Self-check: Assessment and testing 2021

Before the test make sure you know and can do the following:
1. I can provide different reasons for testing students (handout)

1. give the teacher information about where the students are at the moment,
to help decide what to teach next;
2. give the students information about what they know, so that they also have
an awareness of what they need to learn or review;
3. assess for some purpose external to current teaching (a final grade for the
course, selection);
4. motivate students to learn or review specific material;
5. get a noisy class to keep quiet and concentrate;
6. provide a clear indication that the class has reached a ‘station’ in learning,
such as the end of a unit, thus contributing to a sense of structure in the
course as a whole;
7. get students to make an effort (in doing the test itself), which is likely to
lead to better results and a feeling of satisfaction;
8. give students tasks which themselves may actually provide useful review or
practice, as well as testing;
9. provide students with a sense of achievement and progress in their learning.

2. I know the difference between formal and informal assessment. (handout)

 Informal assessment is when we observe learners to see how well they are doing
something and then often give them comments on their performance
 Formal assessment is when we assess learners through tests or exams and give their
work a mark or grade

3. I know different types of tests and can describe them (handout)

 Diagnostic test - at the beginning of a course to find out what students know and
don't know. The information for this type of test helps us decide what to teach and
which learners need help in which areas of lang.
 Placement test - when school wants to know what level the learners are at. We use
the information from it to decide what level of class the learners should go into.
 Progress test - after we have finished teaching a part of a course, to find out how
well learners have learnt it. We use information from the test to decide if we need
to do more work on this are of the syllabus or not, and perhaps give learners
feedback on their strengths and difficulties in this area.
 Continuous assessment - assessing learners' progress in a term through pieces of
work given throughout the term.
 Portfolio - collection of learners' work done during the course, which the learner
puts together during or at the end a course and then presents to the teacher.
Portfolios let learners produce work on an area just after it has been taught. Putting
the portfolio together can also be an opportunity for the learner to revise and
improve their work.
 Achievement/summative test - at the end of a term or course, to see how well they
have learnt the contents of the whole course. Learners receive a score or mark from
it.
  Proficiency test - to see how good learners are at language. The contents of the test
are not based on a course or syllabus that the learner has followed. The test
measurers the learner's general skill or ability in the language as a while or a use of
it.

4. I know advantages and disadvantages of different test types. (handout)

 5. I know the qualities of a good test (handout)

Validity. Check that your items really do test what they are meant to!
Clarity. Make sure the instructions for each item are clear. They should usually
include a sample item and solution.
`Do-ability'. The test should be quite do-able: not too difficult, with no trick
questions. Ask other participants to read through it and answer the
questions before ®nalizing.
Marking. Decide exactly how you will assess each section of the test, and
how much weighting (percentage of the total grade) you will give it. Make
the marking system as simple as you can, and inform the testers what it is:
write in the number of points allotted after the instructions for each
question.
Interest. Try to go for interesting content and tasks, in order to make the test
more motivating for the learners.
Heterogeneity. The test should be such that lower-level students can feel
that they are able to do a substantial part of the test, while the higher-level
ones have a chance to show what they know. So include both easy and
difficult items, and make one or more of the difficult ones optional.

6. I understand the notions of reliability and validity and I know what it means for
a test to be valid or/and reliable (handout)

 reliability – external conditions: enough time, no cheating, no noises, clear criteria

 validity – measures what it is supposed to measure; material is taught beforehand

7. I know different testing techniques and can evaluate them (moodle copy pdf)
8. I can present different testing techniques for different language skills and forms
(moodle copy pdf)
9. I can evaluate different test formats and list their pros and cons (moodle copy
pdf)
Reading and listening:
 10. I can design a test for a particular language form or skill.

All the info is based on the materials covered in class & moodle + the relevant chapters from
the following books:
TKT – Teacher Knowledge Test
Scrivener Learning teaching
Harmer Essential Teacher Knowledge
Ur A Course in language teaching