Test lll Flashcards
(44 cards)
Evaluation
Usually, an ongoing strategy through which student learning is monitored.
An interactive process that engages both teacher and student in monitoring the student’s performance.
Means of evaluation:
Justify
Negotiate
Modify opinions
Procedures and attitudes are evaluated to:
To improve students’ performance
To develop the teaching program
To illuminate the teaching and learning process.
Evaluation is to testing:
What curriculum is the syllabus.
Tests
Evidence for decision-makers.
Feedback for language students concerning their progress.
Serve as a monitoring device for learning.
Given at a particular point in time to “sample” student learning.
A reporting takes place: a single score or grade.
Have a degree of secrecy in order to assure confidentiality
Testing General principles
Usefulness (Bachman & Palmer, 1996)
The Cornerstones (Combee & Hubley, nd)
Procedures
Instruments
Test types
Question types
Weighing
Test qualities: Bachman & Palmer:
Usefulness=
Construct Validity
Reliability
Authenticity
Interactiveness
Impact
Practicality
The Cornerstones of Testing
(Coombe & Hubley, nd)
Usefulness
Validity
Reliability
Authenticity
Security
Transparency
Washback
Practicality
Test types:
Placement (places you in an appropriate course or class)
Progress (Normal test)
Achievement (Graduation, end exam)
Proficiency (Identifies language level by a common framework, developed by external bodies)
Diagnostic (Identifies deficiencies)
Computer-based (can be any)
Test items
Closed (objective)
MCQs (objective questions)
Main idea
True/False/Not given
Matching
Finding mistakes
Underlining
Differentiated instruction because students:
Have different needs
Come from different educational backgrounds
Have different attention spans and interests
Have different language abilities
Have different cultural backgrounds
Alternatives in assessment
Emerged in the 1990s.
To assemble additional measures.
To triangulate data about Sts.
To promote fairness and balance.
Contextualized to curriculum.
Referenced to the criteria of that curriculum.
Build intrinsic motivation.
Language Ability
(Bachman & Palmer, 1996)
Beyond the 4 language skills and several language components…
A “construct”, defined on the basis of performance on language tests, that involves two components:
Language competence = knowledge
Strategic competence = metacognition
Portafolios:
A portfolio is a purposeful collection of students’ work that demonstrates to the students and others their efforts, progress, and achievements in given areas.
Specific focus, such as writing, or broad focus that includes examples of all aspects of language development.
Can be Essays, artwork, personal reflections, tests, audio, video.
Benefits of portafolios:
Foster
Intrinsic motivation
Responsibility
Tangible evidence of Sts’ work.
Critical thinking
Collaborative work
Assessment of multiple aspects of language learning and aptitudes.
Successful portfolios:
State objectives clearly
Purpose: Collecting, reflecting, assessing, documenting, linking, evaluating.
Give guidelines on what materials to include.
Communicative assessment criteria to Sts.
Self-Assessment
Peer Assessment
Teacher Assessment
Journals
A log (or “account”) of one’s thoughts, feelings, reactions, assessments, ideas, or progress toward goals.
Little attention to structure or form.
Types of journals:
Language-learning
Skills, strategies, language categories.
Grammar
Grammar acquisition (awareness of error)
Responses to readings / videos / films /presentations
Self-assessment reflections
Diaries of attitudes, feelings…
Self-understanding.
Dialogue journals.
Interaction between teacher and student
Successful journals:
Introduce Sts to the concept of journal.
State the objectives (see types)
Give what kind of topics to include.
Clarify assessment criteria
Content is more important than form.
Provide optimal feedback
Cheerleading feedback
Encourage Sts to persevere
Instructional feedback
Strategies, materials
Reality-check feedback
Designate time.
Provide positive final assessment.
Conferences and Interviews
Conversation that facilitates the improvement of both oral and written work.
One-on-one interaction between teacher and student.
Direct feedback toward a student’s specific needs.
Self and Peer-assessments
Self-Assessment
Autonomy
To set one’s own goal
Intrinsic motivation
Peer Assessment
Autonomy
Intrinsic motivation
Cooperative learning
Types of self and peer assessments
Assessment of a specific performance
Indirect assessment of a general competence
Metacognitive assessment
Setting goals
Socio Affective assessment
Social and affective factors in learning.
Usefulness principles for Bachman and Palmer
1: It is the overall usefulness of the test that is to be maximized, rather than the individual qualities that affect usefulness.
2: The individual test qualities cannot be evaluated independently, but must be evaluated in terms of their combined effect on the overall usefulness of the test
3: Test usefulness and the appropriate balance among the different qualities cannot be prescribed in general, but must be determined for each specific testing situation.
Bachman’s and Palmer’s interactiveness
The interactiveness of a given language test task can be characterized in the terms of the ways it activates the test takers areas of language knowledge, metacognitive strategies, topical knowledge, and affective schemata.
