Types and Purposes of Language Tests
Types and Purposes of Language Tests
LANGUAGE TESTS
Structure
1.0 Objectives
1.1 Introduction
1.2 Role of Language Tests
1.3 Key Terms: Tests, Assessments, Measurements, Evaluation
1.4 Test Types and Purposes
1.4.1 Aptitude, Achievement, Diagnostic, Proficiency, Placement Tests
1.4.2 Summative & Formative Assessment
1.4.3 Standardized & Classroom Based Tests
1.5 Tests for ESL Classroom Use
1.6 Unit Based Questions
1.7 Let Us Sum Up
1.8 Suggested Readings
1.9 Answers
1.0 OBJECTIVES
In this unit you will
• know about the key terms in language testing and assessment;
• compare and contrast test types and their purposes;
• understand the role of language tests and assessments in the ESL classroom;
• decide which tests to be used for classroom purposes.
1.1 INTRODUCTION
We come across numerous occasions in life when we judge things that we see,
hear, touch or people that we interact with. Whenever we meet a stranger we
form some impression about that person as good, bad, interesting, strange,
attractive and a host of other attributes. Likewise when we taste new food or
come across a new gadget in the market we form an opinion about that new item.
Every time we form an opinion or judge a thing by its properties or qualities,
how do we do so? We are inherently guided by ‘how good’ we think the qualities
of an item or a person is.
In the same manner a language teacher in class is confronted with this huge task
of assessing her learners. She can express opinion about each learner based on
‘how good’ she thinks they are. This is an informal judgment. But she also needs
to report systematically about the learners, based on which a further significant
decision like to promote learners to the next higher level is taken. This is formal
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Language Testing for the ESL assessment. Hence just as we assess everything around our environment and
Classroom
then take decisions based on such judgment, in class teachers do also assess
learners on an everyday basis and take decisions based on their judgments. This
is an inherent part of the teaching-learning cycle.
In class a teacher not only delivers the lesson that she is supposed to, she also
observes the learners and the manner in which her lesson is received. If she
figures out that some of the learners are not able to follow then she judiciously
changes her strategies or provides further help on the topic. While engaging her
learners in language tasks if she goes around and finds a learner has difficulty in
following instruction or is not able to do a certain task, she tries to find an
alternative for that learner like pair him/her up with a peer who can explain
things to that learner. To check for understanding the teacher also asks questions
and often provides cue statements, or uses questions to help learners communicate
orally in class. Thus her classroom activities are intertwined with instruction,
teaching, observing, providing feedback or solutions or cues to help learners get
on with class work as well as fine-tune their knowledge of the target language.
Even after the class gets over, a discerning teacher prepares for her next set of
activities based on the informal assessment she has done of her learners’ levels
of achievements in the previous classes. And all of this goes on a daily basis,
unobserved and unrecorded. Most of the times the teacher is also not aware that
she is teaching and testing simultaneously because one is related to the other so
closely that testing cannot happen as an isolated activity in the classroom space.
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Types and Purposes of
Language Tests
Assessments…
In this course we aim to sensitize teachers of their dual role as language teachers
and assessors and ways in which they can systematically perform the role of an
assessor both in formal and informal manner. It is only the language teacher who
can get evidence of gradual developmental changes in learners and help them
move to their next higher level of learning by providing them that bit of extra
help and feedback, which is required for a learner at that moment of learning.
This is well explicated in the Vygotskian theory of zone of proximal development,
where a child can move from their zone of current development to proximal
development with help or scaffold from an adult or the language teacher.
Check Your Progress 1
1) Can you think of any instance of classroom assessment that you have done
(or you can do) while teaching a lesson/concept in the English classroom?
List your ideas.
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TESTS
The concept of test implies a designed procedure with which to measure learners’
abilities or outcomes of learning at different points of time in the curriculum.
The learners are aware that they are being tested and prepare themselves to give
their best performance. So tests are designed to get formal estimates of learning.
Here learning is viewed as a product and the test performance is a timed
performance.
ASSESSMENTS
Assessments, in contrast, are methods of estimating learner performances in a
variety of ways. So a learner responding to a teacher’s questions in class or
participating in pair/ group work or solving a test or a quiz that is timed are all
examples of assessment. Assessment is an umbrella term that includes a variety
of measurements and estimates of learner performances. Language tests are only
one example of assessments. Again assessments can be done in a formal manner
when learners know that their performance is being assessed and will be awarded
with a grade or score at the end of the assessment. Alternatively, assessments can
also be done in an informal manner when teachers observe learners working in
pairs to solve a language activity. Assessments can be done directly – like assess
reading through a set of comprehension questions; assessments can also be done
indirectly – like assess reading through writing a summary. In the next section
when we discuss types of tests and assessments we will discuss a few more
examples of assessments.
