Practical Language Testing

by Fulcher,Glenn

• ISBN13: 9780340984482
• ISBN10: 0340984481
• Format: Nonspecific Binding
• Copyright: 2010-03-26
• Publisher: Routledge

Summary

Practical Language Testing equips you with the skills, knowledge, and principles necessary to understand and construct language tests. This intensely practical book gives guidelines on the design of assessments within the classroom, and provides the necessary tools to analyze and improve assessments, as well as deal with alignment to externally imposed standards. Testing is situated both within the classroom and within the larger social context, and readers are provided the knowledge necessary to make realistic and fair decisions about the use and implemnetation of tests. The book explains the normative role of large scale testing and provides alternatives that the reader can adapt to their own context. This fulfills the dual purpose of providing the reader with the knowledge they need to prepare learners for tests, and the practical skills for using assessment for learning. Practical Language Testing is the ideal introduction for students of applied linguistics, TESOL, and modern foreign language teaching as well as practicing teachers required to design or implement language testing programs.

Author Biography

Glenn Fulcher is Reader in Education (TESOL), University of Leicester, U.K.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements	p. vii
List of figures	p. ix
List of tables	p. xi
Preface	p. xiii
Testing and assessment in context	p. 1
Test purpose	p. 1
Tests in educational systems	p. 4
Testing rituals	p. 5
Unintended consequences	p. 6
Testing and society	p. 8
Historical interlude I	p. 11
The politics of language testing	p. 12
Historical interlude II	p. 15
Professionalising language education and testing	p. 17
Validity	p. 19
Activities	p. 21
Standardised testing	p. 31
Two paradigms	p. 31
Testing as science	p. 32
What's in a curve?	p. 35
The curve and score meaning	p. 36
Putting it into practice	p. 37
Test scores in a consumer age	p. 42
Testing the test	p. 44
Introducing reliability	p. 46
Calculating reliability	p. 47
Living with uncertainty	p. 54
Reliability and test length	p. 57
Relationships with other measures	p. 57
Measurement	p. 59
Activities	p. 60
Classroom assessment	p. 67
Life at the chalk-face	p. 67
Assessment for Learning	p. 68
Self- and peer-assessment	p. 70
Dynamic Assessment	p. 72
Understanding change	p. 75
Assessment and second language acquisition	p. 77
Criterion-referenced testing	p. 79
Dependability	p. 81
Some thoughts on theory	p. 87
Activities	p. 90
Deciding what to test	p. 93
The test design cycle	p. 93
Construct definition	p. 96
Where do constructs come from?	p. 102
Models of communicative competence	p. 105
From definition to design	p. 118
Activities	p. 120
Designing test specifications	p. 127
What are test specifications?	p. 127
Specifications for testing and teaching	p. 134
A sample detailed specification for a reading test	p. 139
Granularity	p. 147
Performance conditions	p. 148
Target language use domain analysis	p. 149
Moving back and forth	p. 154
Activities	p. 155
Evaluating, prototyping and piloting	p. 159
Investigating usefulness and usability	p. 159
Evaluating items, tasks and specifications	p. 159
Guidelines for multiple-choice items	p. 172
Prototyping	p. 173
Piloting	p. 179
Field testing	p. 185
Item shells	p. 186
Operational item review and pre-testing	p. 188
Activities	p. 190
Scoring language tests	p. 197
Scoring items	p. 197
Scorability	p. 201
Scoring constructed response tasks	p. 208
Automated scoring	p. 216
Corrections for guessing	p. 218
Avoiding own goals	p. 219
Activities	p. 220
Aligning tests to standards	p. 225
It's as old as the hills	p. 225
The definition of'standards'	p. 225
The uses of standards	p. 226
Unintended consequences revisited	p. 228
Using standards for harmonisation and identity	p. 229
How many standards can we afford?	p. 231
Performance level descriptors (PLDs) and test scores	p. 233
Some initial decisions	p. 234
Standard-setting methodologies	p. 236
Evaluating standard setting	p. 241
Training	p. 243
The special case of the CEFR	p. 244
You can always count on uncertainty	p. 248
Activities	p. 250
Test administration	p. 253
No, no. Not me!	p. 253
Controlling extraneous variables	p. 254
Rituals revisited	p. 258
Standardised conditions and training	p. 259
Planned variation: accommodations	p. 262
Unplanned variation: cheating	p. 264
Scoring and moderation	p. 267
Data handling and policy	p. 268
Reporting outcomes to stakeholders	p. 269
The expense of it all	p. 272
Activities	p. 274
Testing and teaching	p. 277
The things we do for tests	p. 277
Washback	p. 277
Washback and content alignment	p. 282
Preparing learners for tests	p. 288
Selecting and using tests	p. 292
The gold standard	p. 295
Activities	p. 298
Epilogue	p. 300
Appendices	p. 301
Glossary	p. 319
References	p. 325
Index	p. 343
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