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Филологические науки/5.Методы и приемы

контроля уровня владения иностранным языком.

Berezovska Olga

National University of Food Technologies, Kyiv, Ukraine

TESTS AS THE METHOD OF STUDENTS’ KNOWLEDGE ASSESSMENT

Measuring what and how well students learn is an important building block in the process of strengthening and improving our nation's schools. Tests, along with student grades and teacher evaluations, can provide critical measures of students' skills, knowledge, and abilities. Therefore, tests should be part of a system in which broad and equitable access to educational opportunity and advancement is provided to all students. Tests, when used properly, are among the most sound and objective ways to measure student performance. But, when test results are used inappropriately or as a single measure of performance, they can have unintended adverse consequences.

Today, many school districts are mandating tests to measure student performance and to hold individual schools and school systems accountable for that performance. Knowing if and what students are learning is important. Test results give classroom teachers important information on how well individual students are learning and provide feedback to the teachers themselves on their teaching methods and curriculum materials.

It is important to remember, however, that no test is valid for all purposes. Indeed, tests vary in their intended uses and in their ability to provide meaningful assessments of student learning. Therefore, while the goal of using large-scale testing to measure and improve student and school system performance is laudable, it is also critical that such tests are sound, are scored properly, and are used appropriately.

Some public officials and educational administrators are increasingly calling for the use of tests to make high-stakes decisions, such as whether a student will move on to the next grade level or receive a diploma. School officials using such tests must ensure that students are tested on a curriculum they have had a fair opportunity to learn, so that certain subgroups of students, such as racial and ethnic minority students or students with a disability or limited English proficiency, are not systematically excluded or disadvantaged by the test or the test-taking conditions. Furthermore, high-stakes decisions should not be made on the basis of a single test score, because a single test can only provide a "snapshot" of student achievement and may not accurately reflect an entire year's worth of student progress and achievement.

The potential problem with the current increased emphasis on testing is not necessarily the test, but the instances when tests have unintended and potentially negative consequences for individual students, groups of students, or the educational system more broadly. But, it is also critical to remember that, in many instances, without tests, low-performing students and schools could remain invisible and therefore not get the extra resources or remedial help that they need. The measurement validity of a test is an extremely important concept. Measurement validity simply means whether a test provides useful information for a particular purpose. Said another way: Will the test accurately measure the test taker's knowledge in the content area being tested?

When tests are developed and used appropriately, they are among the most sound and objective knowledge and performance measures available. But, appropriate development and use are critical. Fairness in testing begins when tests are being developed. Test developers should provide to those using their tests (school systems, for example) specific information about the potential limitations of the test, including situations in which the use of the test scores would be inappropriate. For example, a test that has been validated only for diagnosing strengths and weaknesses of individual students should not be used to evaluate the educational quality of a school. Furthermore, those using a particular test should have an appreciation for how the test performance of some students--students with a disability or those with limited English-speaking ability, for example, should be interpreted.

The first standardised test of ability was produced in France at the beginning of the last century by Binet. There were certain advantages in using paper and pencil tests in groups. First, it allowed a large number of people to be tested in one sitting. Second, it allowed people to be tested under the same types of conditions, e.g., the physical conditions and instructions could be standardised. The use of tests can be useful in the English teaching. It’s not necessary to use them at every class. But they are considered to be effective in the student’s knowledge assessment at the end of the topic, or while reading English text for comprehension development. Also tests are popular and rather efficient when we teach and assess grammar skills of our students.

You are most likely to encounter the following types of test:

• Verbal reasoning. These are about how well you understand ideas expressed in words and how you think and reason with words.

• Numerical reasoning. Like the verbal tests these aim to identify

strengths in understanding, only in this case it is your strength in

understanding and reasoning with numbers.

• Diagrammatic reasoning. These deal with diagrams.

• Mechanical reasoning. These deal with mechanical concepts.

• Abstract reasoning. These seek to identify how good you are at

thinking in abstract terms, e.g, dealing with problems that are not

presented in a verbal or numerical format.

