language testing 5

Quiz for chapter21.What are the 4 approaches in language testing?2.What is the key idea of psychometric-structuralist approach?3.What levels and modes does this approach analyze language proficiency into？4.Translate: item difficulty, discrimination, criterion proficiency, subtest, sampling, construction,stem/lead, options, distracters, forced-choice items, constructed-response items, discrete-point items, method effect5. Although sampling is an indispensable step in test development, there will be no a sampling error. F6.Test construction is the process of converting the test problems chosen to test items or tasks T7. The most frequently and extensively used test item in a psychometric-structuralist test are multiple-choice items. T8. Directions should be brief，simple and unambiguous. T9. Multiple -choice format remains the most valid measures of language proficiency. F10. This approach is out of date today. F11. This psychometric-structuralist tests are direct tests. F12. The results of the scores are hard to interpret. TQuiz for chapter31．The integrative approach proposed to use holistic procedures to test language proficiency. T2．John W Oller was the leading figure in the campaignagainst psychometric –stucturalist approach. T3．The main ideas of Oller are that language proficiency was indivisible and this indivisibility could be measured directly by pragmatic tests. T4．All test items in a psychometric test is context free. F 5．According to Oller, the first feature of psychometric approach is the involvement of context. F 6．Pragmatic expectance grammar is ability responsible for context dependent language processing. T7．All dictation tests are pragmatic tests. F8．The integrative tests are direct tests and their scores have clear meanings. F9．Cloze tests are designed based on Gestalt Psychology. T 10．The linguistic basis for cloze tests is language redundancy.T11．For standard cloze, there are two ways to delete words from a text：error-counting and right asnwer-counting. F 12．The test taker’s performance on cloze is scored either by exact word method or contextually acceptable method. T 13．Short memory is the container of wording while the long memory is the container of meaning. T14．For dictation tests, the pauses should be in natural breakpoints. T15．Partial dictation is different from standard dictation in that part of it is presented in a printed form. T16．The 1980s witnessed the end of the UCH. T 17．Dictation tests are in lack of domain analysis and sampling, which reduces their validity. TQuiz for chapter 41.In early 20th century, there emerged communicative tests. F2.Both psychometric and integrative tests are ability tests. T3.Needs analysis was first put forward by Brendan Carroll. F4.The characteristics of communicative performance testing aremore readily seen in tests of writing and speaking. T5.According to Carroll, test takers’performance can be scoredwith a 9-band scale. This indicates communicative performance tests are norm-referenced tests. F6.Timothy McNamara is the major developer of OET., aperformance-based test of English as a second language for health professionals. T7.Performance tests are often used for screening and selection.Tmunicative performance tests enable test users to makeconnection between test performance and future language behavior. Tmunicative performance test are low in validity becausethey are scored subjectively. F10.M ultiple scoring and Rash measurement technique are oftenintroduced to increase the reliability of communicative performance tests. T11. According to Carroll, listening, speaking, reading, andwriting are not equal to language skills; instead, they are language performance. T12. In Carroll’s model, listening, speaking and reading, writingare presented in isolation, but in real communication they occur in various combinations. TQuiz for chapter 5municative language ability was proposed by Bachmanand is a new development of communicative competence. T municative competence was first proposed by Hymes inthe 1960s and 1970s, including knowledge that and knowledge how. F3.Canale and Swain’s model divides knowledge in to fourcomponents: grammatical, sociolinguistic, discourse and strategic competence. T4.Bachman’s communicative language ability involveslanguage competence, strategic competence and psychophysical mechanisms, which are subdivided into different components. T(psychophysiological)5.Bachman’s test methods are not specific techniques but aframework of five facets which can be used for different purposes. T6.The relationship between input and response in language testscan be either of the two: reciprocal and nonreciprocal F7.Reciprocal tests must be adaptive tests. T8.Reciprocal language use is characterized by interaction andfeedback. T。

国际英语语言测试系统IELTS（雅思）考试介绍IELTS考试的全称为：International English Language Testing System,中文译为＂雅思＂.它是由University of Cambridge Local Examinations Syndicate、IDP Education Australia及The British Council三家共同参与组织设计，并由英国文化教育委员会（The British Council）负责在世界各地组织考试。

