Week_5
Designing Classroom language tests
STEPS OF DESIGNING A LANGUAGE TEST
1. Determine 2. State constructs/ 3. Draw up
purpose/ usefulness abilities specifications
6. Construct a
5. In administering 4. Select tasks and
system of scoring/
the test, help item types and
grading and
students to achieve arrange them
providing student
optimal performance systematically
feedback
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1. Determine the usefulness/purpose of the test
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Key goals for testing
•Tests need not be degrading or threatening to your students.
•Instead, they should
–Build a person’s confidence and become learning
experiences
–Become an integral part of a student’s on-going
classroom development
–Bring out the best in students
TASK 1: Work in group of 3 or 4. Reflect your past experience and
your knowledge, answer the questions in the check-list to determine
the purpose and usefulness of the assessment.
Design a 15-minute test at the end of unit 1, Tieng Anh 8
PURPOSE and USEFULNESS CHECKLIST
Examples
The usefulness/purpose of the 15-minute test for unit 1,
English 8
• To check how much students have grasped the knowledge of unit 1
• To identify each student’s strengths and weaknesses
• To create beneficial washback
• For students to accumulate component scores towards the overall
scores.
• …… (add your group’s ideas)
2. DEFINING THE ABILITIES TO BE
ASSESSED
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TASK 2: Examine
•the coursebook introduction (Lời giới thiệu)
•the summary of the unit competences and language focus
•Unit 1 content
and specify everything you think your students should “know” or
be able to “do” at the end of unit 1.
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Examples
Abilities to be assessed in unit 1, English 8
•Know the verbs to describe people
•Distinguish the uses of present simple and past simple tenses
•Introduce people and respond to the introduction
•Write a paragraph about a friend based on questions using correct
present simple tense.
•…. (add your group’s ideas)
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3. DRAWING UP TEST SPECIFICATIONS
• Test specifications for classroom use can be an outline of your test.
The outline should specify:
• Duration of time
• Skills to be included
• Number and types of tasks (e.g., written essay, reading a short
passage)
• Text types and length
• Item types (methods, such as multiple-choice and cloze) & weights
• Specific procedures to be used to score the test
• How results will be scored, reported to students, and used in future
classes (washback)
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Examples
The 15-minute test specifications
• Duration of time: 15 minutes
• 4 parts:
• Part 1 – GRAMMAR & VOCAB: 8 MCQs: understanding vocab, uses of
present and past simple tense – 4 points
• Part 2 - SPEAKING: 2 fill in the blanks: using appropriate phrases when
introducing – 2 points
• Part 3 - READING: Same text in the CB. 3 different MCQs – 3 points
• Part 4 - WRITING: Write a sentence about oneself using prompts. – 1
point
• Scoring & feedback:
• Half of the scores is deducted if wrong spelling (for part 2 and part 4)
• Use a table to record students’ components to identify strengths and
weaknesses for improvement.
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4. DEVISING TEST ITEMS
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•TASK 4: Now try designing ONE MCQ test question based on the
test specifications.
•***Techniques to write test items will be learnt next week.
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TASK 5: When administering the test, what details should you
attend to in order to help students achieve optimal performance?
• Students need to feel well prepared for their performance.
• Teachers need to:
–reduce unnecessary anxiety in students,
–raise their confidence, and
–help them view the test as an opportunity to learn
Measures?
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5. ADMINISTERING THE TEST
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6. SCORING, GRADING, AND GIVING FEEDBACK
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Scoring
• Scoring as in the test specifications.
• Fill the component scores into exel file. Analyze the scores.
– Students’ overall performance?
– Did the test correctly assess the students
– Which questions/parts have highest/lowest correct rate? Why?
▪ Students’ achievement
▪ Test reliability
– Was time limit reasonable?
• Take note of these impressions, even though they are not empirical data,
• You may decide to revise your scoring plan or test questions for the course the next time you
teach it.
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What is assessment?
Assessment refers to ‘all those activities undertaken by teachers,
and by their students in assessing themselves, which provide
information to be used as feedback to modify the teaching
and learning activities in which they are engaged’ (Black &
William, 1998, p. 2)
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Giving students’ feedback
• Try to return students’ test as early as possible
• Deliver the test papers to the students yourself.
• Go over and re-explain all the answers.
• Praise students who did well
• Encourage students who need improvement (names should not be
mentioned)
• Prepare tasks/exercises for further practice (where many students still
have problems with)
• Provide training/practice with learning strategies (such as reading for
specific information)
