语言测试与理论PPT课件

第一章语言测试的性质、目的及类别1.DefinitionoftestingTesting,insubstance,istheobjectiveandstandardizedmeasurementofthecandidate.2.PurposeoflanguagetestingThepurposeoflanguagetestingistomeasurethelanguagecompetenceofacandidate.3.KindsoftestandtestingProficiencytests水平测试Achievementtests成绩测试Diagnostictests诊断测试Placementtests编班测试Kindsoftest:ProficiencytestsProficiencytestsaredesignedtomeasurepeople’sabilityinalanguageregardlessofanytrainingtheymayhavehadinthatlanguage.Thecontentofaproficiencytest,therefore,isnotbasedonthecontentorobjectivesoflanguagecourseswhichpeopletakingthetestmayhavefollowed.Rather,itisbasedonaspecificationofwhatcandidateshavetobeabletodointhelanguageinordertobeconsideredproficient.Whatdowemeanbytheword‘proficient’?Inthecaseofsomeproficiencytests,‘proficient’meanshavingsufficientcommandofthelanguageforaparticularpurpose.e.g.1)AtestdesignedtodiscoverwhethersomeonecanfunctionsuccessfullyasaUnitedNationstranslator.2)Atestusedtodeterminewhetherastudent’sEnglishisgoodenoughtofollowacourseofstudyataBritishuniversity.Otherproficiencytests,bycontrast,donothaveanyoccupationorcourseofstudyinmind.Forthemtheconceptofproficiencyismoregeneral.e.g.Cambridgeexaminations(FirstCertificationExaminationandProficiencyExamination);TheOxfordEFLexaminations(PreliminaryandHigher)Arethereanyothertestslikethis?Pleasegivesomeexamples.Thefunctionofthesetestsittoshowwhethercandidateshavereachedacertainstandardwithrespecttocertainspecifiedabilities.Suchexaminingbodiesareindependentoftheteachinginstitutionsandsocanbereliedonbypotentialemployersetc.tomakefaircomparisonsbetweencandidatesfromdifferentinstitutionsanddifferentcountries.Despitedifferencesbetweenthemofcontentandlevelofdifficulty,allproficiencytestshaveincommonthefactthattheyarenotbasedoncoursesthatcandidatesmayhavepreviouslytaken.Ontheotherhand,suchtestsmaythemselvesexerciseconsiderableinfluenceoverthemethodandcontentoflanguagecourses.Theirbackwasheffectmaybebeneficialorharmful.AchievementtestsAchievementtestsaredirectlyrelatedtolanguagecourses,theirpurposebeingtoestablishhowsuccessfulindividualstudents,groupsofstudents,orthecoursesthemselveshavebeeninachievingobjectives.Twokinds:FinalachievementtestsProgressachievementtestsFinalachievementtestsarethoseadministeredattheendofacourseofstudy.Theymaybewrittenandadministeredbyministriesofeducation,officialexaminingboards,orbymembersofteachinginstitutions.Clearlythecontentofthesetestsmustberelatedtothecourseswithwhichtheyareconcerned,butthenatureofthisrelationshipisamatterofdisagreementamongstlanguagetesters.Intheviewofsometesters,thecontentofafinalachievementtestshouldbebaseddirectlyonadetailedcoursesyllabusoronthebooksandothermaterialsused.Thishasbeenreferredtoasthe‘syllabus-contentapproach’.Ithasanobviousappeal,sincethetestonlycontainswhatitisthoughtthatthestudentshaveactuallyencountered,andthuscanbeconsidered,inthisrespectatleast,afairtest.Thedisadvantageisthatifthesyllabusisbadlydesigned,orthebooksandothermaterialsarebadlychosen,thentheresultofatestcanbeverymisleading.Successfulperformanceonthetestmaynottrulyindicatesuccessfulachievementofcourseobjectives.Thealternativeapproachistobasethetestcontentdirectlyontheobjectivesofthecourse.Thishasanumberofadvantages.First,itcompelscoursedesignerstobeexplicitaboutobjectives.Secondly,itmakesitpossibleforperformanceonthetesttoshowjusthowfarstudentshaveachievedthoseobjectives.Thisinturnputspressureonthoseresponsibleforthesyllabusandfortheselectionofbooksandmaterialstoensurethattheseareconsistentwiththecourseobjectives.Tobasetestcontentoncourseobjectivesismuchtobepreferred:itwillprovidemoreaccurateinformationaboutindividualandgroupachievement,anditislikelytopromoteamorebeneficialbackwasheffectonteaching.Progressachievementtests,astheirnamesuggests,areintendedtomeasuretheprogressthatstudentsaremaking.Since‘progress’istowardstheachievementofcourseobjectives,theseteststooshouldrelatetoobjectives.Buthow?Onewayofmeasuringprogresswouldberepeatedlytoadministerfinalachievementtests,the(hopefully)increasedscoresindicatingtheprogressmade.Thisisnotreallyfeasible,particularlyintheearlystagesofacourse.Thelowscoresobtainedwouldbediscouragingtostudentsandquitepossiblytotheirteachers.Thealternativeistoestablishaseriesofwell-definedshort-termobjectives.Theseshouldmakeaclearprogressiontowardsthefinalachievementtestbasedoncourseobjectives.Arethereanyothertestslikeachievementtests