设在中国的英国大使馆文化教育处专门设有考试部，负责IELTS考试工作。

此项考试是为非英语国家的人士赴英联邦国家高等教育机构就读和进修必须通过的语言测试。

现在大多的英联邦国家对本国申请技术移民的人士也采用这项考试做为申请人英语能力达标的认证。

IELTS考试分为学术类（Academic）和培训类（General Training）,移民申请者被要求参加General Training类的考试,整个考试包括四个部分,听力（30分钟）阅读（60分钟）、写作（60分钟）和口语（15分钟）。

两类听力和口语采用相同试卷,阅读和写作采用不同试卷。

考试成绩的有效期为二年，并要求考生的连续参加考试的时间间隔三个月。

整个考试由英国文化教育处考官亲自主持。

目前在中国设有的固定考点有10个，包括北京、沈阳、西安、上海、南京、广州、福州、深圳、成都、香港。

北京和上海每月举办一次，其它地区2－3个月举办一次。

由于中国对外交流的迅速发展，英国文化教育处正在积极发展和推广此项考试，不久将会有更多的考点和考试时间满足各地考生的要求。

IELTS考试与目前的TOEFL和国内四、六级英语考试有一定的差异,它的听力和口语部分使用使用英音,它的书面考试部分,不采用标准多项选项形式，而以填写单词和短句为主，题目形式多样，较好地考察考生的实际英语能力，避免了答题的猜测因素。

Types of Language Test（语言测试的分类）(2011-06-03 10:43:25)转载▼标签：杂谈Language tests may be distinguished by use or function, standard for measuring, linguistic level and skills, system of scoring and objective...1.Test Classified by Use(按用途划分测试)1) Achievement Test(成绩/成就测试)The aim is to measure how much of a languagethe learner has learned with reference to aparticular course of study or program ofinstruction.2) Proficiency Test(水平测试)This test is not related to any course, syllabus, curriculum ora single skill in the language. It is not concerned with generalattainment but specific language skills required for future jobor study. CEE(College Entrance Examination高考), TOEFL, PETS etc.3) Diagnostic Test (诊断测试)This test aims to find out what language skills or knowledge thelearner knows and what he does not know in order to diagnose hisdifficulties or problems and give remedial teaching to the students,Such as quiz.4) Aptitude Test（潜能测试）This test is intended to predict a person’s future success or measure thePotential ability. It assesses the learner’saptitude or gift for learning a language and seeksto predict his probable strengths and weaknessesin a second language. Such as GRE (Graduate Record Examination).5) Placement Test(编班测试/分级考试)It should be especially noted that achievement, diagnostic, placement andProficiency tests are not absolutely exclusive but sometimes interwoven.2. Test Classified by stage (按学习阶段来分)1)Classroom Test (随堂测试)2)Mid-term Test(期中测试)3)End- of-term Test(期末测试)3. Test Classified by Nature(按性质划分)1)Discrete-point Test(分离式测试)A language test which measures knowledge ofindividual language items,Such as tenses, articles, or modal verbs in a grammar test,is called a discrete-point test. This type of test isconstructed on the assumption that language consistsof different parts such as grammar, vocabulary andsyntax, and different skills such as speaking, listening,reading and writing.2)Integrative Test(综合性测试)A language test that requires the learner touse several language skills atthe same time. It is believed that communicative competence is global and requires an integrationof linguistic knowledge and skills for itspragmatic use in the real world that cannot be broken down into discrete point.4. Test Classified by System of Scoring(按评分方式划分)1)subjective test（主观性测试）2)objective test（客观性测试）A test, which is scored according to the personal judgment of thescore, such as an essay examination, is called a subjective test which is marked without the use of the examiner’s personal judgment is called an objective test.5. Test Classified by Standard for Measuring（按衡量标准划分）1)Criterion-referenced Test (标准参照性测试)The criterion-referenced te st measures a student’s performance according to a particular criterion which has been agreed upon. Such as TEM4 & TEM8.2)Norm-referenced Test(常模参照性测试)This test measures how performance of a student or a group of students compares with the performance of other students or other groups of students whose scores are used as a norm.6. Test Classified by Way of Testing1)Direct Tests（直接测试）Language skills or abilities can be directly in the test. Such as pronunciation and intonation, writing, translation, etc.2)Indirect Tests（间接测试）By testing one’s language skills, one’s language ability can be evaluated.。

