ASSESSMENT IN LANGUAGE

TEACHING
Features of Language Skills Testing

DPET5103
TESL METHODOLOGY
OUTLINE

Specifying Specifying
Types of test constituents performance
of a bands
language test
 FEATURES OF LANGUAGE SKILLS
TESTING
1. Types of tests
DISCRETE FEATURE TESTS
• Test candidates’ mastery over
different subskills which are
considered an integral part of the
skill being tested
• e.g.
• Testing listening – the ability of
candidates to discriminate between
different sounds
Most tests and examinations have a combination of discrete feature and task-based tests.
TASK-BASED TESTS
• Test candidates’ ability to perform
certain tasks that are considered
appropriate for the candidates’
level
• e.g.
• A beginner- write a brief message
• An advanced learner – write a
summary
2. Specifying constituents of a
language test

i)
ii)
Types of Operations
text

iii) iv)
Degree of Formats
skill
i) Types of text

Every language test Consult the objectives

involves text of the course and
production or text what kind of text
comprehension types are spelt out in
the syllabus

Texts have to be spelt out in terms

of genre and topics.
e.g. To follow the sequence of
events in a story about friendship
ii) Operations
Receptive skills
- Involve saying what they
What the candidate has to have to do with the listening
be able to do or reading input
-e.g. Scan a text to obtain
the gist

Productive skills
- Involve saying what they
need to be able to do in the
texts they produce
-e.g. Give directions to a
place
 iii) Degree of skills
Establish suitable criteria for stating the level of skill expected of a candidate who wants to
pass the test.

LISTENING & READING WRITING & SPEAKING

Size Size
Complexity of text Accuracy
Range Range
Complexity of task Appropriacy
Level of sophistication
Effectiveness
READING OR LISTENING
CRITERIA EXPLANATION

Size The length of the reading or listening input the candidate

will have to process
Complexity of text How difficult the language and content of the input would
be
Range The range of text types and comprehension skills the
candidate can successfully handle
Complexity of task How sophisticated the comprehension skills and strategies
the candidate will have to use in doing the tasks set
 SPEAKING OR WRITING
CRITERIA EXPLANATION

Size The amount of talk or length of writing required

Accuracy Grammatical accuracy of the candidate’s speech or

writing
Range The range of sentence structures, idioms and vocabulary
the candidate’s speech or writing contains
Appropriacy How well the candidate is able to fit his language to
specific contexts
Level of sophistication Style, complexity of argument, organization

Effectiveness How successful the candidate was in getting his message

across
iv) Formats
Skill Objective tests Open-ended tests
Listening True/false Summary
Short answer Note-taking
MCQ Open-ended questions
Information transfer
Rearranging pictures
Gap-filling

Speaking Aural discrimination Describing pictures

Making oral responses to different cues Group discussion
Supplying missing elements in conversation Interviews
Information-gap activities
 Skill Objective tests Open-ended tests
Reading MCQ Summary writing
True-false Open-ended questions
Information transfer Note-taking
Rearranging sentences Writing reviews or book
Cloze reports
Writing Sentence combining Guided writing: expanding
Error recognition notes, describing pictures
Error correction etc.
Rearranging sentences Free writing: compositions,
Gap-filling letter-writing etc.
3. Specifying performance bands
Guidelines for arriving at a rating
scale
Describe what a candidate needs to pass minimally on your test. Use the categories
that degree of skill was broken down into to help you do this.
This would be your GRADE C

Describe what features the performance of an excellent candidate at this level would
have
This would be your GRADE A

Describe what features the performance of a candidate who just fails would posses
This would be your GRADE D
Now you have three anchor points. Describe a level between excellent and just
pass (competent user)
This would be your GRADE B

You can now fix the lowest grade by describing the features that you expect in
a very poor candidate
This would be your GRADE E

If marks need to be allotted for each grade, you can work out your marking
scheme in this way:
 Example

Work out what In deciding on what

mark you will give a
range of marks you candidate within the
have to allot to each range of marks
grade for the allotted to each
Consult your school writing section by grade, you have to
grading scheme. working out of 20 use your discretion.
Say you have A – 80-100 would give you 80% If a candidate barely
allotted 20% as (A), 60% (B) and so deserves the grade
B – 60-79 you are allotting him,
the full marks for on. then he gets the
writing section. C – 50-59
lowest mark on the
D – 40-49 20 x 80 = 16 grade range.
E – 0-39 100 In the same way, the
candidate who barely
So, the range mark missed getting an A,
for A is 16-20. would be given 15,
since 15 is the highest
mark for B.
 Example of scoring rubrics
TUTORIAL QUESTIONS
 State two types of tests. Explain each test with
examples.
 Explain the guidelines for arriving at a rating scale.