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Language Assessment
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LANGUAGE
ASSESSMENT
7 [eee ele eam en. a
LANGUAGE ASSESSMENT
PRINCIPLES AND
CLASSROOM PRACTICES
H. DOUGLAS BROWN
PRIYANVADA ABEYWICKRAMA
CONTENTS
Preface xi
Credits xvii
Chapter 1 Assessment Concepts and Issues 1
Assessment and Testing 3
Measurement and Evaluation 5
Assessment and Learning 5
Informal and Formal Assessment 6
Formative and Summative Assessment 7
Norm-Referenced and Criterion-Referenced Tests 8
Types and Purposes of Assessment 9
Achievement Tests 9
Diagnostic Tests 10
Placement Tests 11
Proficiency Tests 11
Aptitude Tests 12
Issues in Language Assessment: Then and Now 13
Behavioral Influences on Language Testing 13
Integrative Approaches 14
Communicative Language Testing 15
Traditional and “Alternative” Assessment 16
Performance-Based Assessment 17
Current “Hot Topics” in Language Assessment 19
Dynamic Assessment 19
Assessing Pragmatics 20
Use of Technology in Testing 20
Exercises 23
For Your Further Reading 25
Vi Contents
Chapter 2 Principles of Language Assessment
Practicality 28
Reliability 29
Student-Related Reliability 30
Rater Reliability 30
Test Administration Reliability 30
Test Reliability 31
Validity 31
Content-Related Evidence 32
Criterion-Related Evidence 34
Construct-Related Evidence 35
Consequential Validity (Impact) 36
Face Validity 37
Authenticity 38
Washback 39
Applying Principles to Classroom Testing 42
Are the Test Procedures Practical? 43
Is the Test Itself Reliable? 43
Can You Ensure Rater Reliability? 44
Does the Procedure Demonstrate Content Validity? 45
Has the Impact of the Test Been Carefully Accounted for? 46
Are the Test Tasks as Authentic as Possible? 46
Does the Test Offer Beneficial Washback to the Learner? 48
Maximizing Both Practicality and Washback 49
Exercises 52
For Your Further Reading 55
Chapter 3 Designing Classroom Language Tests
Four Assessment Scenarios 58
Scenario 1: Reading Quiz 58
Scenario 2: Grammar Unit Test 58
Scenario 3: Midterm Essay 59
Scenario 4: Listening/Speaking Final Exam 59
Determining the Purpose of a Test 59
Test Usefulness 60
Reading Quiz 61
Defining Abilities to be Assessed 61
Grammar Unit Test 62
Drawing up Test Specifications 63
Grammar Unit Test 64
Midterm Essay 65
Devising Test Items 65
Midterm Essay 66
Listening/Speaking Final Exam 66
27
57
Contents — Viti
Designing Multiple-Choice Items 72
Design Each Item to Measure a Single Objective 73 State Both Stem and Options as Simply and Directly as Possible 74 Ensure the Intended Answer Is Clearly the Only Correct One 74 Use Item Indices to Accept, Discard, or Revise Items (Optional) 75
Listening/Speaking Final Exam 77
Administering the Test 83
Scoring, Grading, and Giving Feedback 84
Scoring 84
Grading 85
Giving Feedback 85
Exercises 87
For Your Further Reading 88
Chapter 4 Standards-Based Assessment 90
The Role of Standards in Standardized Tests 91
Standards-Based Education 92
Designing English Language Standards 94
Standards-Based Assessment 96
CASAS and SCANS 100
Teacher Standards 100
Consequences of Standards-Based Assessment and Standardized Testing 102
Test Bias 104
Test-Driven Learning and Teaching 105
Ethical Issues: Critical Language Testing 106
Exercises 108
For Your Further Reading 109
Chapter 5 Standardized Testing 110
Advantages and Disadvantages of Standardized Tests 111
Developing a Standardized Test 113
Step 1: Determine the Purpose and Objectives of the Test 114
Step 2: Design Test Specifications 115
Step 3: Design, Select, and Arrange Test Tasks/Items 118
Step 4: Make Appropriate Evaluations of Different Kinds of Items 119
Step 5: Specify Scoring Procedures and Reporting Formats 120
Step 6: Perform Ongoing Construct Validation Studies 122
Standardized Language Proficiency Testing 124
Exercises 126
For Your Further Reading 127
Chapter 6 Assessing Listening 128
Cautionary Observations on Assessing Language Skills Separately 129
Integration of Skills in Language Assessment 129
Vili’ Contents
Assessing. Grammar and Vocabulary 130
Observing the Performance of the Four Skills 131
Basic Types of Listening 133
Micro- and Macroskills of Listening 134
Designing Assessment Tasks: Intensive Listening 136
Recognizing Phonological and Morphological Elements 136
Paraphrase Recognition 138
Designing Assessment Tasks: Responsive Listening 139
Designing Assessment Tasks: Selective Listening 139
Listening Cloze 139
Information Transfer 141
Sentence Repetition 144
Designing Assessment Tasks: Extensive Listening 145
Dictation 145
Communicative Stimulus-Response Tasks 147
Authentic Listening Tasks 150
Exercises 153
For Your Further Reading 154