Reflection after reading Language Testing1.IntroductionThere are four parts in the book: Survey, Readings, References, and Glossary. The Survey is a summary overview of the main feature of the are of language study concerned: its scope and principles of enquiry, its basic concerns and key concepts. It draws a map of the subject area in such a way as to stimulate thought and to invite a critical participation in the exploration of ideas. The Reading provide the necessary transition. The purpose is to focus on the specific of what is said, and how it is said, in these source texts. In the References, there is a selection of works (books and articles) for further reading. The Glossary is cross-referenced to the Survey, and therefore serves at the same time as an index.2. Language Testing2.1 What is language test?Language test is a procedure for gathering evidence of general or specific language abilities from performance on tasks designed to provide a basis for predictions about an individual’s use of thos e abilities in real world contexts.2.2 The significance of language testingFirst, language tests play a powerful role in many people’s lives, acting as gateways at important transitional moments in education, in employment, and in moving from one country to another. Since language tests are devices for the institutional control of individuals, it is clearly important that they should be understood, and subjected to scrutiny.Secondly, you may be working with language tests in your professional life as a teacher or administrator, teaching to a test, administering tests, or relying on information from tests to make decisions on the placement of students on particular courses.Finally, if you are conducting research in language study you may need to have measures of the language proficiency of your subjects. For this you need either to choose an appropriate existing language test or design your own.2.3 Types of test(1) Paper-and-pencil language tests take the form of the familiar examination question paper. They are typically used for the assessment either of separate components of language knowledge(grammar, vocabulary etc.) or of receptive understanding (listening and reading comprehension).(2) Performance tests are most commonly tests of speaking and writing, in whicha more or less extended sample of speech or writing is elicited from the test-taker, and judged by one or more trained raters using an agreed rating procedure.(3) Achievement tests are associated with the process of instruction. They accumulate evidence during, or at the end of, a course of study in order to see whether and where progress has been made in terms of the goals of learning. Achievement tests should support the teaching to which they relate.(4) Proficiency tests look to the future situation of language use without necessarily any reference to the previous process of teaching. They includeperformance features in their design, whereby characteristics of the criterion setting are represented.2.4 The test-criterion relationshipThe very practical activity of testing is inevitably underpinned by theoretical understanding of the relationship between the criterion and test performance. Tests are based on theories of the nature language use in the target setting and the way in which this is understood will be reflected in the test design. Theories of language and language in use have of course developed in very of theoretical orientations.3. Communication and the design of language tests3.1 Discrete point testsThe term test construct refers to those aspects of knowledge or skill possessed by the candidate which are being measured. The test construct involves being clear about what knowledge of language consists of, and how that knowledge is deployed in actual performance(language use).The practice testing separate, individual points of knowledge, knows as discrete point testing, was reinforced by theory and practice within psychometrics, the emerging science of the measurement of cognitive abilities. While there was also realization among some writers that the integrate nature of performance needed to be reflected somewhere in a test battery, the usual way of handling this integration was at the level of skills testing, so that the four language macro skills of listening, reading, writing, and speaking were in various degrees tested(again, in strict isolation from one another) as a supplement to discrete point tests.3.2 Communicative language testsFrom the early 1970s, a new theory of language and language use began to exert a significant influence on language teaching and potentially on language testing. Hymes saw that knowing a language was more than knowing its rules of grammar. Communicative language tests ultimately came to have two features:(1)They were performance tests, requiring assessment to be carried out when the Learner or candidate was engaged in an extended act of communication, either receptive or productive, or both.(2)They paid attention to the social roles candidates were likely to assume in real world settings, and offered a means of specifying the demands of such roles in detail.3.3 Models of communicative abilityVarious aspects of knowledge or competence were specified in the early 1980s by Michael Canale and Merrill Swain in Canada:(1) Grammatical or formal competence, which covered the kind of knowledge(of systematic features of grammar, lexis, and phonology) familiar from the discrete point tradition of testing.(2) Sociolinguistic competence, or knowledge of rules of language use in terms of what is appropriate to different types of interlocutors, in different setting, and on different topics.(3) strategic competence, or the ability to compensate in performance for incomplete or imperfect linguistic resources in a second language.