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Prepared by Joanna I. Omer
3- Language Testing
–History of language testing.
–Testing, the definition.
–The purpose of language testing.
–The general and specific objectives of
testing.
.
History of language testing
Spolsky (1978) classified the development of
language testing into three periods, or trends:
the prescientific period
the psychometric/structuralist period
the integrative/sociolinguistic period.
History of language testing
Prescientific period (b/f 1950s)
(grammar translation method) GTM, reading-oriented
methods
Psychometric-structuralist period (1950s-1960s)
structural linguistics, behavioral psychology, discrete
point tests
Integrative-sociolinguistic period (a/f 1960s)
communicative language ability
The prescientific period
 grammar-translation approaches to language
teaching
 translation and free composition tests
 difficult to score objectively
 no statistical techniques applied to validate the
tests
 simple, but unfair to students
The psychometric-structuralist period
• audio-lingual and related teaching methods
• objectivity, reliability, and validity of tests
considered
• measure discrete structure points
• multiple-choice format (standardized tests)
• follow scientific principles, have trained
linguists and language testers
The integrative-sociolinguistic period
–
Chomsky’s (1965) distinction of competence and
performance
• Competence: an ideal speaker-listener’s knowledge
of the rules of the language;
• performance: the actual use of language in
concrete situations
–
Hymes’s (1972) proposal of communicative
competence
• the ability of native speakers to use their language
in ways that are not only linguistically accurate but
also socially appropriate.
The integrative-sociolinguistic period
–
Canale & Swain’s (1980) framework of communicative
competence:
• Grammatical competence, mastery of the language
code such as morphology, lexis, syntax, semantics,
phonology;
• Sociolinguistic competence, mastery of appropriate
language use in different sociolinguistic contexts;
• Discourse competence, mastery of how to achieve
coherence and cohesion in spoken and written
communication
• Strategic competence, mastery of communication
strategies used to compensate for breakdowns in
communication and to enhance the effectiveness of
communication.
The integrative-sociolinguistic period
–
Bachman’s (1990)’s framework of communicative language
ability:
• Language competence: grammatical, sociolinguistic, and
discourse competence (Canale & Swain):
– organizational competence
» grammatical competence
» textual competence
– pragmatic competence
» illocutionary competence
» sociolinguistic competence
• Strategic competence: performs assessment, planning,
and execution functions in determining the most effective
means of achieving a communicative goal
• Psycho-physiological mechanisms: characterize the
channel (auditory, visual) and mode (receptive,
productive)
The integrative-sociolinguistic period
• Oller’s (1979) pragmatic proficiency test:
–Temporally and sequentially consistent with the real world
occurrences of language forms
–Linking to a meaningful extralinguistic context familiar to the
testees
• Clark’s (1978) direct assessment: approximating to
the greatest extent the testing context to the real
world
• Cloze test and dictation (Yang, 2002b)
• Communicative testing or to test communicatively
The integrative-sociolinguistic period
• Performance tests (Brown, Hudson, Norris, & Bonk,
2002; Norris, 1998)
–Not discrete-point in nature
–Integrating two or more of the language skills of listening,
speaking, reading, writing, and other aspects like cohesion
and coherence, suprasegmentals, paralinguistics, kinesics,
pragmatics, and culture
–Task-based: essays, interviews, extensive reading tasks
Language testing, a sub-field within
applied linguistics, has evolved and
expanded in a number of ways in the
past decades.
Definitions
Language assessment or language testing is a field of study
under the umbrella of applied linguistics. Its main focus is the
assessment of first, second or other languages in the school,
college, or university context.
(Madsen,1983)
Thornbury 2006: testing is a form assessment. It can happen at
any stage of the teaching/learning process.
McNamara 2000: testing is a universal feature of social life.
Richards 1992: testing is the use of tests (any procedure for
meaning ability, knowledge, or performance), or the study of the
theory and practice of their use, development, evaluation.
In general, testing is finding out how well something works. In
terms of human beings, testing tells what level of knowledge or
skill has been acquired.
Definitions
Another definition of Language Testing is that …
Language testing: is a branch of applied linguistics. It is
evident that the field is interdisciplinary. That is, it draws on a
wide number of perspectives associated with different
disciplines.(Educational Theories, Linguistics, Applied
Linguistics, Educational Measurement, Educational Statistics,
Computer Science, and etc.).
In TEFL, this is a theoretical concept, concerned with testing
theories, test construction principles and methods, test
results analysis and interpretation, and etc.
Definitions
So …
Learners are often given placement tests in order to ascertain
their level. They may also be given some kind of diagnostic test in
order to identify their particular needs. In order to monitor the
learning process, learners may then be given periodic tests during
their course (progress tests), and at the end of the course
(achievement tests). (these are called formative and summative
tests, respectively).
(Thornbury, 2006)
So What is a test?
A test is a method of measuring a person’s ability or
knowledge in a given domain (lg, maths, car driving, etc.).
method
ability
domain
measure
(Brown, 2004)
What is a test?
• Measure – what? How?
– General ability / specific
knowledge
– Individual ability and
performance
– % | AA | Pass/Fail – must
have result
• The person
– Appropriate?
– Interpretation?
– Relevance?
