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Chapter two: Methodology 16
2.1.A quantitative study 16
2.2.The selection of participants 16
2.3.The materials 16
2.4.Methods of data collection and data analysis 17
2.5.Limitations of the research 17
Summary 17
Chapter three: Discussion 18
3.1-The content area of the test 18
3.2-The relative weights of the different parts of the test 19
3.3-Constructing the test 19
3.4-Administering the test 24
3.5-Marking the test 25
3.6-Test scores interpreting and evaluation 25
3.6.1.The frequency distribution 25
3.6.2.The central tendency 26
3.6.2.1.The mode 26
3.6.2.2.The median 27
3.6.2.3.The mean 27
3.6.3.The dispersion 28
3.6.3.1.The low-high 28
3.6.3.2.The range 28
3.6.3.3.The standard deviation 29
3.7-Test item analysis and evaluation 30
3.7.1.Item difficulty 30
3.7.2.Item discrimination 32
3.8.Estimating reliability 34
Summary 36
Part III: Conclusion and recommendations 37
References 39
Appendices
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Part I: Int rod uct ion
1.Rationale
Testing is a matter of concern to all teachers - whether we are in the classroom or
engaged in syllabus/ materials, administration or research. We know quite well that good tests
can improve our teaching and stimulate student learning. Although we may not want to
become a measurement expert we may have to periodically evaluate student performances and
prepare reports on student progress.
Haiphong PrivatePublic University (HPU) is a university in which there are a number
of classes of Civil Engineering (CE) for students of Construction Department. Generally
speaking, non-majors, especially the students of this department, lack background knowledge
of English. The non-majors of CE have chances to learn General English (GE) during their
first three terms to prepare for their 120 periods of English for Specific Purposes (ESP) in the
fourth term. In fact, this type of English is quite demanding for them and many had to admit
that they could not learn it well. As a result, many students failed after each final examination.
The causes for the above situation are various. It might be because some students are
either too hesitant or too lazy to learn anew subject. It might also be because some students
could not overcome the difficulties they usually meet during their study, for example their ESP
is too new or too demanding for them, or they have to learn many periods per week to leave
time for other subjects. However, the reason which is no less important and which needs taking
into account is the matter of testing. In general, teachers at HPU are well-qualified and when
teaching they are quite enthusiastic with good teaching methodology. However, the results of
their students’ tests are not always satisfactory, the scores they gained were often lower than
expected. Moreover, we teachers cannot deny the fact that sometimes the test results do not
accurately reflect the testees’ language competence.
According to Brown (1994a: 373) and Hughes (1989: 1) “A great deal of language
testing is of very poor quality. Too often language testing has a harmful effect on teaching and
learning and too often they fail to measure accurately whatever it is they are intended to
measure.”
For all the above reasons the author of this research study would like to take this
opportunity to undertake the study entitled “Designing a reading test for the non-majors of
Civil Engineering at Haiphong Public University” with a view to evaluating the students’
reading ability after one term’s study last school year (2004-2005) as well as to gaining some
knowledge and experience of foreign language testing for herself after completing the study.
2.Aims of the study
The minor thesis is aimed at designing an achievement test of ESP reading which
would be conducted in a class of Civil Engineering English at HPU. The test was considered as
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a final examination. Then the results of the test will be analysed, evaluated, and interpreted.
The test takers are non - English - majors.
The specific aims of the research are:
to assess the learners’ achievement in improving reading skill with English of Civil
Engineering after 120 period reading course.
to measure their aptitude for the reading skill.
to diagnose their strength and weakness in reading the subject matter.
to find out whether or not the test satisfies the qualities of a good test. From there
the test will measure the effectiveness of the teacher’s teaching. If the test is not a
good one, some suggestions will be made for a better test form.
3.Scope of the study
“Not all language tests are of the same kinds. They differ with respect to how they are
designed, and what they are for; in other words, in respect to test method and test purpose.”
(Mc Namara, 2000: 5). For example, in terms of method, there are paper-and-pencil language
tests, performance tests, ect. And in terms of purpose, there are achievement tests, proficiency
test, and so on. In fact, the same form of test may be used for different purposes, although in
other cases the purpose may affect the form.
Due to the limitation of time and ability, it is impossible for the author to design tests
of all these types or of all the four language skills (speaking, writing, listening and reading).
Therefore, this minor thesis is limited to designing and evaluating an achievement test of ESP
reading for the non-majors at HPU and the reading tested was for communicative purposes.
4.Methods of the study
In this minor thesis the author designed an achievement test of reading, administered it
and then evaluated it, so the method adopted is quantitative. The data will be collected through
testing the students’ reading ability of Civil Engineering English.
