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Ir E Is I Ii Ib -I A 2 .5 11111 ICI 11111 I 1E3 aei 6 11111 I 3 INI ir E is I ii _ ib -I A. F-ir 1 1. A iNd. :- .". -..., i. .., ir - AI ill -M _e% pocossii ilsos. 4i.165 481 .FL 01.0 007 AUTHOR'. Spoiskyi,8ernard, Ed. A TITLE approaches to Language Testig..Advances in Language Testing Series: 2. Papers -i. Applied Linguistics. INSTITU TIOif Clfttlar-AppliedAnIdistics, Arlington, Va, V.A. 'PUB DATE Aug 78 . 7 , N % IS, NOTE 81p.\ " YAVAILABLE PROS Center fdt'ipPlied ,Linguistics, 1611 N. Kent St., Arlington, Va. 22209. ($4:95) . 7 DRS PRICE-', KF-40.83.11C-$4.67 Plums Postage. ZSCRIPTORO. Applied Linguistics; Diagnobtic Tests; Edutational PsycbolOgy; Educational Theoriesi *Ladguage Proficiency; *Language 'Tests; Linguistic Theory; 411easurewent Te4TT:i Pragmaties; Pr gnostic -,Tests; Psycholl is r *PsychometricA; Sociolinguistics; *Testing ABSTRACT ..This volume, one in a series on modernilanguage . testing, collects four,essays dealing with cdryent approaches to lahquage testing, The' introduction traces the developmentof language . testing theory and .examines the role of linguistics in thisarea, "The Psycholinguistic Basis," by. E, Ingram, discussessome interpretations of the' term upsycho/knguistics" andrelates them,to traditional and recent language testing practiced,"Psychometric Considerations in Language Test44," by J.L.D.C ark, discusses, aspects of psychoietiic practiceswith regard tohree brsad CategOries,of purpose within thearea of languag testin44 (1)1 prognostic testing,(2') diagnostic testing, and ( ) proficiency., testing. "The Sociolinguistic Foundation/ of Language Testireg,"by JT1P. Fishman and R.L. Cgopei, illustrates the usefulnessof a, sociolinguistic approach and provides justificationfor it by the construction of language assessment prbcedures. "Pragmaticsand .Language Testing," Jr.,. discusses in h'istoric:1. perspective the major, concepts of pragmatics and relatestbe to, langudge testing. (AK) 1. ( 4 *J********************************************************* 7/ **** ***** * Reproductions supplied beEms are the best thatcan, be made * from the origin mint. r * ***********************11********* *** *************************L** k' Er ADVANCES' IN LANGUAGE TESTINGSERIES2 'N 4 Approaches to Lboguage Testing edited by Berngrd Spoisky [3rnOrri 5poisky, General Series Editor u c DEPRTMENT OF NELTN EDUCATION IL WELFARE pERmIssinN Try REPRODUCE Ti-{S NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF VIATFRIAIHAS RE.FN r,RANTpn EDUCTION .. I THIS DOCUMENT HAS BEEN REFO- OUCEQ eXACTLv AS RECEIVED FROM fif THE PtIOSON Cie ORGANIZATION ORIGIN- ATING IT POINTS OF V EW OR OPINIONS II Y c S TED DO HOT NECE SARIt. 'T STEPT4E NICAII14l INST,TUTF OF 1(1 THE EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES EDUCATION PosOlkoN o oo< C*T INF oRMAT ION CENTER IERIC)AND U CIT TMF Fzir SYSTEM (\<,..., -..* CC4fiVeW AppOOG(1 Lfingdgfikz 2 ti N . 1 ,.. ... The editor wishes to express his thanks to all the authors who have con- . tributed to this volurte. He also /wishes to express his special apprecia- tion and thanks4to Marci.441.E. Taylor pf the Center's-Communication & Pub- licd-tions Pilagram for 40A. careful'..and painstaking help in the copy-editing of tftis volume and in iti\final preparation for publication. 41. r August 1978 CopAright0D1978 by the Center for Applied Vngui tics 1611 North Kent Street Arlington, Virginia 22209 ISBN: 87281-07505 .Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: -620.11); Afinted in the United States of Americq ontents 11 4 4 Preface . iv Introdtction: Linguists and LanguageTesters Bernard Spolsk9, University of New Mexico '-:\N The PsYctiinguist,ic Basis .1 Eligabeth Ingram,,, .University of ,Edinburghand Univeritg of Y'rondheim Psychometric ConsVerAtIonsdnLanguage Testing John L.D. Clark,.Educatiogna Testing Service 'Or* So lolinguistic Foundations af Language Testing 3.1 J shua A. Fishman, Yeshiva university,And obert L. Cooper, Hebrew University gmatiCs anrianguage kting . 9 John W. Oiler, Jr .ril,r nPVp.rqitu r rtea rqe References . 50 N.. 40 -4 4s, .on 4 I r Preface et 1 t , . ' 1 . Blithguage.itesting isone of the mostOvious,Andimportanreas forac- ... ;' 1 tiyity4: idapplied TiniuisticS. tilt fits the,seneral paradigm well: tke.' . problem is clearly language related, an-d;.the Solution must come from lin- guistics and from another di4Stipline--psychomctrics--as well. Each of Y -* 'Xhe:mAjor branches of linguistics--theoret,icar, psycholinguistic, and Sociolinguistic--has its own, special rOleito play, and each ha,s exerted .