Grammar
Translation
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I. ESSAY-TRANSLATION APPROACH
1. Tests were heavily loaded with literary content
• Reading comprehension
• Essay writing
• Dictation
• Precise
• Translation
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II. STRUCTURALIST APPROACH
A. Background
It is also called discrete-point stage
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II. SRTUCTURALIST APPROACH
B. Characteristics of DP Tests
Language abilities are tested through subtests
Language skills
components
Listening Speaking Reading Writing
Phonology,
orthography
Vocabulary
Structure
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III. INTEGRATIVE APPROACH
A. Background
John W. Oller is the originator
It integrates linguistic & extra-linguistic aspects
It is rooted in cognitivism & generativism
It regards
language ability indivisible
It tends to test language skills integratively
B. Characteristics of IN Tests
Integrative tests
assess language in meaningful , contextualized contexts
provide real-life situations in tests
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III. INTEGRATIVE APPROACH
tend to integrate linguistic & extra-linguistic aspects
Adopts a holistic / global view of language t and testing
Measure several levels & components simultaneously
Are concerned for communicative effect of discourse
Assess the ability to use 1 or 2 skills simultaneously
Are in the forms of
Cloze passages
dictation
Oral interview
Essay writing
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III. Pragmatic Approach
Background
PR tests are
rooted in Pragmatics & Psycholinguistics
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o Characteristics of PR Tests
oPR tests tend to
o Test language in meaningful , natural context
o meet naturalness criteria by requiring learners
• To utilize normal contextual clues in the language
• To comprehend linguistic & extra-linguistic contexts
• To map pragmatically linguistic features with extra-
linguistic aspects
o Have learners employ their pragmatic expectancy
grammar
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IV. Communicative Approach
Background
o Communicative tests
are rooted in Social constructivism & Functional view of
language
Focus on social interaction & transaction
Emerged after functional-notional approach to TEFL
Tend to assess communicative competence
• Grammatical Competence( linguistic aspects)
• Textual Competence( cohesion & coherence)
• Illocutionary Competence( functional use of language)
• Sociolinguistic Competence ( extra-linguistic aspects)
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Characteristics of Communicative Tests
o Communicative tests tend to
Measure language ability in meaningful, communicative
context
Are concerned with real life ,communicative use of language
Focus on tapping language use rather than language usage
o Adopt the Divisibility Hypothesis by
• obtaining Learner’s language proficiency profiles
• Matching and tailoring instruction with the learner’s needs
o be culturally loaded
o use authentic language in tests
o Show a Preference for qualitative (rather than quantitative)
modes of assessment
o To be in the forms of :
• Oral interview
• Essay writing
• Comprehension questions on an authentic passage
• Reading an article and reacting to it
• Listening to a lecture & reMa.cPatzihnoughetshoKihtayyamUniversity 21
Characteristics of a communicative test
It should be interactive.
It should be direct in nature with tasks reflecting
realistic discourse processing activities.
Texts and tasks should be relevant to the intended
situation.
Ability should be sampled within meaningful and
developing contexts.
The test should be based on an a priori specification, so
what is to be tested and how it is to be tested should be
laid down at the test design stage. [Adapted from Weir, 1993]
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