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Category Archives: testing
Bibliography: testing
Alderson J C & Hughes A [Eds] [1991] Language Testing in the 1990s [Basingstoke: Macmillan]
Writing tests
Easier said than done. A test writer has very few friends and often finds that it is impossible to do the job to everyone’s satisfaction.
But it is clear that it is imperative for test writers to be very clear in their own minds what it is that they want to test and what the purpose [...]
A short history of testing
It is useful to view testing from a historical perspective for two reasons:
It enables us to relate current developments in the field to what has preceded them.
Methods of testing rarely die out, but are more often than not adapted or continue to exist in modified forms in different parts of the world. Although [...]
Posted in testing Tagged C-Test, dictation, Hughes, Lado, Oller, Psycholinguistic, reliability, technique, testing, validity, weir Leave a comment
The Relationship Between Testing and Teaching
Two questıons to ponder:
1. The effect of a test on teaching or learning is known as washback [or backwash in testing in the USA]. [Alderson and Wall, 1993: 17]
The backwash hypothesis seems to assume that teachers and learners do things they would not necessarily otherwise do because of the [...]
Also posted in Uncategorized Tagged Alderson, criterion referenced testing, formative assessment, norm referencing, testing, washback 2 Comments
Practical Considerations: Reliability, Validity, and Efficiency
These are crucial aspects of testing. There is perhaps a constant dynamic tension and balance between validity and reliability. Validity is perhaps the central quality. Reliability is a necessary but not sufficient condition for validity: valid tests are necessarily reliable, but reliable tests are not necessarily valid.
Approaches to testing: direct and indirect testing
Having established the purpose of a test (see the post: Types of test – why are we testing?), other factors will then affect the general approach. Whereas in the past the focus was almost exclusively on the techniques of testing, how to test, the main issues and concerns in testing today are much more to [...]
Types of test – why are we testing?
Fundamental to any discussion of testing is the purpose of the test. If you don’t know why you are testing, then you probably shouldn’t be testing in the first place. The appropriateness of a test in any given context will depend to a large extent on the reason the test is being given and the [...]
Posted in testing Tagged achievement tests, course progress, formal tests, proficiency tests, progress tests, syllabus, testing Leave a comment
Testing – some things to mull over…
Think back to your own experience as a language learner and ponder these questions:
Babel placement test
I am happy to offer, as an Open Source project, the Babel Placement Test. You may use the test for whatever you like, you may alter it, edit it and even burn it if you like, see: creativecommons.org -Attribution-Share Alike 3.0.
The Babel English Language Placement Test was closely based on the Nelson Quickcheck Placement [...]
What is meant by automaticity and automatization?