Chapter 8

Question 1

Diagnostic evaluation

Answer 1

determining a learner’s level of proficiency, usually for screenng or placement purposes.

Question 2

screening

Answer 2

determining whether the learner can perform a certain task or function

Question 3

placement

Answer 3

deciding on a suitable class level for the learner’s proficiency

Question 4

diagnostic passage

Answer 4

written text used for assessing a student’s command of pronunciation; ability to produce certain consonant clusters, or appropriate intonation; passage often contains all or most of the segmental and suprasegmental features of English so that the learner’s command of these features can be accurately diagnosed and teacher can develop relevant and appropriate instruction.

Question 5

free-speech sample

Answer 5

A one- or two-minute sample of extemporaneous speech for assessing learner’s actual pronunciation skills or confirming results of diagnostic passage assessment. Primary focus is on meaning rather than form. Teacher can provide list of topics, or learner can use their own.

Question 6

formal oral-proficiency tests

Answer 6

Used for screening and selection. Most focus on spoken production: reading aloud, answering a prerecorded question, conversing, responding to interview questions, delivering a prepared presentation. Goal is generally to measure intelligibility rather than native-speaker accuracy. TOEFL IBT, IELTS, Versant, and UCLA Test of Oral Proficiency are examples.

Question 7

Holistic score

Answer 7

A global score that does not reflect specific strengths or weaknesses.

Question 8

Analytic score

Answer 8

Individual scores for each component, such as grammar, vocabulary, prominence, intonation, fluency.

Question 9

ongoing evaluation and feedback

Answer 9

Necessary to determine a learner’s progress and provide individualized feedback. Also to revise the curriculum if deemed necessary.

Question 10

self-monitoring/self-correction

Answer 10

noticing inaccuracies in their own production and correcting them.

Question 11

contract learning

Answer 11

Goals and objectives that the learner negotiates with with the teacher and commits to. Total responsibility now lies with the learner.

Question 12

covert rehearsal

Answer 12

Practicing privately for an anticipated interaction or conversation. Speaking to themselves, recalling models and rules of pronunciation.

Question 13

Purposes of Assessment

Answer 13

Diagnose strengths and weaknesses
assess gains during and after a course of study
place students in a program
assess general proficiency
The first two require criterion-referenced tests.
The second two require norm-referenced tests.

Question 14

Norm-referenced tests

Answer 14

Assess a student in relation to other students.
Normal distribution if well designed and administered to sufficient numbers of test-takers.
Based on general concept of proficiency (TOEFL and IELTS measure academic English).

Question 15

Construct validity

Answer 15

Test measures the target construct

Question 16

Face validity

Answer 16

Test looks to takers like a test measuring what is says it is testing

Question 17

Content validity

Answer 17

Test content is part of the target language use domain (may not exist in EFL contexts)

Question 18

Convergent validity

Answer 18

Test converges (correlates positively) with constructs it is supposed to be related to. (Scores for pronunciation and overall speaking ability will be positively correlated).

Question 19

divergent validity

Answer 19

Test diverges (correlates negatively or less positively) with constructs is it unrelated to. E.g.k, scores for pronunciation and morpho-syntactic knowledge will have low correlation among Japanese high school students.

Question 20

Predictive validity

Answer 20

Test can detect the performance it is designed to predict. E.g., pronunciation test in Japan can detect that students with longer overseas experience display greater intelligibility.

Question 21

Criterion-referenced tests

Answer 21

Assess a student’s relationship with the subject matter.
Positively skewed if administered at the beginning of a course of study, negatively skewed if administered at the end of a course of study.
Generally based on course goals, objectives, and content. CRTs should reflect course content ratios.
Option: base CRTs partly on individual problems displayed by the students.

Question 22

Discrete-point tests

Vs.

Answer 22

Objective questions: multiple-choice, true/false, short-answer
Time-consuming to create, easy to score.
Amenable to detailed statistical analyses and item banking
Fair

Question 23

Task-based tests

Answer 23

Better aligned with current SLA theory, classroom teaching
more authentic
mirror classroom tasks, so easy to write
Less “pure” measure of an individual schill

Question 24

Integrative tests

Answer 24

test taker mush integrate or synthesize various types of information
Better aligned with communicative or task-based teaching
More authentic
can assess both bottom-up and topdown skills.

Question 25

self-assessment

Answer 25

Allows learners to contribute to the assessment process, which motivates them.
Criteria should be based on the course goals and objectives (helps raise learners’ awareness of goals and objectives)
helps learners to better understand their threngths and weaknesses and develop with the teacher a plan to address weaknesses.

Question 26

washback (from tests)

Answer 26

Tests influence how and way learners study; tell learners what is REALLY important in the curriculum.
Washback can be positive or negative.
Washback from tests push students to achieve course and program goals and objectives.

Question 27

Feedback

Answer 27

Provides learners with information about progress towards course goals and objectives.

Question 28

Classroom assessment

Answer 28

Test for the best
align goals, objectives, instruction, and assessment
Use more than one test method
gather many scores and types of scores
use assessments to ‘push’ learners toward goals
Give feedback on performance

Question 29

Test for the best

Answer 29

Allow learners to hear native-speaker reading of assessment passage before they perform (p.313)
Allow time for planning and practice (p.313)
Use multiple test methods (p. 314)
Provide familiar topics or allow learners to select topic.
Use an (unscored?) warm-up task when possible.
Allow students to hear their performance.