Language TestingThe Problem of Validity

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Language Testing-The Problem of Validity

• By Bernard Spolsky

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Two Types of Testing

• Tests used to control instruction
• Achievement-
• Tests concerned with what has been taught (at
  the end of a unit, quizzes, final exams)
• 2. Diagnostic-
• Tests concerned with what is going to be taught
  (used in planning a curriculum, often given on
  first day of class with no preparation)

• Tests used to control a persons career
• Achievement-
• What can the student do now?
• 2. Predictive-
• What should the student be able to do in the
  future?

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Type 1 test

• Ways to pose the questions (vocab.)
• Give a word, get a response (I know/dont know
  it)
• Multiple Choice tests-students circle the correct
  definition
• Students are given a picture and label it with
  the definition

• The Good and the Bad
• 1-easy to check, but results are not conclusive
• 2, 3- Do students know the words in the
  definitions? Is the picture ambiguous?
• Drawback of Type 1 test
• Is it a valid representation of the skills we
  want to test?

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Type 2 test

• The results of this test serve to make judgements
  such as
• How well will he/she do at learning this
  language?
• Will he/she need extra instruction that the
  employer needs to pay for?
• Can he/she use the language in certain contexts?
• Can he/she read books in the language in their
  field of study?
• But what does it mean to know the language???

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Discrete-Point Approach (1961)

• Break a language up into different skills
• These could include the ability to distinguish
  phonemes from each other, using vocabulary, etc.
• The level of mastery could be the sum of all of
  these skills.

• Objections
• This approach assumes that knowledge of a
  language is finite. It is possible to make a list
  of all the items that make up a language.

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Absolute Language Proficeiency Ratings

• Set by the U.S. State department to determine a
  functional definition of proficiency levels
• These levels include
• Elementary
• Working
• Professional
• Native or Bilingual

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How can we keep the tests standard?

• Part One
• Have the students be judged by professionals and
  be tested in real situations (like the TEACH
  test)
• Part Two
• Test on information that is at the discretion of
  the teacher/tester

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Central Problem of Language Testing is VALIDITY!