Language-Testing-and-Evaluation

LanguageTestingandEvaluationIntroductiontoLanguageTestingTestingisanindispensablepartofeveryteachingandlearningexperience.Rightfromthecommencementofformaleducation,weareconfrontedwithamyriadoftests,fromsmallquizzes,mid-termandfinalexaminations,torigidmatriculationexaminations,nottomentionmanyothertestsafterourgraduation,onthegradesofwhichhangdecisionsconcerningourcareer.Asamatteroffact,wearehauntedbyteststhroughoutourlifetime.Whatisa“test”?※Apsychologicaloreducationaltestisaproceduredesignedtoelicitcertainbehaviorfromwhichonecanmakeinferenceaboutcertaincharacteristicsofanindividual.(Carroll)※考试是由一定数量的题目组成，用于测定人的某一心理品质，或学习掌握程度的工具。教师出试题实际上是创设一个语言情景，学生的答题过程则是他的语言能力和知识掌握程度的一种表现。考试的目的就是要测定学生在某一方面的能力或学习情况。（舒运祥2001）AssessmentToputitsimply,assessmentmeanstodiscoverwhatthelearnersknowandcandoatacertainstageofthelearningprocess.Withdifferentassessmentpurposesinmind,wemayadoptdifferentassessmentmethods.Aclosestudyontheassessmentpurposeswillmakeitclearthatallthepeopleinvolvedineducationhavesomereasonstoconsiderassessmentnecessary.Theyareadministrators,teachers,parentsandstudents.Administrators:Administratorsprovidemoneyandpersonnelforeducation.Theyneedtoknowwhethertheprogrammestheyhaveplannedareworkingwell。Theonlywaytodothisistodiscoverhowwellthepupilsaredoingwiththeircourses.Ifassessmentresultsaredifferentfromwhattheyhaveexpected,theyneedtoreplantheprogrammessothatbetteraccomplishmentcanbeachievedlater.Teachers:Teachersputtheadministrators’plansintopractice.Inthecontinuumoflearning,teachersneedtoknowwhathasbeendoneandwhatneedstobedonenext;whatthepupilsalreadyknoworcandoandwhattheydonotknoworcannotdoyet.Iftheprogramiswellplanned,itprettymuchdependsontheteachers’performancewhethertheprogrameventuallyleadstosuccess.Parents:Nobodyismoreanxiousthanparentstoknowhowtheirchildrenaredoinginschool.Unabletowatchtheirkidsintheclass,parentsvaluethefeedbackabouttheirchildren’sperformancefromtheteachersandtheschool.Students:Finally,studentsneedtoknowwhatthey’veaccomplished,beawareofwhattheyneedtoworkontext,andbuilduptheirconfidenceandsatisfactionfromwhattheyhaveachieved.Reasonsfortest/assessmentuse:√Toknowpeople’slanguageability√Todiscoverhowsuccessfulstudentshavebeeninachievingtheobjectiveofacourseofstudy√Toprovidefeedbackforlearners√Toevaluatetheeffectivenessofteaching√Todiagnosestudents’strengthsandweaknesses√Toplacestudentsinanappropriateprogram语言能力、兴趣、态度等考试观察面谈数值价值判断测量标准（量化）评价过程考试、测量和评价三者之间既有联系又有区别。评价过程实际上包含了测量，如果测量以考试为手段，那么评价中也包含了考试。外语教学中为了了解学生的语言能力、兴趣、知识掌握得情况，就要对其进行评价，但能力、兴趣等心理品质是一个抽象概念，为了有利于评价，我们通过具体做题目（考试）等方式，对抽象的概念进行定性、定量的描述，最后还需借助一定的标准解释考试成绩，以确定学生的语言水平，这样一个过程就是评价。Test----Measurement----evaluation(Assessment)外语测试语言学心理学与教学法理论语言学应用语言学心理语言学社会语言学学习心理学外语教学法测量学教育统计学教育测量学计算机科学外语测试与有关学科TeachingandTestingTestingandteachingarecloselyinterrelated.Languagetestingbothservesandisservedbyresearchinlanguagelearningandlanguageteaching.Theeffectoftestingonteachingandlearningisknownasbackwash.Backwashcanbeharmfulorbeneficial.Well-madetestsofEnglishcanbringaboutbeneficialbackwashwhileill-designedoneswillleadtomisguidedteachingandlearning.Goodtestscanhelpcreatepositiveattitudetowardslearning.Goodtestscanhelpfosterpositiveclassroomatmosphereandhelpthemmasterthelanguage.TeachingObjectivesTeachingContentTeachingMethodsTestingNotalltests,however,aresufficienttomeetourrequirement,i.e.,toprovideanaccuratemeasurementofthecandidates’languageproficiencyfortheirspecificuses.Moreoftenthannot,acandidate’sperformanceonalanguagetestdoesnotmatchhisperformanceinrealuse.Ifblindfaithisplacedinthetestresultregardlessofthevalidityandreliabilityofthetestforaspecificsituation,itwillgiverisetosevereproblems.Whenthetestscoreisregardedastheonlyyardstickofaperson’slanguageproficiency,studentswilltendtostudytesttakingskillsratherthanthelanguageitself.Theybecomefiendsattestinsteadofmastersofthelanguage.Thenweareboundtofallintotheexamination-centeredteaching,whichshouldbeavoided.Clearly,thisisundesirable.TeachingcontentsTeachingMethodsTestingKindsofTestsandTestingTestscanbecategorizedfollowingdifferentcriteria,suchastheintendeduseofthetest,theapproachtotesting,testingcontent,thewaytointerpretthescoreandscoringmethods.First,testsareusedtoobtaininformation.“Givingatestislikeaskingaquestion—itisarequestforinformation.Ifyouasktherightsortofquestion,yougettherightsortofanswer.Ifyouaskasillyquestion,yougetasillyanswer.”Inthiswaytheycanbecategorizedintoproficiencytests,achievementtests,diagnostictests,placementtestsandaptitudetests.Proficiencytests(水平测试)Proficiencytestsaredesignedtomeasurepeople’soverallmasteryofEnglishortomeasurehowsuitablecandidateswillbeforperformingacertaintaskorfollowaspecificcourse.(TOEFL,EPT,NMETetc.)Forexample,doesthestudentknowenoughEnglishtofollowacertainuniversitylecturegiveninthemediumofEnglish?DoesthestudentknowenoughEnglishinordertofunctionefficientlyinaparticulartypeofemployment?Thecontentofaproficiencytestisnotbasedonthecontentorobjectivesoflanguagecourseswhichpeopletakingthetestmayhavefollowed.Itisinnowayrelatedtoanysyllabusorteachingprogram;in