语言测试的基本理论.docx

语言测试的基本理论.docx

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语言测试的基本理论

TheoriesandPracticeofEnglishLanguageTesting

ChapterOne:

BasicNotionsaboutLanguageTesting

1..1Whatislanguagetesting,andwhatisitconcernedabout?

（语言测试的性质和目的）

Languagetestingreferstothesystematicandscientificwaystomeasureandevaluatelearners’learningresultandteachers’teachingeffectiveness.

1.2.Somebasicnotionsandpointsaboutlanguagetesting:

1.2.1Whatislanguageabilityandmeasurementoflanguageability（语言能力的测量）?

1.2.2.Scopeoflanguageabilityisshownasthefollowingdiagram:

语言能力

组织能力语用能力

语法能力语篇能力语言功能能力社会语言能力

语音词语连接表达功能对方言或变体的语感

词汇修辞结构控制功能对语域差异的语感

词法教诲功能对自然地道语言的语感

句法想象功能对文化含义或比喻的理解

1.2.3LanguagemeasurementreferstothemeaningfulandappropriateinterpretationsthatEnglishteachersmakeonthebasisofagiventestscores.Asweknowthatlearners’languageabilityispsychologicalbehaviors,andisdifficulttomeasure.Therefore,wehavetousesomequantitativescoresorcriteriatomeasurelearners’languageproduction.

1.2.4Rulesforthemeasurementoflanguageability（语言能力的测量法则）

1.2.5Rulesrefertothewaysandcriteriatomeasurelearners’languageability.Areliableandvalidmeasurementshouldbebasedonthereasonableandscientificrulesandmethods.

1.2.6Whatisalanguagetest?

Alanguagetestreferstoanyproceduresformeasuringlearners’languagecompetenceandperformance.Anastasi（阿纳斯塔西）,apsychologistdefinedthetestasastandardizedandobjectivemeasurementofbehaviorsamples1.（将心理测验定义为一种对行为样本客观和标准化的测量1961）.

1.2.7Whatisevaluation?

Evaluationreferstoanysystematicproceduresforgatheringandanalysisofinformationforthepurposeofdecisionmaking.（为作出某种决策而收集资料，并对其进行分析、解释的系统过程）Evaluationusesbothquantitativemethodsandqualitativemethods（量化、质化方法）toevaluatealearner’slanguagecompetenceandperformance.（Weiss,1972）

1.3.ThepurposeofLanguagetestsistomeasurealearner’slanguageability.Inordertoachievethispurpose,atestpaperisusuallydesignedtocheckortestthelearner.Andscoresobtainedbythelearnerareusedcluesorevidencetoevaluatethelearner’slanguagecompetenceandperformance.Atestpaper,justlikearulerformeasuringlength,andwidthofcertainobjects,shouldbeproper,scientificandaccurate,sothatwecangetthereliableandvalidevaluationofthelearner’slanguageability.

1.3Functionsoflanguageinclude:

1.3.1Diagnosticfunction:

Justasadoctordoessomediagnosestocheckapatient’sillness,ateacheroftendesignssometeststofindoutlearners’progressandachievementsaswellasdisadvantagesandweaknessinthecourseofteaching.Theteachercanalsousetestasthemeansofgettingfeedbackabouthisteachingmethodsandresults.Thatistofindoutwhatshouldbeimprovedintermsofteachingmaterials,teachingmethods,andlearningenvironment,aswell.

1.3.2.Selectivefunction:

Sometestsaredesignedinordertoselectapplicantsofcertain

levelsorqualificationstobeenrolledforsomeuniversities,suchasTOEFL,TestofEnglishasaForeignLanguage,IELTS,InternationalEnglishLanguageTestingSystem，（由英国文化协会组织的考试，简称雅思考试,即国际英语语言测试系统），andChina’sCollegeEntranceExamination,etc.

1.3.3Placementfunction:

Testsdesignedtoplacestudentsofdifferentlevelsintodifferentclassesorgroups,sothatpropertextbooks,teachingmethodscanbeusedtoteachstudentsofdifferentlevels,soastoachievebetterteachingresults.Thesetestsarecalledplacementtests（分班考试）.

1.3.4.Teachingfunction:

Testsaredesignedatcertainstagesforstudentstogettheirgeneralinformationsothatteacherscanchecktheirteachingeffectivenessandlearners’learningresultssothattheycanapplydifferentstrategiestoimprovetheirteachingmethodstomeettheneedofthestudents.Teachingfunctionmaybeshownmoreclearlyinthefollowingflowchart:

毕业

考试2

课程

考试1

入学

a.Enrolmentofnewstudents

b.HavingTest1toknowlearners’presentstandingandplacethemintodifferentclassorgroups

c.Differentprograms,coursesandstrategiesforstudentsofdifferentlevels

d.HavingTest2toknowwhetherthelearnershavearrivedattheexpectedlearningtargets

e.Graduation（ifthelearnershavearrivedatthetargets,theywillbeallowedtograduate,otherwisecertainremedialmeasuresshouldbeaddedtohelplearnerstoreachtheexpectedtargetsbeforegraduation.

