Ministry of Education

Riyadh Teachers’ College

English Department

 

UNDERGRADUATE PROGRAM

COURSE SYLLABUS

 

Course Title:                                      Language Tests

Course Code:                                     ENG485

Number of credit hours:                    3 credit hours

 

Instructor:

Office phone:                                     

Office hours:

E-mail:

                         

I-  Course Description:

This course helps English majors acquire the knowledge, skills, and attitudes necessary for writing effective language tests. In addition to highlighting the general principles of language testing, the course shows prospective teachers of English how to construct a wide range of tests and test items and how to select those most suitable for their individual purposes. Greater emphasis will be placed on giving prospective teachers of English enough practice in the different processes of constructing a variety of useful test items. In this way, hopefully, the prospective teachers of English will develop a deeper insight into the fundamentals and techniques of both the testing and teaching of English as a foreign language.

 

II- Rationale:

Do we teach what we test? Or test what we teach? An appropriate answer for these questions might provide a  rationale for this course. In fact, both testing and teaching are so closely interrelated that it is impossible to work in either field without being concerned with the other. Language tests help to locate the areas of difficulty encountered by the class or the individual student. Also, tests help teachers evaluate the effectiveness of the syllabus as well as the methods and materials they use. Thus, a course on language tests may be instrumental for  enabling EFL teachers to increase their effectiveness by making adjustments in their teaching for the sake of more student benefit and effectiveness.

 

III-Course Objectives:

By the end of this course, English majors are expected to be able to:

1.      define the characteristics of a good language test.

2.      differentiate between recognition and productions tests.

3.      compare subjective and objective tests.

4.      recognize different types of language tests.

5.      construct tests of grammar using different item types

6.      construct tests of vocabulary using different item types.

7.      construct listening comprehension tests using different item types.

8.      construct oral production tests using different item types

9.      construct reading comprehension tests using different item types.

10.  construct writing tests using different item types.

11.  define criteria for effective language tests.

12.  interpret test scores using appropriate statistical techniques.

 

 IV-Calendar, Course Contents and Assignment Specifications:

 

Time	Topics / Content areas	Assignments
First week	Introduction to language testing Testing and teaching Why testing Testing the language skills Testing the language items Language skills and language elements Recognition and production Problems of sampling Avoiding traps for students	Students are required to: Prepare home assignments to show their understanding of the differences between production and recognition test items
Second week	Objective testing Subjective and objective testing Multiple choice tests Stems/correct options/distractors Writing the test	Students are required to: -read the assigned chapters Conduct in-class analysis of language tests design a multiple-choice test using the current series of teaching English in the Saudi intermediate schools.
Third week	Tests of grammar and usage Multiple-choice grammar items Word-order items Completion items Transformation items	Students are required to: -read the assigned chapters Conduct in-class analysis of grammar tests design grammar tests using the current series of teaching English in the Saudi intermediate schools
Fourth week	Testing vocabulary Multiple-choice items Matching items More objective items Completion items	Students are required to: read the assigned chapters and articles Conduct in-class analysis of vocabulary tests design vocabulary tests using the current series of teaching English in the Saudi intermediate schools
Fifth  week	Presentations	Students are required to: Present their grammar tests Present their vocabulary tests Discuss them with the instructor and their colleagues
Sixth week	Testing listening comprehension Phoneme discrimination tests Tests of stress and intonation Testing comprehension through visual materials Statements and dialogues Understanding talks and lectures	Students are required to: -read the assigned chapters and articles -Conduct in-class analysis of listening comprehension tests -design listening comprehension tests using the current series of teaching English in the Saudi intermediate schools
Seventh  week	Oral production tests Some difficulties in testing the speaking skills Reading aloud, oral skills Using pictures for assessing oral production The oral interview Pencil -and -paper techniques	Students are required to: -read the assigned chapters and articles -Conduct in-class analysis of grammar tests -design vocabulary tests using the current series of teaching English in the Saudi intermediate schools
Eighth week	presentations	Students are required to: Present their listening comprehension  tests Present their oral production tests   Discuss them with the instructor and their colleagues
Ninth  week	Mid-term Exam
Tenth  week	Testing reading comprehension The nature of the reading skills Initial stages of reading True/false reading questions Multiple-choice items Short texts & long texts Completion items Cloze procedure Cursory reading	Students are required to: -read the assigned chapters and articles -Conduct in-class analysis of reading comprehension tests  -design reading tests using the current     series of teaching English in the Saudi     intermediate schools
Eleventh  week	Testing the writing skills Testing composition writing Situational composition Objective tests of writing Linkage and expansion Mechanics of writing Judgment skills Controlled writing	Students are required to: -read the assigned chapters and articles -Conduct in-class analysis of writing tests -design writing tests using the current series of teaching English in the Saudi intermediate schools
Thirteenth   week	Presentations	Students are required to: Present their reading comprehension  tests Present their writing tests Discuss them with the instructor and their colleagues
Fourteenth   week	Criteria and types of tests Validity Reliability Discrimination Administration Test instructions for the testees Backwash effects Types of tests	Students are required to: Read assigned chapters and articles -Apply the criteria of tests to their designed tests. -Write test instructions
Fifteenth   week	Interpreting test scores Frequency distribution Measures of central tendency Item analysis Guessing Item cards and banks	Students are required to: Read assigned chapters and articles Analyze test scores using suitable statistical techniques
Sixteenth week	Final exam