5.Design of the study
The study is composed of three parts:
*Part I is the presentation of basic information such as the rationale, the scope of the study, the
aims of the study, the methods of the study and finally the design of the study.
*Part II includes three chapters:
+ Chapter one is the literature review in which the literature that is related to language
testing and major characteristics of a good reading test is presented.
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+ Chapter two is concerned with research methodologies including the methods
adopted in doing the research, the selection of participants, the materials, the methods of data
collection and data analysis.
+ Chapter three is the discussion, which is the main part of the study. This chapter
reviews how a reading test of Civil Engineering for the non-majors at HPU was designed,
administered, and then evaluated.
*Part III includes the conclusion and recommendations for further research on the topic.
Following these parts are the references and appendices.
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Part II : De velo pmen t
Chapter one : Liter ature revi ew
This chapter will provide an overview of the theoretical background of the research. It is
composed of five small sections. Section 1.1 brings a significant insight into the concept
of language testing. Section 1.2 is the introduction of communicative language tests.
Testing reading skills will be discussed in section 1.3 which is followed by section 1.4
with the investigation into major characteristics of a good test. The final area to be
mentioned is a brief review of achievement tests which is presented in section 1.5.
1.1.Language testing
An understanding of language testing is relevant both to those who are actually
involved in creating language tests, and also to those who are involved in using tests or the
information tests provide in practical research contexts. For this very reason, this section
wishes to take a close look at what a language test is.
Most researchers agree that language tests play many important roles in life. Firstly the
moment one does a test can be considered an important transitional moment in his life, for
example, a pupil wishing to enter a university has to pass the entrance tests, or a job seeker has
to do a certain test so that the employer will know whether he is competent, or if somebody
needs to drive a motor or a car, he or she has to pass a driving test, ect. Secondly, language
tests are also important to many occupations. We teachers rarely teach without testing our
students’ performance in the subjects. Tests will help us to put them in right places; therefore,
language tests, if used properly, can be considered a valuable teaching device for any teacher,
and they will contribute positively to the development of both teachers and learners. Last but
not least, any researcher who needs measurement of the language proficiency of the subjects
cannot do it without using an already existing test or designing his or her own test.
As for Caroll (1968) a test in general will certainly tell something about a testee’s
characteristics. Thanks to the results from his test, it is possible for a teacher to judge whether
this student is good or bad at the subject tested. Caroll provides the following definition of a
test: “a psychological or educational test is a procedure designed to elicit certain behavior
from which one can make inferences about certain characteristics of an individual.” (Caroll,
1968: 46)
According to Hughes (1989: 9), tests can be classified as follow:
Proficiency tests
Achievement tests
• Class progress tests
• Final achievement tests
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Diagnostic tests
Placement tests
Aptitude or Prognostic tests
Direct tests versus indirect tests-Discrete- point tests versus intergrative
tests
Norm-referenced tests versus criterion-referenced tests
Objective tests versus Subjective tests
Communicative tests
Generally there are some approaches to tests, for example the essay-translation
approach, the structuralist approach, the integrative approach, or the communicative approach.
However, in this minor thesis, I would like to choose only the communicative approach to
testing. This approach focuses on how the language is used in communication (‘meaning’
rather than ‘form’). This attempts to obtain different profiles of a learner’s performance in the
language.
The development and the use of language tests involve an understandingof the nature
of communicative language use and language ability, on the one hand, and of measurement
theory, on the other. Each of these areas is complex in its own right.
In short, like teaching, testing is important to any teacher as well as for any student. It
is difficult to deny that testing cannot be separated from teaching, testing can even be seen part
of teaching. Therefore, we teachers should pay great attention to the issue of testing in our
teaching.
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1.2.Communicative language tests
There is one thing that is essential to the activities of designing a test and interpreting
the meaning of test scores. It is the view of language and language use embodied in the test.
The term ‘test construct’ refers to these aspects of knowledge or skill possessed by the
candidate which are being measured. To define test construct it is important to be clear about
what knowledge of language consists of and how that knowledge is used in actual performance
(i.e. language use). It is also essential to understand what view the test takes of language use
because if the view the test takes is different, then the test will be different. As a result, the
reporting of score will be different, and the test performance will be interpreted differently.
Therefore, the difference of format between tests is not just incidental; it implies a difference
between views of language and language use. Accordingly, communicative language tests are
different from other types of tests such as discrete point test or integrative and pragmatic tests
in the following aspects:
According to Mc Namara (2000: 17) discrete point test focuses on students’ knowledge
of the grammatical system, of vocabulary and aspects of pronunciation and tends to test these
aspects of knowledge in isolation. With this type of test, multiple choice questions are most
suitable. This discrete point tradition of testing is seen as focusing too much on knowledge of
the formal linguistic system for its own sake rather than on the way the knowledge is used to
achieve communication.
