Azu’s Notes

A new theory of language and language use that exerted significant influence on language teaching and therefore language testing from the early 1970s was the theory of communicative competence

Communicative competence is a linguistic term which refers to a learner’s second language ability. It refers to a learner’s ability to:

• apply and use grammatical rules
• form correct utterances
• use these utterances appropriately

The term was coined by Dell Hymes (in 1966) who was inspired by Noam Chomsky’s distinction on linguistic competence and performance.

According to Chomsky (1965) a speaker’s language ability comprised two components:

• linguistic competence
• linguistic performance

Hymes proposed that knowing a language entailed knowing more than its grammar and rules

According to Hymes there culturally specific rules that created a relationship between:

• the language used
• features of the communicative context

e.g.

What is appropriate language for communication with a sibling may not be appropriate for communication with an employer or lecturer.

Before the theory of communicative competence, language was often described from a psychological perspective, but this theory marked a profound shift in how language was perceived as it presented language as an internal phenomenon.

With the appearance of the communicative competence theory the focus shifted to a more sociological one, where the focus was on external, social functions of language.

The relevance of Hymes’ theory to language testing was almost immediately recognized when it appeared.

However, it was a decade later that its actual impact was felt on practice with the development of communicative language testing

Communicative language tests (CLT) are distinguished by two main features:

• CLTs are performance tests and therefore require assessment to be carried out when the learner or candidate in engaged in an extended (receptive/productive) act of communication
• CLTs pay attention to the social roles candidates would assume and hence considers the roles that candidates would assume in the real world on passing the test and offers a means of specifying the demands of such roles in detail

Models of communicative ability

Thought it was a challenge to shift perspectives not to mention focuses of language tests, there was a continuous theoretical engagement with the idea of communicative competence and its implications for the performance requirements of communicative language testing since the advent of the theory of communicative competence.

A number of writers have tried to specify the components of communicative competence in second languages and their role in performance.

The purpose of this is to provide a comprehensive framework for:

• test development
• testing research
• interpretation of test performance

The first such models specified the components of knowledge of language without dealing in detail with their role in performance.

In 1980, Michael Canale and Merrill Swain published a paper that specified four components of communicative competence:

• Grammatical competence - knowledge of systematic features of grammar, lexis and phonology
• Sociolinguistic competence - knowledge of rules of language use in terms of what is appropriate in different contexts
• Strategic competence - ability to compensate for incomplete or imperfect linguistic resources in a second language by using (other) successful communication strategies
• Discourse competence - ability to deal with extended use of language in context (cohesion and coherence)

All language tests are not of the same kind.

They differ mainly in terms of design (method) and purpose.

In terms of method, a broad distinction can be made between pen-and-paper language tests and performance tests

Paper-and-pen tests are typically used for the assessment of

• separate components of language (grammar, vocabulary …)

• receptive understanding (listening & reading comprehension)

Test items in such tests (especially if they are professionally made, standardized tests) are often in fixed response format (e.g. MCQ)

In performance tests language skills are assessed in an act of communication.

e.g. tests of speaking and writing where:

• extended samples of speech/writing is elicited
• judged by trained markers
• common rating procedure used

Main distinction in terms of test purpose:

Achievement tests

Proficiency tests

Achievement Tests are associated with the process of instruction and should support the teaching to which they relate by measuring what students (would) have learned as a result of teaching.

E.g.

• end of course tests
• portfolio assessments
• observation procedures for recording & assessing classroom work/participation

Achievement tests may be self-enclosed i.e. may not bear any direct relationship to language use in the real world

E.g. focus on knowledge of particular areas of grammar/vocabulary

However, if the curriculum is designed to reflect language use in the real world, achievement tests will automatically reflect normal language use and can be designed in innovative ways to reflect progressive aspects of the curriculum.

That is why achievement tests are associated with the most interesting development in language assessment - alternative assessment.

Alternative assessment stresses the need for assessment to be integrated with goals of curriculum and promotes a constructive relationship with the teaching/learning process.

Proficiency Tests look to the future situation of language use without necessarily any reference to the process of teaching.

In these tests, performance is measured in relation to a targeted level known as the criterion.

Main purpose of performance tests is to make inferences, however they are not valued in themselves but as indicators of how the test-taker will perform similar (or related) tasks in the real world setting of interest.

What is a Test?

A test can be defined as any one of the following:

procedure for critical evaluation; a means of determining the presence, quality, or truth of something;
series of questions, problems, or physical responses designed to determine knowledge, intelligence, or ability.
basis for evaluation or judgment:

So we could conclude that testing is a form of assessment used for evaluation purposes

Role of Testing in Education

Tests can be used in education to achieve any of the following purposes:

accountability:

is the teacher/school actually doing what it claims to be doing?

information on results of teaching:

feedback

backwash:

positive effects of backwash — change and improvement

negative effects of backwash — teaching for the test

Costs of inaccurate testing

Financial and social

Gate-keeper role of testing:

effect on peoples’ lives

What is a Language Test?

What is true of testing in general is also true of language testing.

Images of language tests usually involve examination rooms, test papers, desperate scribbling and racing against the clock to finish on time or waiting nervously in an uncomfortable chair to be called into an interview …

But there is more to language testing than this.