MAELT 204- Language Testing and Evaluation

Professor: DR. MARDIE E. BUCJAN

Reporters: PABALATE, MARY ANN B.
MONDALO, NADINE A.

PRINCIPLES & PURPOSES OF LANGUAGE ASSESSMENT

Learning Objectives:

1. explore definition of concepts related to language and literature assessment;

2. explain principles governing effective assessment and evaluation;
3. discuss purposes of language assessment;
4. identify the functions of language tests; and
5. give the significance of assessment in language learning-teaching process.

A. KEY CONCEPTS
1. Assessment
- It is the act of gathering information on daily basis
- day to day experiences
- pop-up-quiz (formative- life-long learning application), summative test, quarterly examination
2. Testing
- refers to procedures that are based on test s in learning
- it is a salient part of assessment
- example: pretest/posttest
3. Language Testing
- practice and study of evaluating proficiency of a person in using particular language effectively
4. Measurement
- includes testing and other types of measurement as well as other types of information that result in
quantitative data
- example: attendance, TQ’s, rating of students
5. Evaluation
- Culmination acts/performance of interpreted information gathered as to make decision in judgments
on student’s learning and needs as to reporting time
- Example: MPs, identifying LC, Intervention

Testing Measurement Evaluation

ASSESSMENT

B. ASSESSMENT AND EVALUATION PRINCIPLES

Principles intended to assist teachers to plan for learners’ assessment and evaluation:

1. Assessment and evaluation are important components of teaching-learning process that is needed to be
planned. Continuous activities which are derived from learning competencies from the specific curriculum.
- example: Learning Competency on Grammar Awareness – Subject-Verb Agreement, Learning
competency on Literary Awareness- elements of a story
2. Variety of Assessment in evaluation techniques should be used. Techniques used should be selected for
their appropriateness to students.
- Kinds of learner, learning styles, environment of learning
- Students should be given opportunities to demonstrate the extent of their knowledge, activities, and
attitudes in a variety of ways.
Examples:
a. As a teacher you don’t give the same worksheet/activity sheets to the students
 b. Identify first your learners
c. Note their strengths and weaknesses.
3. Teachers should communicate assessment and evaluation strategies and plan in advance, informing the
students the objectives and the assessment procedures sensitive to the objectives.
4. Assessment and evaluation should be fair and equitable. They should be sensitive to family, classroom,
school and community situations (stakeholders) and cultural as gender requirements should be free of bias.
- Stakeholders are important in learners’ progress /development
- It should address fair treatment to all individuals affecting learners.
- Additional to this, it should not also be bias to each certain religion.
5. Assessment and Evaluation should help students. They should provide positive feedback and encourage
students to particular activity in order to foster life-long learners and establish them to transfer knowledge
and abilities to their life experiences.
- To motivate learners, give appreciative experiences, to make them successful
6. Assessment and evaluation data results should be communicated to students and parents, guardians
regularly in meaningful ways.
- Anecdotal record(no. of siblings, personal profile)
- Interview with parents (students behavior at home, activities towards family)
- Home visitations (students who are tardy, and tend to have absenteeism.
- Homeroom meetings (behavior of students, attendance, reading performance, cards, formative quiz)
7. Assessment and evaluation should use variety of techniques and tools. The teachers collects assessment
information about student’s language development and their growth in speaking, listening, writing and reading
knowledge and abilities. The data gathered during assessment becomes the basis for an evaluation.
Comparing assessment information to curriculum objectives allows the teacher to make a decision or
judgment regarding the progress of a student’s learning.

C. PURPOSES OF ASSESSMENT

1. Assessment FOR Learning

- It focuses on the gap between where a learner is in his/her learning and where he/she needs to be- the desired
goal.
- This can be achieved through processes such as sharing criteria with learners, effective questioning and
feedback.
- Assessment for learning are all those activities undertaken for teachers and/or by their student which provide
information to be used as feedback to modify the teaching and learning activities in which they are engaged.
(Black & William)
- Learners learn best when:
 they understand clearly what they are trying to learn and what is expected of them.
 they are given feedback about the quality of their work and what they can do to make it better.
 they are given advice about how to go about making improvements
 they are fully involved in deciding what needs to be done next.

2. Assessment AS Learning
- It is about reflecting on the evidence of learning.
- In this cycle, the students and the staff set learning goals, share learning intentions and success criteria, and
evaluate their learning through dialogue and self and peer assessment.
- Through this, learners become more aware of what they learn, how they learn and what helps them learn.

3. Assessment OF Learning
- It involves working with the range of available evidence that enables staff and the wider assessment community
to check on student’s progress and using this information in a number of ways.
- It provides an arena for the management and planning of assessment and for teachers to work collaboratively
with the evidence. It connects assessment with the curriculum.
- Judgments about students’ learning need to be dependable. This means that:
 They are valid (based on sound criteria_
  They are reliable (accuracy of assessment and practice)
 They are comparable (they stand up when they compared to judgments in other department.

D. FUNCTIONS OF LANGUAGE TEST

1. IN LEARNING
- Test are used to measure students language ability, to discover how much they have been learning, to diagnose
students’ strengths and weaknesses and to motivate students in learning.
 Sometimes, Language Teachers choose to test students through periodic quizzes and test of achievement.
 Other Instructors assess students’ language proficiency after the end of several years of language study.
 Language teachers use tests for placement and diagnostic reasons and other purposes.
2. IN TEACHING
- Tests are used in teaching as a means to ensure effective teaching, to improve teaching quality, to obtain
feedback on student learning place on a course.
- Test can have a backwash effects, which means that they may result in changes of instructional program or
teaching practices to reflect the test contents.
3. IN RESEARCH
- Language test have a potentially important role in virtually all research both basic and proficiency, language
processing, language acquisition, language attrition and language teaching.