ENG 421 – LANGUAGE TESTING AND EVALUATION

Definition of Terms

Evaluation is a process, which begins with determining what information to

gather and which ends with bringing about changes in current activities or
future ones (Dudley-Evans & St. John, 1998). It applies to both learners and
courses. It makes use of quantitative methods (e.g. tests) and qualitative
methods (e.g. interview and questionnaire). It can be formative (ongoing) or
summative (end-of-course). Evaluating students’ work, teachers’ work or
course evaluation are the necessary parts of each learning and teaching
process. Evaluation is not only a motivating factor but also shows students’
progress or effectiveness in the course, or on the other hand it can disclose
possible inadequacies that are not successfully covered. It helps teachers to
provide information whether he or she does a good job or not. There exist
many types of tests, questionnaires, tasks or the evaluation can be done in
form of talk (discussions, interviews). The test is perhaps the best way for
learner assessment. Teacher finds if the content of course meets learner´s
expectation and whether the learner is able to dispose with the new
information and employs learnt skills in a particular situation.

Testing could be defined as a pause at reasonable intervals to look back at

how well the students are performing. It is a kind of assessment. Other
methods of assessing a child’s work are by asking the child some questions
or taking a look at certain works performed by the child at his extra time.
Testing or assessment is a useful working instrument at the teacher’s tool
box.

Language testing is a complex activity tasking the teaching’s ingenuity. It is

the duty of the teacher to know the appropriate test materials for different
language skills.

The technique for assessing speech work and the type of assessment
instrument may not be identical with the technique and type of assessment
instrument you will require for assessing reading comprehension. In testing,
the teachers should not rely on only the questions set by the textbook
writers. You need to draw up your own questions and it must be well framed.
You should utilize different questioning techniques and make your
instructions as clear and unambiguous as possible.

Hughes (1989:1) refers to the effect of testing on teaching and learning as

“backwash”. Backwash is something which can be harmful or beneficial
depending on the handling. It is harmful if the preparation dominates all
teaching and learning activities and if the “test content and testing
techniques are at variance with the objectives of the course”. A test should
test the language skill it is intended to test. Multiple choice items should not
be used to test writing skill. Situations like this result to “harmful backwash”.
Where the design of a test brings about beneficial changes in the syllabus
and higher standard in English for students, it is a “beneficial backwash”.

For Davis (1968:5), “the good test is an obedient servant since it follows and
apes the teaching”. Hughes (1989:2) disagrees. He sees the relationship
between teaching and testing as that of ‘partnership’. Testing is not always a
servant to teaching because there are occasions where teaching is good and
appropriate and testing is not; and equally, there may be occasions when
teaching is poor or inappropriate and testing is able to exert a beneficial
influence. Testing should not always follow teaching rather it should be
supportive of good teaching and where necessary exert a corrective
influence on bad teaching.

There are many effects which testing can have on teaching and learning. It
has significant influence on how a teacher works with the learners and also
influences how learners learn.

What is an assessment?

Assessment is the systematic process of documenting and using empirical

data on the knowledge, skills, attitudes and beliefs. By taking the
assessment, teachers try to improve student learning. This is a short
definition of assessment.

What is testing?

What is testing in education? Almost everybody has experienced testing

during his or her life. Grammar tests, driving license test etc. A test is used
to examine someone’s knowledge of something to determine what that
person knows or has learned. It measures the level of skill or knowledge that
has been reached. An evaluative device or procedure in which a sample of
an examinee’s behavior in a specified domain is obtained and subsequently
evaluated and scored using a standardized process (The Standards for
Educational and Psychological Testing, 1999)

So, what’s the difference?

Test and assessment are used interchangeably, but they do mean something
different. A test is a “product” that measures a particular behavior or set of
objectives. Meanwhile assessment is seen as a procedure instead of a
product. Assessment is used during and after the instruction has taken place.
After you’ve received the results of your assessment, you can interpret the
results and in case needed alter the instruction. Tests are done after the
instruction has taken place, it’s a way to complete the instruction and get
the results. The results of the tests don’t have to be interpreted, unlike
assessment.

What is a test?

With a test you can test the knowledge level of the students. Mostly this is
done with a series of questions. The questions can differ in form or format,
but in the end you want your students to answer questions so you can
grade them and see what result they get.

