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Nggeabak
A121 16 028
Class A
Resume of English language Learning Assessment
CHAPTER I
INTRODDUCTION TO LANGUAGE ASSESSMENT
A. Validity
A good test should be valid or accurate. Some experts have defined the term
of validity. Heaton (1975: 153), for example, states that the validity of a test is the
extent to which it measures what it is supposed to measure. Bachman (1990: 236)
also mentions that in examining validity, the relationship between test
performance and other types of performance in other contexts is considered.
Brown (2004: 22) defines validity as the extent to which inferences made from
assessment results are appropriate, meaningful, and useful in terms of the purpose
of the assessment. Similarly, Gronlund and Waugh (2009: 46) state that validity is
concerned with the interpretation and use of assessment results. From these
definitions, it can be inferred that when a test is valid, it can elicit students’ certain
abilities as it is intended to. The valid test can also measure what it is supposed to
measure.
B. Reliability
Reliability refers to consistency and dependability. A same test delivered to a
same student across time administration must yield same results. If a test takes a
long time to do, it may affect the test takers performance such as fatigue,
confusion, or exhaustion. Some test takers do not perform well in the timed test.
Test instruction must be clear for all of test takers since they are affected by
mental pressures.
C. Practicality
Validity and reliability are not enough to build a test. Instead, the test should
be practical across time, cost, and energy. Dealing with time and energy, tests
should be efficient in terms of making, doing, and evaluating. Then, the tests must
be affordable. It is quite useless if a valid and reliable test cannot be done in
remote areas because it requires an inexpensive computer to do it (Heaton, 1975:
158-159; Weir, 1990: 34-35; Brown, 2004: 19-20).
D. Authenticity
A test must be authentic. Bachman and Palmer (as cited in Brown, 2004: 28)
defined authenticity as the degree of correspondence of the characteristics of a
given language test task to the features of a target language. Several things must
be considered in making an authentic test: language used in the test should be
natural, the items are contextual, topics brought in the test should be meaningful
and interesting for the learners, the items should be organized thematically, and
the test must be based on the real-world.
CHAPTER III