Approaches to Language Testing
References:
Brown, D.H. (2004)
Heaton, J.B. (1988)
Essay Translation Approach
Structualist Approach
Integrative Approach
Communicative Approach
Computer-based Testing
The Essay Translation
Approach (ETA)
•Referred as the pre-scientific
stage of language testing
Characteristics •
No special skills or expertise in
of ETA tests
testing is required
• Essay writing, translation,
grammatical analysis
• Having a heavy literacy &
Test types cultural bias
• Oral component at Inter. or
advanced level (additional)
Advantages of ETA
Essay translation tests can be used for
testing all levels of testees.
It is easy to follow as the test marker
simply gives subjective judgments.
Limitations of ETA
Subjective judgment teacher biased;
scores obtained low reliability
The tests have a heavy literary and
cultural bias.
The Structuralist Approach (ST)
Characteristics of the SA
This approach views that language learning is
chiefly concerned with systematic acquisition of a
set of habits.
It involves structural linguistics which stresses the
importance of contrastive analysis and the need
to identify & measure learners’ mastery of
separate elements of the target language such as
vocabulary, grammar and pronunciation.
Testing the skills of listening, speaking, reading is separated
from one another as much as possible.
The psychometric approach to measurement with its emphasis
on reliability and objectivity forms an integral part of structural
testing.
The need for statistic measures of reliability and validity
is considered to be the utmost importance in testing, so
multiple choice items are popular.
Advantages of the SA
Tests based on this approach will help testees find their
strengths & weakness in every language skill as each skill is
tested a t a time.
The validity of the test is high as it can measure what it is
intended to measure.
Limitations of structuralist testing
Speaking & writing skills cannot be measured
by multiple choice items.
This approach considers measuring non-
integrated skills, not integrated skills.
The Integrative Approach
(IA)
Characteristics & Types of Tests
in Integrative Testing
This approach involves testing language in context
& is primarily concerned with meaning & the total
communicative effect of discourse.
Integrative tests assess learners’ ability to use two
or more skills simultaneously.
Integrative tests are concerned with a global view
of proficiency.
Integrative testing involves functional language
but not the use of functional language.
The use of cloze test, dictation, oral interview,
translation & essay writing are included in many
integrative tests.
Cloze
tests
The Integrative
Tests
Dictation
Cloze testing Dictation
Used to measure
reader’s ability to
decode previously regarded
“interrupted” or solely as a means of
“mutilated” measuring
messages by students’ skills of
making the most listening
acceptable comprehension
substitutions from
the contextual
clues available
Cloze tests
( fill in each blank in the text itself)
Methods of scoring
Measure: Used in :
a) One mark/each
a) Familiarity with acceptable answer a) Achievement
grammar
b) One mark/ each b) Proficiency
b) Reading difficulty correct answer c) Placement
& reading
Both reliable d) Diagnostic
comprehension
Textual
knowledge
Linguistic World
knowledge knowledge
Cloze
tests
Students’ performance on cloze
tests highly correlates with
Listening Speaking Writing
DICTATION
Previously
regarded as a
Integrated skills involved in means of
tests of dictation consist of: measuring
Listening
Auditory A familiarity
discrimination, with Overall textual
Spelling, Sound grammatical & comprehension
Segments lexical patterns
The Communicative Approach
Characteristics of Communicative Tests
• Communicative tests are concerned primarily
with how language is used in communication.
• Language use is often emphasized to the
exclusion of language usage.
• The attempt to measure different language
skills in communicative tests is based on a
view of language referred to divisibility
hypothesis.
Characteristics of Com. Tests (con.)
• The test should totally be relevant for a
particular group of examinees and the tasks
set should relate to real -life communication.
• Communicative testing introduces the concept
of qualitative modes of assessment in
preference to quantitative modes of
assessment.
Strengths of Communicative Tests
Communicative tests are able to measure all
integrated skills of students.
The tests of this approach face students in
real life, so it will be very useful for them.
Detailed statements of each performance
level serve to increase the reliability of scoring
by enabling the examiner to make decisions
according to carefully drawn-up and well-
established criteria.
Weakness of the Communicative Approach
Unlike the structuralist & integrative
approach, this approach does not emphasize
learning structural grammar; therefore, it may
be difficult to achieve communicative
competence without a considerable mastery
of the grammar of a language.
It’s possible for cultural bias to affect the
reliability of the tests being administered.
Computer-Based Testing
Computer-
assisted Tests Web-based
Tests
Computer
- based
Tests
Advantages of Computer-based Testing
Classroom-based testing
Self-directed testing on various aspects of a
language (vocabulary, grammar, discourse, or
one of the language skills)
Practice for standardized tests
Easily to administer these tests to a large
number of test-takers as they are
electronically scored
Limitations of Computer- based Tests
Classroom-based / Unsupervised tests: lack of
security & the possibility of cheating
Unofficial websites occasionally have mistakes
resulting in invalid assessments
Multiple choice items preferred, flawed item
design or poor items: inevitable
Open-ended response: less likely to appear ( b/c
need for human scorers, costs & reliability
The human interactive element: absent