A good teacher adjusts it's course material according the results of the tests
he gives. So he can improve. The results can point the educator to part of his
course material which aren't clear. Or where it's class needs some extra
attention so it will pass the final exam.

What is an examination?

As with a test you test the knowledge of your students with an exam. The
exam consists of a series of questions. They can both multiple choice or free
text questions, or a different format. In the end you want to grade the
answers and assign a score to every student.

The end result makes a student pass or fail this exam.

So, what's the difference between a test and examination?

The big difference between a test and an exam is that an exam is more
formal than a test. But, that said, they are used as synonyms throughout
schools and courses. But, we think they serve a different purpose:

A test is a tool that measures the knowledge level of your students and
adjust the learning material accordingly. With the purpose to have your
students learn.

An exam or the examination is more formal and it tells you if a student

passed or failed a class or course. In most cases you have to study
again and re-take the exam. Or start the course or class all over again.

Distinction between Measurement and Evaluation

Measurement is all about the numbers and being able to quantify the performance or the
abilities. Evaluation assists with using the data and information to judge success or failure.
Evaluation can take place without numerical measurement as it measures performance.

Measurement requires some standardized tools for measuring. A speedometer measures the
speed of the moving car and a thermometer measure the temperature of a give space. These tools
help to measure and record physical attributes.

Evaluation is used to judge the value or worth of a plan or project. Evaluation can be used in
conjunction with measurement to asses pupils or workers performance. Evaluation is a key
element in pupil’s performance and helps measure progress of the individual. Evaluation can
determine the needs of individual pupils so that a programme suited to their level of
understanding can be implemented.

Purpose of Testing

Information about people’s language ability is often very useful and

sometimes necessary. The type of test determines why it is needed
(Proficiency test, placement test, etc.). In the teaching systems test
measures the students’ achievement in the second or foreign language.
Tests also provide information about the achievement of groups of learners
without which it is difficult to see how rational educational decisions can be
made.

Language testers should first of all be clear about the purpose of testing in a
particular situation. This is because different purposes will usually require
different kinds of tests. Hughes (1989, p.7) identifies the following as the
different purposes of testing:

To measure language proficiency, regardless of any language courses that

candidates may have followed To discover how far students have achieved
the objectives of a course of study To diagnose students’ strengths and
weaknesses, to identify what they have learnt and what they have not learnt.
To assist placement of students by identifying the stage or part of a teaching
programme most appropriate to their ability

It could be summarized that tests and testing are of great benefit to the child
or learner, the teacher and to educational practices.

1. Benefits to the Learner:

It is a source of help and encouragement in his/her work, which may help

him/her to progress in his/her work/learning. The child sees at a glance
where s/he stands and decides on his/her own the amount of effort to put in
future.

Secondly, when the assessment is done in a loving, honest manner, the

students can assess their works themselves. The teacher can tell the
students what to look for in the assessment in advance. This enables them to
mark each other’s work, though subject to the teacher’s cross-checking. A
child who could assess another’s work could assess himself.

In addition, an assessment in which the teachers visit the student at home

gives the child the feeling that the teachers care about his/her progress. To
achieve all these, the teacher should be fair and honest in his assessment,
he should avoid being an extreme assessor, that is, one who says ‘very good’
or ‘excellent’ to one student and to another ‘very poor’. The teacher should
operate an open door policy and win the confidence of the children. Finally,
the teacher must not show preference or dislike for some students, either in
attitude or in the way their scripts are marked.

2. Benefits to the Teacher

Testing is the best way of ensuring maximum effectiveness in the teaching

programme. A teacher will be able to adapt the teaching process to the
needs of the students.

It enables the teacher to identify the areas of weaknesses, either of an

individual or members of the entire class. The teacher does this by writing
down all the errors the students can possibly make and ticking against each
time the error is committed. It is diagnostic in nature.

Testing enables the teacher to determine the pupils’ readiness for the
learning task that has been set for them. It also helps in determining the
sequence of programme tasks to be followed. After assessment, one may
have to re-arrange what one intended teaching after realizing through the
administered test that the class needs more practice in the previous lesson.

In addition, test helps the teacher to evaluate himself/herself. Mass failure of

the students is an indication that the lesson was not well taught. A teacher
should always take a critical look at his/her role as a teacher.

