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In the interests of reliability, listening tests are most often supplied on tape or
CD to ensure that all candidates have the same opportunities, irrespective of the
speakers' voices, speed or expressions.
C:Writing and marking tests
C1:Writing tests
Assess the test situation: before we start to write the test we need to remind
ourselves of the context in which the test takes place. We have to decide how much
time should be given to the test-taking, when and where it will take place, and how
much time there is for marking.
Decide what to test: we have to list what we want to include in our test.
Knowing what syllabus items can be legitimately included (in an achievement test),
and what kinds of topics and situations are appropriate for our students.
Balance the elements: if we are to include direct and indirect test items, we
have to make a decision about how many of each we should put in our test.
Balancing elements involves estimating how long we want each section of the test to
take and then writing test items within those time constraints.
Weight the scores: our perception of our students' success or failure will
depend upon how many marks are given to each section of the test.
Make the test work: it is absolutely vital that we try out individual items
and/or whole tests on colleagues and other students before administering them to
real candidates.When we write test items, the first thing to do is to get fellow teachers
to try them out.
C2:Marking tests
There are a number of solutions to this kind of scorer subjectivity.
Training: if scorers have seen examples of scripts at various different levels
and discussed what marks they should be given, then their marking is likely to be
less erratic than if they come to the task fresh.
More than one scorer: reliability can be greatiy enhanced by having more
than one scorer. The more people who look at a script, the greater the chance that its
true worth will be located somewhere between the various scores it is given.
Global assessment scales: a way of specifying scores that can be given to
productive skill work is to create 'pre-defined descriptions of performance'.
Analytic profiles: marking gets more reliable when a student's performance
is analysed in much greater detail. However, a profusion of criteria may make the
marking of a test extremely lengthy and cumbersome; test designers and
administrators will have to decide how to accommodate the competing claims of
reliability and practicality.
Scoring and interacting during oral tests: scorer reliability in oral tests is
helped not only by global assessment scores and analytic profiles but also by
separating the role of scorer (or examiner) from the role of interlocutor (the examiner
who guides and provokes conversation). This may cause practical problems, but it
will allow the scorer to observe and assess, free from the responsibility of keeping the
interaction with the candidate or candidates going.
D:Teaching for tests
One of the things that preoccupies test designers and teachers alike is what
has been called the washback or backwash effect. In training students to develop
good exam skills (including working on their own, reviewing what they have done,
learning to use reference tools - e.g. dictionaries, grammar books, the Internet -
keeping an independent learning record or diary, etc.), we are encouraging exactly
those attributes that contribute towards autonomous learning . Good exam-
preparation teachers need to familiarise themselves with the tests their students are
taking, and they need to be able to answer their students' concerns and worries.
Above all, they need to be able to walk a fine line between good exam preparation on
the one hand,and not being swept away by the washback effect on the other.
Train for test types: we can show the various test types and ask the students
what each item is testing so that they are clear about what is required. In all this
work our task is to make students thoroughly familiar with the test items they will
have to face so that they give of their best, and so that, in the end, the test discovers
their level of English, rather than having it obscured by their unfamiliarity with the
test items.
Discuss general exam skills: most students benefit from being reminded
about general test and exam skills, without which much of the work they do will be
wasted. As they build up to an exam, they need to be able to organise their work so
that they can revise effectively.
Do practice tests: students need a chance to practise taking the test or exam
so that they get a feel for the experience, especially with regard to issues such as
pacing.
Have fun: as we said above, just because students need to practise certain
test types does not mean this has to be done in a boring or tense way. There are a
number of ways of having fun with tests and exams.
Ignore the test: When we are preparing students for an exam, we need to
ignore the exam from time to time so that we have opportunities to work on general
language issues, and so that students can take part in the kind of motivating
activities that are appropriate for all English lessons.