good test should have a positive effect on learning, and teaching should result in improved
learning habits.
- Should enable the teacher to find out which part of the language program cause difficulty for
the class. This way the teacher can evaluate the effectiveness of the syllabus as well as the
methods and materials used in the lesson proper.
- Should motivate by measuring students’ performance without any way setting “traps” for
them.
- A well-developed language-test provide an opportunity for students to show their ability to
perform language tasks.
- Constructed with a goal of having students to learn from their weaknesses. If this is followed
a good test can be used as a valuable teaching tool.

MAJOR SKILL AREAS AND KEY CONCEPTS

K-12 Curriculum of the Philippine Education System

- Speaking
- Listening
- Reading
- Writing
- Viewing

Key Concepts:

Assessment – the act of gathering information in order to understand the individuals learning and
needs. In the context of language teaching and learning, it refers to the act of collecting
information and making judgment about the learners’ knowledge of language and ability to use
it.
Testing – refers to the procedures that are based on tests. In learning it is a salient part of
assessment.
Measurement – broadly includes testing and other types of measurement, as well as other types
of information that result in quantitative data such as attendance, records, questionnaires, teacher
ratings of students, etc.
Evaluation – refers to the culminating act of interpreting the gathered information for the purpose
of making judgment about student’s learning and needs. It forms as part of assessment.
Construct – the skill or proficiency an assessment is intended to measure.
ELL – English Language Learner
Response – any kind of performance to be evaluated as part of an assessment, including multiple-
choice answer, short answers, extended answers, essays, presentations, demonstrations, or
portfolios.
Rubric – a scoring criteria, scoring guide, rating scale and descriptors.
Task – a specific test item, topic, problem, question, prompt, of assignment.
 ASSESSMENT AND EVALUATION PRINCIPLES

1. Are essential components of the teaching and learning process.

2. Variety of assessment and evaluation techniques should be used.
3. Teachers should communicate assessment and evaluation strategies and plan in advance,
informing the students of the objectives and assessment procedures.
4. Should be fair and equitable.
5. Should help the students. They should provide positive feedback and encourage students to
participate actively to their own assessment in order to foster a lifelong learning and enable
them to transfer knowledge and abilities to their life experiences.
6. Data results should be communicated to students, parents/guardians regularly in meaningful
ways.
7. Should use variety of techniques and tools.

PURPOSES OF LANGUAGE ASSESSMENT

Assessment for Learning

Focuses on the gap between where the leaner in his learning, and where he needs to be in
the desired goal. This can be achieved through process such as sharing criteria with learners,
effective questioning and feedback.

Assessment as Learning
It is about reflecting the evidence of learning. This is part of the cycle of assessment where
students and staff set the learning goals, share learning intentions, and success criteria. Evaluate
learning through dialogue, self and peer assessment.

- S

References:

http://blogrizkirmd.blogspot.com/2014/01/principles-of-language-assessment.html

https://marbeil005.wordpress.com/2015/06/08/principle-of-language-assessment/

https://www.slideshare.net/josephestroga/language-and-literature-assessment