Language Testing and Assessment
| Code | School | Level | Credits | Semesters |
| EDEN4034 | School of Education and English | 4 | 20 | Spring China |
- Code
- EDEN4034
- School
- School of Education and English
- Level
- 4
- Credits
- 20
- Semesters
- Spring China
Summary
This module explores the practice of testing and assessment in TESOL and English language education. Specific topics addressed include the roles of validity, reliability, practicality and impact, as well as the practical design of assessment materials.
Target Students
MA in TESOL, MA in Applied Linguistics, MA in Interpreting & Translating
Classes
- One 1-hour-30-minute seminar each week for 10 weeks
- One 1-hour-30-minute lecture each week for 10 weeks
Assessment
- 100% Assignment: A student will submit an essay of around 3000 words giving a rationale/validation for a language test they themselves have created. A representative sample of the original test materials they designed must also be included, in addition to the rationale/validation. (The content of the assignment must be linked to and build upon a live spoken interactive presentation which the student gives in the second half of the course. That presentation itself will not be graded, but if the written assignment does not relate to the presentation and the resulting feedback, then a grade of 0 will be given for the assignment. For transparency, the spoken presentation and feedback will also be video-recorded.)
Assessed by end of spring semester
Educational Aims
The purpose of the module is to provide each participant with a clear understanding of the importance of assessment in language education, and with the tools to conduct the essential assessment activities which teachers typically encounter. Participants who are not teachers will consider the concepts in terms of their own professional context, e.g. competency testing for employees. The study of language in use inherently requires evaluative capacities and skills, and this module provides a sound theoretical base for building such skills. It will be of particular value to TESOL classroom teachers and educational programme administrators, as well as to those planning to apply tests as research instruments in their MA/MPhil or PhD theses. Each unit will consist of directed reading, topics for reflection/discussion, tasks and activities.Learning Outcomes
Knowledge and understanding: A clear understanding of the importance of assessment in education, specifically:
• teaching as a process of monitoring, adapting, remediating and challenging educational systems as selection structures
• the role of tests in educational opportunity and in gatekeeping
• the kinds of questions that should be asked (and answered) about all tests and assessments
• the ways in which a good command of assessment principles enables the teacher and/or applied linguist to contribute to the betterment of opportunities for all
Intellectual skills
• understand what tests are and what choices/decisions are available
• understand the concepts underpinning validity and reliability
• understand the principle of practicality and consider its weight in test design and implementation
• understand the principle of subjectivity and of judgement in language test design and development
• understand the pressure points in a testing system and be able to propose solutions for pressures at different points
• understand impact and washback and consider its influence when conducting test development, implementation and reporting
Professional practical skills
• be able to perform basic descriptive statistics (e.g. mean, mode, SD)
• be able to understand and interpret basic inferential statistics
• be able to critically evaluate the degree of fit between a curriculum or syllabus document and a test specification
• be able to distinguish between NRTs and CRTs and understand the strengths and weaknesses of each approach
• be able to propose a reliable scoring system to fit a test purpose and context
• be able to (re-)construct a rating scale in order to get at underlying skills
Transferable (key) skills
• be able to design a simple language test or classroom assessment instrument
• be able to understand test specifications and scoring manuals in order to apply correctly all procedures that form part of the test design and validity
• be able to perform descriptive statistics in order to report a test/measure reliability and technical validity
• be able to critique tests and other assessment instruments as used in their own context
• be aware of the alternatives in assessment in order to make recommendations for improvement or change in tests/assessments used in contexts in which they work
• be fully conscious of the ethical principles required in conducting language testing and assessment
• be able to critically read test manuals and score reports on individuals and groups
Conveners
- Ricky JEFFREY