Finally, testing helps the teacher to place the child well. Positioning,
promotion, admissions into certain schools and jobs are all dependent on
test scores and analysis of results.
3. Benefits to Educational Practices

The Nigerian National Policy on education advocates continuous assessment

and summative examination for certification. Assessment is important for
record keeping. The students should be tested severally and the aggregate
recorded before the final assessment. It is a device for clarifying objectives.
It discovers strengths and weaknesses of pupils and programmes.

Principles of Language Testing

1. Validity
It becomes valid if it tests all its expected to test – content, skills, values, knowledge,
attitudes, speech, comprehension, etc.

2. Reliability
It is reliable if the scores are consistent. Inter-rater reliability is consistence between 2 people
– scoring by 2 or more scorers.

3. Practicability
A test is practical in terms of time and administration – condition, time, manner, financial
limitations, logistics (number of students), scoring mode e.g. computer

4. Instructional Value
Learners should get feedback by being able to use the learnt knowledge. A test should also
reflect individual language needs as well as those of the society.

5. Discriminative
The test must show the difference between those who know and those who do not know.

6. Clarity
A test should be clear in terms of layout and instructions. Instructions should be
unequivocal/unambiguous

Approaches/Techniques to Language Testing

There are various approaches/ techniques to language testing

Communicative Language Testing

This is measuring students’ ability to take part in acts of communication. A

communicative language testing is bound to concern itself with ‘capacity’
(Widdowson, 1983) or ‘communicative ability’ (Bachman, 1990). It tests
communicative performance or students’ language ability in one isolated
situation or specific context of use. Alderson and Hughes (1981) accept that
to follow the communicative paradigm one needs to define what it is that
students have to do with language in a specific situation or series of
situations and recognize that by specifying performance in this manner, “one
might end up describing an impossible variety of situations which one cannot
encompass for testing purposes”.

Weir (1990) identifies the following as some of the distinguishing features of

communicative tests:

- Test constructions must closely identify those skills and performance

conditions that are the most important components of language use in
particular context and incorporate them where appropriate. This will indicate
the degree to which the test task reflects the attributes of the activity in real
life that it is meant to replicate.

- The sample of communicative language ability in our tests should be as

representative as possible. Tests should meet the performance conditions of
the context as fully as possible.

- Integrative approach to assessment is strongly recommended as against a

decontextualised approach. Language devoid of context (linguistic,
discoursal and socio-cultural) is meaningless.

- Authenticity of tasks and the genuiness of texts in tests should be pursued.

Different tests need to be constructed to match different purposes.

- Test of oral interaction should reflect the interactive nature of normal

spoken discourse, conducted under normal time constraint, paying attention
to the element of unpredictability in oral interaction.

- In the area of marking, the holistic and qualitative assessment of

productive skills and the implications of this for test reliability need to be
taken on board. There is this demand for criterion-referenced approach to
testing communicative language ability.

- Testers under communicative paradigm have the greater pressure to

validate tests because of an expressed desire to make the tests as direct as
possible, both in terms of tasks and criteria.

- Communicative testing requires a high degree of explicitness both at the

test design stage, where one is concerned with the required result and at the
evaluation stage where one is estimating the acquired result. It should have
a beneficial backwash effect in encouraging the development of
communicative capacity in the classroom (p. 10).

Authenticity in Language Testing

There should also be authenticity in language testing. Bachman (1990),

defines authenticity as a quality of the relationship between features of the
test and those of the non-test target-use context. There are two approaches
on authenticity; the real-life approach and the interactional ability approach.
'Real-life (RL) approach' tries to develop tests that mirror the 'reality' of non-
test language use. This approach has been considered as naive because the
test setting itself does not exactly resemble its real-life setting, also, "this
approach does not distinguish between language ability and the context in
which this ability is observed since non-test language performance
constitutes the criterion for authenticity and the definition of proficiency"
(p.302).

In the second approach, the authenticity of language tests arises from their
'situational' and their 'interactional' authenticity. 'Situational authenticity'
refers to the relationship of features of the test method to particular features
of the target-use situation. 'Interactional authenticity' mentions the extent to
which an examinee's language ability is engaged in the test task. Thus, the
emphasis in this model shifts from "attempting to sample actual instances of
non-test language use to that of determining what combination of test
method facets is likely to promote an appropriate interaction of a particular
group of test takers with the testing context" (Bachman, 1990, p. 317).

