CHAPTER TWO

TECHNIQUES FOR TESTING

In regards of techniques for testing teachers have to and need to be aware of the implications for English language learners in choosing different test formats because, the type of response can impact a student`s  ability to demonstrate what he or she actually knows or can do.

This chart may helps you decide what formats to use based on the ability of your students to supply their own answers.

Selection:  True/False, Multiple Choice, Matching,   Numbering Sequence

Supply:       Cloze or Gap-Fill (no responses provided), Essay questions.

Moreover, there are other ways to test student’s ability such as: the subjective item test and the objective item test.  Objective test items can be scored based only on following an answer key; it requires no expert judgment or specialist knowledge.  Objective items have relatively few response options. On the other hand, scoring subjective items requires that the marker have knowledge of the content area being tested, it depends on human judgment and opinion at the time of scoring. Subjective items usually require students to produce longer, more openended responses.

Some common objective test items mostly used in English language testing are: multiple choice questions (MCQ), True/false (T/F), and the matching format. The most commonly used format in professionally developed test is the Multiple Choice questions, they are widely used to assess learning at the recall and comprehension levels; in which students have to identify the correct or most appropriate choice. When this format is written well, It is very reliable because there is only one possible answer.

The True/False questions Format is secondly use in terms of frequency after the multiple Choice format.  This format is typically written as statements, and the student´s task is to decide whether they are true or false. This format is attractive to test developers because, it can test large amounts of content, more items can be incorporated, and it can be completed by students in less time.

The matching is another objective format; is an extended for of MCQ that draws on the student´s ability to make connections among ideas, vocabulary, and structure, which is presented in two columns of information, where the items on the left-hand column are called premises and the one´s on the right, are options. And there are equal in number of choices.

Common Subjective items used on language tests are: Close and Gap fill, Short answers and completion items, and essay questions. When, we referred to Cloze testing student’s task is to complete the gaps with appropriate fillers reading around the gaps, and taking into account meaning and structure to process the answers.  There are two types of gaps: function gaps (such as prepositions, articles, and conjunctions) that have only one correct filler and semantic gaps (such as nouns, adjectives, verbs, and adverbs) that can be filled with many different alternatives.

Short Answers/Completion Items: Short answer or sentence completion items they are used to check gist, and intensive understanding of a text. In this format students are require to answer in a few words, phrases, or sentences avoiding less guessing.

Essay Questions:  They offer students the opportunity to construct their own responses who decides how to approach the question, and which ideas to include.  Essay questions are the most useful format for assessing higher-order cognitive process such as analyzing, evaluating, summarizing, and synthesizing. Also, it assesses content knowledge and writing abilities.