reflection on language testing.docx

reflection on language testing.docx

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reflectiononlanguagetesting

ReflectionsonLanguageTesting

Languagetesting,authoredbyTimMcnamara,isdividedintoeightchapters.Thereisacloserelationshipamongthem.Theyformawholepart.Next,Iwillwriteasummaryforeachoftheminthefollowingparagraphs.

Chapteronepresentsuswiththedefinitionoflanguagetesting,typesoftest,testpurpose,thecriterionandthetest-criterionrelationship.Weallknowthattestingisauniversalfeatureofsociallife.Testingforpurposesofdetectionortoestablishidentityhasbecomeanacceptedpartofsport（drugstesting）,thelaw（DNAtests,paternitytests,liedetectiontests）,andotherfields.Testtoseehowapersonperformsparticularlyinrelationtoathresholdofperformancehavebecomeimportantsocialinstitutionsandfulfillagatekeepingfunctioninthattheycontrolentrytomanyimportantsocialroles.Whatistrueoftestingingeneralistrueoflanguagetesting.Languagetestingplaysapowerfulroleinmanypeople’slives,actingasgatewaysatimportanttransitionalmomentsineducation,inemployment,andinmovingfromonecountrytoanother.Sincelanguagetestsaredevicesfortheinstitutionalcontrolofindividuals,itisclearlyimportantthattheyshouldbeunderstood,andsubjectedtoscrutiny.Therefore,anunderstandingoflanguagetestingisrelevantbothforthoseactuallyinvolvedincreatinglanguagetests,andalsomoregenerallyforthoseinvolvedinusingtestsorcontexts.Notalllanguagetestsareofthesamekind.Intermsofmethod,wecanbroadlydistinguishtraditionalpaper-and-pencillanguagetestsfromperformancetests.Paper-and-pencillanguageteststaketheformofthefamiliarexaminationquestionpaper.Theyareusuallyusedforassessmenteitherofseparatecomponentsoflanguageknowledge（grammar,vocabulary,etc.）orofthereceptiveunderstanding（listeningandreadingcomprehension）.Inperformancebasedtests,languageskillsareassessedinanactofcommunication.Performancetestsaremostcommonlytestsofspeakingandwriting,inwhichamoreorlessextendedsampleofspeechorwritingiselicitedfromthetest-taker,andjudgedbyoneormoretrainedratesusinganagreedratingprocedure.Languagetestsalsodifferaccordingtotheirpurpose.Achievementtestsareassociatedwiththeprocessofinstructionandproficiencytestslookstothefuturesituationoflanguageusewithoutnecessarilyanyreferencetothepreviousprocessofteaching.Testsarebasedontheoriesofthenatureoflanguageuseinthetargetsettingandthewayinwhichthisisunderstoodwillbereflectedintestdesign.

Chaptertwointroducescommunicationandthedesignoflanguagetests.Thetermtestconstructreferstothoseaspectsofknowledgeorskillpassedbythecandidatewhicharemeasured.Therewasatendencytoatomizeanddecontextualizetheknowledgetobetested,andtotestaspectsofknowledgetobetested,andtotestaspectsofknowledgeinisolation.Materialtobetestedwaspresentedwithminimalcontext,forexampleinanisolatedsentence.Thispracticeoftestingseparate,individualpointsofknowledge,knownasdiscretepointtesting,wasreinforcedbytheoryandpracticewithinpsychometrics,theemergingscienceofthemeasurementofcognitiveability.Thediscretepointtraditionoftestingwasseenasfocusingtooexclusivelyonknowledgeoftheformallinguisticsystemforitsownsakeratherthanonthewaysuchknowledgeisusedoachievecommunication.Theneworientationresultedinthedevelopmentoftestswhichintegratedknowledgeofrelevantsystematicfeaturesoflanguage（pronunciation,grammar,vocabulary）withanunderstandingofcontext.FurtherOllerproposedwhatcametotheknownastheUnitaryCompetenceHypothesis,thatis,thatperformanceonthewholerangeoftests（whichhetermedpragmatictests）dependedonthesameunderlyingcapacityinthelearner---theabilitytointegrategrammatical,lexical,contextual,andpragmaticknowledgeintestperformance.Hearguedthatcertainkindsofmoreeconomicalandefficienttests,particularlytheclozetest,measuredthesamekindsofskillsasthosetestedinproductivetestsofthetypeslistedabove.Itseemsthattherearenoshortcutsinthetestingofcommunicativeskills.Fromtheearly1970s,anewtheoryoflanguageandlanguageusebegantoexertasignificantinfluenceonlanguageteachingandpotentiallyonlanguagetesting.ThiswasHymes’stheoryofcommunicativecompetence,whichgreatlyexpandedthescopeofwhatwascoveredbyanunderstandingoflanguageandtheabilitytouselanguageincontext,particularlyintermsofthesocialdemandsofperformance.Variousaspectsofknowledgeofcompetencewerespecifiedintheearly1980sbyMichaelCanaleandMerrillSwaininCanada:

grammaticalorformalcompetence,sociolinguisticcompetencestrategiccompetence,anddiscoursecompetence.Furtheryearsofdiscussionandreflectiononthisframeworkhaveledtoitsmoredetailedreformulation.Thisreworkingoftheideaofstrategiccompetencehasimportantimplicationsforassessment.Anotherdevelopmenthasbeentheattempttocharacterizetherealtasksinthecriterionsituationidentifiedthroughjobanalysisintermsoftheaspectofabilityorskilltheycallupon.

