搜索
LanguageTestingandEvaluationIntroductiontoLanguageTestingTestingisanindispensablepartofeveryteachingandlearningexperience.Rightfromthecommencementofformaleducation,weareconfrontedwithamyriadoftests,fromsmallquizzes,mid-termandfinalexaminations,torigidmatriculationexaminations,nottomentionmanyothertestsafterourgraduation,onthegradesofwhichhangdecisionsconcerningourcareer.Asamatteroffact,wearehauntedbyteststhroughoutourlifetime.Whatisa“test”?※Apsychologicaloreducationaltestisaproceduredesignedtoelicitcertainbehaviorfromwhichonecanmakeinferenceaboutcertaincharacteristicsofanindividual.(Carroll)※考试是由一定数量的题目组成，用于测定人的某一心理品质，或学习掌握程度的工具。教师出试题实际上是创设一个语言情景，学生的答题过程则是他的语言能力和知识掌握程度的一种表现。考试的目的就是要测定学生在某一方面的能力或学习情况。（舒运祥2001）AssessmentToputitsimply,assessmentmeanstodiscoverwhatthelearnersknowandcandoatacertainstageofthelearningprocess.Withdifferentassessmentpurposesinmind,wemayadoptdifferentassessmentmethods.Aclosestudyontheassessmentpurposeswillmakeitclearthatallthepeopleinvolvedineducationhavesomereasonstoconsiderassessmentnecessary.Theyareadministrators,teachers,parentsandstudents.Administrators:Administratorsprovidemoneyandpersonnelforeducation.Theyneedtoknowwhethertheprogrammestheyhaveplannedareworkingwell。Theonlywaytodothisistodiscoverhowwellthepupilsaredoingwiththeircourses.Ifassessmentresultsaredifferentfromwhattheyhaveexpected,theyneedtoreplantheprogrammessothatbetteraccomplishmentcanbeachievedlater.Teachers:Teachersputtheadministrators’plansintopractice.Inthecontinuumoflearning,teachersneedtoknowwhathasbeendoneandwhatneedstobedonenext;whatthepupilsalreadyknoworcandoandwhattheydonotknoworcannotdoyet.Iftheprogramiswellplanned,itprettymuchdependsontheteachers’performancewhethertheprogrameventuallyleadstosuccess.Parents:Nobodyismoreanxiousthanparentstoknowhowtheirchildrenaredoinginschool.Unabletowatchtheirkidsintheclass,parentsvaluethefeedbackabouttheirchildren’sperformancefromtheteachersandtheschool.Students:Finally,studentsneedtoknowwhatthey’veaccomplished,beawareofwhattheyneedtoworkontext,andbuilduptheirconfidenceandsatisfactionfromwhattheyhaveachieved.Reasonsfortest/assessmentuse:√Toknowpeople’slanguageability√Todiscoverhowsuccessfulstudentshavebeeninachievingtheobjectiveofacourseofstudy√Toprovidefeedbackforlearners√Toevaluatetheeffectivenessofteaching√Todiagnosestudents’strengthsandweaknesses√Toplacestudentsinanappropriateprogram语言能力、兴趣、态度等考试观察面谈数值价值判断测量标准（量化）评价过程考试、测量和评价三者之间既有联系又有区别。评价过程实际上包含了测量，如果测量以考试为手段，那么评价中也包含了考试。外语教学中为了了解学生的语言能力、兴趣、知识掌握得情况，就要对其进行评价，但能力、兴趣等心理品质是一个抽象概念，为了有利于评价，我们通过具体做题目（考试）等方式，对抽象的概念进行定性、定量的描述，最后还需借助一定的标准解释考试成绩，以确定学生的语言水平，这样一个过程就是评价。Test----Measurement----evaluation(Assessment)外语测试语言学心理学与教学法理论语言学应用语言学心理语言学社会语言学学习心理学外语教学法测量学教育统计学教育测量学计算机科学外语测试与有关学科TeachingandTestingTestingandteachingarecloselyinterrelated.Languagetestingbothservesandisservedbyresearchinlanguagelearningandlanguageteaching.Theeffectoftestingonteachingandlearningisknownasbackwash.Backwashcanbeharmfulorbeneficial.Well-madetestsofEnglishcanbringaboutbeneficialbackwashwhileill-designedoneswillleadtomisguidedteachingandlearning.Goodtestscanhelpcreatepositiveattitudetowardslearning.Goodtestscanhelpfosterpositiveclassroomatmosphereandhelpthemmasterthelanguage.TeachingObjectivesTeachingContentTeachingMethodsTestingNotalltests,however,aresufficienttomeetourrequirement,i.e.,toprovideanaccuratemeasurementofthecandidates’languageproficiencyfortheirspecificuses.Moreoftenthannot,acandidate’sperformanceonalanguagetestdoesnotmatchhisperformanceinrealuse.Ifblindfaithisplacedinthetestresultregardlessofthevalidityandreliabilityofthetestforaspecificsituation,itwillgiverisetosevereproblems.Whenthetestscoreisregardedastheonlyyardstickofaperson’slanguageproficiency,studentswilltendtostudytesttakingskillsratherthanthelanguageitself.Theybecomefiendsattestinsteadofmastersofthelanguage.Thenweareboundtofallintotheexamination-centeredteaching,whichshouldbeavoided.Clearly,thisisundesirable.TeachingcontentsTeachingMethodsTestingKindsofTestsandTestingTestscanbecategorizedfollowingdifferentcriteria,suchastheintendeduseofthetest,theapproachtotesting,testingcontent,thewaytointerpretthescoreandscoringmethods.First,testsareusedtoobtaininformation.“Givingatestislikeaskingaquestion—itisarequestforinformation.Ifyouasktherightsortofquestion,yougettherightsortofanswer.Ifyouaskasillyquestion,yougetasillyanswer.”Inthiswaytheycanbecategorizedintoproficiencytests,achievementtests,diagnostictests,placementtestsandaptitudetests.Proficiencytests(水平测试)Proficiencytestsaredesignedtomeasurepeople’soverallmasteryofEnglishortomeasurehowsuitablecandidateswillbeforperformingacertaintaskorfollowaspecificcourse.(TOEFL,EPT,NMETetc.)Forexample,doesthestudentknowenoughEnglishtofollowacertainuniversitylecturegiveninthemediumofEnglish?DoesthestudentknowenoughEnglishinordertofunctionefficientlyinaparticulartypeofemployment?Thecontentofaproficiencytestisnotbasedonthecontentorobjectivesoflanguagecourseswhichpeopletakingthetestmayhavefollowed.Itisinnowayrelatedtoanysyllabusorteachingprogram;in