Topic 3 Language Assessment (TSL3123)

1. Lecturer: Yee Bee Choo
IPGKTHO

2. Types
of Test
Norm-
Referenced
and
Criterion-
Referenced
Objective
and
Subjective
Formative
and
Summative
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3. According to Brown (2010), in NRTs an individual
test-taker’s score is interpreted in relation to a
mean (average score), median (middle score),
standard deviation (extent of variance in scores),
and/or percentile rank.
The purpose of such tests is to place test-takers
along a mathematical continuum in rank order.
In a test, scores are commonly reported back to the
test-taker in the form of a numerical score for
example, 250 out of 300 and a percentile rank for
instance 78 percent, which denotes that the test-
taker’s score was higher than 78 percent of the
total number of test-takers but lower than 22
percent in the administration.
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5. NRT is administered to compare an
individual performance with his peers’
and/or compare a group with other groups.
In the School-Based Evaluation, NRT is used
for the summative evaluation, such as in the
end of the year examination for the
streaming and selection of students.
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6. Gottlieb (2006) refers Criterion-referenced
tests as the collection of information about
student progress or achievement in relation
to a specified criterion.
In a standards-based assessment model,
the standards serve as the criteria or
yardstick for measurement.
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7. Following Glaser (1973), the word ‘criterion’
means the use of score values that can be
accepted as the index of attainment to a
test-taker.
Thus, CRTs are designed to provide
feedback to test-takers, mostly in the form
of grades, on specific course or lesson
objectives.
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9. Curriculum Development Centre (2001)
defines CRT as an approach that provides
information on student’s mastery based on
the criteria determined by the teacher.
These criteria are based on learning
outcomes or objectives as specified in the
syllabus.
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10. The main advantage of CRTs is that they provide
the testers to make inferences about how much
language proficiency, in the case of language
proficiency tests, or knowledge and skills, in the
aspect of academic achievement tests, that test
takers/students originally have and their
successive gains over time.
As opposed to NRTs, CRTs focus on student’s
mastery of a subject matter (represented in the
standards) along a continuum instead of ranking
student on a bell curve.
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11. Norm-Referenced Test Criterion-Referenced Test
Definition A test that measures
student’s achievement as
compared to other
students in the group
An approach that provides
information on student’s
mastery based on a criterion
specified by the teacher
Purpose •Determine performance
difference among
individual and groups
•Foster learning
•Determine learning mastery
based on specified criterion
and standard
•Classify/ Group students
Test Item From easy to difficult level
and able to discriminate
examinee’s ability
Guided by minimum
achievement in the related
objectives
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12. Norm-Referenced Test Criterion-Referenced Test
Group size Large group Relatively small group
Range of
tested
ability
Wide range of abilities Relatively homogenous
Text length Large number of questions Few questions
Time
allocation
Long (2-4 hours)
administration
Relatively short time
Cost Test booklet, delivery fee,
invigilation and examiner’s
fee
Teacher-made, duplication
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13. Norm-Referenced Test Criterion-Referenced Test
Expectation Do not know content Know content to expect
Levels of
Generality
Overall/ Global Classroom, specific
Types of
Test
Aptitude, Proficiency,
Placement
Diagnostic, progress,
achievement
Appropriate
ness
Summative evaluation Formative evaluation
Example Public exams: UPSR, SPM
and STPM
Mastery test: monthly test,
coursework, project,
exercises
Score report
strategies
Only scores go to students Scores and answers go to
students
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14. Formative test is a kind of feedback teachers give
students while the course is progressing.
Formative assessment can be seen as assessment
for learning.
It is part of the instructional process.
We can think of formative assessment as
“practice.”
With continual feedback the teachers may assist
students to improve their performance.
The teachers point out on what the students have
done wrong and help them to get it right.
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15. Based on the results of formative test, the
teachers can suggest changes to the focus of
curriculum or emphasis on some specific lesson
elements.
Students may also need to change and improve.
Due to the demanding nature of this formative
test, numerous teachers prefer not to adopt this
test although giving back any assessed
homework or achievement test present both
teachers and students healthy and ultimate
learning opportunities.
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16. Summative test refers to the kind of
measurement that summarise what the student
has learnt or give a one-off measurement.
Summative assessment is assessment of student
learning.
Students are more likely to experience
assessment carried out individually where they
are expected to reproduce discrete language
items from memory.
The results then are used to yield a school report
and to determine what students know and do not
know.
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17. It does not necessarily provide a clear picture of an
individual’s overall progress or even his/her full
potential, especially if he/she is hindered by the fear
factor of physically sitting for a test, but may provide
straightforward and invaluable results for teachers to
analyse.
It is given at a point in time to measure student
achievement in relation to a clearly defined set of
standards, but it does not necessarily show the way
to future progress.
It is given after learning is supposed to occur.
End of the year tests in a course and other general
proficiency exams are some of the examples of
summative tests.
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18. Summative Test Formative Test
It measures students’
competency
It improves individual
It provides feedback to students
It assess students’ overall
performance
It assess students’ mastery and
understanding of skills
End of instruction Before or during instruction
End of year On-going throughout the year
Aligned to content area state
standards
Linked to learning experience
Final exams
Entrance exams
Anecdotal records
Quizzes and essays
Diagnostic tests
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19. According to BBC Teaching English, an
objective test is a test that consists of right or
wrong answers and thus it can be marked
objectively.
Objective tests are popular because they are
easy to prepare and take, quick to mark, and
provide a quantifiable and concrete result.
They tend to focus more on specific facts
than on general ideas and concepts.
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20. The types of objective tests include the
following:
i. Multiple-choice items/questions
ii. True-false items/questions:
iii. Matching items/questions; and
iv. Fill-in the blanks items/questions.
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21. Multiple-choice items are all receptive, or
selective, response items in that the test-takers
chooses from a set of responses rather than
creating a response.
Multiple-choice question is select type where
students are expected to select or choose answer
from a list of options
Fill-in the blank question is supply type where
the students are expected to supply the answer
by giving the correct word or phrases because no
optional responses are provided.
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22. Stimulus Item Options Key Distractors
MCQ
item
Terminology in Multiple-Choice Question (MCQ):
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23. Terminology in MCQ:
1. Stimulus
Stimulus can be used with a multiple choice
item, something like a bar graph, a table, a
map, a short text, etc.
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24. Terminology in MCQ :
2. Stem
Every multiple-choice item consists of a stem
(the ‘body’ of the item that presents a stimulus).
Stem is the question or assignment in an item.
It is in a complete or open, positive or negative
sentence form.
Stem must be short or simple, compact and clear.
However, it must not easily give away the right
answer.
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25. Terminology in MCQ :
3. Options or alternatives
They are known as a list of possible
responses to a test item.
There are usually between three and five
options/alternatives to choose from.
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26. Terminology in MCQ :
4. Key
This is the correct response.
The response can either be correct or the
best one.
Usually for a good item, the correct answer is
not obvious as compared to the distractors.
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27. Terminology in MCQ :
5. Distractors
This is known as a ‘disturber’ that is included
to distract students from selecting the correct
answer.
An excellent distractor is almost the same as
the correct answer but it is not.
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28. 1. Which city would you go to if you want to
experience snowfall?
STIMULUS
STEM
KEY
DISTRACTORS
COMPONENTS OF MCQ ITEM
World Weather : Min[C] Max [C]
Amsterdam 12 17 partly cloudy
Beijing 14 32 clear
Geneva 11 16 rain
Toronto -01 08 partly cloudy
Johannesburg 09 17 clear
Los Angeles 10 21 cloudy
Mexico City 13 20 partly cloudy
A. Geneva
B. Johannesburg
C. Toronto
D. Beijing
OPTIONS
Objective Test
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29. CRITERIA OF A GOOD ITEM BUILDER
Understands:
 Syllabus Specifications
 Current circulars
 Exam format
 Textbook
 Table of Specifications (JSU)

