基础英语测试学复习题附答案.doc

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1、基础英语测试学复习题（一）英语测试的发展阶段1 Pre-scientific stageThis stage refers to the period that lasted to 1950s. At that time the foreign language teaching put emphasis on the written form rather than on the communicative aspect of the language. No special skill or expertise in testing was required: the subjective

2、 judgment of the teacher was considered to be of paramount importance. Test usually consisted of essay writing, translation, grammatical analysis and sometimes oral tests. Spolsky calls the traditional approach pre-scientific because it paid no attention to such matters as reliability and objectivit

3、y and didnt use statistical methods. 2 Psychometric-structure stage The dominant testing form in the 1950s and 1960s was psychometric-structural approach. American linguist, Robert Lado, one of the first testing scholar, stressed on two points with an aim to establish an objective aspect of measurin

4、g human language proficiency: First, test should test language usages and not knowledge about language. Second, the structures to be tested should be valid structures in colloquial language use. The structural sentence-based view of language fitted in quite well with the psychometric quest for sampl

5、es of individual elements to be tested. This resulted in standardized tests with an emphasis on discrete point items, which can be further divided into subtests. The tests are characterized by the conviction that testing can be objective, precise, reliable and scientific. The multiple-choice format

6、was regarded as a satisfactory instrument in measuring the proficiency in the comprehension of written English.3 Psycholinguisticsociolinguistic stage This stage is a period that covers the 1960s and 1970s when Noam Chomskys linguistics theory swayed the basis of structuralism. This involves the tes

7、ting of language in context and is thus concerned primarily with meaning and the total communicative effect of the discourse. As early as 1961, John B. Carroll emphasized that, in addition to discrete point tests, integrative tests should be used, these are tests which are not so much aimed at testi

8、ng separate elements but measuring the total communicative effect of an utterance. The integrative test does not seek to separate the language skills into neat divisions to improve test reliability; instead, they are often designed to assess the learners ability to use two or more skills simultaneou

9、sly. Integrative test is best characterized by the use of close testing and of dictation. Oral interview, translation and essay writing are also included in integrative tests.4 Communicative pragmatic stage The communicative pragmatic period began to occur corresponding with the global shift since 1

10、970s to the communicative aspect of language in the international educational circle. The rise of the sociolinguistics has brought about a shift to the interest from linguistic competence to communicative competence. The communicative test aims to measure candidates communicative competency. Communi

11、cative competency is associated not only with the linguistic competence, but also with the communicative competence. The communicative test is characterized by the strong emphasis on actual use of language in real-life settings which have to be based on the communicative needs of the learners. （二）测试

12、的效度和信度1 Validity Validity is the degree to which a test measures what it is supposed to measure, or can be used successfully for the purposes for which it is intended. Every test, whether it be a short, informal classroom or a public examination, should be as valid as the constructor can make it. A

13、number of types of validation are applied to tests. In this brief survey, we shall limit our consideration to just a few of the most common categories.A: Content validity This kind of validity depends on a careful analysis of the language being tested and of the particular course objectives. This te

14、st should be so constructed as to contain a representative sample of the course, the relationship between the test items and the course objectives always being apparent. When embarking on the construction of a test, the test writer should first draw up a table of test specifications describing in ve

15、ry clear and precise terms the particular language skills and areas to be included in the test. The test writer should attempt to qualify and balance the test components, assigning a certain value to indicate the importance of each component in relation to the other components in the test. In this w

16、ay, the test could achieve content validity and reflect the component skills and areas which the test writer wishes to include in the assessment.B: Construct validityIf a test has construct validity, it is capable of measuring certain specific characteristics in accordance with a theory of language

17、behavior and learning. This type of validity assumes the existence of certain learning theories or constructs underlying the acquisition of abilities and skills. For example, it can be argued that a speed reading test based on a short comprehension passages is an inadequate measure of reading abilit

18、y (and thus has a low construct validity) unless it is believed that the speed reading of short passages relates to the ability to read a book quickly and efficiently and is a proven factor in reading ability.C: Empirical validity The best way to check on the actual effectiveness of a test is to det

19、ermine how test scores are related to some independent, outside criterion such as marks given at the end of a course or assessors ratings. If the evidence shows that there is a high co-relation between test scores and a trustworthy external criterion, then the test can be claimed to have empirical v

20、alidity. Empirical validity is of two general kinds, predicative and concurrent validity, depending on the whether test scores are co-related with subsequent or concurrent criterion measures. Empirical validity relies in large part on the reliability of both test and criterion measure. D: Face valid

21、ity Face validity here simply refers to the way the test looksto the examiners, test administers, educators and the like. Obviously, this is not validity in the technical sense, yet its importance should not be underestimated, for if the content of a test appears irrelevant, silly or inappropriate,

22、test administers will hesitate to adopt it and examinees will lack the proper motivation. For example, if a test of reading comprehension contains many dialect words which might be unknown to the students, the test may be said to lack face validity. 2 Reliability Reliability is a measure of the degr

23、ee to which a test gives consistent results. A test is said to be reliable if it gives the same results when it is given on different occasions or when it is used by different people. A test cant measure anything well unless it measures consistently. Two different types of consistency or reliability

24、 are involved: reliability of the test itself and reliability of the scoring of the test. Test reliability is affected by a number of factors, chiefly among them being the adequacy of the samplings of tasks. Generally speaking, the more samples of students performance we take, the more reliable will