 

V- Evaluation:

Effective attendance & in-class participation	10 marks
Mid-term exam	20 marks
Written assignments	10 marks
Final exam	60 marks
Total	100 marks

 

VI- Required texts:

Heaton, J.B. (1975). Writing English language tests: A practical guide for teachers of English as a second or foreign language. London: Longman.

 

VII- Instructional Procedures:

Handling course content will systematically proceed according to the following steps:

• Detailed explanation of the language skills or language aspects to be tested followed by analysis  test items that can be used in testing such skills or language elements.
• PowerPoint presentations in which model tests are provided by the instructor for discussion and analysis.
• Collaborative work: in which students work in groups to construct test items based on the model (s) provided before.
• Individual work, in which students are asked to design their own tests according the examples provided in the previous steps. These tests are assigned as  homework and are to be submitted to the instructor for feedback.
• In-class discussion of the tests designed by students along with instructor-provided feedback.

 

VIII- General Course Requirements:

• Each student is expected to attend class and contribute to the community of learners by being a positive participant in discussions, presentations, and hands-on projects.
• All assignments should be submitted on the specified date. Assignments turned in late are subject to point reductions.
• All written assignments and reports should be word-processed, double-spaced, named, and dated.
• Mid-term and final exams will be given in this course.

 

IX- Internet sites for language testing:

• www.englishstudydirect.com/OSAC/LTOmenu.htm
• www.vec.ca/english/3/testing-ielts.cfm
• www.cic.gc.ca/english/skilled/qual-3-1.html
• www.dlielc.org/testing/index.html
• www.altalang.com/testing.htm
• www.psc-cfp.gc.ca/ppc/sle_main_e.htm
• www.cal.org/topics/tests.html
• www.ealta.eu.org
• www.well.ac.uk/languageExercises
• www1.dshs.wa.gov/msa/ltc/index.html
• www.dundee.ac.uk/languagestudies/ltest/ltr.html
• www.toefl.org/index.html
• www.ielts-test.com
• www.ltrc.unimelb.edu.au

X- References

 

Garcia, G.E. (1994). Assessing the literacy development of second-language students: A focus on authentic assessment. In K. Spangenberg- Urbschat & R. Richard (Eds.), Kids come in all languages: Reading instruction for ESL students (pp. 180-206). DE: International Reading Association.

 

Hasit, C. & DiObilda, N. (1996). Portfolio assessment in a college developmental reading class. Journal of Developmental Education, 19, 26-31.

 

Ryan, J. & Miyasaka, J. (1995). Current practices in testing and assessment: What is driving the change? NASSP Bulletin, 1-10.