1.3.5Scientificresearchfunction:

Sometestsareheldtoachieveinformationordataforscientificresearch,intothequestions,suchas:

Comparisonbetweensecondlanguageacquisitionandsecondlanguagelearning

Environmentfortheefficiencyofsecondlanguagelearning

Relationshipbetweendifferentteachingprograms/teachingstrategiesandlearningresults

Factorsthataffectthesecondlanguagelearning

Relationshipbetweenteachingmaterialsandlanguagelearningefficiency

Typesoflanguagetests

1.4.Classificationoftestsonbasisoflearningstages:

1.4.1PlacementTest（编班测试）:

Aplacementtestisdesignedtoplacestudentsatanappropriatelevelinaprogramorcourse.Theterm“placementtest”doesnotrefertowhatatestcontains,orhowitiscontrasted,buttothepurposeforwhichitisused.Varioustypesoftestortestingprocedures（e.g.dictation,aninterview,agrammartest）canbeusedforplacementpurpose.

1.4.2Classroomtest（随堂测试）:

Aclassroomtestisashorttestdesignedtotestlearningeffectivenessafteracertainperiodofteaching,forexample,afterlecturingofcertainunitsorchaptersThepurposeofthetestistofindouthowmuchandhowwellthestudentshavelearnedfromthelecturesandhelpthemtograspthemajorpointsofthelecturesandtextbooks.Testingitemscanincludedictation,spelling,blank-filling,paraphrase,andtranslation,etc.

1.4.3Mid-termtest:

（期中测试）:

Amid-termtestisheldinthemiddleofasemester.Itiscomparativelyalonger,moresystematicandcomprehensivetestthanaclassroomtest.Thetestisdesignedtogetinformationaboutlearners’comprehensiveunderstandingandmasteringofwhattheyhavelearned.

1.4.4End-of-termtest,alsofinal-termtest:

Afinal-termtestrefersthetestdesignedinaccordancewiththegeneralteachingprogramandheldattheendofasemester.Thepurposeofthetestistoobtainthegeneralinformationaboutwhatthestudentshavelearnedduringthewholesemesterandtheirabilitytosolveproblemswiththeirlearnedknowledgeandskills.Thepurposeincludesthefollowingthreeaspects:

⏹Toreviewandstrengthenwhathasbeenlearnedinthesemester

⏹Toevaluateateacher’steachingeffectiveness

⏹Toreviseteachingplansandstrategiesinthenextsemester

1.5Classificationonbasisofpurposes

1.5.1Proficiencytest（水平测试）:

Aproficiencytestmeasureshowmuchofalanguagesomeonehaslearned.Itisnotlinkedtoaparticularlanguagecourse,e.g.intensivereading,butmeasuresthelearner’sgeneralleveloflanguagemastery.Someproficiencytestshavebeenstandardizedforworldwideuse,suchasAmericanTestofEnglishasaForeignLanguage（TOEFL）,BritishUniversityofCambridgeCertificateofProficiencyinEnglish（CCPE）andChina’sEnglishProficiencyTest（EPT）,etc.Aproficiencytestmeasureswhatanapplicant,whowantstostudyabroad,haslearnedrelativetoaspecificpurpose,e.g.doesheorsheknowenoughEnglishtofollowlecturesinEnglish.

1.5.2Achievementtest（成绩测试）:

Anachievementtestmeasureshowmuchofalanguagesomeonehaslearnedwithreferencetoaparticularcourseofstudy.Withthehelpofthiskindoftest,theteachercanjudgethesuccessofhisorherteachingandtoidentifytheweaknessofhisorherstudents.

1.5.3Languageaptitudetest（潜能/素质测试）：

Anaptitudetestmeasuresaperson’saptitudeforsecondlanguageorforeignlanguagelearning,andcanbeusedtoidentifythoselearnerswhoaremostlikelytosucceed.Languageaptitudetestsusuallyconsistofseveraldifferenttestswhichmeasuresuchabilitiesas:

a.soundcodingability---theabilitytoidentifyandremembernewsoundsinaforeignlanguage

b.grammaticalcodingability---theabilityidentifythegrammaticalfunctionsofdifferentpartsofsentences

c.inductivelearningability---theabilitytoworkoutmeaningswithoutexplanationinanewlanguage.

d.memorization---theabilitytorememberwords,rules,andetc.

1.5.4.Diagnostictest（诊断测试）：

Adiagnostictestisdesignedtoshowwhatskillsorknowledgealearnerknowsanddoesnotknow.Forexample,adiagnosticpronunciationtestmaybeusedtomeasurethelearner’spronunciationofEnglishsounds.Itwouldshowwhichsoundsastudentisandisnotabletopronounce.

1.6Classificationoftestonbasisoftestingmethods

1.6.1Discrete-pointtest（分离式测试）:

Adiscrete-pointtestmeasuresknowledgeofindividuallanguageitems,suchasagrammartestwhichhasdifferentsectionsontenses,adverbs,andprepositions.Discretepointtestsarebasedonthetheorythatlanguageconsistsofdifferentparts（e.g.grammar,soundsandvocabulary）,anddifferentskills（e.g.listening,speaking,readingandwriting）.Thesearemadupofelementsthatcanbetestedseparately.

1.6.2Integrativetest（综合性测试）：

Anintegrativetestrequiresalearnertouseseverallanguageskillsatthesametime,suchasadictationtest,whichrequiresthelearnertousedlanguageofgrammar,vocabulary,andlisteningcomprehension.（见exampleP.12）

1.7Classificationoftestsonbasisoftest-evaluatingmethods

1.7.1Subjectivetest（主观性测试）：

Subjectivetestsarescoredaccordingtothepersonaljudgmentofthemarker,suchastranslationandessaytests.Sometimesitisdifficulttoevaluateasubjectivetestbecausethereis