25、 be our assessment of knowledge and ability. In addition, test reliability will be adversely affected if the conditions under which the test is administered tend to fluctuate from administration to administration. Poor students motivation will also lower the reliability of a test. There are some fac

26、tors beyond the examiners control. (e.g., by illness or personal problems affecting a number of examinees). Scorer or rater reliability concerns the stability or consistency with which tests performances are evaluated. Scorer reliability is nearly perfect in the case of multiple-choice tests, but te

27、nds to be low in the case of free-response test.（三）测试的目的Purposes of test （1） Language tests can be used as sources of information for making decisions within the context of education programs.A .Selection for instructional programs Some educational programs require selection or entrance examinations

28、. The purpose of this type of tests is to discriminate among those students who are prepared for an academic or training program and those who are not . For example, the American TOEFL TEST is used to measure the English language proficiency of foreign students who want to study in U.S.A.B. Placemen

29、t of studentsIn many language programs, students are grouped homogeneously according to such factors as levels of language proficiency, language aptitude, language use needs and professional or academic specialization. Probably the most common criterion for grouping students in such programs is the

30、level of language proficiency. Therefore, placement tests are frequently designed to measure the students language proficiency . C. Measuring progressThe common use of language testing is to provide information on students progress, so that the teacher will be able to locate the precise areas of dif

31、ficulty encountered by the class or by the individual students and make decisions regarding appropriate modifications in the instructional procedures and learning activities. D. Evaluation of language teachingThe tests should also enable the teacher to ascertain which parts of the language program h

32、ave been found difficult by the class and whether the class objectives are met. In this way, the teacher can evaluate the effectiveness of the syllabus as well as the methods and materials he is using. （2）Language tests have a potentially important role in virtually all language research, both basic

33、 and applied, which is related to the nature of language proficiency, language processing, language acquisition and language teaching. Much current research into the nature of language proficiency has now come to focus on identifying and empirically verifying its various components. Of particular in

34、terest in this regard are models of communicative competence, which have provided the theoretical basis for the development of communicative testing. Such tests in turn provide the basis for verifying the theoretical models. Language tests can also be used in research into the nature of language pro

35、cessing. Response to the language tests can offer a rich body of data for the identification of processing errors and their explanations, while language testing techniques can serve as elicitation procedures for collecting information on language processing. A third research use of language tests is

36、 in the examination of the nature of language acquisition. Several studies have used tests of different components of communicative language proficiency as criteria for examining the effect of learner variables such as length of residence in country, age of first exposure to the target language and

37、motivational orientation on language acquisition. Language tests are also sometimes used as indicators of factors related to the second language acquisition, such as language aptitude and level of proficiency in the native language.Language tests play an important role in the investigation of effect

38、s of different instructional settings and techniques on the language teaching. They have provided criterion indicators of language proficiency for studies in the classroomcentered second language learning, and for research into the relationship between different language teaching strategies and aspe

39、cts of second language components. （四）对语言能力的不同定义1 Chomskys definition about the competence Chomsky (1965) first introduced the term competence and performance. Competence refers to the speakerhearers knowledge of language and regards as competent those who know the language perfectly and are “unaffe

40、cted by such grammatically irrelevant conditions as memory limitations, distractions, shifts of attention and interest, and errors in their actual performances (Chomsky ,1965). He briefly addresses performance as the actual use of language in concrete situations. He regards competence as the proper

41、domain of his linguistic study and largely ignores the study of performance. 2 Hymes model about the communicative competenceHymes (1972) criticized the Chomskys formulation of competence and proposed his own notion of the competence which encompasses a much larger scopecommunicative competence. Thi

42、s notion is intended to include not only grammatical competence ( or implicit or explicit knowledge of the rules of the grammar),but also contextual or sociolinguistic competence (knowledge of the rules of language use.)3 Canale and Swains model about the communicative competenceCanale and Swain (19

43、80) expanded Hymes notion of communicative competence further to include grammatical competence, sociolinguistic competence and strategic competence. The model was subsequently updated by Canale (1983), who proposed a four-dimensional model comprising linguistic, sociolinguistic, discourse and strat

44、egic competence. Their model provides a useful theoretical framework for developing communicative tests. Linguistic competence is understood to reflect the knowledge of vocabulary and the rules of the word formation, pronunciation /spelling and sentence formation. Such competence focuses directly on

45、 the knowledge and skills required to understand and express accurately the literal meaning of utterances. Sociolinguistic competence addresses the extent to which utterances are produced and understood appropriately in different sociolinguistic contexts, depending on the contextual factors such as

46、topic, status of participants and the purpose of the interaction. Appropriateness of the utterance refers to the both appropriateness of meaning and appropriateness of form. Discourse competence involves mastery of how to combine grammatical forms and meaning to achieve a unified spoken or written t

47、ext in different genres such as narrative, argumentative essay, scientific report or business letter. Unity of a text is achieved through cohension in form and coherence in meaning. Strategic competence refers to the mastery of communication strategies which may be called into action either to enhan

48、ce the effectiveness of communication or to compensate for breakdowns in communication due to limiting factors in actual communication or insufficient competence in one or more of the other components of communicative competence. Canale and Swains theory played an important role in forming a more de

49、finite picture of the ability to use language communicatively, and provided an indispensable theoretical basis for communicative testing.（五）关于多项选择，写作和阅读技能的问题I.What should be paid attention to in constructing multiple-choice items？ General principles to be observed in construction: 1. only one answer. 2. only one feature at a time should be tested. 3. each option should be grammatically correct when placed in the stem, except of course in the case of