Volume 04 Issue 02-2024
143
International Journal of Pedagogics
(ISSN
–
2771-2281)
VOLUME
04
ISSUE
02
P
AGES
:
143-149
SJIF
I
MPACT
FACTOR
(2021:
5.
705
)
(2022:
5.
705
)
(2023:
6.
676
)
OCLC
–
1121105677
Publisher:
Oscar Publishing Services
Servi
ABSTRACT
This article presents data collection about the key features, principles and practices of language testing by modifying
an available test to be valid, reliable, and practical for the target learner, including both theoretical and practical
pictures of the process. Starting with studies on the target research, this work contains the learner assessment profile,
the critique of an existing test, modified version of the chosen test together with appendix (material).
KEYWORDS
Modification, assessment, test, features, functions, principles, learners, practice, valid, reliable, implement, profile,
critique, materials, teachers, practical, text, Madagascar, language, skills, reading, listening, speaking, writing,
knowledge, instruction, test forms.
INTRODUCTION
According to Andres H (2019) ‘Testing is an activity,
which is used to assess product quality and enhance it
by defining
issues and defects’. Testing is useful for
both teachers and students. There are different types
of testing, which is aimed at identifying learners’
strength and weaknesses, assessing or checking
learners’ ability. Teachers mostly use tests to
determine whether students have acquired what is
intended to learn. As Brown (2010) states, ‘Testing is a
method of evaluating a learner’s knowledge and
performance in a certain domain’. From his viewpoint,
we can understand that a test is an instrument, which
refers to a set of techniques. With the help of different
tests, we can measure learners’ ability, if they are
convenient, consistent, easy, useful to implement and
if they really satisfies learner’s needs. This research
paper indicates how to modify five items of existing
Research Article
KEY ASSESSMENT TEST MODIFICATION PROJECT PRINCIPLES AND
PRACTICES OF LANGUAGE TESTING
Submission Date:
February 19, 2024,
Accepted Date:
February 24, 2024,
Published Date:
February 29, 2024
Crossref doi:
https://doi.org/10.37547/ijp/Volume04Issue02-24
Zulaykho Y. Pardayeva
Associate Professor, Ajou University, Uzbekistan
Journal
Website:
https://theusajournals.
com/index.php/ijp
Copyright:
Original
content from this work
may be used under the
terms of the creative
commons
attributes
4.0 licence.
Volume 04 Issue 02-2024
144
International Journal of Pedagogics
(ISSN
–
2771-2281)
VOLUME
04
ISSUE
02
P
AGES
:
143-149
SJIF
I
MPACT
FACTOR
(2021:
5.
705
)
(2022:
5.
705
)
(2023:
6.
676
)
OCLC
–
1121105677
Publisher:
Oscar Publishing Services
Servi
test in order to develop validity and reliability of the
test. It includes three main parts:
•
First, learner assessment profile: here the
information is about the learner, whom I
focused as a test taker, her educational setting
and the test that she has had the last time.
•
Second, Critique of an existing language test: in
this part description of existing test, its
principles and strengths and weaknesses.
•
The last one, Modification of the chosen test:
ways and explanation of how to modify the
test are informed in this part.
The Learners assessment profile.
As I am teaching in higher education current moment,
I am experienced with the level of the target learners
there, That’s why I planned to design my test for a
learner, who studied at one of the schools in the city
which is a new context for me. I tried to talk with her in
order to get much more information about the learner,
whom I chose as a model, to modify an exciting test to
satisfy her needs.
My learner’s name is Adolat Abdulla
yeva. She is a
eighteen-year-old Uzbek girl. She studies at 8th grade
and one of the students, who is very smart and eager
to learn the language. Although she is not good at the
other subjects, she is interested in learning the English
language. When I asked her future specialty, she said
that she would be an English teacher in the future. That
is why; she wants to have more lessons that are
English. She was born in Tashkent and she is the only
child, who knows the English language in her family, so
she does not have chance to communicate in English at
home. However, when she comes across foreigners in
the street or museums, she is hurry to speak with them.
