Adriana Citora

Edson Tembissa
Inocêncio Machube
Jacob Cossa
Safira Sitoe

Testing Students
Licenciatura em ensino de língua inglesa
1º Ano- Laboral

Universidade Pedagógica
Faculdade de ciências de linguagem, comunicação e artes
Maputo, Dezembro de 2024
 Adriana Citora
Edson Tembissa
Inocêncio Machube
Jacob Cossa
Safira Sitoe

Testing students
Licenciatura em ensino de língua inglesa
1º Ano- Laboral

Trabalho de pesquisa a ser apresentado

na disciplina de Didática Geral, 1◦ ano,
para avaliação das horas de estudo.
Docente: Prof. Doutor Lopes Nazaré

Universidade Pedagógica
Faculdade de ciências de linguagem, comunicação e artes
Maputo, Dezembro de 2024
 CONTENTS
Introduction......................................................................................................................................1

1. Why should students be tested.................................................................................................2

2. Types of tests............................................................................................................................2

3. Characteristics of a good test....................................................................................................3

4. Types of test item.....................................................................................................................3

Conclusion.......................................................................................................................................5

References........................................................................................................................................5
Introduction
In this assignment we are going to discuss on testing students, a n indispensable aspect in the
teaching/learning process.

In terms of structures. We will first discuss the importance of testing students, after that we are
going to discuss the various types of tests or reasons for testing student, following that will talk
about qualities of a good test, then we will move on to types of test item and finally we will
present our conclusion and the bibliography.

The aim of this work is to bring some light to the importance as well as the various testing forms,
to equip and prepare teachers-to-be.
1. Why should students be tested
Assessing students is very important for it helps educators evaluate how well students understand
the material, they provide a snapshot of student learning and comprehension; tests can help
students identify their strengths and weaknesses in a subject, guiding their study efforts and
improving their learning strategies; regular testing holds both students and educators accountable
for learning outcomes. It ensures that educational standards are met and that students are
progressing.

2. Types of tests
There are four types of testes, namely:

a) Placement tests
This is used to place students in the right class in a school. It is usually based syllabuses and
materials the student will follow and use once their level has been decided.

b) Diagnostic tests
These are used to diagnose student difficulties, gaps in their knowledge and skills deficiencies
during a course. Knowing student problems should help us in knowing what and how to do.

c) Progress tests
These are meant to measure leaner’s language and skill progress in relation to the syllabus they
have been following. This kind of tests will only work if they contain item types which the
students are familiar with. This sort of test take place in the end of a term and should reflect
progress, not failure. They should reinforce the learning that has taken place, not go out of their
way to expose weaknesses. They should also help us decide on changes to the future
programmes.

d) Proficiency tests
They should give a general picture of a student’s knowledge and ability. They are frequently
used as stages people have to reach if they want to be admitted to foreign universities, get a job
or obtain some king of certificate.

3. Characteristics of a good test

In order to judge the efficiency of any test, it is sensible to lay down criteria against which the
test can be measured, as follows:

a) Validity
A test should assess what is supposed to be tested. Thus it is not valid, for example, to test
writing ability with an essay questions that require specialist knowledge of History or Biology,
unless it is known that all students share this knowledge before they do the tests.

b) 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. It they took another similar test, the results should
be consistent. If two groups who were demonstrably alike took the test, the marking range would
be the same.

In practice, reliability is enhanced by making the test instructions absolutely clear, restricting the
scope for variety in the answers, and making sure that the test conditions remain constant.

Reliability also depends on the people who mark the tests, the scorers.

4. Types of test item

Whatever purpose a test or exam has, major factor in its success or failure as a good measuring
instrument will be determined by the item types that it contains.

a) Direct test item types

A test item is direct if it asks candidates to perform the communicative skill which is being
tested. This kind of test item can be much like real-life language use as possible.
For direct test items to be reliable it is important that they create a ‘’level playing field’’ and,
replicate real-life interaction.
b) Indirect test item
They try to measure a student’s knowledge and ability by getting at what lies beneath their
receptive and productive skills. This test item tries to find out about students language
knowledge through more controlled items, such as multiple choice questions or grammar
transformation items. These are often quicker to design and, crucially, easier to mark, and
produce greater scorer reliability. There are various forms of indirect test possibilities, but certain
types are of more frequent use:

 Multiple choice questions;

 Cloze procedures
 Transformation and paraphrases
Conclusion
In a nutshell, we would like to say that as we worked in this assignment on testing students, we
learned a lot about the importance of testing, not only for the educators and students, but also for
the teaching-learning process for testing enables all the involved in the process to trace progress
and make the necessary changes of the programmes or methodology to assure that the core aims
of the process are attained.

Testing is crucial as it provides feedback to both students and teacher, gives motivation to the
students and helps in identifying learning gaps.

It is important, though for the tests to have some characteristics, they should be reliable and
valid, if they are to play their real role with effectiveness.

References
 Harmer, JEREMY, the practice of English Language Teaching, third edition, Longman
 https//[Link]/