Chapter 7 Assessing Speaking 156
Basic Types of Speaking 157
Imitative 157
Intensive 157
Responsive 158
Interactive 158
Extensive (Monologue) 158
Microskills and Macroskills of Speaking 159
Designing Assessment Tasks: Imitative Speaking 160
Versant® 161
Designing Assessment Tasks: Intensive Speaking 162
Directed Response Tasks 162
Read-Aloud Tasks 163
Sentence/Dialogue Completion Tasks and Oral Questionnaires 164
Picture-Cued Tasks 166
Translation (of Limited Stretches of Discourse) 174
Designing Assessment Tasks: Responsive Speaking 174
Question and Answer 174
Giving Instructions and Directions 176
Paraphrasing 176
Designing Assessment Tasks: Interactive Speaking 178
Interview 178
Role Play 182
Discussions and Conversations 183
Contents ix
Games 186
ACTFL Oral Proficiency Interview 187
Designing Assessments: Extensive Speaking 189
Oral Presentations 189
Picture-Cued Storytelling 191
Retelling a Story, News Event 192
Translation (of Extended Prose) 192
Exercises 193
For Your Further Reading 194
Chapter 8 Assessing Reading 195
Genres of Reading 196
Microskills, Macroskills, and Strategies for Reading 197
Types of Reading 199
Perceptive 199
Selective 199
Interactive 200
Extensive 200
Designing Assessment Tasks: Perceptive Reading 201
Reading Aloud 201
Written Response 201
Multiple-Choice 201
Picture-Cued Items 202
Designing Assessment Tasks: Selective Reading 204
Multiple-Choice (for Form-Focused Criteria) 204
Matching Tasks 207
Editing Tasks 208
Picture-Cued Tasks 209
Gap-Filling Tasks 210
Designing Assessment Tasks: Interactive Reading 211
Cloze Tasks 211
Impromptu Reading Plus Comprehension Questions 213
Short-Answer Tasks 216
Editing (Longer Texts) 217
Scanning 218
Sequencing 219
Information Transfer: Reading Charts, Maps, Graphs, Diagrams 219
Designing Assessment Tasks: Extensive Reading 221
Skimming Tasks 222
Summarizing and Responding 223
Notetaking and Outlining 224
Exercises 225
For Your Further Reading 226
xX Contents
Chapter 9 Assessing Writing 227
Genres of Written Language 228
Types of Writing Performance 229
Micro- and Macroskills of Writing 230
Designing Assessment Tasks: Imitative Writing 231
Tasks in (Hand-)writing Letters, Words, and Punctuation 231
Spelling Tasks and Detecting Phoneme-Grapheme Correspondences 233
Designing Assessment Tasks: Intensive (Controlled) Writing 235
Dictation and Dicto-Comp 235
Grammatical Transformation Tasks 235
Picture-Cued Tasks 236
Vocabulary Assessment Tasks 238
Ordering Tasks 239
Short-Answer and Sentence-Completion Tasks 240
Issues in Assessing Responsive and Extensive Writing 241
Designing Assessment Tasks: Responsive and Extensive Writing 244
Paraphrasing 243
Guided Question and Answer 243
Paragraph Construction Tasks 244
Strategic Options 245
Standardized Tests of Responsive Writing 247
Scoring Methods for Responsive and Extensive Writing 249
Holistic Scoring 249
Analytic Scoring 251
Primary-Trait Scoring 254
Beyond Scoring: Responding to Extensive Writing 254
Assessing Initial Stages of the Process of Composing 255
Assessing Later Stages of the Process of Composing 256
Exercises 257
For Your Further Reading 258
Chapter 10 Assessing Grammar and Vocabulary 260
Understanding Form-Focused Assessment 261
Assessing Grammar 261
Defining Grammatical Knowledge 262
Designing Assessment Tasks: Selected Response 263
Designing Assessment Tasks: Limited Production 268
Designing Assessment Tasks: Extended Production 271
Assessing Vocabulary 274
The Nature of Vocabulary 274
Defining Lexical Knowledge 275
Some Considerations in Designing Assessment Tasks 278
Designing Assessment Tasks: Receptive Vocabulary 280
Designing Assessment Tasks: Productive Vocabulary 282
Contents Xi
Exercises 284
For Your Further Reading 285
Chapter 11 Grading and Student Evaluation 286
The Philosophy of Grading: What Should Grades Reflect? 288
Guidelines for Selecting Grading Criteria 290
Calculating Grades: Absolute and Relative Grading 291
Teachers’ Perceptions of Appropriate Grade Distributions 294
Institutional Expectations and Constraints 296
Cultural Norms and the Question of Difficulty 298
What Do Letter Grades “Mean”? 299
Scoring and Grading Tests and Assignments 300
Scoring Methods 300
Scoring Open-Ended Responses 302
Developing a Rubric 302
Guidelines for Grading and Evaluation 308
Exercises 309
For Your Further Reading 310
Chapter 12 Beyond Letter Grading 312
Self- and Peer Assessment 313
Advantages of Self- and Peer Assessment 313
Types of Self- and Peer Assessment 314
Guidelines for Self- and Peer Assessment 319
A Taxonomy of Self- and Peer Assessment Tasks 320
Portfolios 321
Clear Purpose 323
Specific Guidelines 323
Transparent Assessment Criteria 323
Designated Time Allocated 324