(4) discourse competence, or the ability to deal with extended use of language in context.4. The testing cycleIn this chapter we will outline the stage and typical procedures in this cyclical process. New situation arise, usually associate with social or political changes, which generate the need for a new test or assessment procedure. These include the growth of international education, increased labour flows between countries as the result of treaties, the educational impact of immigration or refugee programmes, school curriculum reform, or reform of vocational education, and training for adults in the light of technological change.Before they begin thinking in detail about the design of a test, test developers will need to get the lay of the land, that is, to establish the constraints under which they are working, and under which the test will be administered. Following this initial ground-clearing, we move on to the detailed design of the test. This will involve procedures to establish test content, what the test contains and test method, the way in which it will appear to the test-taker, the format in which responses will be required, and how these responses will be scored.5. The rating processMaking judgments about people is a common feature of everyday life. The judgement will in most cases have direct consequences for the person judged, and so issues of fairness arise, which most public procedures try to take account of in some way. This section will discuss rating procedures used in language assessment. The terms ratings and raters will be used to refer to the judgements and those who make them.5.1 Establishing a rating procedureAs communicative language teaching has increasingly focused on communicative performance in context, so rating the impact of that communication has become the focus of language assessment. Where assessments meet institutional requirements, for example for certification, as with any bureaucratic procedure there are set methods for yielding the judgement in question. These methods typically have three main aspects. First, there is agreement about the conditions (including the length of time) under which the person’s performance or behaviour is elicited, and is attended to by the rater. Second, certain features of the performance are agreed to be critical; the criteria for judging these will be determined and agreed. Usually this will involve considering various components of competence-fluency, accuracy, organization, sociocultural appropriateness, and son on. Finally, raters who have been trained to an agreed understanding o f the criteria characterize a performance by allocating a grade or rating.5.2 The problem with ratersIntroducing the rater into the assessment process is both necessary and problematic. It is problematic because ratings are necessarily subjective. The rating given to a candidate is a reflection, not only of the quality of the performance, but of the qualities as a rater of person who has judged it. The rater is trained carefully to interpret them in accordance with the intentions of the test designers, and concentrateswhile doing the rating, then the rating process can be made objective. The allocation of individuals to categories is not a deterministic process, driven by the objective, recognizable characteristics of performances, external to the rater. Rather, rating always contains a significant degree of chance, associated with the rater and other factors5.3 Establishing a framework for making judgementsIn establishing a rating procedure, we need to consider the criteria by which performances as at a given level will be recognized, and then to decide how many different levels of performance we wish to distinguish. It is useful to view achievement as a continuum. We can illustrate the distinction between the handle and ladder perspectives by reference to two very different kinds of performance. The function of the assessment at a given level is not to make distinctions between candidates, other than a binary distinction between those who meet the requirements of the level and those who do not..6. Validity: testing the testThe purpose of validation in language testing is to ensure the defensibility and fairness of interpretations based on test performance. Test validation similarly involves thinking about the logic of the test, particularly its design and its intentions, and also involves looking at empirical evidence- the hard facts-emerging from data from test trial s or operational administrations. Test validation looks at the procedures as a whole, for all the candidates affected by them.The research carried out to validate test procedures can accompany test development, and is often done by the test developers themselves; that is, it can begin before the test becomes operational. Validation ideally continues through the life of the test, as new questions about its validity arise, usually in the context of language testing research.7. MeasurementMeasurement investigates the quality of the process of assessment by looking at scores. Two main steps are involved:(1)Quantification, that is, the assigning of numbers or scores to various outcomes of assessment. The set of scores available for analysis when data are gathered from a number of test-takers is known as data matrix.(2)Checking for various kinds of mathematical and statistical patterning within the matrix in order to investigate the extent to which necessary properties(for example, consistency of performance by candidates, or by judges) are present in the assessment.The aim of these procedures id to achieve quality control, that is, to improve the meaningfulness and fairness of the conclusions reached about individual candidates (the validity of the test). Measurement procedures have no rationale other than to underpin validity.8. The social character of language tests8.1 the institutional character of assessmentWhen an assessment is made, it is not done by someone acting in a private capacity, motivated by personal curiosity about the other individual, but in an institutional role, and serving institutional purposes,. These will typically involve thefulfillment of policy objectives in education and other areas of social policy. And social practice raises questions of social responsibility.(1)Assessment and social policyLanguage tests have a long history of use as instruments of social and cultural exclusion. The test here is a test of authenticity of identity, rather than of proficiency;a single instance is enough to betray the identity which the test aims to detect. More conventional proficiency tests have also been used for purposes of exclusion. Language tests can form part of a politically and morally objectionable policy.