2.11.2 Standardized Tests OBJECTIVES You will understand: 1. What standardized tests are 2. Why we use standardized tests 3. How standardized tests are created 4. The advantages and disadvantages of standardized tests You will be able to: 1. Better able to use standardized tests to more accurately assess your students; 2. Better prepare students for standardized tests.

2.11.2 Standardized Tests INTRODUCTION Standardized tests are the reality for the majority of English language learners. Learners may need to complete a standardized test to demonstrate language ability for a particular job or career or to gain entrance into an English- speaking higher education program. They may also simply want to prove to themselves what their language ability is, using an independent and objective measure.

2.11.2 Standardized Tests WHAT ARE STANDARDIZED TESTS? “A standardized test presupposes certain standard objectives or criteria, that are held constant across one form of the test to another. The criteria in large-scale standardized tests are designed to apply to a broadband of competencies that are usually not exclusive to one particular curriculum” (Brown, p.67) A standardized test must first have a clear purpose, whether to test language ability for an academic setting, the general workplace, or a specific professional field. The test will then have certain criteria that do NOT differ from one version of the test to the next. These are the criteria that the test developer has decided will measure the language ability the test is designed to measure. A standardized test must also apply to learners from a broad range of backgrounds, regardless of who taught them or where they were taught.

2.11.2 Standardized Tests CAEL CAEL (Canadian Academic English Language Assessment) is a standardized test of a student's ability to use English in an academic context. As a topic-based, integrated test, a CAEL Assessment closely resembles the experience of being in a post- secondary classroom where the readings, lecture, and writing components are all on the same topic.  Recognized as a reliable assessment of English language proficiency, the CAEL is accepted by admissions officers in colleges and universities coast to coast. *See www.CAEL.ca for more details.

2.11.2 Standardized Tests TOEFL (THE TEST OF ENGLISH AS A FOREIGN LANGUAGE) This test was designed by Education Testing Services (ETS) in the US. Initially, the purpose of the TOEFL was to determine if test- takers had adequate language to be successful in a higher education setting. With the creation of the Internet-Based TOEFL, the multi-skill integrated questions are felt to have higher validity than the single skill discrete questions previously used. Candidates are now tested (through the TOEFL iBT) on their ability to understand and then respond to information provided through reading or writing texts. This is thought to more closely resemble the work that candidates would be required to complete at institutions of higher learning. *See www.toefl.org for details.

2.11.2 Standardized Tests THE CAMBRIDGE EXAMS The Cambridge series of exams are run by the University of Cambridge in the UK. There are five levels of exams, and the final three levels are the most widely used. The First Certificate in English is used to determine a candidate’s language ability for the general work place. The Cambridge Advanced Certificate in English is used for admission to UK universities. The Proficiency is used for jobs that require near-native fluency in English. The exams test each of the four skills, plus grammar. The exams are not computer-based, but conducted by trained Cambridge Exam Centres and Cambridge Exam Evaluators.

2.11.2 Standardized Tests IELTS (International English Language Testing System) The IELTS exam is jointly run by a number of organizations, including University of Cambridge in the UK. There is a general and an academic level IELTS exam. The exams tests all four skills. Like the Cambridge exams, the IELTS exams are conducted by trained examiners. The IELTS exam has grown in popularity over the past five years, with many organizations adopting it as their standard.

2.11.2 Standardized Tests TOEIC (THE TEST OF ENGLISH FOR INTERNATIONAL COMMUNICATION) This test is also an ETS test. It surveys general understanding of English as used for communication in various situations, particularly socializing and business. Many of the test questions involve candidates looking at a picture and determining what would be said in that particular situation. Other test questions test candidates on their listening skills. There is a large emphasis on idiomatic and formulaic language, as opposed to particular language structures.