Scheduled Review and Conferencing 325
Designated Location 325
Positive Final Assessments 325
Narrative Evaluations 325
Checklist Evaluations 328
Exercises 329
For Your Further Reading 330
Appendix: Commercially Produced Tests of English as a
Second/Foreign Language 332
Glossary 336
Bibliography 344
Name Index 365
Subject Index 369
PREFACE
The assessment of language ability is an area of intense fascination. No longer
a field exclusively relegated to “experts,” language assessment has caught the
interest of classroom teachers, students, parents, and political action groups.
How can I (a teacher) design an effective classroom test? What can | (a student)
do to prepare for a test and to treat assessments as learning experiences? Are
the standardized tests of language (that my child has to take) accurate measures
of ability? And do I (as an advocate for fair testing practices) believe that the
many tests that students must take are culture-fair and free from the kind of
bias that might favor students in certain socioeconomic classes?
These and many more questions now being addressed by teachers,
researchers, and specialists can be overwhelming to the novice language
teacher, who may already be baffled by the multitude of methodological
options for teaching alone. This book provides teachers—and teachers-to-be—
with a clear, reader-friendly presentation of the essential foundation stones
of language assessment, with ample practical examples to illustrate their
application in language classrooms. It is a book that addresses issues in ways
that classroom teachers can comprehend. Readers will be able to develop
what has come to be known as “assessment literacy” by understanding and
applying concepts.
PURPOSE AND AUDIENCE
Language Assessment: Principles and Classroom Practices is designed to offer a
comprehensive survey of essential principles and tools for second language
assessment. Its first and second editions have been successfully used in teachertraining courses, teacher certification curricula, and TESOL master of arts programs. As the third in a trilogy of teacher education textbooks, it is designed to
follow H. Douglas Brown's other two books, Principles of Language Learning
and Teaching (sixth edition, Pearson Education, 2014) and Teaching by Principles (fourth edition, Pearson Education, 2015). References to those two books
are made throughout the current book.
XIV Preface
Language Assessment features uncomplicated prose and a systematic, spiraling organization. Concepts are introduced with practical examples, understandable explanations, and succinct references to supportive research. The
research literature on language assessment can be quite complex and assume
that readers have technical knowledge and experience in testing. By the end of
Language Assessment, however, readers will have gained access to this notso-frightening field. They will have a working knowledge of a number of useful,
fundamental principles of assessment and will have applied those principles to
practical classroom contexts. They will also have acquired a storehouse of useful tools for evaluating and designing practical, effective assessment techniques
for their classrooms.
ORGANIZATIONAL FEATURES
Advance organizers at the beginning of each chapter, listing objectives that serve as pre-reading organizers
End-of-chapter exercises that suggest whole-class discussion and individual, pair, and group work for the classroom
Suggested additional readings at the end of each chapter
Glossary listing assessment terms and concepts, all of which have
been boldfaced in the text of the book
Appendix listing commercially available tests, with pertinent information, specifications, and online references
TOPICAL FEATURES
Clearly described fundamental principles for evaluating and designing assessment procedures of all kinds
Focus on classroom-based assessment
Many practical examples to illustrate principles and guidelines
Treatment of all four skills (listening, speaking, reading, writing)
Treatment of assessing grammar and vocabulary knowledge
In each skill, classification of assessment techniques that range from
controlled to open-ended item types on a specified continuum of
micro- and macroskills of language
Explanation of standards-based assessment—what it is, why it has
widespread use, and its pros and cons
Discussion of large-scale standardized tests—their purpose, design,
validity, and utility
Guidelines for assigning letter grades, using rubrics to score student
performance, and evaluating that goes “beyond” letter grading
Consideration of the ethics of testing in an educational and commercial world driven by tests