She has never been to any foreign country, and she
began learning English from fifth grade as a foreign
language at school. However, she was not able to
acquire it well. Because the timeline of English
language was not enough for her to acquire a new
language. She learnt it just for three years: from fifth to
eight grades. In addition, the atmosphere to learn
English was not so perfect for her to learn. May be
because of that reason, she had difficulty learning the
language at the school. Nevertheless, when she tried
to attend to extra courses. She has been learning the
language for almost three years. Hence, she has still
some difficulty communicating. Besides English, she
knows the Russian language too; even she knows the
Russian better than English.
As to the school, where she studies, there are so many
subjects to focus. Before the beginning of a new
academic year, pupils of five, six, seven, eight and
nineth grades of the school are assessed. So, they have
placement test. Teachers test their students in order to
know what level they are. As for the level, B1 is required
according to CEFR (Common European Framework
Reference) for higher grades. The teachers rely on CLT
approach while teaching students. Besides this
placement test, students are assessed after finishing
each term, which is called achievement test. With the
help of this test, the teachers check their learners
whether they have achieved the subject or not.
Therefore, they have midterm and final tests as well.
Furthermore, the teachers try to test the learners at
every lesson to know if they are really improving the
language. These tests help students to develop their
knowledge. The students, who are finishing the school,
have special achievement test.
The syllabus and textbook that they use are designed
and chosen by the government with a bit modification
Volume 04 Issue 02-2024
145
International Journal of Pedagogics
(ISSN
–
2771-2281)
VOLUME
04
ISSUE
02
P
AGES
:
143-149
SJIF
I
MPACT
FACTOR
(2021:
5.
705
)
(2022:
5.
705
)
(2023:
6.
676
)
OCLC
–
1121105677
Publisher:
Oscar Publishing Services
Servi
by teachers. It has two versions: Students Book and
Workbook. Teachers use Students book at the lesson
but give homework to do the exercises, tests in the
Workbook at home. It is like a home task book. There
are different tasks, tests with different techniques to
do at home in this Workbook. The learners do these
tests at home and check together with the teacher at
the lesson. The Adolat’s result from the tests, which
are administered by teacher in each lesson, is
satisfying. The student book includes different tests
too. Students try to evolve their knowledge on what
they have learnt, with the help of exercises given in the
student book, at every lesson. Besides, the teachers
sometimes use other textbooks as extra materials,
which are very interesting, including all language skills.
Because the Students Book and Workbook are
somehow easy or boring for some students at the
lyceum. That is why the teachers sometimes motivate
the students with the different textbooks to develop
their skills. These books contain many tests related to
the themes. Different techniques are used in the
textbooks like: multiple choice, gap filling, question
and answers, true and false, etc.
The most recently placement test that the student has
done was taken place at beginning the first course. As
I have mentioned above, the pupils at school are tested
before starting a new course. The reason of this
placement test is that the teachers intend to identify
the learners’ current level. In order to carry out this
test, the teachers have special preparation. They make
a room for the test to help the students feel
comfortable and get the students sit separately. It
really helped and affected for students avoid cheating,
which is easier to know their level clearly. The result of
my learner was better than the result of the first try.
The results indicated that her level is B1. As for the test,
all language skills were integrated in the test, which is
at stake nowadays. Different techniques were
addressed in the test. It was valuable, reliable to use,
and it definitely could ide
ntify the learner’s level. It can
be implemented for the other groups of students again
in order to place students. Actually, her teacher
sometimes uses such kind of placement tests to check
the students’ level even it is not implemented in
appropriate time. Maybe it is not kind of a placement
test, but the students may know their level with the
help of the test. The tests, which are always
substituted by the teacher, are based on all four skills:
listening, speaking, reading and writing.
The critique of an existing test/assessment.
When I asked help from the teacher of the learner to
give me an exam test to work on its modification to
enhance validity and reliability of the test, she agreed
and gave one that she had. Actually, the test included
four techniques focusing four language skills: listening,
speaking, reading, and writing. I decided to work on
the reading section of the test. As for the others, I
thought they were enough reliable to implement.
The reading test consists of the text and option part.
