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PRINCIPLES OF LANGUAGE ASSESSMENT Practicality • Reliability • Validity,…
PRINCIPLES OF LANGUAGE ASSESSMENT
Practicality • Reliability • Validity
PRACTICALITY
Definition
A test is practical when it is manageable in terms of time, cost, resources, administration, and scoring.
Example
A short multiple-choice test that can be administered and scored quickly with the available resources.
I
mpractical feature
A very expensive test that takes several hours to administer and requires many teachers to score.
Practical features
Easy and quick to score.
Easy to administer.
Fits the class time.
Uses available materials.
RELIABILITY
Definition
Reliability means that a test produces consistent and stable results under similar conditions.
Sources of Unreliability
1. Student-related
Factors that can affect students' performance:
Illness
Fatigue
Anxiety
Lack of motivation
A bad day
2. Inter-rater
3. Intra-rater
4. Administration & the test itself
Unclear instructions
Noise or interruptions
Uneven time limits
Ambiguous items
VALIDITY
Definition
Validity means that a test actually measures what it is intended to measure, and nothing else.
The Most Important Principle
The test content represents the skills and knowledge that should be assessed.
Example:Students may distrust a grammar test made only of matching tasks, even if it is statistically sound.
The test appears appropriate and relevant to the people who take or review it, such as students, teachers, and stakeholders.
4. Face Validity
Example:Measuring fluency only by words per minute does not fully capture speaking ability.
The test measures the underlying ability or skill it claims to measure, not an easier or narrower substitute.
3. Construct Validity
Example:A placement test predicts success at the next course level.
Predictive:Helps predict future performance.
Concurrent:Agrees with a measure at the same time.
Test results are related to another relevant measure.
Example:A speaking test that includes real speaking tasks.
1. Content Validity
2. Criterion-related Validity
HOW THE THREE PRINCIPLES INTERACT
Practical, NOT valid
A quick five-item vocabulary quiz certifying overall proficiency.
It is easy and fast, but it does not adequately measure overall proficiency.
Reliable, NOT valid
A test is scored perfectly consistently but measures reading speed instead of reading comprehension.
The results are consistent, but the test measures the wrong thing.
Valid, NOT practical
A one-on-one, hour-long interview for every learner in a 200-student program.
It may measure speaking very well, but it requires too much time, money, and resources.
RELIABILITY → VALIDITY
Reliability supports validity.
Consistent results are necessary for valid interpretations, but reliability alone does not guarantee validity.
Different raters give different scores to the same performance.
Example:One rater gives 8/10 and another gives 5/10.
The same rater gives different scores at different times.
Example:The same teacher scores an essay differently today than next week.