Assessment can be used to improve instruction and help students take

control of their learning (Bostwick & Gakuen, 1995). Accordingly, it is also
necessary to briefly examine 'backwash effect' as a concept

Types of Evaluation

Evaluation usually deals with the learners' performance in terms of mastery

or non-mastery of language programme objectives, when current
performance is measured versus desired performance by means of testing,
using both quantitative and qualitative criteria. There exist different
approaches to evaluation; it can be product-oriented (summative evaluation)
and/or process–oriented (formative evaluation) (Weir & Roberts, 1994;
Robinson, 1991). It can be quantitative (based on quantitative criteria)
and/or qualitative (based on qualitative criteria). All these types of evaluation
are complementary and not mutually exclusive, their interdependence being
of great importance to obtain valid findings.

Evaluation may serve two, complementary functions. In one context, the aim
is prospective, or formative -- to improve, to understand strengths in order to
amplify them, or to isolate weaknesses to mend. The other context is
retrospective, or summative -- to assess concrete achievement, perhaps as
part of a process of acknowledgement or giving awards. Here are some ways
to think about the distinction further

Formative Evaluation

Formative evaluation (sometimes referred to as internal) is typically

conducted during the development or improvement of a program or product
(or person, and so on) and it is conducted, often more than once, for in-
house staff of the program with the intent to improve. The reports normally
remain in-house; but serious formative evaluation may be done by an
internal or an external evaluator or preferably, a combination; of course,
many program staff are, in an informal sense, constantly doing formative
evaluation. Formative evaluation is conducted to provide program staff
evaluative information useful in improving the program.

The purpose of formative evaluation is to validate or ensure that the goals of

the instruction are being achieved and to improve the instruction, if
necessary, by means of identification and subsequent remediation of
problematic aspects.

Formative assessment helps teachers determine next steps during the

learning process as the instruction approaches the summative assessment of
student learning. A good analogy for this is the road test that is required to
receive a driver's license. What if, before getting your driver's license, you
received a grade every time you sat behind the wheel to practice driving?
What if your final grade for the driving test was the average of all of the
grades you received while practicing? Because of the initial low grades you
received during the process of learning to drive, your final grade would not
accurately reflect your ability to drive a car. In the beginning of learning to
drive, how confident or motivated to learn would you feel? Would any of the
grades you received provide you with guidance on what you needed to do
next to improve your driving skills? Your final driving test, or summative
assessment, would be the accountability measure that establishes whether
or not you have the driving skills necessary for a driver's license—not a
reflection of all the driving practice that leads to it. The same holds true for
classroom instruction, learning, and assessment.

Another distinction that underpins formative assessment is student

involvement. If students are not involved in the assessment process,
formative assessment is not practiced or implemented to its full
effectiveness. Students need to be involved both as assessors of their own
learning and as resources to other students. There are numerous strategies
teachers can implement to engage students. In fact, research shows that the
involvement in and ownership of their work increases students' motivation to
learn. This does not mean the absence of teacher involvement. To the
contrary, teachers are critical in identifying learning goals, setting clear
criteria for success, and designing assessment tasks that provide evidence of
student learning.

One of the key components of engaging students in the assessment of their

own learning is providing them with descriptive feedback as they learn. In
fact, research shows descriptive feedback to be the most significant
instructional strategy to move students forward in their learning. Descriptive
feedback provides students with an understanding of what they are doing
well, links to classroom learning, and gives specific input on how to reach the
next step in the learning progression. In other words, descriptive feedback is
not a grade, a sticker, or "good job!" A significant body of research indicates
that such limited feedback does not lead to improved student learning.

There are many classroom instructional strategies that are part of the
repertoire of good teaching. When teachers use sound instructional practice
for the purpose of gathering information on student learning, they are
applying this information in a formative way. In this sense, formative
assessment is pedagogy and clearly cannot be separated from the
instruction. It is what good teachers do. The distinction lies in what teachers
actually do with the information they gather. How is it being used to inform
instruction? How is it being shared with and engaging students? It's not
teachers just collecting information/data on student learning; it's what they
do with the information they collect.

Some of the instructional strategies that can be used formatively include the
following:

• Criteria and goal setting with students engages them in instruction and the
learning process by creating clear expectations. In order to be successful,
students need to understand and know the learning target/goal and the
criteria for reaching it. Establishing and defining quality work together,
asking students to participate in establishing norm behaviours for classroom
culture, and determining what should be included in criteria for success are
all examples of this strategy. Using student work, classroom tests, or
exemplars of what is expected helps students understand where they are,
where they need to be, and an effective process for getting there.