The text is about ‘Madagascar
-
when need to go’
containing of four paragraphs. There are ten questions,
which ask the test taker to answer. The true and false
technique is involved. There is a structure above the
text and the questions below.
While using the test at the lesson, one may not
recognize the issues of the test, but if we discuss the
test according to the principles, we may find
followings.
Firstly, the chosen words used in the text are some
difficult for the level B1. Besides, there are some
Volume 04 Issue 02-2024
146
International Journal of Pedagogics
(ISSN
–
2771-2281)
VOLUME
04
ISSUE
02
P
AGES
:
143-149
SJIF
I
MPACT
FACTOR
(2021:
5.
705
)
(2022:
5.
705
)
(2023:
6.
676
)
OCLC
–
1121105677
Publisher:
Oscar Publishing Services
Servi
phrases used in the text, which are challenging to
understand for the level B1. The students may have
difficulty catching these complicated words. This can
affect the validity of the test. Hence, they can guess the
core meaning of the words from the content. The test
is somehow not accessible by linguistically and
culturally to my profile learner, because the text does
not require linguistic knowledge to read, and since it is
about Madagascar, I am not sure that it is based on the
learner’s culture too.
However, the learner does not
come across strange or unpleasant biases, situations,
while working on the test. There are just facts about
the weather and seasons of Madagascar.
I cannot say that the test is reliable. Because, there is
problem with instruction, and another issue with the
question and answer. I will inform about it below in the
weakness part.
As to the practicality of the test, actually, it is not so
easy to prepare the true false test, however, it easy for
teachers to check, it does not take much time, because
the questions require a certain answer. Moreover, it is
paper-based test and students can get the test
separately in their hand, it can be adapted considering
the learners need.
The test is authentic as I think. Because there are facts
about ‘Madagascar’, which exists in the real world.
There are some real occasions, which are happening in
our daily life. Hence, the text includes some
information that students rarely face every day,
When I got the test from the teacher, I asked if she
tried the test with her students or not. Then she said
yes, however, not with the students who is my profile
learner and then I asked about the effect of the test
and she informed me like some of the students got
positive, bit unfortunately most of them negative
washback. When it is time to review the test, I found
tree strengths and three weaknesses of the existing
test.
The first strength of the test is that: the text is named.
Sometimes, may be in most cases, texts are not named
and it makes for test takers difficult to do the test,
since they do not know what the text is about. If the
text has a name, students can be informed an overall
meaning of the text. When they see the name of the
text, they understand immediately what kind of
information is going to expected to cover. The name
‘Madagascar –
when to go’ indicates that the text aims
at giving information Madagascar and suitable time to
travel there.
The next strength that I identified is that: the questions
are based on the text, not out of text, except one. Even
though there are some problems with the questions
but anyway they are related to the text. The test
instructor made the questions relying on the text.
The third strength is that: the text, which was chosen
by instructor, is interesting and not too long. It can
motivate the learners to do the test. After reading the
text, students do not have difficulty to do the test,
even there are some unfamiliar words for the learners,
but still, they can get overall comprehension from the
content. There is interesting information about
Madagascar. Besides the text is not so long, which
takes much time to read and make the learner get
bored. It consists of just four short paragraphs. On
reading the text, students may develop their grammar
skill as well. Because the sentences in the text are quite
correctly made. When I looked through the syllabus of
the lyceum, grammar is also focused while teaching
students.
Volume 04 Issue 02-2024
147
International Journal of Pedagogics
(ISSN
–
2771-2281)
VOLUME
04
ISSUE
02
P
AGES
:
143-149
SJIF
I
MPACT
FACTOR
(2021:
5.
705
)
(2022:
5.
705
)
(2023:
6.
676
)
OCLC
–
1121105677
Publisher:
Oscar Publishing Services
Servi
As for the weaknesses of the test: firstly, as I have
mentioned above the instruction of the text is
explained partially and one instructor for both text and
questions, written at the beginning of the text. The
instructors are not given separately. The traditional
method is involved in the test, writing like ‘Read and
choose’.
The second weakness is that: the instructor did not
estimate the time, Timing indicates to students that
how much time they should spend on a test. If the time
is not limited, students do not feel the responsibility for
the test or, they may began cheating from each other.
