Teaching English as a Foreign Language (second edition)

Chapter 10:
Assessment and examinations
Sebastián Salas & Patricio Yévenes
ELT-422/1 Juan Carlos Cárdenas
 Introduction
Assessment is essential to education.

Nonetheless, it is a very extense term.

This chapter talks about the examination inside assessment.

The types of assessment, examinations, tests and their meaning.

 Examination
Refers to a formal kind of assessment.

This is the type of assessment where students are isolated from one
another and work through one or more hours in a piece of paper.

Traditional paper-pencil assessment.

 Test
3 different meanings:

1. Refers to a specifically prepared measurement instrument.

2. A quick activity carried out in the classroom.

3. An item within a test can be also a test,

or called question in a larger examination.
 Subjective and Objective
testing
• Marked by human beings • Marked almost entirely mechanically

• Answer is a complete sentence • Answers recorded non-linguistically

• Multiple-choice format or a blank-

filling

The creation and setting of both kinds is ultimately subjective

 Types of test
Dictation Cloze

Requires the co-ordination of the
functioning of a substantial number of
different linguistic systems spoken and
written.
Consists of a text from which every nth
word has been deleted.
The task is to replace the deleted words.

Strings of noises
Linguistic patterns
 4 kinds of assessment
1. Aptitude

2. Proficiency

3. Achievement

4. Diagnostic

A learner may have an aptitude for English language learning; if he does he may quickly attain
sufficient proficiency in English for him to be able to study mathematics; this means he has
achieved a satisfactory standard, but a test may diagnose certain faults in his English or in the
teaching he has received.
 Conclusion
‘Knowing a language’ may require the use of elaborate equipment or
individualised methods and a proper balance must be struck.

Avoid too much assessment.

Resist pressures which might make examinations dominate teaching.

Thanks for your attention