• Observations go beyond walking around the room to see if students are on

task or need clarification. Observations assist teachers in gathering evidence
of student learning to inform instructional planning. This evidence can be
recorded and used as feedback for students about their learning or as
anecdotal data shared with them during conferences.

• Questioning strategies should be embedded in lesson/unit planning. Asking

better questions allows an opportunity for deeper thinking and provides
teachers with significant insight into the degree and depth of understanding.
Questions of this nature engage students in classroom dialogue that both
uncovers and expands learning. An "exit slip" at the end of a class period to
determine students' understanding of the day's lesson or quick checks
during instruction such as "thumbs up/down" or "red/green" (stop/go) cards
are also examples of questioning strategies that elicit immediate information
about student learning. Helping students ask better questions is another
aspect of this formative assessment strategy.

• Self and peer assessment helps to create a learning community within a

classroom. Students who can reflect while engaged in metacognitive thinking
are involved in their learning. When students have been involved in criteria
and goal setting, selfevaluation is a logical step in the learning process. With
peer evaluation, students see each other as resources for understanding and
checking for quality work against previously established criteria.

• Student record keeping helps students better understand their own

learning as evidenced by their classroom work. This process of students
keeping ongoing records of their work not only engages students, it also
helps them, beyond a "grade," to see where they started and the progress
they are making toward the learning goal.

All of these strategies are integral to the formative assessment process, and
they have been suggested by models of effective middle school instruction.

Summative Evaluation
Summative evaluation (sometime referred to as external) is popularly called
“assessment”, “grading”, “marking”, or “testing". The purpose, according to
Hamp-Lyons and Heasley is “to inform the teacher, the learner and, often,
others, as precisely as possible, how far the learner has progressed towards
control over the written language.” Summative evaluation provides
information on the product's efficacy (its ability to do what it was designed to
do). For example, did the learners learn what they were supposed to learn
after using the instructional module? In a sense, it lets the learner know "how
they did," but more importantly, by looking at how the learner's did, it helps
you know whether the product teaches what it is supposed to teach.

Summative assessment at the classroom level is an accountability measure

that is generally used as part of the grading process. The list is long, but
here are some examples of summative assessments:

• State assessments

• interim assessments

• End-of-unit or chapter tests

• End-of-term or semester exams

• Scores that are used for accountability for schools (AYP) and students
(report card grades) (Saddler, 1998).

The key is to think of summative assessment as a means to gauge, at a

particular point in time, student learning relative to content standards.
Although the information that is gleaned from this type of assessment is
important, it can only help in evaluating certain aspects of the learning
process. Because they are spread out and occur after instruction every few
weeks, months, or once a year, summative assessments are tools to help
evaluate the effectiveness of programs, school improvement goals,
alignment of curriculum, or student placement in specific programs.
Summative assessments happen too far down the learning path to provide
information at the classroom level and to make instructional adjustments
and interventions during the learning process. It takes formative assessment
to accomplish this.

The judgment is recorded for consultation by the learner’s parents, head

teacher, for admission purposes or by other authorities. Once recorded, the
learner cannot do anything to improve on that. Summative evaluation is
typically quantitative, using numeric scores or letter grades to assess learner
achievement, such as 8/10, 12/20, 65/100 or grades such as A-; C+; F.

Ideally, the two modes are complementary. The process of formative

evaluation may be an important component in summative evaluation.

What questions do you hope to answer? You may wish to turn the
programme components that you have identified into questions assessing:

Was the component completed as indicated?

What were the strengths in implementation?

What were the barriers or challenges in implementation?

What were the apparent strengths and weaknesses of each step of the
intervention?

Did the recipient understand the intervention?

Were resources available to sustain project activities? What were staff

perceptions? What were community perceptions?

What was the nature of the interaction between staff and clients?

Process Evaluation

Process evaluation addresses how a project was conducted, in terms of

consistency with the stated plan of action and the effectiveness of the
various activities within the plan.

Why is Process Evaluation Important?

(1) To determine the extent to which the program is being implemented

according to plan

(2) To assess and document the degree of fidelity and variability in program
implementation, expected or unexpected, planned or unplanned

(3) To compare multiple sites with respect to fidelity

(4) To provide validity for the relationship between the intervention and the
outcomes

(5) To provide information on what components of the intervention are

responsible for outcomes
(6) To understand the relationship between program context (i.e., setting
characteristics) and program processes (i.e., levels of implementation).