(2) Assessment and education policyAssessment serves policy functions in educational context, too. Most industrialized countries have, in recent years, responded to the need for the upgrading of the workforce in the face of rapid technological change by developing more flexible policies for the recognition and certification of specific work-related skills, each of which may be termed a competency. In international education, tests are used to control access to educational opportunities. Typically, international students need to meet a standard on a test of language for academic purposes before they are admitted to the university of their choice.8.2 The social responsibility of the language testerRecently, serious attention has been given t these issues for the first time, an overdue development, one might say, given the essentially institutional character of testing. On the one hand, the advent of the new test might appear t promote fairness. On the other hand, the introduction of such an instrument raises worrying possibilities.8.3 Ethical language testing(1) AccountabilityEthical testing practice is seen as involving making tests accountable to test-taker. Test developers are typically more preoccupied with satisfying the demands of those commissioning the test, and with their own work of creating a workable test. Test-takers are seldom represented on test development committees which supervise the work of test development, and represent the interests of stakeholders. Test developers should be required to demonstrate that the test content and format are relevant to candidates, and that the testing practice is accountable to their needs and interests. An aspect of accountability is the question of determining the norms of language behaviour which will act as a reference point in the assessment.(2)WashbackThe effect of tests on teaching and learning is known as test washback. Ethical language testing practice, it is felt, should work to ensure positive washback from tests. Authorities responsible for assessment sometimes use assessment reform to drive curriculum reform, believing that the assessment can be designed to have positive washback on the curriculum.(3)Test impactTest can also have effects beyond the classroom. The wider effect of tests on the community as a whole, including the school, is referred to as the impact. Test impact is likely to be complex and unpredictable.(4) Codes professional ethics for language testersIn contracts to those advocating the direct social responsibility of the tester, a more traditional approach involves limiting the social responsibility of language testers to questions of the professional ethics of their practice. In this view the approach to the ethics of language testing practice, such as medicine or law. Professional bodies of language testers should formulate codes of practice which will guide language testers in their work. The emphasis is on good professional practice: that is, language testers should in general take responsibility for the development of quality language tests.8.4 Critical language testingCritical language testing is best understood as an intellectual project to expose the role of tests in this exercise of power. From the perspective of critical language testing, the emphasis in ethical language testing on the individual responsibility of the language tester is misguided because it presupposes that this would operate within the established institution of testing, and so essentially accept the status quo and concede its legitimacy. Critical language testing at its most radical is not reformist since reform is a matter of modification not total replacement.9 New directions – and dilemmasWe live in a time of contradictions. The speed and impressiveness of technological advance suggest an era of great certainty and confidence. Aspects of these contradictory trends also define important points of change in language testing. Language testing is a field in crisis, one which is masked by the impressive appearance of technological advance.9.1Computers and language testingRapid developments in computer technology have had a major impact on test delivery. Already, many important national and international language tests, including TOEFL, are moving to computer based testing(CBT). The proponents of computer based testing can point to a number of advantages. Computer adaptive tests do just this. The use of computers for the delivery of test materials raises questions of validity, as we might expect. Questions about the importance of different kinds of presentation format are raised or exacerbated by the use of computer. The ability of computers to carry out various kinds of automatic processes on spoken or written texts is having an impact on testing.9.2 Technology and the testing of speakingTape recorders can be used in the administration of speaking tests. Candidates are presented with a prompt on tape, and are asked to respond as if they were talking to a person, the response being recorded on tape. This performance is then scored from the tape. Such a test is called a semi-direct test of speaking, as compared with a direct test format such as a live face-to-face interview.9.3 Dilemmas; whose performance?The speed of technological advances affecting language testing sometimes gives an impression of a field confidently moving ahead, not within standing the issues of validity raised above. But concomitantly the change in perspective from the individual to the social nature of test performance has provoked something of an intellectualcrisis in the field. Language testing remains a complex and perplexing activity, while insights from evolving theories of communication maybe disconcerting, it is necessart to fully grasp them and the challenge the pose if our assessments are to have any chance of having the meaning we intend them to have.Language testing is an uncertain and approximate business at the best of times, even if to the outsider this may be camouflaged by its impressive, even daunting, technical(and technological) trappings, not to mention the authority of the institutions whose goals tests serve. Every test is vulnerable t good questions, about language and language use, about measurement, about test procedures and about the uses to which the information in tests is to be put. In particular, a language test is only as good as the theory of language on which it is based, and it is within this area of theoretical inquiry into the essential nature of language and communication that we need to develop our ability to ask the next question.。