30. Guidelines when constructing MCQ:
1. Design an item to measure an important
learning outcome.
2. Present a single, clearly formulated
problem in the stem.
3. Stem – simple, clear language
4. Put as much of the wording as possible in
the stem.
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31. Guidelines when constructing MCQ:
5. State the item in the positive form
wherever possible.
6. Emphasise negative wording whenever it is
used in the stem. Use: caps, underlining,
placing near the end of the stem etc.
7. Intended answer – correct, the best
8. Make all the alternatives grammatically
consistent.
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32. Guidelines when constructing MCQ :
9. Avoid verbal clues which might enable
students to select the correct answer or to
eliminate an incorrect alternative.
a. Similarity of wording in both the stem and
the key/correct answer.
b. Stating the correct answer in textbook
language or sterotype phraseology.
c. stating the correct answer in greater detail.
d. Including absolute terms in the distractors –
use of ‘never’, ‘all’, none’, ‘always’ etc.
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33. Guidelines when constructing MCQ :
10. Make the distractors plausible and attractive to the
informed.
a. Use common misconceptions and/or errors as
distractors.
b. State the alternatives in the language of the students.
c. Use good sounding words e.g. ‘accurate’, ‘important’
etc. in the distractors as well as the correct answer.
d. Make the distractors similar.
e. Do not use extraness/irrelevant unrelated clues in
the distractors.
f. Make the alternatives homogenous.
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34. Guidelines when constructing MCQ :
11. Vary the length of the correct answer to eliminate
length as a clue.
12. Use the alternatives, ‘all of the above’ and ‘none of
the above’ with extreme caution.
13. Vary the position of the correct answer in a random
manner.
14. Control the difficulty of the items either by varying
the problem in the stem or by changing the
alternatives.
15. Make certain each item is independent.
16. Use an efficient item format for ease of scoring.
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35. Advantages in using multiple-choice items:
versatility in measuring all levels of cognitive
ability.
highly reliable test scores.
scoring efficiency and accuracy.
objective measurement of student achievement
or ability.
a wide sampling of content or objectives.
a reduced guessing factor when compared to
true-false items.
different response alternatives which can provide
diagnostic feedback.
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36. Weaknesses of multiple-choice items (Brown,
2004):
This technique tests only recognition knowledge
Guessing may have a considerable effect on test
scores
This technique severely restricts what can be
tested
It is very difficult to write successful items
Washback may be harmful
Cheating may be facilitated
Difficult and time-consuming
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37. Contrary to an objective test, a subjective test
is evaluated by giving an opinion, usually
based on agreed criteria.
Subjective tests include essay, short-answer,
vocabulary, and take-home tests.
Some students become very anxious of these
tests because they feel their writing skills are
not up to par.
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38. In reality, a subjective test provides more
opportunity to test-takers to show/demonstrate
their understanding and/or in-depth knowledge
and skills in the subject matter.
In this case, test takers might provide some
acceptable, alternative responses that the tester,
teacher or test developer did not predict.
Generally, subjective tests will test the higher
skills of analysis, synthesis, and evaluation.
In short, subjective test will enable students to be
more creative and critical.
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39. Objective Test Subjective Test
Require students to select a
correct answers from several
options or supply a word or short
phrase to answer a question
Require students to write and
present an original answer
Only one correct answer More than one correct answer
Facts and data Opinions and interpretations
MCQ, True/False, Fill-in the
blanks, Matching
Short-answer essay, essay,
problem solving, extended-
response questions
Fair and free of bias Open to interpretation
Short time is needed Longer time is needed
Difficult to construct the
question
Easy to construct the questions
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