(7) To provide managers feedback on the quality of implementation

(8) To refine delivery components

(9) To provide program accountability to sponsors, the public, clients, and

funders

10. To improve the quality of the program, as the act of evaluating is an

intervention.

Product evaluation

This is the evaluation of the outcome of the program to decide to accept,

amend, or terminate the program, using criteria directly related to the goals
and objectives (i.e. put desired student outcomes into question form and
survey pre- and post-). Judging training outcome and the costs incurred for a
program offering. This also involves relating the outcomes to pre-specified
objectives and considering both positive and unintended outcomes.

Functions of Evaluation

Evaluation can perform two functions: assessment and feedback. The two
can provide important input to the content and methods for future work.
Hutchinson and Waters (1992:144) stress two prominent levels of evaluation
based on assessment and feedback: ‘learner assessment’ and ‘course
evaluation’.

Learner Assessment

This is the assessment of students performance at strategic points in the

course, e.g., at the beginning or at the end of the course. In ESP, what is
tested is the communicative competence of the learners as ESP is concerned
with the learners’ abilities to perform communicative tasks. This forms a
basis for decisions to be made by sponsors, teachers and learners. A number
of tests are available in EAP/EOP for evaluating learner performance.
Placement tests, achievement tests and proficiency tests are three basic
types of assessment. Although tests are here to stay, there is a pervasive
prejudice against testing (Hutchinson & Waters, 1987). As a matter of fact,
tests play an important role in the teaching-learning process. Tests provide
feedback to inform teachers and learners about what and how they might
improve their future work. Therefore, we need to develop a positive attitude
to tests (Hutchinson & Waters, 1987). Learner assessment is made up of the
following:

(a) Placement Tests

These are tests given to learners at the beginning of a new course. This is to
determine what the learners know in the second language. The teacher uses
the result to place Fthem into suitable classes or groups. Placement tests are
constructed for particular situations. No one placement test will work for
every institution. The key features at different levels of teaching in
institutions must be identified before the construction of the test. If well
constructed, it makes for accurate placement. This kind of test can serve as
needs assessment instrument.

(b) Achievement Tests

Achievement tests are directly related to language courses. They are given
to learners at the end of the course to determine how successful individual
students, group of students or the courses themselves have been able to
achieve the objectives. What are the learners able to do at the end of the
course which they could not do at the beginning? For example, being able to
pronounce the dental sound ‘th’, make simple requests; write good essay
introduction, etc.

Hughes (1989, p. 10) divides achievement tests into two:

• Final achievement tests and

• Progress achievement tests

Final achievement tests are those administered by Ministries of Education

(Junior Secondary Exam in Nigeria); official examining boards like West
African Examination Council that organizes Senior Secondary School
Certificate exams and G. C. E. Ordinary Level. The test is based on detailed
course syllabus or on books and materials used during the course of study.
The advantage is that students are tested on what they have studied.
Success in the exam indicates successful achievement of the course
objectives.

Progress Achievement tests measure the progress the students are making.
It is given during a course to see how far their language ability has
developed. It enables the teacher to assess himself to see how far he is
achieving his objectives, what needs to be re-taught and what to do next. It
makes for progression towards the final achievement test based on course
objectives. For Hughes (1989),

if the syllabus and teaching are appropriate to these objectives, progress

tests based on short-term objectives will fit well with what has been taught.
If

not, there will be pressure to create a better fit. If it is the syllabus that is at
fault, it is the tester’s responsibility to make clear that it is there that change
is needed not in the tests (p. 12).

It should be recalled that evaluation in ESP is an on-going activity.

(c) Proficiency Tests

Proficiency tests are designed to measure people’s ability in a language

regardless of training they may have had in the language (Hughes 1989, p.
9). He defines ‘proficient’ as ‘having sufficient command of the language for
a particular purpose.’ For example, the new aptitude tests by Nigerian
Universities for those in the faculties of Arts and Social sciences is a
proficiency test designed to determine whether a student’s English is good
enough to follow a course of study in the universities in those faculties. The
content of the test does not follow the content or objectives of the language
courses which people taking the test may have studied.