?Pleasegivesomeexamples.DiagnostictestsDiagnostictestsareusedtoidentifystudents’strengthsandweaknesses.Theyareintendedprimarilytoascertainwhatfurtherteachingisnecessary.PlacementtestsPlacementtests,astheirnamesuggests,areintendedtoprovideinformationwhichwillhelptoplacestudentsatthestage(orinthepart)oftheteachingprogrammemostappropriatetotheirabilities.Typicallytheyareusedtoassignstudentstoclassesatdifferentlevels.Kindsoftesting:DirectversusindirecttestingDiscretepointversusintegrativetestingNorm-referencedversuscriterion-referencedtestingObjectivetestingversussubjectivetestingCommunicativelanguagetestingDirectversusindirecttestingDirecttestingreferstothetestingthatrequiresthecandidatetoperformpreciselytheskillwhichwewishtomeasure.Ifwewanttoknowhowwellcandidatescanwritecompositions,wegetthemtowritecompositions.Ifwewanttoknowhowwelltheypronouncealanguage,wegetthemtospeak.Thetasks,andthetextswhichareused,shouldbeasauthenticaspossible.Thefactthatcandidatesareawarethattheyareinatestsituationmeansthatthetaskscannotbereallyauthentic.Neverthelesstheeffortismadetomakethemasrealisticaspossible.Directtestingiseasiertocarryoutwhenitisintendedtomeasuretheproductiveskillsofspeakingandwriting.Theveryactsofspeakingandwritingprovideuswithinformationaboutthecandidate’sability.Withlisteningandreading,however,itisnecessarytogetcandidatesnotonlytolistenorreadbutalsotodemonstratethattheyhavedonethissuccessfully.Directtestinghasanumberofattractions.First,providedthatweareclearaboutjustwhatabilitieswewanttoassess,itisrelativelystraightforwardtocreatetheconditionswhichwillelicitthebehavioronwhichtobaseourjudgments.Secondly,atleastinthecaseoftheproductiveskills,theassessmentandinterpretationofstudents’performanceisalsoquitestraightforward.Thirdly,sincepracticeforthetestinvolvespracticeoftheskillsthatwewishtofoster,thereislikelytobeahelpfulbackwasheffect.Indirecttestingisthetestingthatattemptstomeasuretheabilitieswhichunderlietheskillsinwhichweareinterested.OnesectionoftheTOEFL,forexample,wasdevelopedasanindirectmeasureofwritingability.Itcontainsitemsofthefollowingkind:AtfirsttheoldwomanseemedAunwillingtoacceptanythingthatwasBCofferedherbymyfriendandI.DPleasegivesomeexamplesofindirecttesting.DiscretepointversusintegrativetestingDiscretepointtestingreferstothetestingofoneelementatatime,itembyitem.Thismightinvolve,forexample,aseriesofitemseachtestingaparticulargrammaticalstructure.Integrativetestingrequiresthecandidatetocombinemanylanguageelementsinthecompletionofatask.Thismightinvolvewritingacomposition,makingnoteswhilelisteningtoalecture,takingadictation,orcompletingaclozepassage.Norm-referencedversuscriterion-referencedtestingAtestwhichisdesignedtogivetheinformationtoshowtheinterrelationshipbetweenonecandidate’sperformancetothatofothercandidatesissaidtobenorm-referenced.Testswhicharedesignedtoprovidetheinformationdirectlyaboutwhatonecandidatecanactuallydointhelanguagearesaidtobecriterion-referenced.Thepurposeofcriterion-referencedtestsistoclassifypeopleaccordingtowhetherornottheyareabletoperformsometaskorsetoftaskssatisfactorily.ObjectivetestingversussubjectivetestingThedistinctionhereisbetweenmethodsofscoring,andnothingelse.Ifnojudgementisrequiredonthepartofthescorer,thenthescoringisobjective.Amultiplechoicetest,withthecorrectresponsesunambiguouslyidentified,wouldbeacaseinpoint.Ifjudgementiscalledfor,thescoringissaidtobesubjective.Therearedifferentdegreesofsubjectivityintesting.Theimpressionisticscoringofacompositionmaybeconsideredmoresubjectivethanthescoringofshortanswersinresponsetoquestionsonareadingpassage.WhydomanytesterslikeObjectivityinscoring?Theylikeit,notforitself,butforthegreaterreliabilityitbrings.Ingeneral,thelesssubjectivethescoring,thegreateragreementtherewillbebetweentwodifferentscorers(andbetweenthescoresofonepersonscoringthesametestpaperondifferentoccasions).CommunicativelanguagetestingCommunicativelanguagetestingreferstothetestingofmeasuringtheabilitytotakepartinactsofcommunication(includingreadingandlistening)andthebestwaytocommunicate.e.g.Youwereapplyingtoauniversityandneededaletterofrecommendation.Youwenttoaprofessor,whowasalsoyourfriend,andsaid:“I’dappreciateitifyoucouldwritealetterofrecommendationforme.”(正确,得2分)“Iwanttoaskyoutowritealetterofrecommendationforme.”(语法正确,不够得体,得1分)“Iwonderifyoucouldwritealetterrecommendingme.”(还算得体,但语言有错误,得1分)“Hey,givemerecommendationletter.”(语言有误,又不得体,不给分)