E
TESTING:
Approaches &
Techniques
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
At the end of the Module, students should be able
to:
• Identify and differentiate the different approaches
to language testing.
• Explain their strengths and weaknesses.
• Discuss the various language test techniques.
• Realizes the usefulness of the lessons in testing
students.
APPROACHES TO
LANGUAGE TESTING
Essay-Translation Approach
Structuralist Approach
Integrative Approach
Communicative Approach
The
Essay-
Translation
Approach
Characteristics and Types of
Tests in Essay-Translation
Approach
This is commonly referred to as the pre-
scientific stage of language testing.
No special skill or expertise in testing is
required.
Tests usually consist of essay writing,
translation and grammatical analysis.
Characteristics and Types of
Tests in Essay-Translation
Approach
Tests have a heavy literary and cultural bias.
Public examinations resulting from the tests
using this approach sometimes have an oral
component at the upper intermediate and
advance levels.
Strengths of Essay-Translation
Approach
• This approach is easy to follow because teachers will
simply use their subjective judgement.
• The essay-translation approach may be used for
testing any level of examinees.
• The model of tester can easily be modified based on
the essentials of the tests.
Weaknesses of Essay-Translation
Approach
• Subjective judgement of teachers tends to be biased.
• As mentioned, the tests have a heavy literary and
cultural bias.
The
Structuralist
Approach
Characteristics and Types of
Tests in Structuralist Approach
This approach views that language learning is chiefly
concerned with systematic acquisition of a set of habits.
The structuralist approach involves structural linguistics
which stresses the importance of constructive analysis and
the need to identify and measure the learners’ mastery of
the separate elements of the target language such as
phonology, vocabulary and grammar.
Characteristics and Types of
Tests in Structuralist Approach
Testing the skills of listening, speaking, reading and writing
is separate from another as much as possible.
The psychometric approach to measurement with its
emphasis on reliability and objectivity forms an integral
part of structuralist testing.
Strengths of Structuralist Approach
• In testing students’ capability, this approach may
objectively and surely be used by testers.
• Many forms of tests can be covered in the test in a
short time.
• Using this approach in testing will help students find
their strengths and weaknesses in every skill they
study.
Weaknesses of Structuralist
Approach
• It tends to be a complicated job for teachers to prepare
questionnaires using this approach.
• This approach considers measuring non-integrated
skills more than integrated skills.
The
Integrative
Approach
Characteristics and Types of
Tests in Integrative Approach
This approach involves the testing of language in context
and is thus concerned primarily with meaning and the total
communicative effect of discourse.
Integrative tests are concerned with a global view of
proficiency.
Characteristics and Types of
Tests in Integrative Approach
Integrative testing involves functional language but not the
use of functional language.
The use of cloze test, dictation, oral interview, translation
and essay writing are included in many integrative tests.
Strengths of Integrative Approach
• The approach to meaning and the total communicative
effect of discourse will be very useful for students in
testing.
• This approach can view students’ proficiency with a
global view.
Strengths of Integrative Approach
• A model cloze test used in this approach measures the
reader’s ability to decode ‘interrupted’ and ‘mutilated’
messages by making the most acceptable substitutions
from all the contextual clues available.
• Dictation, another type using this approach, was
regarded solely as a means of measuring students’
skills of listening comprehension.
Weakness of Integrative Approach
• Even if many think that measuring integrated skills is
better, sometimes there is a need to consider the
importance of measuring skills based on students’
need, such as writing only, speaking only, etc.
The
Communicative
Approach
Characteristics and Types of
Tests in Communicative
Approach
Communicative tests are concerned primarily with how
language is used in communication.
Language use is often emphasized to the exclusion of
language usage.
The attempt to measure different language skills in
communicative tests is based on a view of language
referred to as divisibility hypothesis.
Characteristics and Types of
Tests in Communicative
Approach
The test content should totally be relevant for a particular
group of examinees and the tasks set should relate to real-
life situation.
Communicative testing introduces the concept of
qualitative modes of assessment in preference to
quantitative modes of assessment.
Strengths of Communicative Approach
• Communicative tests are able to measure all
integrated skills of students.
• The tests using this approach face students in real life
so it will be very useful for them.
Strengths of Communicative Approach
• Because a communicative test can measure all
language skills, it can help students in getting the
score. Consider students who have a poor ability in
using spoken language but may score quite highly on
tests of reading.
• Detailed statements of each performance level serve to
increase the reliability of the scoring by enabling the
examiner to make decisions according to carefully
drawn-up and well-established criteria.
Weaknesses of Communicative
Approach
• Unlike the structuralist approach, this approach does
not emphasize learning structural grammar, yet it may
be difficult to achieve communicative competence
without a considerable mastery of the grammar of a
language.
• It is possible for cultural bias to affect the reliability
of the tests being administered.
TEST
TECHNIQUES
Direct vs. Indirect Testing
Discrete Point vs. Integrative
Testing
Norm-referenced vs. Criterion-
Referenced Testing
Objective vs. Subjective Testing
Direct
versus
Indirect Testing
Direct Indirect
• Requires the • Attempts to measure
candidate to perform the abilities that
precisely the skill that underlie the skills in
the test wishes to which the test is
measure. interested.
Direct Indirect
• Easier to carry out • Attempts to measure
when it is intended to the abilities that
measure speaking and underlie the skills in
writing skills. which the test is
interested.
Direct Indirect
• Has a number of • Attempts to measure
attractions: the abilities that
• Relatively underlie the skills in
straightforward to which the test is
create conditions. interested.
• Assessment and
interpretation are
also quite
straightforward.
Direct Indirect
• Has a number of • Attempts to measure
attractions: the abilities that
• There is likely to underlie the skills in
be a helpful which the test is
backwash effect. interested.
Examples
Direct Indirect
• Composition writing • Underlined items
to know students’ which the student
writing skills needs to identify as
erroneous in formal
standard English
Examples
Direct Indirect
• Composition writing • Lado’s (1961)
to know students’ proposed method of
writing skills testing pronunciation
ability
Some tests are referred to as semi-direct.
Discrete Point
versus
Integrative Testing
Discrete Integrative
• Refers to the testing • Requires the
of one element at a candidate to combine
time, item by item. many language
elements in the
completion of a task.
Discrete point tests will always be indirect while
integrative tests will tend to be direct.
Examples
Discrete Integrative
• Form of a series of • Comprehension of
items testing a words and the ability
particular to use them correctly
grammatical structure • Free composition
• Diagnostic tests of • Cloze test
grammar
Norm-Referenced
versus
Criterion-
Referenced
Testing
NRT CRT
• Scores are interpreted • Interpretation of
relative to each other scores is absolute and
in a normal may be
distribution scheme representational
(bell curve).
• The idea is to spread
the students out on a • Measures students’
continuum of ability against the
knowledge predetermined
standard
Objective
versus
Subjective Testing
Objective Subjective
• If no judgement is • If judgement is called
required on the part of for
a scorer
• Objective in the sense • If the scorer is not
that there is only one looking for any one
answer right answer
…The End…
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