Lindsay and Knight (2006) identify a sub-category of proficiency test known

as “external proficiency examinations” (p. 122). They describe it to mean
that which “may be produced by the Ministry of Education in a particular
country, or by an organization which sets language examination
internationally.” Learners from diverse institutions and countries may take
the examination. The result from the test may be used for job placement or
for admission purposes. Examples are TOFEL (Test of English as a Foreign
Language), IELTS (International English Language Testing System) and ESOL
offered by Cambridge.

Course Evaluation

The course evaluation, the same as learner evaluation, helps to assess

whether the characteristic features of designing the course were met. “In
course evaluation we need to involve all those who share the learning
process in making the ESP course as satisfying to the parties as possible”
(Hutchinson & Waters, 1992, p.156). In course evaluation, factors such as
materials, classroom activities, out-of-class support, course design,
methodology and assessment should be evaluated. However, to evaluate
everything relevant is unrealistic. Priorities should be set and the type and
timing of data collection should be planned (DudleyEvans & St. John, 1998).
In assessing a course, questions as to what, how, who, when and how often
of your evaluation should be asked.

What should be evaluated? This involves the teacher’s ability to collect

information and use them; ability to satisfy the learners’ needs as language
learners and language users. The idea of what should be evaluated,
according to Rea (1983), is that “different areas of evaluation are important
to different people at different times and for different reasons” (p. 90)

How can it be evaluated? It could be through tests, questionnaires,

discussions, interview, comments, etc.

Who should evaluate? The ESP teacher, learners, sponsors or course

designers? It depends on who mounted the course and why it was mounted.

When and how often it could be done? This should not be too often because
it is time consuming, complex and at times frustrating.

That is, after prioritizing what should be evaluated, techniques such as tests,
questionnaire, discussion and interview will be used to collect data. Then, the
information is discussed and conclusions drawn.

Difference between a Summative Evaluation and Learner

Assessment?

Although both might look at the same data, a Learner Assessment generally
looks at how an individual learner performed on a learning task. It assesses a
student's learning -- hence the name Learner Assessment. For example, you
may assess an entire class of students, but you are assessing them
individually to see how each performs.

A Summative Evaluation, on the other hand, looks at more than one learner's
performance to see how well a group did on a learning task that utilized
specific learning materials and methods. By looking at the group, the
instructional designer can evaluate the learning materials and learning
process -- hence the name Summative Evaluation. For example, here you
may find that, as a group, all of the students did well on Section A of some
instructional materials, but didn't do so well on Section B. That would
indicate that the designer should go back and look at the design or delivery
of Section B.
Advantages of Evaluation and Testing

Evaluation is the process of examining a program or process to determine

what's working, what's not, and why. Evaluation determines the value of
programs and acts as blueprints for judgment and improvement (Rossett &
Sheldon, 2001). It provides data as an input to possible change. As a result
of evaluation, programmes may be changed for the better, thus it is used as
part of quality control. Evaluation is a source of information and experience.
From information obtained, the teacher assesses himself, the students and
the material. It ensures that money invested into the programme is not
wasted. It highlights real problems and areas of success in classroom
teaching; Summative evaluation may bring about a systematic programme
of in-service teacher training as the programme being evaluated will have
already been completed (Robinson, 1991). Testing is a tool for needs
analysis ( Umera-Okeke, 2005, p. 80)

Planning For A Test

1. What is the purpose of the test?
2. What should be tested – abilities, skills etc.?
3. Are the test items relevant to the topic?
4. What level of understanding needs to be tested? Comprehension, application, synthesis,
evaluation etc.
5. What is the format? How many sections? How long should each section be (test items)?
6. What method of testing should be used? Objective, written, verbal, subjective etc.
7. When should the test be given? (time)

Types of Classroom Tests

A. Cloze Tests
Developed in 1950, this test is made to assess the difficulty of reading of the F.L. and J.L.L.
It involves deleting a number of words in a passage leaving gaps at regular intervals (can be
5-10 words). Involves fixed ratio deletion. The interval determines the difficulties of the text
i.e. short interval easy reading and vice versa

Methods used include

1. Exact word method, where gaps are filled with exact words
2. Acceptable/alternative word method, which requires the testee to fill the gaps with
equivalent words to the original (synonyms). It is applicable if content words are used,
but not for structural words. Students should be informed about the importance of going
beyond the content.
 Advantages:
 Provides underlying abilities
 Has content validity – representation of linguistic feature has been tested (no biasness
in the word selection)
 Tests grammar – gap filling depends on the knowledge of the sentences.

