WITH increased attention on learner-centered curricula, needs analysis, and learner autonomy, the topic of self-assessment has become of particular interest in testing and evaluation. It is now being recognized that learners do have the ability to provide meaningful input into the assessment of their performance, and that this assessment can be valid. However, issues concerning the validity and reliability of language self-assessment need to be addressed.
To be able to correctly assess their behaviour, learners need to know exactly what it is they are trying to assess. Many language constructs, such as proficiency and communicative competence, must be clearly operationalized and communicated to ensure the validation of assessment among learners.
An additional consideration of validity is whether different language skills are comparable for assessment. They are probably not, and learners must be made aware of this. The degree to which language learners are able to carry out valid self-assessments will depend on the nature of the skills being assessed and the relative accuracy with which learners can define and use. The reliability of learners' judgment is subject to variables whose influence on the learner is difficult to establish. Extraneous factors, such as parental expectations, career aspirations, past academic records and lack of training in self-assessment, affect the accuracy of self-estimates.
Furthermore, because reliability depends on systematic analysis, the question is raised as to whether short-term self-assessments are consistent. So learners need to be asked to assess their performance on a regular basis.
LANGUAGE testing has traditionally taken the form of testing knowledge about the language, usually testing vocabulary and grammar. However, there is much more to being able to use the language than just having knowledge about it. Communicative competence is the ability to use language appropriately in real situations.
Communicative language tests are intended to be a measure of how the testees are able to use the language in real life situations. In testing productive skills, emphasis is placed on appropriateness rather than on ability to form grammatically correct sentences. In testing receptive skills, emphasis is placed on understanding the communicative intent of the speaker or writer rather than on picking out specific details. And, in fact, the two are often combined in communicative testing. Communicative tests are often very context-specific. A communicative language test should be based on a description of the language that the testees need to use.
There is necessarily a subjective element to the evaluation of communicative tests. Real life situations don't always have objectively right or wrong answers, and so band scales need to be developed to evaluate the results. Each band has a description of the quality (and sometimes quantity) of the receptive or productive performance of the testee.
Communicative language tests are those which make an effort to test language in a way that reflects the way that language is used in real communication. It is not always possible to make language tests communicative, but it may often be possible to give them communicative elements. This can have beneficial backwash effects. If students are encouraged to study for more communicative tasks, this can have a positive effect on their language learning.
What Do We Test When We Test Reading Comprehension?
AS ESL/EFL teachers, we are aware that the primary objective of reading is comprehension--being able to find meaning in what is read. However, some teachers may not be aware that the comprehension questions should not only test students' ability to understand and recall information directly stated in the given text.
When preparing reading tests, teachers need to be aware that there are actually three main levels of comprehension.
The first level is literal comprehension. Comprehension at this level involves surface meanings. Teachers can ask students to find information that is explicitly stated in the text.
The second level is interpretive comprehension. At this level, students read for deeper meanings. They must be able to read critically and analyze carefully what they have read. Interpretive comprehension includes thinking processes such as drawing conclusions, making generalizations and predicting outcomes.
The third level of comprehension is critical reading where ideas and information are evaluated. Critical evaluation occurs only after students have understood the ideas and information that the writer has presented.
Although comprehension takes place at several levels, mastery at any one level is not a prerequisite to comprehension at another level. Language teachers need to keep in mind that the three levels are not distinct. The divisions are only intended as a guide for teachers when preparing reading assessments.
MANY educators around the world find themselves in growing schools or programmes where more students need placement in appropriate classes. Here are several important steps to creating good placement tests.
First, the assessment team should include administrators responsible for students and the curriculum, teachers representing a cross-section of classes, and the testees.
Second, the test objectives should be outlined using the following questions: What is the aim of the test? What should be tested? Why? How should it be tested?
Third, choose a test type. For placement tests involving speaking and writing, direct testing is best because these two productive skills provide something that can be directly observed and measured. For placement tests involving listening and reading, indirect testing should be used as these two receptive skills yield something that can neither be directly observed nor measured.
Fourth, the test content can be determined by some questions like: How many sections should the test contain? How many items should there be in each section? What text types should be chosen? What language skills should be tested?
Fifth, create the test.The test questions should be as easy as possible for the testees to understand and process.
Sixth, develop scoring guides. Scoring guides are intended for the markers of the placement test to help them assess the testees' performances reliably and consistently. Scoring guides are applicable to subjective or open-ended questions.
Seventh, the placement test itself should be tested. Analyzing the results will yield important information about the test items and the test itself.