• Performance
– Competence (actual use of
language)
– Metalanguage (e.g.
grammar); Skills (e.g. infer)
• Domain
– General competence (e.g.
proficiency)
– Specific criteria (e.g.
vocabulary, pronunciation,
grammar)
Method
A test is a method –i.e. it’s a set of techniques,
procedures, and items which constitute an
instrument of some sort that requires
performance or activity on the part of the testtaker.
The method can be intuitive or informal (e.g. a
holistic impression on someone’s
pronunciation), or formal, explicit and structured,
as with m-c tests.
Measure (1)
Some measurements are broad & inexact; others
are quantified in mathematically precise terms.
 The difference bt formal & informal assessment
is very much associated to the quantification of
data. Thus, informal & intuitive judgement made
by teachers as part of everyday teaching is
difficult to quantify –i.e. judgements are rendered
in global terms. So we say “poor reader”, “he
pronounces well”, etc.
Measure (2)

On the other hand, formal tests, in which
carefully planned techniques of
assessment are used, rely more on
quantification, especially for comparison either
within an individual (say, at beginning & end of
course) or across individuals.
Ability
A test measures ability or competence: it
samples performance but infers certain
competence. E.g.:
 A driving test requires a sample of performance
on the part of the test-taker
& that performance is used by tester(s) to infer
the person’s general competence to drive a car.
Similarly,
 A lg test samples lg behavior and infers general
ability in a lg.
Domain
 A test measures a given domain.
 In the case of a proficiency test, although the
actual performance involves only a sampling of
skills, that domain is overall proficiency in a lg
general proficiency in all skills of a lg.
What makes a good test?
A well-constructed
test is….
What makes a good test?
“A well-constructed test is an instrument that
provides an accurate measure of a test taker's
ability within a particular domain.”
(Brown, 2003)
Purposes of assessment (1)
Five main reasons to carry out assessment of
student language learning.
Assessment is done…
for placement purposes –i.e. to know exactly in
what lg program or course the student needs to
register;
for diagnostic purposes –i.e. to detect
difficulties and modify lg teaching accordingly
(formative);
Purposes of assessment (2)
to detect student progress or achievement in lg
learning –i.e. whether student lg ability has
improved by the middle or the end of the lg
course than at the beginning (progress) or
whether students have earned what they were
supposed to learn in the lg course (achievement);
to establish student level of lg proficiency
–e.g. so as to be accepted in an English-speaking
university;
For accountability purposes.
The Purposes of Language Testing
The main purposes of language testing are those
of selection, feedback, evaluation and research.
1.Selection for more advanced courses and
institutions;
2.Providing for feedback to the syllabus so that there
is some of that external validity for language
teaching which the writer suggested earlier exists
in language testing but not in language teaching;
The Purposes of Language Testing
3. The evaluation of material and methods – an
important but somehow under-used activity,
perhaps because of the lack of agreement on how
to begin judgment on materials or a project or
methods since they are so often complete in
themselves and can therefore be judged only in
their own terms.
4. Experimentation, where it is normal for
measurement to be made during the experiment,
and for further testing of a more specific kind to be
carried out after the experiment is over in order to
determine how meaningful ‘significant’ the results
are.
General Objectives of testing
 tests serve two purposes: Educational and
Research.
 Educational purposes
Student’s progress
Effectiveness of teaching
Placement
 Research
Serve research
Is served by research
The General Objectives of Language
Testing
Tests are used;
 In teaching as a means to ensure effective
teaching, to improve teaching quality, to obtain
feedback on student learning progress, to validate
teaching programs, and to select certain
candidates for a job or for a place on a course.
 In learning, tests are used to measure students’
language ability, to discover how much they have
been learning, to diagnose students’ strengths and
weaknesses, and to motivate students in learning.
The General Objectives of Language
Testing
 In research
Language tests have a potentially important role in
virtually all research, both basic and applied, that is
related to the nature of language proficiency, language
processing, language acquisition, language attrition,
and language teaching.
The specific Objectives and Aims of
Tests
Why tests?
 Diagnose students strengths and needs.
 Provide feedback on student learning.
 Provide a basis for instructional placement.
 Inform and guide instruction.
 Communicate learning expectations.
 Motivate and focus students’ attention and
effort.
 Provide practice applying knowledge and skills.
References
1. Bachman, Lyle F. 1990. Fundamental Considerations in
Language Testing. Shanghai: SFEP.
2. Palmer, S. and Bachman, F. 1996. Language Testing in
Practice: Designing and Developing Useful Language
Tests.
3. Davies, A. (1990). Principles of Language Testing.
4. Richards, C., Richards; Platt, J. and Platt, H. (1992).
Dictionary of Language Teaching & Applied Linguistics.
5. Madsen, S. Harold. (1983). Techniques in Testing.
References
6. Heaton, J. B. (1988). Writing English language tests.
Longman.
7. Nakamura, Y., & Valens, M. (2001). Teaching and testing
oral communication skills. Journal of Humanities and
Natural Sciences.
8. Johnson, K. and Johnson, H. (1999). Encyclopedic
Dictionary of Applied Linguistics.
9. Thornbury, S. (2006). An A – Z of ELT: A Dictionary of
Terms and Concepts.
10. Mc Mamara, T. (2000). Language Testing.

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