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Types of tests used in English Language Teaching Bachelor Paperteacher can use different test formats: transformation, broken sentences, sentence and paragraph completion, form filling, notes and diaries. According to Heaton (1990:32), transformation deals with re-writing sentences. For example, the students are asked to change a sentence in Active voice into a sentence in Passive voice. To differ the task the teacher can put the required word in brackets at the end of each sentence. The students will need to transform a sentence to fit the word in brackets. Or another example of transformation could be changing the focus of the sentence, e.g.: 1. Berlin is not an easy city to move about in. Difficult It………………………in Berlin. 2. I wonder if you could open the window. Could You couldn’t …………………. 3. When did you start to learn English? Been How…………………….English? (First certificate Star, Luke Prodromou, and p.40) Further, he discusses the sentences that are divided into fragments (he calls them broken sentences), and the student’s task is to arrange the words in order to produce correct examples. Thus, the students have to know grammar and syntaxes to make a right sentence with the correct word order. Sometimes the students are asked to alter the words to make grammatically correct sentences, e.g.: 1. a German/hunting/huge/black dog 2. a 25-year-old/Opera/tall singer 3. a brand-new/plastic/shopping/green bag 4. an English/young/interesting teacher (First certificate Star, Luke Prodromou, and p.80) Afterwards, the students can be asked to complete the whole paragraphs, finish dialogues, write diaries using the given information, and fill the form, for example hotel check-in. The author of the paper had used writing a diary in her 8th form, when the learners had to write the diary of captain’s wife whose husband disappeared in the sea. They also had to write the diary of the captain himself before the catastrophe. The students liked the task immensely. 5.10 Free writing Heaton (ibid.) believes that the most suitable way to check the students’ writing skills is asking them to write a composition. The teacher can include a variety of testing criteria there depending on what is really being tested. The topics for a composition should be appropriate to the age of the students and respond to their interest. However, the teacher has to establish clearly what s/he is going to check (the material studied: e.g. grammar) and what could be neglected. The students have to know whether the teacher is interested in the context or may be s/he is concerned with grammar and spelling, as well. 5.11 Test Formats Used in Testing Speaking Skills We are not going to deep into details of test formats used for testing speaking skills. Heaton (ibid.) displays that one of the most essential elements of testing speaking is pronunciation. To check how the students pronounce certain testing items the teacher may ask his/her students to read aloud and retell stories. Moreover, the teacher will receive the impression how well his/her students can operate with the spoken language. Afterwards, the teachers can use pictures to test the students’ speaking skills. This is widely used task, and a lot of teachers use it to check the students speaking skills and the knowledge of the vocabulary. Moreover, while describing the picture the student will have to imply the correct grammar and knowledge of the English sentence structure. The description could be done on the spot and does not require a lot of time for preparation, though Heaton (ibid.) stipulates that the teacher should ensure his/her students with a time during which they can formulate their ideas before presentation. Apart from the pictures the students could be offered to describe a person if their topic is people’s appearance or jobs, stay the sequence of events basing on the provided information or pictures accompanying the task, spot differences between two pictures and compare them. Further, Heaton (ibid.) displays a rather interesting task. The students receive a picture with speech bubbles. They are asked to write what they think people are saying. This in turn involves creativity from the students and could be assessed as an additional element and contribute to the students’ marks. Definitely, each teacher will develop and give the students various tasks regarding the criteria and demands to be tested. In conclusion we can say that the teacher can use a variety of test formats, such as multiple-choice questions, transfer of information; reordering the words, describe a picture, listening to the instructions to check the language skills of his/her students. Every teacher has to choose him/herself the tasks that will be appropriate to their way of teaching and the needs of the students. Below we have attached the table of four language skills and test formats applicable for each skill. | | | |Language Skills |Test Formats | | | | |Reading skills |1 Multiple-choice items | | |Short answers test | | |Cloze test | | |Gap-filling test | | |False/true statement | | | | |Listening skills |Multiple-choice items | | |False/true statements | | |Gap-filling tests | | |Dictations | | |Listening recall | | | | |Writing skills |Dictations | | |Compositions | | |Reproductions | | |Writing stories | | |Writing diaries | | |Filling-in forms | | |Word formation | | |Sentence transformation | | | | |Speaking skills |Retelling stories | | |Describing pictures | | |Describing people | | |Spotting the differences | Chapter 6 Analysis of the Test of English as a Foreign Language and Cambridge First Certificate test according to test design criteria. The present chapter deals with the practical part of the research. It will be based on the analysis and comparison of two proficiency tests formats TOEFL (The Test of English as a Foreign Language) test and CFC (Cambridge