Chapterthreetellsushowtodesignandintroduceatest,whichinvolvesadesignstage,aconstructionstageandatry-outstage.Beforetheybeginthinkingindetailaboutthedesignofatest,testdeveloperswillneedtogetthelayoftheland,thatis,toestablishtheconstraintsunderwhichtheyareworking,andunderwhichthetestwillbeadministered.Fromapracticalpointofviewtestdesignbeginswithdecisionsabouttestcontent,whatwillgointothetest.Establishingtestcontentinvolvescarefulsamplingfromthedomainofthetest,thatis,thetestofthetasksortasksorthekindsofbehaviorsinthecriterionsetting,asinformedbyourunderstandingofthetestconstruct.Thenextthingtoconsiderintestdesignisthewayinwhichcandidateswillberequiredtoresponsetothematerials.Onceagain,testdesigninvolvesasortofprincipledcompromise.Alldesignsabouttestmethodinsuchacontextinevitablyinvolveacompromisebetweenthedesirabilityofanappearanceofauthenticityontheonehandandthepracticalitiesimposedbythetestsituationontheotherhand.Notethatthewayweresolvethiscompromisemayhavetheundesiredeffectofjeopardizingthefairnessoftheconclusionswereachaboutindividualcandidates.Obviously,asassessmentbecomesmoreauthentic,italsobecomesmoreexpensive,complex,andpotentiallyunwieldy.Analternativetograpplingwiththedilemmaofauthenticityofresponseinvolvesacceptingtoagreaterorlesserdegreetheartificialityofthetestsituation,andusingarangeofconventionalandpossiblyinauthentictestformats.Theresultofthedesignprocessintermsoftestcontentandtestmethodisthecreationoftestspecifications.Thefourthstageistrailingortryingoutthetestmaterialsandprocedurespriortotheiruseunderoperationalconditions.Thisstageinvolvescarefuldesignofdatacollectiontoseehowwellthetestisworking.Inaddition,test-takerfeedbackshouldbegatheredfromthetrialsubjects,oftenbyasimplequestionnaire.Materialsandprocedureswillberevisedinthelightofthetrials,inpreparationfortheoperationaluseofthetest.Inthischapterwehaveexaminedtheprocessthroughwhichatestingprocedureisconceptualized,developed,andputintooperation.

Chapterfourdiscussestheratingprocess.Therearethreeaspectsofthevalidationofratingprocedure:

theestablishmentofratingprotocols;exploringdifferencesbetweenindividualraters,andmitigatingtheireffects;andunderstandinginteractionsbetweenratersandotherfeaturesoftheratingprocess.Rater-mediatedassessmentisbecomingmoreandmorecentraltolanguagelearningandteaching.Rater-mediatedassessmentisalsoinlinewithinstitutionaldemandsforaccountabilityineducation,asoutcomesofeducationalprocessesareoftendescribedintermsofdemonstrablepracticalcompetenceinthelearner.Introducingtheraterintotheassessmentprocessisbothnecessaryandproblematic.Itisproblematicbecauseratingsarenecessarilysubjective.Inestablishingaratingprocedure,weneedtoconsiderthecriteriabywhichperformanceatagivenlevelwillberecognized,andthentodecidehowmanydifferentlevelsofperformancewewishtodistinguish.Itisusefultoviewachievementasacontinuum.Theassessmentisessentiallynotcompetitive.Thefunctionoftheassessmentatagivenlevelisnottomakedistinctionsbetweencandidates,otherthanabinarydistinctionbetweenthosewhomeettherequirementsofthelevelandthosewhodonot.Mostoften,frameworksforratingaredesignedasscales,asthisallowsthegreatestflexibilitytotheusers,whomaywanttousethemultipledistinctionsavailablefromascale,orwhomaychoosetofocusononlyonecut-pointorregionofthescale.Thepreparationofthescaleinvolvesdevelopingleveldescriptors.Animportantaspectofascaleisthewayinwhichperformanceatthetopendofthescaleisdefined.Thenumberoflevelsonaratingscaleisalsoanimportantmattertoconsider.Thissinglereportingscalemaymaintainitsanalyticorientationinthattheoverallcharacterizationofaleveldescriptionmayconsistofawavingtogetherofstrandsrelatingtoseparateaspectsofperformance.Animportantwaytoimprovethequalityofrater-mediatedassessmentschemesistoprovideinitialandtrainingtoraters.Thisusuallytakestheformofamoderationmeeting.Moderationmeetinghasthefunctionofbringingaboutbroadagreementontherel