• Clerical skills. These deal with checking and classifying data,

speedily and accurately.

• Personality questionnaires. These involve a series of statements

about, for example, your working style, attitude towards risk

and approach to planning. You have to indicate if you agree or

disagree with them.

• Situational tests. These are very similar to personality question-

naires but you are provided with a description of an imaginary

situation and a series of statements relating to it. You must

indicate if you agree or disagree with the statements if you found

yourself in that situation.

Nearly all these tests will have a time limit. But we have not

imposed time constraints in this chapter because it is more important

that you become familiar with the tests, and this is best done under

relaxed conditions where you work at your own pace. Later you will

find exercises that allow you to practice against time.

-Verbal tests

-Tests that measure comprehension

These tests set out to establish if the candidate can demonstrate a level of understanding of written language. They can involve, for example, swapping or finding missing words, choosing between sentences, or identifying words that have the same or opposite meaning.

A. Swapping words

Comprehension tests sometimes consist of single sentences or pairs

of sentences that either do not read sensibly or have a word or words

missing. You have to make the sentences sensible by swapping words or you have to complete a sentence by choosing words from a list. Note that in this type of test you must only switch two words and

from wherever you move the first word the other must go. Sometimes the question consists of two sentences, one of which

requires no revision.

B. Finding missing words

If the sentence has a word or words missing you are expected to

indicate which word or words are needed to complete the sentence,

usually from a number of suggestions.

C. Locating words that mean the same or the opposite

Comprehension-type selection tests sometimes test a candidate’s

grasp of synonyms (words in the same language that mean the same)

or antonyms (words that mean the opposite of each other or are

contradictory).

Tests that assess spelling

Most spelling tests require you to indicate which words in a list are incorrectly spelt. In some cases you are provided with a list of correctly spelt words from which you are able to check the spelling.

You may have either to write or underline the correct spelling or look the word up on a correctly spelt list and write down the corresponding number.

Spelling tests

These tests require you to identify which words are either correctly or incorrectly spelt. Sometimes you have to write out the correct spelling or underline either that correctly or incorrectly spelt. It is important that you pay attention to the instructions otherwise you may make the error of, for example, underlining the correct spellings when you were asked to underline the incorrect ones.

Tests of grammar and punctuation

Grammar demonstrates the relations between words, while punctuation serves to divide and emphasize. It is quite common for tests of grammar and punctuation to examine also your command of spelling and comprehension.

These tests often involve the candidate having to choose which of a number of sentences are correct or, alternatively, choose from a

number of words, or pairs of words, which will correctly complete a

sentence.

A. Choosing from a number of sentences

B. Choosing from pairs of words

C. Tests of logical thinking

These tests are intended to measure the candidate’s ability to follow

instructions or work out relationships between numbers, shapes,

figures or statements and predict, for example, what comes next.

Sometimes you have to follow instructions in this type of test or you

may be expected to work out relationships and then make a prediction.

Testing is certainly not the only way to assess students, but there are many good reasons for including a test in your language course.

· A test can give the teacher valuable information about where the students are in their learning and can affect what the teacher will cover next. They will help a teacher to decide if her teaching has been effective and help to highlight what needs to be reviewed. Testing can be as much an assessment of the teaching as the learning.

· Tests can give students a sense of accomplishment as well as information about what they know and what they need to review. Tests can also have a positive effect in that they encourage students to review material covered on the course.

· Tests are also a learning opportunity after they have been taken. The feedback after a test can be invaluable in helping a student to understand something she couldn't do during the test. Thus, the test is a review in itself.

Literature:

1. Bryon, Mike. How to pass selection tests: essential preparation for numerical, verbal, clerical and IT tests / Mike Bryon, Sanjay Modha. — 4th ed.

2. Batten, M., Marland, P., & Khamis, M (1993). Knowing how to teach well. Melbourne: Australian Council for Educational Research.

3. Cialdini, Robert. Influence: Science and Practice. Pearson, 2009

4. Effective Speaking. Communicating in Speech. Christopher Turk, 2003