Helen A. Kalinovskaya

Donbas State Technical University

Testing language skills and language knowledge

The teacher tests the pupil’s command of the target language, that is, his ability to use in it its two forms, oral and written. Therefore, the items of testing should fully correspond to the aims and objectives. They are: (1) aural comprehension, (2) speaking (monologue and dialog), (3) reading (oral and silent), (4) writing(words, sentences, dictations, writing reproduction, ect.) We distinguish regular testing when the teacher administers frequent, short tests to measure his pupils’ achievement and assigns marks for their work at a given lesson (unit) or a topic; and final testing or examination at the end of the course. The teacher administers tests in two forms: oral and written.

Oral testing often takes the form of questioning the class or some individuals. The manner in which each pupil reacts to the teacher’s question shows his readiness for the lesson and his achievement in learning some particular material. This often results in assigning marks to several pupils. Since there are many items of testing as well as pupils in the class the teacher needs special tests, objective and easy to administer, to measure his pupils ‘achievement. At present the following tests are available: teacher-made tests, ready-made tests (for example, in the Teacher’s Book), and standardized tests (made by the Department of Education). Naturally, teacher-made tests are best because he knows the material his pupils have covered better than anyone else, that is why he can administer a test which will correspond to his pupils’ capacities. However, in administering tests he should always keep in mind the items of testing, that are the syllabus requirements for this particular form.

The testing of listening comprehension may be administered in two ways depending on pupils’ reaction to the material they hear.

1. A text is presented either by the teacher or on tape. Each pupil is given a set of pictures (3-4) one of which corresponds to the item that he hears. The pupil listens attentively to the text and identifies the picture correctly by raising it (immediate testing) or by putting a mark (a number) in a special place provided for it (delayed testing).

2. A text is presented, preferably on tape. The class or each pupil is given a definite task before being invited to listen to the text. Pupils listen to the text and then they are asked to react to the material according to the given assignments. These may be answering yes-no question, choosing answer from multiple-choice items on cards distributed beforehand, ect.

After they have listening to the text, the teacher administers either a multiple-choice test or a free-response test.

The test of speaking is the most difficult as the teacher will want to test pronunciation, intonation, stress, sustained speaking, use of vocabulary and grammatical structures. The best way to measure achievement in speaking is by testing each pupil individually. But this is very time-consuming and, although the teacher does his best to question as many pupils as he possibly can, he fails to cover all the individuals on a given topic, and as a result this leading language skill is often not controlled in any way whatsoever. Instead the teacher tests the knowledge of words, structures; ability to ask and answer questions in written form; ability to write about a situation or topic suggested. Regular oral tests will increase pupils` sense of responsibility and desire to master the spoken language. They must be constructed in such a way that the pupil need not give a lengthy answer but his response must show his ability to pronounce and intone, use certain vocabulary and grammatical structures. It will not take the teacher much time to evaluate the achievements of all his pupils in a given form and get a clear picture of each individual on a given topic.

The testing of reading deals with comprehension and speed. The former is more important than the latter. Testing reading may be administrated aloud or silently. Each pupil gets a passage, accompanied by a set of questions on cards which can be true-and-false type, multiple-choice, or a type that requires a statement for a answer.

The testing of vocabulary and grammar is carried out indirectly. All the above mentioned tests imply the testing of vocabulary and grammar since the pupil cannot give a satisfactory answer to any test if he doesn’t know the words and grammar items required. This is indirect testing. However the teacher may administer direct testing when he proposes a vocabulary test or grammar test.

All the suggested tests are easy to evaluate and the marks that the teacher assigns are objective because tests measure exactly what the pupils have learnt. To serve effectively the purpose of stimulating, directing and rewarding pupils` efforts to learn, marks must be valid. The highest mark must go to those pupils who have earned them. Marks must be based on sufficient evidence. They must report the degree of achievement as precisely as possible under the circumstances. If marks are assigned on the basis of trivial, incidental, or irrelevant achievements or if they are assigned carelessly, their long-run effects on the educational efforts of students cannot be good.