MEASUREMENTS
As both tests and assessments are ways to obtain estimates of learners’ abilities
through performances, we need to consider how to systematically form such
estimates. A formal way to make estimates is to give weight to the performances
by using raw scores and letter grades or scales. These are different units of
measurement. Let us look at each of these terms briefly:
Scales: When measurements of learner performances are put on a scale, they are
no longer discrete points of measurement. The performances become linked with
one score in relation to the others. The scores may be represented as different
points on a scale or a continuum. There are four types of scales that are used in
standard forms of measurements.
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Table 1.1: Types and purposes of measurements Types and Purposes of
Language Tests
Scales Description
Ratio It is a scale that has equal intervals and starts at zero. This
scale can be used to show group performance but not
individual performance as language ability is typically
constructed as a notion of behavior and not an absolute
measure as represented through a numerical value.
In language testing we most often use ordinal and interval scales to measure
learner performance.
Proficiency scale: In language assessments it is not always the case that the
performance has to be assigned a numerical value such that it becomes a raw
score. The performance can also be reported in a descriptive manner to capture
one’s level of language proficiency, which is seen as a dynamic language behavior
and not an absolute trait. The description can be systematically represented as
bands or scales or levels. Each scale represents a specific quality of that behavior
and a test is designed and is scaled up or down to match with levels of learner
abilities at the point of testing. Language ability may range from knowledge of a
few words to being highly proficient and fluent in the language (refer to Unit
Three, section 3.2 for CEFR levels).
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Language Testing for the ESL EVALUATION
Classroom
While assessment focuses on a systematic method of collecting data about
learners’ performances using a variety of tools of measurement and at different
points of time, evaluation is the ‘decision’ taken based on such information. So
evaluation is the interpretation of information so that decisions can be taken
about learners’ promotion to a higher grade or the effectiveness of a language
programme itself. So to evaluate is to ‘value’ the results and convey the decision
to learners and different stakeholders like sponsors, parents, teachers, and
assessment designers. Hence, evaluation has a broader spectrum in that it includes
the method to gather information, ascertain value to the information obtained
and take decisions based on that information. Thus, it has far-reaching impact
rather than have immediate goals. The impact could be on – (a) shaping learners’
career, (b) making changes to improve the quality of teaching and assessment
procedures and (c) fulfilling broader goals like bring in teaching and curricular
changes. So in a language education programme for evaluation to take place,
there is a need to design and use assessments, then measure performances on
scales and finally take decisions based on how good or bad the performances
have been.
Teaching
Assessment
Measurement
Evaluation
Test
Tests and assessments that are administered to get estimates of learners of what
has been learned of the course objectives and syllabus are achievement tests.
These assessments are conducted at separate points of time – during the course
and at the end of the course. Hence, achievement tests are tied to specific syllabus
and helps teachers get estimates of learning or growth periodically and have the
potential to provide feedback to the learners.
Tests that are conducted to get information about the learning process and aspects
that are not yet learned are diagnostic tests. These tests are mostly conducted for
research purposes to get evidences of theories of language learning. To identify
problems in learning some specific aspects of syllabus teachers can also conduct
these tests. Researchers and teachers can use information obtained from diagnostic
tests to bring about changes in syllabus, teaching and assessment methods.
Therefore this test type has a lot of intrinsic pedagogic value.
Tests that are specifically designed to get estimates of learners’ levels of language
ability are proficiency tests. Such tests are not tied to any specific textbook
based syllabus unlike achievement tests but are designed to get samples of use
of the target language at different levels of abilities. Proficiency is a construct
that can be defined in several ways: researchers may conceptualize proficiency
as a whole and design tests like dictation as a holistic measure of proficiency.
But proficiency can also be defined as several components like the four skills –
listening, speaking, reading and writing, and two elements – grammar and
vocabulary and tests are designed to assess knowledge on each sub-component.
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Language Testing for the ESL 1.4.2 Summative Assessment & Formative
Classroom
In order to assess knowledge of learners, assessments are conducted from time
to time. The ones which are used to get an estimate of overall learning at the end
of the course are summative assessment. These give a total estimate of learning
achieved by learners. When tests and assessments are conducted to get estimates
of learning acquired at different points of the course are formative assessments.
The formative assessments help teachers to plan for teaching while results from
summative assessment help in taking decisions like promotion to a higher grade.
There is a misconception that summative assessments are mostly tests that are
scored to get estimates of learners’ overall learning in a course or an academic
year while formative assessments may take other forms such as assignments,
observations and so on and are mostly graded. However, we need to understand
that apart from major decisions like school leaving certification exams, both
summative and formative assessments can be tests, quizzes, assignments and
each sub-type can serve the purpose of estimating overall achievement as required
in summative assessments or can give opportunities to learn by giving notions
of achievements during a course.
