Introduction to Issues in Language Assessment and Terminology

Glossary

1.     Evaluation: it is conceptualized as broader in scope, and cornered with the overall program. Evaluation involves looking at all factors that influence the learning process.

2.    Assessment: it refers to a variety of ways of collecting information on a learner’s language ability or achievement.

3.    Testing: a test is a formal, systematic (usually paper and pencil) procedure used to gathered information about student’s behavior.

4.    Placement test: it asses the students’ level of language ability so they can be placed in an appropriate course or class.

5.    Aptitude Test: it measures capacity or general ability to learn a foreign or second language.

6.    Diagnostic Test: it identifies language areas in which a student needs further help.

7.    Progress test: it measures the progress that students are making toward defined course or program goals.

8.    Achievement test: it determine what a student had learned with regard to stated course outcomes, it is often cumulative, covering material drawn from an entire course or semester.

9.    Proficiency Test: it is not based on a particular curriculum or language program. They assess the overall language ability of students at varying levels.

10. Objective test: it is scored by comparing a student`s responses with a establish set of acceptable/ correct responses on an answer key.

11.  Subjective test: such as writing an essay, requires scoring by opinion or personal judgment so the human element is very important.

12. Summative assessment: test or task administered at the end of the course to determine if students have achieved the objectives set out in the curriculum.

13. Formative assessment: it is carried out with the aim of using the results to improve instruction, so they are given during a course and feedback is given to students.

14. High stakes test: those in which the results are likely to have a major impact on the lives of large numbers of individuals or on large programs.

15. Low stakes test: those in which the result have a relatively minor impact on the lives of the individual or on small programs.

16. Alterative assessment: it asks students to show what they can do; students are evaluating on what they can integrate and produce rather than what they are able to recall or reproduce.

17. Usefulness: a test must be developed with a specific purpose, a particular group of test takers, and a specific language use in mind.

18. Validity: it refers to the extent to which a test measure what it purports to measure. In other words, test what you teach and how you teach it.

19. Content validity: it means that the test assesses the course content and outcomes using formats familiar to the students.

20.Construct validity: it refers to the fit between the underliying theories and methodology of language learning and the type of assessment.

21. Face validity: it means that the test looks as though it measures what it is supposed to measure.

22.Reliability: it refers to the consistency of test scores, which simply means that a test will offer similar results if it were given at another time.

23.Practicality: a practical test should be able to develop, administer, and mark within the available time and with the available resources.

24.Washback: it refers to the effect of testing on teaching testing and learning. Washback is generally said to be positive or negative.

In summary, evaluation includes the whole course or program, and information is collected from many sources including the learner. While assessment is related to the learner and his or her achievements, testing is part of assessment, and it measures learner achievement.