-..itk influence on' the development'iof the field..V ( The involvement of psycho- ', uktrics is a necessity as well. 6$ood language. testing-'needs to be based on releyant knowledge from applied linguistics;Ind'from.psychomarics.' Given this, and considering the social" relevance of the field; it is % -appropriate that this third series of .Papers in Applied Linguistics be -dedicated to Chronicling Advances in Language Testing. The series .. will first survey the state of the art and then present theoretical, practical; and technical articles that record its progress- Each issue will havq a specific theme; the series as.a whole is meant.to provide a means for 1 continuing. communication, among all.those concefned with language testing./ 1 whether as users, practitioners, or theorists. , The firsts three'fasicles hpve a special historY.which should be men- xioned here. They include original and revised versions oirticles cOmmissioned.to appear in a volume intended to be called Cu ent Trends in Language Testing. The original publisher'sdifficurties left the manuscript in limbo for -some time, and the.. size of the enterprise ais- couragedsicher publishers frm taking up the project. Kriften as a stir- vey of the statt of the art. they are, a Rona start for the present series Bernard SpoJsPu April 107P r 'N '.7:>it -V ,.. r . Introduction: Linguists and Lpngage Testers on,e of the distipiguishing features of West rn education in.the tWentieth cerycent has been" the emphasi.S. on testihg. Tormal objectiving has come to be considered one Hof the most cal steps in the modernization of education. In Many countries, the conflict between traditional,'"subl jective examinatiohs and the newer noble tive" standardizedtests is '', still a central issue for professionalanpublic debate.. Concurrently With -the growt1-0of testing, there hds devloped a body of professionals -trained and qualified in educational'mtas rement. These testers, whose field is called psychometrics,tend to fi their basic concepts and , ,techniques in psychodogy, in gerieral, and in,educationalpsychology, .in tparticular.,Thig perhaps explains theirpecial concern wj.th the question , of how to test: 'treated often as technilams, they tend'to assume less responsibility foir'deciding what' to -test.: While: this is true of testing 4n most fields, -ik the area of language testing thesituation is fuhda-I menta ly different,:.. language testers are much more likely OD be lin- guists; and thus subject-matter Specialists, than thy aye'to hetiained riMari in educational measurement. .*e,tendency.is clearly inns- tratea i this volume; where most clfil fhe.cOnfrihutors, a e'f ,thempTo fessionally involved with. Language testingto,a great extent, yould' consider themselves 0.inguiSts rather than psychologists. It, will he rhe pur est- of this infrodUcti9n to attempt to find some txplanatio for thi ,trend, and towexplore the 'special reaspil why applied linguists fiiid. I Innguage tes ing so fruitful an activity for their research and pta-ti,=7. It is useful, though an over-gene'ralization, to div;delanguage testing iiato three major trend:, which I will label the pre.-7,seientifi-. the psychometric structuralist, an the integrative-soci-linguistir. the trends follow in onler hit oveTlap in lime and approach. Fly-th'rd ri'Vq up many '''lements of the first, and the second and thylc0 exist and compete. But the crude classifirations,..will provide 1-, f'79111,?work(.- d;-... cussion And some notion of progress in t.)%c; ficIld. i ----___.or The b"re-scientific pe'l;i0d(or trend, fir i t st i i I holds swanin many parts-of the world) may he charact-rized by lack ofconcern f.o,r-,tatisti cal.matterSor for such ?lotions as objlstinity an4%reliabilify,. Tri itc. simplest form, it assumes that one can knd must rely completetyon fhp judgment -of an experince&teacher, who, can tell aftera few minutes' conversation, or after reading a student's essay, wha't mark' to7'.give7 In the pre - ,scientific mode, oral examinations of any kindwere the exception: language testing was assumed'. to he a matter of open-ended written examina- tion . Depending on the language teaching philosophy,'such exaMinations wou consist of passages for translat,ioninto:or from ,the foreign - .%. lark,- '1. gua e; .free cbmposition in it;. and selected, items of grammatical,,textual. orkcultutal intepest. buring.this. period,..4na in this approach, janguage tests are clear y the business of languageTeachers,or,iii more formal Situations, of language teachers promoted nr specially 'app'ointedas eXam. .-, inelfs. No special expertise.is required: -if n ne'rson knows how to tnnth. ' .11 S \ it is to be assumed that he can judge the proficieny of his students. The next period, however; sees the 'invasion of e field by experts. The psychometric-structuralist trend, though hyphenated for reasonsthat become apparent, is marked by the interaction (a?1 conflict) of two sets ofexpert,agreeing with each other mainly in thekir belief ffiit ,testing can be Madeprecise, objective, reliable, and s . The first of these groups of experts were the lesters, the p chologists responsible for the development of modern theories andtea niques of . educati nal measurement. Their key concerns have been to ovide "objec- (.1 tive":me sures using various statistical techniques to. assn e reliability and cert in. kinds of ,validity. Their first thrust was to de trnstrate the \ unreliabi ity of traditional examinations, and studies such as those of Pilliner (1952) and others on the marking of essays showed how unreliable subjective scores_ can be. This done, they moved to develop-more reliable anpasitres, working to find either techniques for making judgments more rtliable'or new kinds of test items more amenable to control.
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