Objective tests measure one’s ability to remember facts & figures understanding of course materials. These tests are often designed to make test-takers think independently. Good objective tests require test-takers to employ high level critical reasoning and make fine discriminations to determine the best answer Objective Tests. ‘ The most common objective test questions are:...
A Table of Specifications is a two-way chart which describes the topics to be covered in a test and the number of items or points which will be associated with each topic. Sometimes the types of items are described as well. The purpose of a Table of Specifications is to identify the achievement domains being measured and to ensure that a fair and representative sample of questions appear on the...
Test bias is the presence of some characteristics of an item in the test, that results in differential performance by individuals of the same ability but different sub-group When important decisions are made based on test scores, it is critical to avoid bias which may unfairly influence test-takers’ scores Fairness and bias are not the same thing. Fairness has to do with how a test is used...
Reliability refers to the consistency of a measure. A test is considered reliable if we get the same result repeatedly. E.g. If a test designed to measure a specific trait, then each time the test is administered to a subject, the results should be approximately the same. Unfortunately, it is impossible to calculate reliability exactly but there are several different ways to estimate reliability...
Validity is the extent to which a test measures what it claims to measure. Testing is a matter of making judgments about test-takers competence in view of their performance on certain tasks. These judgments are inferences as tests do not collect concrete evidence about test-takers’ ability, in the natural state, but only abstract inferences Evidence of test performance is used to draw...
A new theory of language and language use that exerted significant influence on language teaching and therefore language testing from the early 1970s was the theory of communicative competence Communicative competence is a linguistic term which refers to a learner’s second language ability. It refers to a learner’s ability to: apply and use grammatical rules form correct utterances...
All language tests are not of the same kind. They differ mainly in terms of design (method) and purpose. In terms of method, a broad distinction can be made between pen-and-paper language tests and performance tests Paper-and-pen tests are typically used for the assessment of separate components of language (grammar, vocabulary …) receptive understanding (listening & reading...
What is a Test? A test can be defined as any one of the following: procedure for critical evaluation; a means of determining the presence, quality, or truth of something; series of questions, problems, or physical responses designed to determine knowledge, intelligence, or ability. basis for evaluation or judgment: So we could conclude that testing is a form of assessment used for evaluation...