Week 6:Reading skill-Twenty Common Testing Mistakes for EFL Teachers to Avoid

Twenty Common Testing Mistakes for EFL Teachers to Avoid

reading skill

       The English language is one of subject that students have to learn and apply into other subjects or situations. Before learning, teachers may use pre-test to test students how about their background and how to teach new experience for them appropriately. After learning each lesson, students are tested by using post-test again. Likewise, testing is important tool for evaluating what knowledge students gain more or less. Teachers use tests for evaluating students to improve their skills. In the same way, there are common problems or mistakes about tests that have been grouped into four categories such as general examination characteristics, item characteristics, test validity concerns, and administrative and scoring issues. All common testing mistakes must be solved to be right.

     The first common testing mistake is general examination characteristics. 1. Test may be too difficult or too easy for individual students. Whenever, testing is too difficult or easy, teachers cannot evaluate students’ ability. Teachers should prepare tests in which are high reliable. 2. An insufficient number of items teachers prepare numbers of tests available with what they test. 3. Redundancy of test type, testing is not redundancy of test type. 4. Lack of confidence measures, tests should be measurable. 5. Negative washback through non-occurrent forms, teachers also teach students using appropriated structures of language; it is possible to teach incorrect to the students. Item characteristics are the second common testing mistake. 6. Trick question should be avoided for testing. 7. Redundant wording, teachers should not use repeating words. 8. Divergence cues, each choice of tests should be length equally. 9. Convergence cues, the option of tests should not use the point convergence.

      Test-Validity Concerns is the third common testing mistake. 10. Option number Testing is to measure what need to measure. 11. Mixed content, testing should not be mixed contents, including testing tense or testing vocabulary. 12. Wrong medium, items of tests would be needed for accurate measurement. 13. Common knowledge, teachers should avoid testing common knowledge. 14. Syllabus mismatch, testing should reflect the instructional objectives and syllabus by reference what teachers teach. 15. Content- matching, tests such content-matching tasks are usually invalid as measures of understanding. The fourth common testing mistake is Administrative and Scoring Issues. 16. Lack of cheating controls, teachers must be responsible for controlling cheating while students are testing. 17. Inadequate instructions, teachers must describe how to do test clearly such directions of testing. 18. Administrative inequities, teachers should care to take prevent these inequities and others, such as differential noise distractions, length of testing, time of day or week, supportiveness of administrators, etc. 19. Lack of piloting, teachers should avoid how to guide students to know about tests. 20. Subjectivity of scoring, teachers should have clear standard for giving students some scores.

       Teachers should avoid twenty common testing mistakes that mentioned above. These problems usually happened for preparing fair; good tests of EFL classroom. Teachers should set learning objectives and evaluating what they need to measure. Tests should be reliable and valid. Numbers of tests should be suitable. Choices of testing are not too long or too short. Testing also should not be too difficult or too easy for students, because teachers can evaluate real students’ comprehension. However, in one item of test, two choices may be short or two choices may be long. While students are testing, teachers should control cheating. When we are a teacher who teaches students in EFL classroom, we must avoid or solve these problems mentioned previously. How do you think about this topic? Do you agree with this topic? Why?

Reference:

GRANT HENNING.  Twenty Common Testing Mistakes for EFL

               Teachers to Avoid.  Assessed from: americanenglish.state.

                gov/files/ae/…/50_3_8_henning.pdf (On July 10, 2013).

Twenty Common Testing Mistakes for EFL Teachers to Avoid

vocabulary

Vocabulary	Pronunciation	Meaning
Insufficient (adj.)	/ˌɪnsəˈfɪʃnt/	ไม่เพียงพอ not large, strong or important enough for a particular purpose Ex: The management paid insufficient attention to working conditions.
Redundancy (n)	/rɪˈdʌndənsi/	the state of not being necessary or useful Ex: Natural language is characterized by redundancy
Discriminate (v)	/dɪˈskrɪmɪneɪt/	เห็นความแตกต่าง to recognize that there is a difference between people or things; to show a difference between people or things Ex: The computer program was unable to discriminate between letters and numbers.
Trick (n)	/trɪk/	เคล็ดลับ intended to trick somebody Ex: It's all done using trick photography.
Redundant (adj.)	/rɪˈdʌndənt/	ซ้ำซาก มากเกินไป without a job because there is no more work available for you in a company Ex: The picture has too much redundant detail.
Concurrent (adj.)	/kənˈkʌrənt/	พร้อมกัน ประจวบกัน existing or happening at the same time He was imprisoned for two concurrent terms of 30 months and 18 months.
Subjectivity (n)	/səbˈdʒektɪv/	ความส่วนตัว based on your own ideas or opinions rather than facts and therefore sometimes unfair Ex: Everyone's opinion is bound to be subjective.