First Certificate) test. We will start with the brief description of their overall features; afterwards we will make an attempt to contrast them and draw relevant conclusions. The first test to be discussed is Cambridge First Certificate test. It will usually consist of five papers: reading with the duration time 1 hour and 15 minutes, writing -1 hour 30 minutes, use of English -1 hour 15 minutes, listening - 40 minutes and speaking approximately 14 minutes. There is no absolute pass mark, but the candidates need to get about 60% of the total marks to pass with a Grade C (Prodromou, 1998:6-7). TOEFL test is an examination that intends to evaluate the level of the English language of a foreign speaker (Gear, 1996:3-4). Moreover, it is commonly one of the aspects included into the entrance exams of any university in the USA. The institution the person requires the test for could implement the demanded score here. Nevertheless, the highest score does not differ from that of the CFC. TOEFL test as CFC test consists of four different parts: listening comprehension that occupies approximately 35 minutes and consists of three parts, structure and written expression with time limit 25 minutes composed of two tasks and reading comprehension – 55 minutes, consisting of several passages. Here we can notice some differences between CFC and TOEFL tests: when TOEFL test consists of just four parts, CFC includes a speaking part more. Moreover, each part of each test will include a various range of tasks, i.e. each part TOEFL test will mainly be composed of two tasks, whereas CFC will classically contain four different activities. Doing the tests in both cases the students will get special answers sheets where they will have to mark the answers they think are the right ones. The instructions before the taking the test usually warn the participants not to write in the books with questions. Moreover, both tests are checked by the scoring machine, therefore the students should be aware of what type of marking the answers they have to use. In both cases it should be a black lead pencil for the scoring machine to read. The answers should not be circled or lightly marked; in TOEFL test the students are supposed to fill in an oval answer with a letter inside corresponding to the question, whereas in CFC the students will have to fill in a small rectangular under a certain letter. Together the two tests remind the participants to choose only one answer. If the student changes his/her mind and decides to choose another answer, s/he can easily rub out the previous answer. We can call the both tests valid, for they test what is supposed to be tested and measured and they usually have the same format and length; regarding reliability, we cannot say exactly whether there is reliability or not, for if the student was not lucky for the first time taking the test, s/he can study hard and take the test again for the second time and, thus, score a better result. Both of the tests involve the four skills: reading, listening, speaking and writing. The difference could be found in the sequence of them, for example if CFC test will start with reading first, TOEFL test will deal with listening. The types of tasks and activities implied in the test differ as well. We will start our analysis with reading part. Reading Comprehension Part CFC reading paper will test the students’ ability to read in a variety of ways: reading for gist (understanding of the text), reading for details, understanding how a text is organized and deducing the meaning from the context. (Typically, the students could be given four parts to fill) (Prodromou, 1998:8). For that purpose CFC reading paper will offer the students multiple matching. The students will have to match headings or summary sentences to the parts of the text. They will have to show their ability to grasp the overall meaning of the text involving various kinds of knowledge such as morphological, semantic and syntactical one. For example: Meet the Flinstones, a modern Stone Age family. From the town of Bedrock, here’s a bit about their history…. 1. Somewhere in the world, every hour of every day, The Flinstones is being broadcast. An incredible 300 million fans tune in to watch it regularly. Whether you like them or not, Fred, Wilma and their neighbours are impossible to avoid…. A) Rocky jokes B) A Stone Age family in skins C) A new idea D) A popular show, etc. Prodromou, First Certificate Star, 1998 Thus, basing on the theory we have discussed in the first part of our paper, we can claim that it is integrative type of test, though being direct, that denotes testing one particular skill directly, but not through other language skills. Afterwards, CFC may offer the students multiple choice, gapped texts and again multiple matching only connected with information. In multiple-choice activity the students will have to answer four-option multiple-choice questions about a text. For example: Mad Cow Disease is a deadly illness of the brain and it is the non- technical term for BSE or Bovine Spongiform Encephalitis. This so difficult to say that journalists and even some doctors prefer the more vivid Mad Cow Disease… 1. We use the expression Mad Cow Disease because A) it is more accurate. B) It is easier to say. C) It links cows with people. D) It sounds less scientific. Prodromou, First Certificate Star, 1998 It is obvious that only one answer will be the right one, but the others will be distractors that will try to confuse the reader. It will limit the students and make them use a variety of reading strategies, knowledge of vocabulary and syntaxes to discover the right variant. However, the students will not have an opportunity to support their choices and prove why the answer they have chosen is the exact one. Moreover, the students will be checked whether they understand the general meaning of the text, its