Turning to the last weakness, I can say that looking
through the test; I found out that there is another
problem with the test, especially with a question and
answers. There is a question, which requires Not Given
answer; however, students cannot find the Not Given
option in the test. The test includes two: True and False
options. Therefore, students may have difficulty
choosing when there is not appropriate answer given
in the question. So test taker may have hesitation
whether it is True or False.
Modified version of the chosen test/assessment.
After analyzing the weaknesses of the existing test, I
planned to modify five items in order to meet the
learner’s need and make the test more valid and
reliable.
‘The modification is the concern that racial
, ethnic, or
common differences might adversely affect the
meaning, reliability, validity of original test’ (McDowell
& Newell 2006).
The first item that I wanted to change is the instruction
of the text. There are two reasons for this modification.
The first reason why I modified the instruction of the
text is to make it much clearer to the learner. Because
‘Read the text and choose true or false’ shows some
unclear sense about the test for the learner. Even there
is no word like ‘below’. Some students may
confuse
whether they should choose the answers relying on
the text or not.
The next reason, I changed the instruction because of
avoiding using the old strategy. I applied another
strategy while designing the test. For example, ‘Read
the text below more attentively so that you can answer
the questions, depending on the text, without looking
at or searching the information from the text’. If they
just read the text and choose the answers looking for
the text, they may not understand what the text is
about
, so that’s why she/he is trying to find answers
from the text. However, if test takers read this
instruction, they immediately understand that they
should read the text paying attention to the overall
comprehension of the text predicting what kind of
questions they may have after reading the text.
As Genesee and Upshur (1996) stated that ‘Tests are
firstly should be concerned with clear the instruction in
order to help students understand what they are being
expected to have’
The second item, which I referred to change, is the
modification of the test’s instruction. Unfortunately,
there is no instruction given above the test. One
instruction is for both text and test, which is written
above the text. I think it is much more understandable
when the instructions are separated with clear
instructions for both, which develop the reliability of
the test. Students can easily understand what they
have to do firstly and then how they do it by reading
both clear instructions. The instruction of the test
Volume 04 Issue 02-2024
148
International Journal of Pedagogics
(ISSN
–
2771-2281)
VOLUME
04
ISSUE
02
P
AGES
:
143-149
SJIF
I
MPACT
FACTOR
(2021:
5.
705
)
(2022:
5.
705
)
(2023:
6.
676
)
OCLC
–
1121105677
Publisher:
Oscar Publishing Services
Servi
should be the continuation of the first instruction. For
example, ‘Now close the text and choose the correct
option below, relying on your comprehension or
memory about the text’. Here learners close the text
and try to choose the appropriate answer. This
strategy is much better and useful for students than
the traditional one. Because they do not look through
the text, like rote taking, but work on the text in order
to catch and keep it in their mind. As the text is easy,
short and interesting enough in modified version,
students can remember the text at least key elements,
which help to do the test.
According to Stephanie Allan (2014), the students tries
to do well in exams, to portion out their time, when
they have limited time.
The third item that I really wanted to focus on is the
limitation of the time. When I was looking into the test,
I could not see the timing part. I think time is important,
especially when the reading test is given to students.
Otherwise, they spend the whole lesson doing the test.
They may read the text for a half hour and do the test
in another half hour. They think that they have free
time to do the test; they may waste their time just
looking the paper. That is why time should be limited
and students must see it in the paper, which urges
them to be quick. In this modified test five minutes is
given for the text and five minutes is to answer the
questions. So overall students should spend ten
minutes for the test. For example, Read the text below
in five minutes’, ‘Now close the text and
choose the
answer in five minutes’.
The next item is about answers, which I have
mentioned in the weakness part of my paper. There are
two answers for a question in the test: True and False.
Hence, for some questions, there is no answer because
it is not given in the text. For that reason, I to added
Not Given answer too.
As Scott Shwertly (2012) mentions that ‘Vocabulary is
one of skill that we do not think seriously about it while
using and we do not consider the level of the students.
