1. Some practical steps to test construction
1.1. Assessing clear, unambiguous objectives
1.1.1. Examine the OBJECTIVES for the unit you´re testing.
1.1.2. Every curriculum should have appropriately framed assessable objectives.
1.1.3. Determine appropriate objectives.
1.1.4. Each objective is stated in terms of the performance elicited and the target linguistic domain.
1.2. Drawing up test specifications
1.2.1. a. Outline of the test
1.2.1.1. All four skills -Speaking -Writing -Listening -Reading
1.2.2. b. Skills to be included
1.2.3. c. Item types and tasks
1.2.3.1. There are a limited number of modes of ELICITING responses and of RESPONDING on tests of any kind.
1.2.3.2. The test prompt can be ORAL (student listens) or WRITTEN (student reads).
1.3. Devising test tasks
1.3.1. You begin and end with nonscored items designed to set students at ease, and then sandwich between them items intended to test the objective (LEVEL CHECK) and a little beyond (PROBE).
1.3.2. Oral interview
1.3.2.1. Draft questions
1.3.2.2. Create a holistic scale
1.3.2.3. Follow-up questions may be needed for students.
1.3.3. Listening
1.3.3.1. Part a
1.3.3.2. Part b
1.3.4. Reading
1.3.5. Writing
1.3.5.1. It´s essential a scoring rubric.
1.3.5.2. A simple analytic scale
1.4. Designing multiple-choice test items
1.4.1. Cautions against a number of weakness
1.4.1.1. - The technique tests only recognition knowledge. - Guessing - The technique severely restrics what can be tested. - It´s very difficult to write successful items. - Cheating may be facilitated.
1.4.2. Practicality and reliability
1.4.3. Terminology
1.4.3.1. I. Receptive, or selective, response items in that the test-taker chooses from a set of responses (commonly called a supply type of response).
1.4.3.2. II. Having a stem, which presents a stimulus, and several options or alternative to choose from.
1.4.3.3. III. The key
1.4.4. Guidelines for both classroom-based and large-scale situations
1.4.4.1. 1. Design each item to measure a specific objetive.
1.4.4.1.1. * Comprehension
1.4.4.2. 2. State both stem and options as simply and directly as possible.
1.4.4.2.1. Get directly to the point.
1.4.4.2.2. Give it some authenticity and accomplish a bit of schema setting.
1.4.4.2.3. By lengthening the stem, you have introduced a potentially confounding lexical item, deteriorate.
1.4.4.2.4. Remove needless redundancy from your options.
1.4.4.3. 3. Make certain that the intended answer is clearly the only correct one.
1.4.4.4. 4. Use item indices to accept, discard, or revise items.
1.4.4.4.1. 1. Item facility (IF)
1.4.4.4.2. 2. Item discrimination (ID)
1.4.4.4.3. 3. Distractor efficiency
2. Scoring, grading, and giving feedback
2.1. Scoring
2.1.1. Reflects the relative weight that you place on each section and items in each section.
2.1.2. Speaking (oral interview)
2.1.2.1. 40 percent of the grade
2.1.3. Listening section
2.1.3.1. 20 percent
2.1.4. Reading section
2.1.4.1. 20 per cent
2.1.5. Writing section
2.1.5.1. 20 per cent
2.2. Grading
2.2.1. How you design letter grades to this test is a product of
2.2.1.1. - the country, culture, and context of English classroom,
2.2.1.2. - institutional expectations (most of them unwritten),
2.2.1.3. - explicit and implicit definitions of grades that you have set forth,
2.2.1.4. - the relationship you have established with the class, and
2.2.1.5. - student expectations that have been engendered in previous tests and quizzes.
2.3. Giving feedback
2.3.1. Become beneficial washback
2.3.1.1. Washback is achieved when students can, through the testing experience, identity their areas of success and challenge.
2.3.2. Some possibilities
2.3.2.1. 1. a letter grade 2. a total score 3. four subscores (speaking, listening, reading, writing) 4. for the listening and reading sections a. an indication of correct/incorrect responses b. marginal comments 5. for the oral interview 6. on the essay 7. on all or select parts of the test 8. a whole-class discussion 9. individual conferences with each student
3. Text types
3.1. Defining your purpose.
3.1.1. Language Aptitude Test
3.1.1.1. Design to measure capacity or general ability to learn a foreign language and ultimate success in that undertaking.
3.1.1.2. Apply to the classroom learning of any language.
3.1.1.3. - Modern Language Aptitude Test (MLAT) - Pimsleur Language Aptitude Battery (PLAB)
3.1.1.3.1. Both of them are measured by similar processes of mimicry, memorization, and puzzle-solving.
3.1.1.4. Provide learners with information about their prederred styles and their potential strengths and weaknesses.
3.1.2. Proficiency Test
3.1.2.1. It tests overall ability.
3.1.2.2. Consist of standardized multiple-choice items on grammar, vocabulary, reading comprehension, and aural comprehension.
3.1.2.3. Summative and norm-referenced
3.1.2.4. Single score
3.1.2.4.1. or at best two or three subscores, one for each section of a test
3.1.2.5. - Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL)
3.1.2.5.1. It is an indicator of a prospective student´s ability to undertake academic work in an English-speaking milieu.
3.1.3. Placement Test
3.1.3.1. The purpose is to place a student into a particular level or section of a language curriculum or school.
3.1.3.2. Include a sampling of the material to be covered in the various courses in a curriculum.
3.1.3.3. - The English as a Second Language Placement Test (ESLPT)
3.1.3.3.1. - Part I - Part II - Part III
3.1.3.4. Come in many varieties: assessing comprehension and production, responding through written and oral performance, open-ended and limited responses, selection and gap-filling formats, depending on the nature of the program and its needs.
3.1.4. Diagnostic Test
3.1.4.1. To diagnose specified aspects of a language.
3.1.4.1.1. Pronunciation
3.1.4.1.2. Writing
3.1.4.2. Offer more detailed subcategorized information on the learner.
3.1.4.3. Created by Clifford Prator
3.1.5. Achievement Test
3.1.5.1. Limite to particular material addressed in a curriculum within a particular time frame and are offered after a course has focus on the objectives in question.
3.1.5.2. The diagnostic role of indicating what a student needs to continue to work on in the future.
3.1.5.3. The main objective is to determine whether course objectives have been met by the end of a period of instruction.
3.1.5.4. Is summative because it is administered at the end of a unit or term of study.
3.1.5.5. Specifications
3.1.5.5.1. - Objectives of the lesson, unit, or course being assessed,
3.1.5.5.2. - The relative importance assigned to each objective,
3.1.5.5.3. - The tasks employed in classroom lessons during the unit of time,
3.1.5.5.4. - Practicality issues, such as the time frame for the test and turnaround time, and
3.1.5.5.5. - The extend to which the test structure lends itself to formative washback.