GOOD TESTS
Good tests are those that do the job they are designed to do and that also have a positive
rather than a negative effect on both students and teachers.
A good test is valid. This means that it does what it says it will do. In other words, if we say
that a given test is a good measure of a student's reading ability, then we have to show
that this is the case. There is also another kind of validity, in the sense that when students
and teachers see the test, they must think that it looks like the real thing: that it has face
validity. While sitting in front of their test or in front of the screen, students must be
confident that this test will work, and it must be reliable and valid.
Within the tests, the indications must be clear and the answer marking form must be easy
to understand. This will allow students to understand what they should do, this will allow
them to answer correctly the questions or activities that the teacher provides in the tests.
tests.
A good test should have marking confidence. Not only should it be fairly easy to check, but
anyone who checks it should get the same result as soniconc else. However, since
different people can (and do) score differently, there will always be a danger that when
tests involve more than computer-scored questions, different scorers will give different
results. To do this, an assay must be designed to minimize the effect of individual marking
styles. Another aspect that must be taken into account in a good test is time, since the
difficulty of the test, as well as its content, must be in accordance with the time that will
be assigned to carry it out.
TEST TYPES
When designing tests, we can write discrete papers or ask students to engage in more
integrative language. Discrete item testing means only testing one thing at a time (for
example, testing a tense or word), while integrative testing means asking students to use a
variety of language and skills to complete a task successfully. .
A further distinction needs to be made between direct and indirect evidence. A direct test
item is one that asks students to do something with the language (for example, write a
letter, read and respond to a newspaper article, or participate in a conversation). Direct
test items are almost always integrative. Indirect test items are those that assess students'
knowledge of the language rather than have them use it.
Indirect test items
There are many different ways to assess students' knowledge of language construction.
We will see three of the most common.
