Background and Goals - part 7

The relationship between the input and the response is largely that of reciprocal input and response, as in both the aural comprehension tests and the oral production tests the language of the tester produces a response in the testees: in the pen and paper test, the response is drawing or circling; in the tests of oral production, the children give a defined reply according to the question. It may be said that tests 1.4 and 2.4, the picture description tests given individually to each student, the relationship between input and response is adaptive as the tester will adapt his language level and questions according to the type of response he/she gets.

The above points largely cover the way the model I used for my tests fits into Bachman's model of test methods.

2. Research Questions

The main research question is:

How best to elicit the knowledge that pupils in their first year of learning spoken English have acquired. This knowledge is syllabus related. The tests are achievement tests. This information is valuable to the teacher for formative evaluation. That is the teacher receives feedback as to: i) how much each student has learnt - whether the old objectives have been learnt and it is time to move on to new material, ii) how well the teacher has taught the subject matter, iii) how well relevant the material itself is to the pupils.

For this I made up a battery of tests and gave them to teachers to try on their pupils. In order to examine how well these tests fulfill their function the following questions had to be answered:

1. How easy the tests were to apply. Was it easy for the teacher to give the test? Would the teacher try to avoid this type of test in the second unit? Did the tests become easier to apply when the second unit was taught. This was a pertinent question as there are different types of tests, but they return in each unit with a different content. These questions were studied by means of questionnaires filled in by the teachers applying the method.
2. How the tests were received. Did the tests involved activities that the children enjoyed? Did the children realize that they were taking a test? If so, were they anxious or did they like the idea? Was there a difference in the way first, second, third and fourth grade children reacted to the tests? This was also studied by means of questionnaires filled in by the teachers applying the method.

• English for Children - Background and Goals - Part 1
• English for Children - Background and Goals - Part 2
• English for Children - Background and Goals - Part 3
• English for Children - Background and Goals - Part 4
• English for Children - Background and Goals - Part 5
• English for Children - Background and Goals - Part 6
• English for Children - Background and Goals - Part 7
• English for Children - Background and Goals - Part 8
• English for Children - Background and Goals - Part 9
• English for Children - Background and Goals - Part 10
• English for Children - Background and Goals - Part 11
• English for Children - Background and Goals - Part 12
• English for Children - Background and Goals - Part 13
• English for Children - Background and Goals - Part 14
• English for Children - Background and Goals - Part 15