Test Techniques

by Maria Lavella Torregosa

Direct versus Indirect Testing

• Direct testing

• When it requires the candidate to perform precisely the

skill that the test wishes to measure.

• Easier to carry out when it is intended to measure the

productive skills of speaking and writing.

• Has a number of attractions:

1. Clear assessment

2. Productive skills (assessment and interpretation)

3. Backwash effect

• Indirect testing

• Attempts to measure the abilities that underlie the

skills in which the test is interested.

• Contains underlined items which the student needs

to identify as erroneous or inappropriate in formal

standard English

• Example: pronunciation ability by a paper and

pencil test

Some tests are referred to as semi – direct.

Examples:

Speaking tests where candidates respond to tape-

recorded stimuli, with their own responses being

recorded and later scored.

DISCRETE POINT VERSUS

INTEGRATIVE TESTING

• (a) Discrete

– a completely discrete – point item would test

simply one point or objective such as testing for the

meaning of a word in isolation.

Example:

Choose the correct meaning of the word paralysis.

(A)Inability to move

(B)State of unconscious

(C)State of shock

(D)Being in pain

• Discrete point testing

• Refers to the testing of one element at a time, item

by item. This might take the form of series of items

• For example:

• Each testing a particular grammatical structure

Integrative testing

• Requires the candidate to combine many language

elements in the completion of a task.

• This might involve writing a composition, making

notes while listening to a lecture, taking a dictation, or

completing a cloze passage.

• This distinction is not unrelated to that between

indirect and direct testing:

• discrete point tests almost always be indirect;

• integrative tend to be direct. However, some

integrative testing methods, such as the cloze

procedure, are indirect.

• Diagnostic tests of grammar is discrete

• Integrative test

• Refers to an integrative item that would test more

than one point or objective at a time.

(e.g., comprehension of words, and ability to use

them correctly in context).

Example:

Demonstrate your comprehension of the

following words by using them together in a written

paragraph: “paralysis,” “accident,” and “football.”

• Integrative item is really more a procedure than an

item, as in the case of a free composition, which could

test a number of objectives;

Example:

Use of appropriate vocabulary

Use of sentence level discourse

Organization

Statement of thesis and supporting

evidence

• For example:

Write a one- page essay describing three sports

and the relative likelihood of being injured while

playing them competitively.

Norm – referenced versus

Criterion-referenced

Testing

Two basic types of language test:

1. Norm – referenced

2. Criterion – referenced

• Norm-referenced test

Students’ scores are interpreted relative to each

other in a normal distribution scheme (bell curve).

The idea is to spread the students out on a

continuum of knowledge/ ability in order to facilitate

proficiency and placement decisions.

• Criterion-referenced exams

• Measure student ability against a predetermined

standard

Ex. The learning objectives of a specific course or

unit of a course.

The interpretation of the scores is absolute and may

be representational of the amount of course material

that the student has learned

Criterion-referenced tests are by far themost commonly used by teachers inlanguage courses, as they are used tomeasure achievement and to diagnosestrengths and weaknesses.

It is in order to foster reflection on thepossible uses of norm-referenced tests(NRT) and criterion-referenced tests(CRT).

Objective versus

Subjective Testing

The distinction is between methods of scoring.

• Objective

• No judgment is required on the part of the scorer

Ex. A multiple choice test, with the correct

responses unambiguously identified, would be a

case in point.

• Subjective

• If judgment is called

There are different degrees of subjectivity in testing.

1. The impressionistic scoring of a composition

may be considered more subjective than scoring

of short answers in response to questions on a

reading passage

Objectivity in scoring is sought after by many

testers, not for itself, but for the greater reliability it

brings.

In general, the less subjective the scoring, the

greater agreement there will be between two different

scores ( and between the scores of one person scoring

the same test paper on different occasions).