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Test Types:

There are five types of English language tests :

Achievement.

Diagnose.

Language Aptitude.

Placement.

Proficiency Tests.

As a English teacher you might use :

Achievement.

Diagnostic.

Placement tests.

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Diagnostic exam:

A diagnostic test is designed to diagnose specified aspects of a language.

What does diagnostic test used for?

I`ts used in pinpointing learning difficulties.

How can the diagnostic and the placement tests be related?

Diagnostic and placement tests may sometimes be indistinguishable from each other. Any placement test that offers information beyond simply designating a course level may also serve diagnostic purposes.

There is also a fine line of difference between a diagnostic test and a general achievement test. Achievement test analyze the extent to which students have acquired language features that have already been taught , diagnostic test should elicit information on what students need.

What is language Aptitude Tests (LAT) ?

A language aptitude test is designed to measure capacity or general ability to learn a foreign language and to ultimate success in that undertaking.

* The tasks are involved in the language aptitude test

The modren language aptitude test (MLAT) , language aptitude battery (PLAB)

Tasks on the modren language aptitude test:

1- Number learning.

2- Phonetic script.

3- Spelling clues.

4- Words in sentences.

5- Paired associates.

Example of language aptitude test :

http://lltf.net/mlat-sample-items/mlat-part-v/

Placement Tests

The purpose is to place a student into a particular level or section of a language curriculum or school.

The English Placement Test Consist of usually, but not always, includes a sampling of the material to be covered in the various courses in a curriculum, a student's performance on the test should indicate the point at which the student will find material neither too easy nor too difficult but appropriately challenging.

An example of language placement test

The English as a Second Language Placement Test (ESLPT).

language placement test

Achievement test

What is an achievement test?

An achievement test is related directly to classroom lessons, units, or even a total curriculum.

Achievement tests are (or should be) limited to particular material addressed in a curriculum within particular time frame and are offered after a course has focused on the objectives in question.

What is the purpose of an achievement test?

The primary role of an achievement test is to determine whether course objectives have been met, and appropriate knowledge and skills acquired, by the end of a period of instruction. They also serve the diagnostic role of indicating what a student needs to continue to work on in the future.

What type of assessment/test the achievement test is in regard to the purpose and function?

Achievement tests are often summative because they are administered at the end of a unit or term of study. They also play an important formative role. An effective achievement test will offer washback about the quality ofa learner’s performance in subsets of the unit or course.

Proficiency Test

Proficiency Test is:

It tests global competence in a language. Proficiency test is not limited to any one course, curriculum, or single skill in the language; rather, it tests overall ability.

What does the proficiency test consist of?

Proficiency tests consist of standardized multiple-choice items on grammar, vocabulary, reading comprehension and aural comprehension. Sometimes a sample of writing is added, and more recent tests also include oral production performance.

Types of the proficiency test:

Proficiency tests are almost always
1-Summative
2- Norm-referenced