ASSESSMENT: DISCRETE POINT TEST, INTEGRATIVE TESTING, PERFORMANCE-BASED ASSESSMENT, AND AUTHENTIC ASSESSMENT.

ASSESSMENT: DISCRETE POINT TEST, INTEGRATIVE TESTING, PERFORMANCE-BASED ASSESSMENT, AND AUTHENTIC ASSESSMENT.

1. DISCRETE POINT TEST, INTEGRATIVE
TESTING, PERFORMANCE -BASED
ASSESSMENT, AND AUTHENTIC
ASSESSMENT.
ASSESSMENT

2. DISCRETE POINT TEST
Languageissegmentedintomanysmalllinguisticpointsandthe
fourlanguageskillsoflistening,speaking,readingandwriting.
Adiscretepointtestaredesignedtotesttheseskillsandlinguistic
points.Itconsistsofmanyquestionsonalargenumberof
linguisticpoints,buteachquestiontestsonlyonelinguisticpoint.
ExamplesofDiscretepointtestare:
•Phonemerecognition.
•Yes/No,True/Falseanswers.
•Spelling.

3. •Wordcompletion.
•Grammaritems.
•Multiplechoicetests.
Suchtestshaveadownsideinthattheytakelanguageoutof
contextandusuallybearnorelationshiptotheconceptoruseof
wholelanguage.

4. INTEGRATIVE TESTING
•Oller(1976,p.37),“languagecompetenceisaunifiedsetof
interactingabilitieswhichcannotbeseparatedapartandtested
adequately”
•Whereas,discreteitemsattempttotestknowledgeoflanguage
onebitatatime,integrativetestsattempttoassessalearner's
capacitytousemanybitsallatthesametime,andpossibly
whileexercisingseveralpresumedcomponentsofa
grammaticalsystem,andperhapsmorethanoneofthe
traditionalskillsoraspectsofskills.
•Therefore,communicativecompetenceissoglobaland
requiressuch“integration”forits“pragmatic”useinthereal
worldthatitcannotbecapturedinadditivetestsofgrammaror
readingorvocabularyandotherdiscretepointsoflanguage.

5. Thisemphasizesthesimultaneoustestingofthetest-taker’s
multiplelinguisticcompetencefromvariousperspectives.
Examplesofintegrativetestare:
•Clozetests
•Dictation
•Translation
•Essaysandothercoherentwritingtasks
•Oralinterviewsandconversation
•Reading,orotherextendedsamplesofrealtext
Oller(1979,p.38)hasrefinedtheintegrativeconceptfurtherby
proposingwhathecallspragmatictest.
Apragmatictestis...anyprocedureorataskthatcausesthe
learnertoprocesssequencesofelementsinalanguagethat
conformtothenormalcontextualconstraintsofthatlanguageand
whichrequireslearnertorelatesequencesoflinguisticselements
viapragmaticmappingstoextralinguisticcontexts.

6. PERFORMANCE -BASED ASSESSMENT
•PBAasdescribedbyStiggins(2001)isasetofstrategiesthat
enablestudentstousetheirskillsandknowledgetoperforma
taskthatisauthenticandrealisticbasedoncertain
predeterminedcriteria.
•PBAmeasuresstudents'abilitytoapplytheskillsand
knowledgelearnedfromaunitorunitsofstudy.Typically,the
taskchallengesstudentstousetheirhigher-orderthinking
skillstocreateaproductorcompleteaprocess(Chun,2010).
•Inlinewithdefinition,Espinosa(2015)explained,PBA
improvesstudentskillsbybringingintoplaycomplex
functionsofcognitiveprocessingthatrequireahigherlevelof
thinkingforproblem-solving,orthedevelopmentofoptions
whenanindividualconfrontsanewsituation.

7. •Journals
Studentswillwriteregularlyinajournalaboutanythingrelevant
totheirlife,schoolorthoughts.Theirwritingwillbeinthetarget
language.Theteacherwillcollectthejournalsperiodicallyand
providefeedbacktothestudents.Thiscanserveasa
communicationlogbetweentheteacherandstudents.Journals
canbeusedtorecordstudentfeelings,thoughts,perceptions,or
reflectionsaboutactualeventsorresults.
•Letters
Thestudentswillcreateoriginallanguagecompositionsthrough
producingaletter.Theywillbeaskedtowriteaboutsomething
relevanttotheirownlifeusingthetargetlanguage.Theletter
assignmentwillbeaccompaniedbyarubricforassessment
purposes.

