KINDS OF

TEST
AND
TESTING
1. Proficiency Test

 To measure people’s general ability

in a language regardless of any
language courses/trainings that the
candidates may have followed in the
language.
 Examples?
2. Achievement Test

 To measure how far/successful

individual students, groups of students,
or the courses themselves have been
in achieving the objectives of a
lesson/course/ program.
 Two kinds of achievement test:
formative (check progress of learning)
and summative (end of program
check)
3. Diagnostic Test

 To identify or diagnose students’

strengths and weaknesses: to
identify what they know and what
they don’t.
 To benefit future instruction
4. Placement Test

 To assist placement of students by

identifying the stage or part of a
teaching program most appropriate
to their abilities. OR
 To assign students to
classes/programs appropriate to
their level of proficiency.
5. Aptitude Test

To predict someone’s future success

in learning a foreign language ; it is
taken before actual learning begins.
6. Admission Test

To provide information about whether

a candidate is likely to succeed
7. Language Dominance Test

To assess bilingual learners’ relative

strength of the two languages.
Direct Testing

Testing is said to be direct when it

requires the testee to perform
precisely the skill we wish to
measure.
Direct testing is easier to carry out
when it is intended to measure the
productive skills of speaking and
writing.
Indirect testing

Testing is said to be indirect when it

attempts to measure the abilities
which underlie the skills in which we
are interested to measure.
Example: A writing test that requires
students to identify grammatical
errors found in sentences.
Discrete point test

This test attempts to focus on

measuring one of the language
components/elements at a time, item
by item.
It tends to be indirect.
Assumption: language can be broken
down into separate elements.
Integrative test

This test attempts to measure not

only the learner’s knowledge of the
language components/elements but
also the learner’s ability to use two or
more language skills simultaneously
in a context.
It tends to be direct, e.g.: composition,
dictation, cloze tests, note taking
Norm-referenced testing

To show how one individual’s

performance is compared with that
of other individuals: How is the
individual student’s performance
compared with that of other
students.
Criterion-referenced testing

This test classifies students

according to whether or not they are
able to perform some tasks or set of
tasks satisfactorily.
Whether or not the students have
met the established standards.
Objective testing

Method of scoring in which there is

no judgement is required on the part
of the scorer.
Examples?
Subjective testing

Method of scoring in which judgement

is called for on the part of the scorer.
Examples?
Five Criteria to Classify Testing and Tests
1. Purposes/ proficiency, achievement,
Content diagnostic, placement

2. Types/ multiple choice,

Techniques completion, matching, T -
F, etc.
3. Scoring objective vs. subjective
4. Interpretation of norm-referenced vs.
scores criterion-referenced
5. Approach discrete point vs.
integrative
Computer Adaptive Testing (CAT)

It saves time and efforts.

It starts with average level of difficulty,
then lower or increase levels of difficulty
according to test taker’s performance.
It needs a bank of test items graded by
difficulty.
Communicative Language Testing

A test is said to be communicative when

it can mirror real-world tasks that
language learners are called upon to
perform.
Many test tasks tend to be artificial,
contrived, and unlikely to mirror
language use in real life situation.
Performance-Based Assessment

It involves oral production, written

production, open-ended responses,
integrated performance, group
performance, and other interactive
tasks.
It is time consuming and expensive.
It is more direct testing because
students are assessed as they perform
actual or simulated real-world tasks.