Tests and assessments can be measured using scores when values are assigned to
each item and section of a test paper. When scored in this manner, tests become
formal modes of assessment. But assessments can also be done when a teacher
observes learner improvement through instances of classroom interaction and
participation and gather estimates of learner growth. Such estimates are informal
modes of assessments.
Formative assessments can have different sub-types: they can be objective, which
can be scored like short quizzes and tests. They can also be open-ended and
long answer type like assignments or essay type responses, projects, reports,
classroom observations, checklists, diaries, portfolios and self-assessment
notes. The latter are also called alternative assessments. We will discuss
alternative assessments in greater detail in Unit Five. The point to be noted is
that formative assessments provide a range of learning opportunities to learners
and they give teachers different ways to capture learner growth.
This test follows a systematic measurement pattern. It also serves the purpose of
taking a decision whether a candidate should get entry into the foreign country.
But this test does not give any useful information to the candidate about the
quality of their performance or feedback to improve. Hence, this test type does
not have much value for the classroom teacher and need not be used in the
classroom context.
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In contrast when tests measure learner capabilities according to the achievement Types and Purposes of
Language Tests
of course objectives, differing levels of performances are linked to specific grades
or descriptions of ‘can-do’ abilities. So such tests are called criterion-referenced
tests. The measurements are carefully designed by teachers or curriculum
designers according to descriptions of differing levels and may differ from one
teacher to another. But such measurements allow teachers to give feedback to
learners according to the degree of course objectives achieved and are useful to
promote learning. Hence, these may be used for classroom-based assessments.
Although the measurement is done to promote learning, the design of criterion
has to carefully done so that teacher bias in the design does not negatively impact
the learners. Criterion-referenced testing can also be used to take decisions for
promotion and certification.
In the ESL classroom context a variety of tests can be used as classroom based
tests, provided they can serve to test achievement and also be useful for learners
to gain valuable feedback about their language behavior. The tests can be pencil
and paper tests as well as other forms of assessments like assignments, classroom
observations and so on that can give learners feedback and learning opportunities.
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Language Testing for the ESL
Classroom 1.6 UNIT BASED QUESTIONS
In this unit we have looked at several tests and assessments that are used for a
variety of purposes. You have noticed from your reading of sections 1.4 and 1.5
that one test type can have several purposes.
1) Now read the following descriptions of tests. For each item write the
following:
a) test type
b) test purpose(s)
c) area tested (if it is a language test)
d) sub-area(s) tested
P) Vasanti teaches English in grade six in an English medium school in
Noida. She has conducted three English tests in one year. This is part
of the school curriculum. From the results of tests one and two she
had made some changes in the way she taught grammar, especially
tense with use of modals to express future time (e.g., Next week I
might/could/should visit my parents.)
R) Utsa wants to learn swimming. So she has to get into a pool of water
four feet deep and remain in the water for five minutes and then try
floating holding a side rod. If she can do this then her instructor will
allow her to join swimming classes.
U) One day a Geography teacher walks into a class of grade VIII learners
in a school in Baroda and gives them a quiz on the unit she taught in
the last week. She gives the quiz as a surprise and tells the learners
that they have to score 60% and above. The teacher wants to look at
learner performance and then decide if some of the concepts need to
be taught again.
1.9 ANSWERS
Check Your Progress 1
Instances of classroom assessment that can be done while teaching a lesson/
concept in the English classroom:
a) conduct a short quiz with a few fill-in-the-blanks items
b) give an assignment (e.g., write a paragraph)
c) do a question answer round with the learners orally as a game
Check Your Progress 2
In the example cited, the following are the instances of the five concepts dealt
with in section 1.3
Measurement: The test can have items with correct/incorrect responses scored
on an ordinal scale.
Teaching: To compare the present tense use rules in L1 to teach the concept
in L2 is the teaching component in this example.
**Note that for these two answers from sections 1.2 and 1.3 there is no one right
answer. Based on your understanding and group discussion you can come up
with similar answers that justify your understanding of the concepts studied in
this unit.
Unit-based questions
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2) Measurement types Types and Purposes of
Language Tests
a) Can be scored and be on an ordinal scale where the performances can
be rank-ordered; if some parts are criterion-referenced (e.g., essay type
responses with individual responses) then those can also be converted
to scores.
b) Can be criterion referenced and with grades. This will help the teacher
to provide feedback on sub-aspects of paragraph writing – language,
content development, and links between ideas.
The tests will further serve as diagnostic tests so that I can give more support to
teaching the learners whose knowledge of these two aspects are yet not well
formed. In all, the tests will help me give feedback to the learners and help me
modify my teaching.
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