TestTechniques

TestTechniques,Selected-responsevs.constructedresponseCorrection-for-guessingformulaMultiple-choiceitemsShort-answeritemsGap-fillingitemsClozetests(mechanicalvs.rational)C-testsMatchingitemsSequencingitems,Selected-andconstructedresponseitems,Multiple-choiceitems,Whichofthefollowingwillmakeatestmorereliable?AToincreasethenumberofitemsBTodecreasethenumberofitemsCTomaketheitemseasierDTomaketheitemsmoredifficult,Stem,Correctoption,distractors,Multiple-choiceitems,Inordertomakeatestmorereliable,weneedtoAincreasethenumberofitemsBdecreasethenumberofitemsCmaketheitemseasierDmaketheitemsmoredifficult,Howmanyoptionstowrite,Trytowriteasmanyoptionsaspossiblebutthereseemstobeanaturallimit,andinpracticalterms,threeoptions(onecorrectoptionplustwodistractors)seemtosuffice403-optionitemswillmakeamorereliabletestthan304-optionitemsDonothesitatetoincludeitemswithdifferentnumberofoptions,Correction-for-guessingformula,Correctedscore=NC-NI*(1/(k-1)NC:numbercorrectNI:numberincorrectk:numberofoptionsperitemThisformulaisdesignedinsuchwaythatrandomguessingonalltheitemswillresultinascoreofzero.Eg.Inthecaseof4-option100items,NC=25,NI=75;25-75*(1/(4-1)=0BasedontheassumptionthatallincorrectanswersareresultsofrandomguessingTest-takersshouldbeadvisednottoanswerwhenindoubt,Dosanddontsformultiple-choicereadingcomprehensionitems,Importanceofwhatisbeingasked,Pickapointworthaskingabout.Askyourselfwhatacompetentreaderwouldretaininhis/hermemoryafterreadingthematerial.Writeanitemthatencourageshigher-orderthinking.Wheneverpossible,askabout:impliedmeanings;authorsattitude;inter-paragraphrelationships,etc.,(Askabouttheforest,ratherthanthetrees),Backgroundknowledge,Writeanitemthatcanbeansweredifandonlyifthepassageisunderstood.Avoiditemsthatcanbeansweredfromcommonknowledge.ex)Whatdiseasecouldyougetifyousmoketoomuch?ex)Whichhemisphereisresponsibleforprocessinglanguage?,Theroleofastem,Writeastemthatclearlyspecifieswhatisbeingasked.Inotherwords,astemshouldprovideenoughinformationastowhatisbeingasked.Avoidanitemthatconcernsmorethanonepoint,Samplequestion,exNG)Accordingtothepassage,A.JapanesenamesarewritteninJapanesestyleinmostEnglishpapers.B.theUSnavywantedJapanesepeopletofliptheirnamesfortheirconvenience.C.manyWesternersdonotknowthatsomepeoplesgivennamescomefirst.,Correctoptions,Writethecorrectoptionbyparaphrasingthetargetpart.Avoidusingverbatimexpressions.Discouragethemechanicalword-matchingstrategy.,Distractors,Writedistractorsputtingyourselfintheshoesofapoorreader.Baseyouroptionsonstudentstypicalmisunderstandings;paststudentsmistakes,Makealltheoptionssimilarinlength.Hebegantochokewhilehewaseatingthefish.A.dieB.coughandvomitC.beunabletobreathebecauseofsomethinginthewindpipeD.growveryangry(fromHeaton1988),Avoidusing“absolute”termsall;never;always;every;withoutexceptionAvoidnegativelywordedstemsWhatisnotemphasizedinthepassageis.WhenTommetBilly,hedidnotknow.,Inprinciple,allthedistractorsshouldmakegrammaticalphraseswhenputintothestem.Someonewhodesignshousesisaa)designerb)builderc)architectd)plumberJohnsoonreturnedtoa)workb)theprisonc)homed)school,Thesamewordingrepeatedineachoptionshouldbeincludedinthestem.Theword“astronaut”isusedinthepassagetorefertoa)travellersinanoceanlinerb)travellersinaspaceshipc)travellersinasubmarined)travellersinaballoon,Theoptionsshouldbeplacedinalogicalorder.Blackwellstartedhiscareerasalawyerina)1932b)1925c)1921d)1926WhengroupAiscomparedwithgroupB,a)groupAismuchlargerb)groupAissomewhatsmallerc)groupAissomewhatlargerd)groupAismuchsmaller,Particularrequirementsforlisteningtests,Test-takerscannotre-listen;stimuluscanbeprocessedonlyonceThenumberofoptionsshouldbekeptsmallOptionsshouldbekeptshortandbrief,Matchingitems,Goingtoseeafilmtonight?Icantstandwarfilms,canyou?Dontyoufindwarfilmstooviolent?Ilikewarfilms.Isthatwhyyoudontlikewarfilms?,SodoI.Yes,Iprobablywill.Itsoneofthereasons.Actually,Iquitelikethem.Notreally.Iquitelikethem.Allright.Nothingspecial.,Short-answeritems,Whatdoesitinthelastsentencereferto?HowoldwasHannibalwhenhestartedeatinghumanbrains?WhydidHannibalenjoyeatinghumanbrainssomuch?(takenfromHughes2003)Advantages:Disadvantages:,Gap-fillingitems,Fortestingreadingcomprehension:Hannibalparticularlylikedtoeatbrainsbecauseoftheir_andtheir_.Fortestinggrammar:Heaskedmeformoney,_thoughIearnalotlessthanhim.(takenfromHughes2003),Invisible-gapfilling,Historiansandanthropologistsusedthinkthatillhealthanddiseaseprevalentamongprimitivetribes.Resultsrecentinvestigations,however,haveshownwemuchtolearnfromprimitivepeople.Withoutbenefitofimmunisationorvaccination,primitiveoftenacquiredimmunitythediseasespresentintheirsociety.Moreover,thediseasesnowbesetmodernsocietywereuncommonprimitiveman.Althoughhedidlivealonglife,accordingtoresearch,hehavebeenfarhealthierpreviouslythought.,Clozetests,“reducedredundancy”Afterashortintactlead-in,everyn-th(typically7th)wordisdeleted.Whenwelistentosomeoneorreadsomething,thereismoreinformationavailabletousthanweactuallyneedinordertointerpretwhatissaidorwritten.Thereisredundancy.Nativespeakers()alanguagecancopewell()thisredundancyisreduced.They(),forexample,understandwhatsomeone()sayingeventhoughthereare()intheenvironmentthatprevent()fromhearingeverysoundthat()made.,RationalSelecteddeletioncloze,Theeffectoftestingonteachingandlearningisknownasbackwash,andcanbeharmfulor().Ifatestisregardedas(),ifthestakesarehigh,preparationforitcancometo()allteachingandlearningactivities.Andifthetest()andtestingtechniquesareatvariancewiththe()ofthecourse,thereislikelytobeharmful().,Thec-test,Testscanbecategorisedaccordingtothetypesofinformationtheyprovide.Thiscategor_willpr_usefulbo_indeci_whethera_existingte_issuit_for_particularpur_andi_writingappro_newte_whereth_arenece_.Thefo_typeso_testwh_wewi_discussi_thefoll_sectionsa_:profi_tests,achie_tests,diagn_tests,a_placementte_.,Multiple-choicecloze,Proficiencytestsaredesignedtomeasurepeoplesabilityinalanguage,regardlessofany(1)theymayhavehadinthat(2).Thecontentofaproficiencytest,(3),isnotbasedonthecontentorobjectivesoflanguagecoursesthatpeopletakingthetestmayhavefollowed.Rather,itisbasedona(4)ofwhatcandidateshavetobeabletodointhelanguageinordertobeconsideredproficient.1.experiencetrainingfeelingexpectation2.languagesituationco