ENGLISH LANGUAGE TESTING AND

ASSESSMENT
 The Wh- Questions of Classroom Testing

The word “testing” sometimes frightens teachers

because it suggests statistics and rigor.

Test also frightens students because they are fearful of

the unknown. They are also fearful about the
consequences-the fear of being “put to the test”, of
being “exposed”, and possibly of failure.
 The Wh- Questions of Classroom Testing

The question is, “How does a teacher set realistic goals

for tests and quizzes in general and for specific items in
particular?”

If teachers can set such goals and then make these
explicit to students, this should help to allay students’
fears about taking the test.
 The Wh- Questions of Classroom Testing

 One reason for testing is to promote “meaningful”

involvement of students with the material that is central
to the teaching objectives of a course.

Ideally, the goals of the test reflect the goals of the

course, which are known to the students.
 The Wh- Questions of Classroom Testing

The goals of tests or of test items should be clear to

students so that they need not spend time second-
guessing the teacher.

If the students spend their time searching for a hidden

agenda, they are distracted from the task at hand.
 The Wh- Questions of Classroom Testing

Although students often complain about having to take

tests, they actually benefit from them in more ways than
one.

First, quizzes motivate students to pay closer attention

to the material, particularly if the teacher announces at
the outset that there will be a quiz on the material about
to be presented (Krypsin and Feldhusen 1974).
 The Wh- Questions of Classroom Testing

In a nutshell, preparation for a test stimulates thought

about the material.

While the test is in progress, students have an

opportunity to see how well they are able to perform.
This in itself is feedback, although it may well be that
students think they are doing fine, whereas the actual
scores turn to be quite low.
 The Wh- Questions of Classroom Testing

When the test has been scored and evaluated by the

teacher, students have feedback concerning how well
they did on what the test tested.

Ideally, they learn something about their areas of

strengths and about the areas where they are weak and
could stand to review (Rivers 1968).
 The Wh- Questions of Classroom Testing

 Tests and quizzes can also benefit teachers in several ways. The
design and construction of a quiz or test acts as an incentive to a
teacher to determine the goals of instruction:

 Subject matter (e.g., pronunciation, grammar, vocabulary)

 Skill (receptive-listening and reading; productive-speaking and writing)
 Desired level of achievement that the class as a while and students individually
are expected to attain.
 The Wh- Questions of Classroom Testing

When the results are in, the teacher can see how well the
students did on the material tested and check for any
discrepancies between expectations and actual
performance.

This information may suggest how well the students are

learning or have mastered the material, how well the
teacher has put across the material, or just how well the
item was written.
 When to Test?

• Ideally, teachers should at all times be aware of how much learning

is going on and the effects of what is taught on what is learned.

• Thus, teachers test whenever they want to know what is being

learned. For this reason, quizzes might be given during every class
session or at least once every week or two.

• Test on the other hand, are often reserved for major periods, such
as halfway through the semester and at the end of the course.
 When to Test?

The current focus on the second language learner has

brought attention to the fact that there is not a one-to-
one correspondence between what is taught and what is
learned in the language classroom.

Students ay not learn what is taught at all or may learn

it only partially or even incorrectly.
 When to Test?

Sometimes they learn incorrectly because they pay inadequate

attention or because they do not have the proper basis for
comprehending the material- a basis gained from coming to class
regularly, doing the homework, or whatever.

Sometimes it is poorly written textbooks or teacher presentations

themselves that induce what have been termed “cross-
association” errors (George 1972).
 When to Test?

Such errors result when a teacher or a textbook presents two

words or constructions too closely together and/or not thoroughly
enough.

The learner has not learned the formal and functional

characteristics of the first form well enough to distinguish it
correctly from the second form. “Mutual interference results”.
 When to Test?

It is suggested that such errors may result from one of the following”
1. The teacher’s allowing too short a time between the presentation of
one item and another.
2. The teacher’s not assuring that the students are familiar enough with
the first item when the second is introduced.
3. The teacher’s switching the order of presentation of the item in
review.
4. A degree of homophony between the items.
5. The teacher’s use of a common presentation situation that does not
highlight adequately the difference between the items.
 When to Test?

Other researchers have also called attention to “teacher-induced”

errors, especially errors resulting from a teacher’s incomplete
presentation of some material (Stenson 1974).

Since language learners are continually formulating and

reformulating hypotheses about the way language works, they also
need some feedback as to whether what they are doing is correct
or not.
 When to Test?

It has even been suggested that a learner really cannot

learn in class without knowing when an error is made
(Allwright 1975).

Given, then, that learners do not necessarily learn what

is taught and that they may learn what the teacher did
not intend to teach, checks on the learning process
through testing should take place frequently.