8. •OralReports
Thestudentswillneedtodoresearchingroupsaboutagiven
topic.Aftertheyhavecompletedtheirresearch,thestudentswill
prepareanoralpresentationtopresenttotheclassexplaining
theirresearch.Themaincomponentofthisprojectwillbethe
oralproductionofthetargetlanguage.
•OriginalStories
Thestudentswillwriteanoriginalfictionalstory.Thestudents
willbeaskedtoincludeseveralspecifiedgrammaticalstructures
andvocabularywords.
•OralInterview
Anoralinterviewwilltakeplacebetweentwostudents.One
studentwillaskthequestionsandlistentotheresponsesofthe
otherstudent.Fromthegivenresponses,morequestionscanbe
asked.Eachstudentwillberesponsibleforlisteningand
speaking.

9. •Skit
Thestudentswillworkingroupsinordertocreateaskitabouta
real-worldsituation.Theywillusethetargetlanguage.The
vocabularyusedshouldbespecifictothesituation.
•PoetryRecitations
Afterstudyingpoetry,thestudentswillselectapoeminthetarget
languageoftheirchoicetorecitetotheclass.Thestudentswillbe
assessedbasedontheirpronunciation,rhythmandspeed.
•Portfolios
Portfoliosallowstudentstocompiletheirworkoveraperiodof
time.Thestudentswillhaveachecklistandrubricalongwiththe
assignmentdescription.Thestudentswillassembletheirbest
work,includingtheirdraftssothattheteachercanassessthe
process.

10. •Puppet Show
The students can work in groups or individually to create a short
puppet show. The puppet show can have several characters that
are involved in a conversation of real world context. These would
most likely be assessed holistically.
•Art Work/ Designs/Drawings
This is a creative way to assess students. They can choose a short
story or piece or writing, read it and interpret it. Their
interpretation can be represented through artistic expression. The
students will present their art work to the class, explaining what
they did and why.

11. AUTHENTIC ASSESSMENTS
•Authenticoralternativeassessments,meaninganalternativeto
standardtestsandexams,provideatrueevaluationofwhatthe
studenthaslearned,goingbeyondacquiredknowledgeto
focusonwhatthestudenthasactuallylearnedbylookingat
theirapplicationofthisknowledge(IndianaUniversity,n.d.).
•Alternativeformsofassessmentcanallowyoutoseewhat
studentcanandcannotdo,versuswhattheydoanddonot
know.Theytendtoevaluateappliedproficiencyratherthan
measuringknowledge(BrighamYoungUniversity,n.d.),
allowingforproblemsolvingandreflection,ratherthanmerely
providingfactsasanswerstospecificquestions(Indiana
University,n.d.).

13. Alistofalternativeassessmentstrategiesthatyoumaywantto
consider.

14. ExamplesofAuthenticorAlternativeAssignment

15. (Cont...)

16. Alternativeorauthenticassessmentsaretypicallyclassifiedas
formativeassessments,astheseassignmentsaretypicallyin-
processevaluationsofstudent’sunderstanding,learningneeds,
andacademicprogress.Testsandexamstendtobeclassifiedas
summativeassessment.

17. ReferencesandRecommendedReading
•BrighamYoungUniversity.(n.d).UsingAlternative
Assessments.RetrievedFebruary9,2018,from
http://ctl.byu.edu/using-alternative-assessments
•Chun,M.(2010).Takingteachingto(performance)task:
Linkingpedagogicalandassessmentpractices.Change:The
MagazineofHigherEducation.
•Espinosa,L.F.(2015).Effectiveuseofperformance-based
assessmentstoidentifyEnglishknowledgeandskillsofEFL
studentsinEcuador.TheoryandPracticeinLanguageStudies,
5(12),2441–2447.
•IndianaUniversityBloomington.(2018b).Authentic
Assessment.RetrievedFebruary9,2018,from
https://citl.indiana.edu/teaching-resources/assessing-student-
learning/authentic-assessment/index.html

18. •Oller, J.W., Jr. (1979). Language Tests at School: A Pragmatic
Approach.London: Longman.
•Queen’s University. (n.d.). Assessment Strategies -Teaching
and Learn ingin Higher Education. Retrieved from
http://www.queensu.ca/teachingandlearning/modules/assessme
nts/index.html
•Stiggins, R. J. (2001). Student-Involved Classroom Assessment
(3
rd
ed.).Columbus OH: Merrill Education, an imprint of
Prentice Hall.