stic test : while placement tests are designed to show how good a student s English is in relation to a previouslyagreed system of levels, diagnostic tests can be used to expose learner difficulties, gaps in their knowledge, and skills deficiencies during a course. Thus, when we know what the problems are, we can do something about them. Progress and achievement tests: these tests are designed to measure learners language and skill progress in relation to the syllabus they have been following. Achievement tests only work if they contain item types which the studentsare familiar with. This doesn t mean that in a reading test, for example, we give them texts they have seen before, but it does mean providing them with similar texts and familiar text types. If students faced with completely new material, the test will not measure the learning that has been taking place, even though it can still measure general language proficiency. Achievement tests at the end of a term (like progress testsat the end of a unit, a fortnight, etc.) should progress, not failure. They should reinforce the learning that has taken place, not go out of their way to expose weaknesses. They can also help us to decide on change to future teaching programmes where students do significantly worse in (parts of) the test than we might have expected. Proficiency tests : proficiency tests give a general picture of a students knowledge and ability (rather than measure progress). They re frequently used as stages people have to reach if they want to be admitted to a foreign university, get a job, or obtain some kind of certificate. Proficiency tests have a profound backwash effect since, where they are external exams, students obviously want to pass them, and teacher s reputations sometimes depend (probably unfairly) upon how many of them succeed. order to judge the effectiveness of any test it is sensible to law down criteria against which the test can be measured, as follows: Validity : a testis valid if it tests what it is supposed to test. Thus it is not valid, for example, to test writing ability with an essay question that requires specialist knowledge of history or biology - unless it is known that all students share this knowledge before they do the test. A particular kind of validity that concerns most test designers is face validity. This means that the test should look, on the face of it, as if it is valid. A test which consisted of only three multiple choice items would not convince students of its face validity however reliable or practical teachers thought it to be. Reliability: a good test should give consistent results. For example, if the same group of students took the same test twice within two days - without reflecting on the first test before they sat it again- they should get the same results on each occasion. If they took another similar test, the result should be consistent. If two groups who were demonstrably alike took the test, the marking range would be the same.
5. The usage of various controls in several skills
we will be introduced below some kind of tests or controls in grammar, vocabulary and so on four skills such as speaking, writing, reading, listening and reading skills. Here my purpose is to show each items separately and at the same time to figure out theirs advantages and disadvantages. In this way every teachers can choose appropriate kinds of test according to his/her learners language level. So first one is for vocabulary and grammar.and Grammar testspurpose of vocabulary test is to measure the comprehension and production of words used in speaking or writing. Four general kinds of vocabulary tests are presented. The first, limited response is for beginners. These test items require either a simple physical action like pointing at something or a very simple verbal answer such as yes or no. The second, multiple-choice completion, is a test in which sentence with a missing word is presented; students choose one of four vocabulary items given to complete the sentence. A third type, multiple- choice paraphrase, is a test in which a sentence with one word underlined is given. Students choose which of four words is the closet in meaning to the underlined item. A fourth kind of test, simple completion (words), has students write in the missing part of words that appear in sentences. Deciding how to test vocabulary is related to how we teach it. Most ESL teachers today do not recommend having students simply memorize lists of words. Instead, they teach students to find the meaning of words through of context of the sentence, and they help increase comprehension by teaching important affixes (happy: unhappy/beauty: beautiful). In testing vocabulary, we also need to avoid presenting words in isolation. Checking voc...