details, whether they can infer the meaning from the text and understand references (who refers who). Thus, we can declare that this type of test is integrative, for it involves the students’ abilities to apply various reading strategies and still direct, for it tests just reading skills. The same could be said about gapped texts that will check the students’ knowledge of reading strategies, such as organization of the text, reading for gist, etc. (examples available in Appendix p.17) To complete it the students will have to show their knowledge of the certain areas of the language. Multiple matching will require the students to match pieces of information either with a certain text divided into fragments or with several texts joined together with one topic (examples available in Appendix p.8). CFC will display various types of texts in order to see how well the students can cope with any authentic material when dealing with reading. They will have to show their capability of dealing with advertisements, letters, stories, travelling brochures, guides, manuals, and magazine and newspaper articles. The type of test applicable here will be integrative, including a variety of strategies and direct checking the students reading skills. TOEFL test’s reading part usually involves the students’ general comprehension of a text. It is regularly a text followed by a number of questions about it typically in the form of multiple choice items format. However, this part of the test requires the students to show their skills in reading for gist, the students have to define the main idea of a text; afterwards, the students will have to display their knowledge of the vocabulary, especially synonyms, ability to infer the meaning, define the words and apply their skills connected with working with references, i.e.: ….The biggest disadvantage was that the sound and pictures could become unsynchronised if, for example, the gramophone needle jumped or if the speed of the projector changed. This system was only effective for a single song or dialogue sequence….. 47. The word “sequence” in line 14 is closest in meaning to A) interpretation B) progression C) distribution D) organization Gear, Cambridge preparation for the TOEFL test, 1996 The students will be offered to read several passages, usually historical, scientific, medical, etc. facts. They will intend to check the students’ ability to understand specific types of tests taken from specific fields, the skill required at the universities, whereas CFC will offer the students the texts they can encounter in their everyday life being abroad. Each text will be typically accompanied with seven questions. TOEFL test will chiefly use multiple-choice items; there will be no gap filling or matching implied. Thus, we can call a reading part of TOEFL test as a direct, for it tests the students reading skills, and more discrete point tests than integrative, for it is mainly concerned with checking the students’ knowledge of vocabulary (examples available in Appendix p.391- 396). The above mentioned could be stated as the first difference: TOEFL test is a discreet point test, while CFC is integrative one. Another difference between CFC and TOEFL reading part could be a variety of tasks given to test the students’ reading skills. CFC will mostly offer a great range of tasks (headings, summary, fragmented texts) and texts types, while TOEFL will not vary a lot. Listening Part The listening part of CFC test aims to test the students’ ability to listen and understand the gist, the main points, and specific information is to deduce meaning. TOEFL test will check whether the students are able to understand conversations and talks in English. CFC test will offer the students a variety of activities in order to check whether the students can imply effective listening strategies to comprehend the message. It suggests the idea of the test being integrative, for it will focus on different means that could be used to deal with a listening task. For example, CFC offers multiple choices as a task (examples available in Appendix p.37): the students listen to several short extracts that are taken from different contexts. They could be dialogues or monologues as well. The answer sheet will display the three answer items from which the students will have to choose the correct one. The task could ask the students to guess who the speaker is, where the action takes place, what the conversation is about and even it can include the question about the feelings and emotions of speakers that could be guessed from the contexts. Afterwards, there will be another task – note taking or blank filling that will check the student’s ability to listen for gist and for details. This type will demand the student’s capability to use his/her writing skills to put down information they will hear. They will have to be able to pick up the necessary information and retain it in their memory in order to fulfil the task (examples available in Appendix p.87). Subsequently, a further task could engage multiple matching where the students will have to concentrate on a particular kind of information. This task could be displayed in the form of a dialogue or a monologue. The students will be given several answers with letters that should be inserted into the right box. However, there will always be one option that does not suit any question, the so-called distractor. Moreover, asking the students to complete a grid, i.e. advantages and disadvantages of anything, could expand the task, i.e. advantages and disadvantages of keeping a certain pet: | |Advantages |Disadvantages | |dog | | | |cat | | | |fish | | | Prodromou, First Certificate Star, 1998 Moreover, the listening task could involve True/false activities where the students will have to listen to a dialogue or a monologue and react to |
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