test-specification-考试规范

IWhataretestspecifications?nDefinitionoftestspecificationsAtest’sspecificationsprovidetheofficialstatementaboutwhatthetesttestsandhowittestsit.Thespecificationsaretheblueprinttobefollowedbytestanditemwriters,andtheyarealsoessentialintheestablishmentofthetest’sconstructvalidity.nDifferencebetweenspecificationsandsyllabus1.atestspecificationisadetaileddocument,whilethesyllabusisoftenmuchsimplified.2.atestspecificationisainternaldocumentfortestdevelopers,sometimesconfidentialtothetestusers,whilethesyllabusisapublicdocumentwhichindicatestocandidatesandteacherswhatthetestwillcontain.IIWhoneedstestspecifications?Andwhy?Testspecificationsareneededbyarangeofdifferentpeople:nneededbythosewhoproducethetestitselfTestconstructorsneedtohaveclearstatementsaboutwhothetestisaimedat,whatitspurposeis,whatcontentistobecovered,whatmethodsaretobeused,howmanypapersorsectionsthereare,howlongthetesttakes,andsoon.Inaddition,thespecificationswillneedtobeavailabletothoseresponsibleforeditingandmoderatingtheworkofindividualitemwritersorteams.Sucheditorsmayoperateinacommitteeorboardofficials.Insmallerinstitutions,theymaysimplybefellowteachers.Thespecificationsshouldbeconsultedandclearlywritten.nNeededbythoseresponsiblefororinterestedinestablishingthetest’svalidity(thatis,whetherthetesttestswhatitissupposedtotest).Validatorsmaythinkitislessimportanttohave‘practicalinformationaboutthelengthofthetestanditssections,andmoreimportanttoknowthetheoreticaljustificationforthecontent:whattheoriesoflanguageandproficiencymakethetest,andwhythetestisthewayitis.nNeededbytestusersTestusersneeddescriptionsofatest’scontent,anddifferentsortsofusersmayneedsomewhatdifferentdescriptions.Forexample,teacherswhowillberesponsibleforthelearnersplacedintheirclassesbyatestneedtoknowwhatthetestscoresmean:whattheparticularlearnersknew,whattheycando,whattheyneedtolearn.Teacherswhowishtoentertheirstudentsforsomepublicexaminationneedtoknowwhichtestwillbemostappropriatefortheirlearnerinrelationtothecoursethattheyhavebeenfollowing.nNeededbypublishersFinally,testspecificationsareavaluablesourceofinformationforpublisherswishingtoproducetextbooksrelatedtothetest:textbookwriterswillensurethatthepracticeinbookstheyproduceareofanappropriatelevelofdifficulty,withappropriatecontent,topics,tasksandsoon.Alltheseusersoftestspecificationsmayhavedifferingneeds,andwritersofspecificationsneedtobeartheaudienceinmindwhenproducingtheirspecifications.Whatissuitableforanaudiencemaybequiteunsuitableforanother.IIIContentsoftestspecifications1.Testpurpose2.Theoreticalconstructandoperations3.Testtakers4.Testcontent5.Testmethod6.Testtasksandtexttypes7.Testorganizationsandweighting8.Timeduration9.Scoringcriterion10.Testadministration11.TestdevelopmentchartIVHowtodrawuptestspecifications?nTestpurpose:teststendtofallintooneofthefollowingbroadcategories:placement,progress,achievement,proficiencyanddiagnostic.Placementtestsaredesignedtoassessstudents’leveloflanguageabilitysothattheycanbeplacedintheappropriatecourseorclass.Progresstestsaregivenatvariousstagesthroughoutalanguagecoursetoseewhatthestudentshavelearnt.Achievementteststendtobegivenattheendofthecourse.Thecontentofbothprogressandachievementtestsisgenerallybasedonthecoursesyllabusorthecoursetextbook.Proficiencytestsaredesignedtotesttheabilityofstudentswithdifferentlanguagetrainingbackgrounds.Someareintendedtoshowwhetherstudentshavereachedagivenlevelofgenerallanguageability;othersaredesignedtoshowwhetherstudentshavesufficientabilitytobeabletousealanguageinsomespecificareasuchasmedicine,tourismetc.Diagnostictestsseektoidentifystrengthsandweaknessesinstudents’languageability.Testpurposeisthenormalstartingpointfordesigningtestspecifications.Forexample:TestAisaplacementtest,designedtoplacestudentsapplyingforlanguagecoursesatEnglishintoclassesappropriatetotheirlanguagelevel.TestBisintendedtodiagnosestrengthsandweaknessesoffourthyearsecondaryschoolpupilsinEnglishgrammar.nTestconstructandoperationsEverytesthasatheorybehindit:whatlanguageabilityconsistsof,whatlanguagelearninginvolvesandwhatlanguageusersdowithlanguage.Everytheorycontainsconstructs,whichareitsprincipalcomponentsandtherelationshipbetweenthesecomponents.Testspecificationsneedtomakethetheoreticalframeworkwhichunderliesthetestlanguageskillsandrelationshipsbetweenitsconstructs,aswellastherelationshipbetweenthetheoryandwhatthetestisdesignedfor.ThetestdomainisintendednottoincludealltheskillsoftheconstructbuttherepresentativecontentsofthelistingskillsForexample:Heaton(2000:105-106),inhisbook“WritingEnglishLanguageTests”,hypothesizesreadingskillsastheabilityto:--recognizewordsandwordgroups,associatingsoundswiththeircorrespondinggraphicsymbols;--deducethemeaningofwords;--understandexplicitlystatedinformation;--understandrelationswithinthesentence;--understandrelationsbetweenpartsofatext;--perceivetemporalandspatialrelationshipsandalsosequencesofideas;--understandconceptualmeaning;--anticipateandpredictwhatwillcomenextinthetext;--identifythemainideaandothersalientfeaturesinatext;--generalizeanddrawc