The last item I intended to modify depends on the
vocabulary of the text. There are some complex words
used in the text that students of B1 level may find
problem to catch their meaning. Sometimes it is
difficult to translate some words if the learners have
never used them or faced. Changing these complex
words into easier ones suits their level; they can
remember the text and do the test without
challenging. Then I can put my strategy into practice,
which I informed above.
This modification version is much more suitable to my
learner I think. Because the instructions are clearly
explained, even I divided the instructions into two.
Since my model together with her group mates’ level is
B1 (even some of theirs are lower than that level), the
instructions should be accurate. Now there is no
trouble with the options, because there are three
options that allow her choose Not Given one too, if she
cannot find the answer, even looking from the text. As
for the text, there are no more complicated words,
which she does not know. However, unfortunately or
fortunately time is limited to do the test. Nevertheless,
I think there is enough time to do the test, which
deserves to her level.
After modifying the test, I administered it to my
learner. Since old version of the test was not applied to
my learner yet, firstly I gave her the old one and then
the modified version in order to contrast the results of
the tests. When I administered the old test to my
Volume 04 Issue 02-2024
149
International Journal of Pedagogics
(ISSN
–
2771-2281)
VOLUME
04
ISSUE
02
P
AGES
:
143-149
SJIF
I
MPACT
FACTOR
(2021:
5.
705
)
(2022:
5.
705
)
(2023:
6.
676
)
OCLC
–
1121105677
Publisher:
Oscar Publishing Services
Servi
student, she began asking questions like: ‘How much
time will you give me to do th
e test’, ‘Can I use
dictionary to do the test because I do not know some
words in the text’, ‘Is there right answer in the second
question’, and the like. As for result of the test, she
could find only five right answers out of ten. Moreover,
when I gave her, my changed test, there was no
questions from her; even she began to read seriously,
after looking into the instruction of the text. Because
she found out that, she should not just read and find
answer with the help of the text but comprehend the
text. When she saw the time limitation, she even tried
to concentrate on the test only and the test was done
in time. She really liked the strategy that I used in the
test. She learnt the text very attentively and did the
tests without any difficulty. I asked her opinion about
the tests that she practiced. She said that when she
was doing the first test, she just read and choose the
answer from the text and she could not remember any
words or meaning of the test. Hence, when she was
given the modified test, she took it seriously. She
added that she could catch everything, the instruction
and the text are understandable, and the answers to
the questions could be found easily. Even she kept the
meaning of the text and answers in her mind. As for the
result, she was able to do all.
CONCLUSION
To conclude this research, I should say that I learnt
from this assignment a lot. In order to do this
assignment I went to the lyceum and learnt the
assessing system, the tests, which are used to identify
the students’ ability
and level. So now, I am aware of
what kind of tests are utilized at the lyceums. Besides,
I developed my knowledge about assessment, its
principles, how to analyze a test, for what I have to pay
attention while designing a test, what kind of
techniques to use, or how to find the lack of a test etc.
Assessment is a significant part or component of
learning, because it helps students to learn and explore
the very best of their abilities (Amanda 2017).
However, I have to admit that designing a test is not
easy work. Nevertheless, it was a good practice for me
for the future job. I think I will not have difficulty
preparing tests using different techniques. Now I have
an experience on assessing.
REFERENCES
1.
Andres H (2019) ‘Reading challenge’ Oxford
University. Oxford press.
2.
Amanda (2017) ‘What is the importance of
assessment in teaching learning processes?’
George Lucas educational foundation. Florida
Press.
3.
Douglas Brown (2010) ‘Language assessment
principles and classroom practices’ Copyright
Pearson education.
4.
Genesee, F. and Upshur (1996) Classroom-
Based
evaluation
in
second
language
education. Cambridge University Press.
5.
McDowell IY, Newell C. (2006) Measuring
health: a guide to rating scale and
questionnaire. (3rd ed). New York: Oxford
University Press
6.
Scott Shwertly (2012) ‘Choosing appropriate
vocabulary in texts’. Cambridge University.
Cambridge press.
7.
Stephanie Allan (2014) ‘How to manage your
time in an exam: 10 expert tips. Expert Royal
Academy. Oxford Press.