Aslo as for Mc Namara using integrated tests is a new orientation in which integrated
knowledge of relevant systemic features of language (pronunciation, grammar, vocabulary)
with an understanding of context is deployed. Yet, these tests are regarded as time consuming
and difficult to score. For example for an oral interview, the test will involve comprehension of
extended discourse (both spoken and written), and as a result besides the disadvantages
mentioned above it also requires trained raters.
Because of those disadvantages another type of test, pragmatic test, replaced the old
ones. It focuses less on knowledge of language and more on psycholinguistic processing
involved in language use. With this type, a cloze test was seen the most suitable and was once
believed to be easy to construct, relatively easy to score. However, it soon turned out to be
measuring the same kinds of things as discrete point tests of grammar and vocabulary. It also
failed to test communicative skills.
In the early 1970s thanks to Hyme’s theory of communicative competence (an
understanding of language and the ability to use language in context, particularly in terms of
the social demand of performance, i.e. knowing a language is more than knowing its rules of
grammar) communicative language tests developed and it has the two following features:
’They are performance tests which require assessment to be carried out when
the candidate is engaged in communication, either receptive or productive, or both.
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They see language as a sociological phenomenon, focusing on the external,
social functions of language while integrative and pragmatic tests see language as an internal
phenomenon. With this test, the use of authentic texts and real world tasks may be developed.’
(Mc Namara, 2000: 16).
One of its distinguishing feature that supersedes other types of tests is that besides systemic
features of language, it requires students’ careful study of the communicative roles and tasks.
All the reasons discussed above are regarded as a strong impetus that initiates this minor thesis
into designing a reading test of ESP for communicative purpose, i.e. it is a communicative
language test.
1.3-Testing reading skills
In a reading test, test items are often set basing on the text itself. And often within the
same test more than one typed of item, maybe two, three or more types of the following items
are used:
1.3.1. Multiple-choice questions (MCQs)
This is one of the most popularly used types for setting a reading comprehension test.
When doing this test the candidate is required to select the answer from a number of given
options, only one of which is correct. The marking is totally objective. Selecting and setting
items are, however, subjective processes, and the decision about which is the correct answer is
a matter of subjective judgment on the part of the item writer.
1.3.2. Short answer questions
In the test there are questions which require the candidates to write down specific
answers in spaces provided on the question paper.
1.3.3. Cloze
This type is also familiar with students. In the cloze procedure, words are deleted from
a text after allowing a few sentences of introduction. The deletion rate is mechanically set,
usually between every fifth and eleventh word because deleting too many or too few words can
cause problems with test validity. Candidates have to fill each gap by supplying the word they
think has been deleted.
1.3.4. Selective deletion gap filling
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It is selecting items for deletion based upon what is known about language, about
difficulty in text and about the way language works in a particular text.
1.3.5. C-Tests
In C-test every second word in a text is partially deleted. In an attempt to ensure
solutions, students are given the first half of the deleted word. The examinee completes the
word on the test paper and an exact word scoring procedure is adopted.
1.3.6. Cloze elide
In cloze elide test, words that do not belong to the original text are inserted into a
reading passage and candidates have to indicate where these insertions have been made.
1.3.7. Information transfer
This is a task where the information transmitted verbally is transferred to a non-verbal
form, e.g. by labeling a diagram, completing a chart or numbering a sequence of events. This
type of test is an objective method for testing the test takers’ understanding of the texts.
1.3.8.Jumbled sentences
This type of test is intended to test the student’s understanding of a sequence of stages
in a process or events in a narrative. A successful student is the one who can reorder jumbled
sentences or unscrambled sentences of a story correctly.
1.3.9.Matching
Like MCQ test, matching is a familiar type of testing reading comprehension. With this
test, candidates are required to identify the relationships between a list of entries in one
column with a list of responses in another column. Candidates may have to match word with
word, sentences with sentence, picture with sentence, etc.
1.3.10.Jumbled paragraphs
Similar to tasks involving jumbled sentences, test tasks with jumbled paragraphs
require students to rearrange the given paragraphs in the correct order. To do this students
have to read through these paragraphs to get the main idea of the whole text.
In short, for testing reading abilities different methods have been recommended and a
teacher may use this one or that one depending on certain purposes. For example, to develop
the communicative nature of tests the use of short answer questions, selective gap filling, C-
tests, information transfer techniques or other restricted response formats are often preferred.
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