2.11.2 Standardized Tests WHY DO WE USE STANDARDIZED TESTS? The primary reason that teachers or institutions choose to use standardized tests is when the language abilities of a large number of students need to be measured practically, reliably and validly. Standardized tests are practical because they don’t need to be written or normed. That has already been done by a team of experts. They are also practical because they are easy to mark, either because they are short answer questions or because detailed rubrics have already been created. When the organization that created the exam also marks the exam, the practicality increases even more. It is important that standardized tests be reliable because when we use a standardized test we need all students to be measured by exactly the same criteria in the most objective way possible. Standardized tests are reliable because they have been tested across a wide range of candidates and with a wide variety of markers. Questions that are problematic have been revised or taken out. Finally, we use standardized tests because we feel they are valid. We feel that these tests measure what they say they measure. Students and parents also feel standardized tests are valid and therefore place a lot of weight (perhaps too much) on these test results.

2.11.2 Standardized Tests HOW ARE STANDARDIZED TESTS CREATED? The key to the reliability and validity of the major standardized tests is the hours of work and millions of dollars that go into their creation. The tests are researched, written, tested, revised, tested, and revised again. Test results are collected from around the globe so that the test versions can continually be monitored for reliability and validity. Changes are made on an ongoing basis as necessary. Smaller standardized tests follow a similar but less extensive process. The following are the major steps that a test development organization will move through in order to create a practical, reliable, and valid standardized English language test: Determine the purpose and objectives of the test Design the specifications Design, select, and arrange test task items

2.11.2 Standardized Tests WHAT ARE THE ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES OF STANDARDIZED TESTS? The advantages of standardized tests as an assessment tool include the following: They are ready-made. The teacher or institution saves a lot of time because they don’t have to actually develop the test. They have already been validated. The teacher or institution does not need to worry about whether the test is actually testing what the developers claim it is. *They have also been validated using a large pool of students. They are practical to administer, particularly with large groups of students. They are fast to mark, (or may not need to be marked by teachers at all). They have face validity. People place a lot of weight on these tests, as they are regarded as highly legitimate tests. They are objective and reliable. Results on standardized tests do not vary depending upon who is marking the test.

2.11.2 Standardized Tests The disadvantages of standardized tests as an assessment tool include the following: It is easy for both teachers and students to give standardized tests too much authority or weight. It is easy to label and categorize students, negatively or positively, according to their results on these tests. The standardized test can be misused. For example, it can be used to test something that it was not actually designed to test. Standardized tests do not assess all learners equally well; students who have good test-taking skills and strategies are more likely to succeed on standardized tests than those who do not. Standardized tests are often given a gate-keeping role, with high stakes, as a tool for inclusion or exclusion in a program, profession, or job. Gate-keepers should not rely solely on standardized test results in this case, but should take a more balanced approach to assessment.

2.11.2 Standardized Tests DIRECT VERSUS INDIRECT TESTING Any discussion about the disadvantages of standardized testing must consider the concepts of direct versus indirect testing. Direct testing simply means that if you want to test a student’s reading ability, you use a reading test. Indirect testing means that you use a listening test to measure a student’s speaking ability. Indirect testing is valid, but ONLY if the research has been done to establish the correlation between what is actually being tested (listening in the above example), and what ability is being evaluated (speaking). Standardized tests can be misused in indirect testing if that correlation has not been statistically established. Indirect testing has a place, however, because it is not always practical to assess a skill (speaking for example); a correlation with another skill that can be more practically tested is thus established (listening, for example).

2.11.2 Standardized Tests HOW DO WE CORRECTLY USE STANDARDIZED TESTS AS TEACHERS? English language teachers run into problems with standardized tests for three reasons: they do not understand what standardized tests are, what they are not, and they do not use the standardized tests in the correct context. Details for each of the following can be found on p. 551 of this module’s lecture notes: Language teachers must understand what standardized tests are Language teachers must understand what standardized tests are not Language teacher must use standardized tests in the right context

2.11.2 Standardized Tests HOW DO WE PREPARE STUDENTS FOR STANDARDIZED TESTS? As English continues to increase in importance as a global language, more and more students are preparing to take English language standardized tests. The question then is, what is the most effective way to prepare students for these tests? There are three main areas of preparation that we need to provide for our students. Further details about each of the following can be found on p. 552 of this module’s lecture notes: Test Knowledge Test-taking Strategies Language Knowledge and Ability

2.11.2 Standardized Tests Complete Task Journal question 1 and submit via email to jenrjones@rogers.com (preferred) or print and hand in. *Complete only sections A and B.