Conditionalities
 Ensure passage is appropriate to learners level
 Pretest to know the level of difficulty
 Test should be relevant to what is being tested
 Never delete the first sentences (leave 2 or 3 sentences before deletion)
 Deletion should be done at regular intervals
 Give clear instructions
 Contracted words should be counted as one word
 Let learners read passage first before filling in the gaps.

3. Rational selection/competition test where deletion is guided by what is to be tested e.g.

preposition to be tested is deleted. It done in irregular intervals and requires exact word
scoring (not alternative).

Example of a cloze test:

A passage used in ____________ cloze test is ____________ of written material
___________ which have been regularly _______________. The learners must then
________ to construct the passage.

B. The ‘C’ Test

It is a variety of the cloze test. The second part of the second word is deleted. A passage used
in a cloze test is a passage of written material in which words have been regularly delete. The
learners then must try to _____________.

Advantages
 Necessitates exact scoring – the passage short versed – this is a wide range of topics,
styles of writing, students’ abilities
 Good in spelling testing and grammar
 Takes less space and time than a cloze test
 It is harder to do than a cloze test.

C. Essay-type Test
Learners are expected to express themselves freely in writing. The teacher should ensure
whether the writing process is process or product oriented. Beforehand decisions should be
 made on marks awarding. Usually, there is an element of subjectivity and to avoid this, one
should prepare a marking scheme.

Disadvantages:
 Difficult to have the inter rates reliability (2 people marking the same essay)
 Let students do corrections themselves given unambiguous clues
 In marking, indicate the mistakes used using symbols:
 Wrong spelling sp
 Error involving a verb VB
 Wrong tense T
 Wrong use of determiner D
 Countable instead of uncountable noun
 Singular/plural sg/p/
Note: explanation is needed for the symbols used.
 Common errors – have a quick drill involving the whole class

D. Multiple Choice Test

It is an objective type of test

Advantages:
 Saves time during testing
 Suitable for large classes
 Scoring is objective so more reliable
 Can evaluate many language skills at the same time

Disadvantages:
 Unable to test some skills i.e. writing
 Can encourage intelligent guessing meaning the score is representative of learners
capability
 Cheating is possible
 Setting is time consuming
 Difficult to get appropriate distractors

Setting of Test Items

Every test item has a stem. There a number of alternative choices called distractors. Only one
is the correct answer called the key word unless state otherwise e.g. the odd one out etc.
Distractors should be closer to the key but not far removed. The key should not be easily
identifiable. Distractors and the key should be 3 or 4 less will be less challenging so easy to
get the right answers. More will cause confusion. The tense in the stem should be the same in
the distractor. The options should not repeat words that are in the stem e.g.
The secret to succeed in business is to
 A. To be strict with employees
B. Have been on time
C. Not to be generous to relatives
D. Keep records of transactions

Other Types Of Objective Tests

A. Supply or reconstruct a response
Testee required to give a short answer or fill a blank space in a statement with the appropriate
phrase or number e.g. Who was Aminata? A person who invented ______________

B. Choice items
Require the testee to choose a correct answer e.g. true/false, yes/no, right/wrong etc. The
candidate is presented with a declarative statement and is supposed to judge the truth or
falsity of the statement by selecting one e.g. Adjectives describe the quality of a person or
thing. True/false

Advantages:
 Does not encourage guessing

Disadvantages:
 Limits the range of mental process
 Difficult to construct
 Lacks self-expression
 Limits evaluation of many skills like writing.

Backwash Effects
These are effects caused by teaching. They affect classroom learning/teaching. There are two
types:
1. Beneficial backwash effect (Positive effect)
When all the skills that a syllabus contains are examined. It means the teachers will make
efforts to teach all the skills.
2. Harmful backwash effect (negative effect)
A test is regarded as important and it dominates all teaching and learning activities. That
which is not tested is not taught. This means the content and testing techniques are at
variance with the objectives of the course.

Marking and interpretation in Language testing

While setting tests and examinations, ensure you have a well done table of specification. This
assist in the distribution of questions and marks. It will also help to cover all the topics taught to
avoid negative backwash effects. A marking scheme should be put in place to enable fairness.
Marking should be objective and assignment of marks guided by the marking scheme. Tallying
should be done properly to allow a clear picture in the performance of every student. This will in
turn give feedback to the teacher’s strategies of teaching and allow adjustments where need be.