Approximately
language tests can be categorized according to four main approaches to testing.
They are the essay-translation approach, the structuralist approach, the
integrative approach and the communicative approach. The model of every
approach using in testing will be discussed as follows.
1. The Essay-Translation
Approach
a. The Characteristic
and Types of Tests of Essay-Translation Approach:
- This approach is commonly referred to
as the pre-scientific stage of language tasting.
- No special skill or expertise in
testing is required.
- Tests usually consist of essay
writing, translation, and grammatical analysis.
- Tests have a heavy literary and cultural
bias.
- Public examinations resulting from the
tests using this approach sometimes have an oral component at the upper intermediate
and advance levels.
b. The Strengths of Essay-Translation Approach:
- This approach is easy to do due to the
reason that teachers will simply use their subjective judgment.
- The essay-translation approach may be
use for testing any levels of testees.
- The model of tester can easily be
modified based on the essential of the tests.
c. The Weaknesses of Essay-Translation Approach:
- Subjective judgment of teachers tends
to make bias.
- As mentioned, the tests have a heavy
literary and cultural bias.
2. The Structuralist
Approach
a. The Characteristic
and Types of Tests of Structuralist Approach:
- This approach views that language
learning is chiefly concerned with a systematic acquisition of a set of
habit.
- The structuralist approach involves
structural linguistics in which the importance of constructive analysis and the
need to identify and measure the learners’ mastery of the separate elements of
the target language such as phonology, vocabulary and grammar.
- In testing the skills of listening,
speaking, reading and writing are separated from another as much as possible.
- The psychometric approach to
measurement with its emphasis on reliability and objectivity forms an integral part
of structuralist testing.
b. The Strengths of Structuralist Approach:
- In testing pupils’ capability this
approach may objectively and surely be used by testers.
- Many forms of tests can be covered in
the test in short time.
- This approach using in testing will
help pupils to find their strengths and weaknesses in every skill they studied.
c. The Weaknesses of Structuralist Approach:
- It tends to be a complicated job for
teachers to prepare questionnaires using this approach.
- By using this approach we will never
consider that it is better to measure integrated skills that to measure
non-integrated skills.
3. The Integrative
Approach
a. The Characteristic
and Types of Tests of Integrative Approach:
- This approach involves the testing of
language in context and is thus concerned primarily with meaning and the total
communicative effect of discourse.
- Integrative tests are concerned with a
global view of proficiency.
- Integrative testing involves
functional language but not the use of functional language.
- The use of cloze testing, dictation,
oral interview, translation and essay writing are included in many integrative
tests.
b. The Strengths of Integrative Approach:
- The approach to meaning and the total
communicative effect of discourse will be very useful for pupils in testing.
- This approach can view pupils’ proficiency
with a global view.
- A model of cloze test using in this
approach is to measure the reader’s ability to decode ‘interrupted’ or
‘mutilated’ messages by making the most acceptable substitutions from all the
contextual clues available.
- Dictation, another type using this
approach, was regarded solely as a means of measuring pupils’ skills of
listening comprehension.
c. The Weaknesses of Integrative Approach:
- Even if we think that measuring
integrated skills are better but sometimes we consider the importance of
measuring skills based on our need, such as writing only, speaking only, etc.
4. The Communicative
Approach
a. The Characteristic
and Types of Tests of Communicative Approach:
- Communicative tests are concerned
primarily with how language is used in communication.
- Language use is often emphasized to the
exclusion of language usage.
- The attempt to measure different
language skills in communicative tests is based on a view of language referred
to as the divisibility hypothesis.
- The test content should totally be
relevant for a particular group of testees and the tasks set should relate to
real-life situation.
- Communicative testing introduces the
concept of qualitative modes of assessment in preference to quantitative modes
of assessment.
b. The Strengths of Communicative Approach:
- Communicative tests are able to
measure all integrated skill of pupils.
- The tests using this approach face
pupils in real life so it will be very useful for them.
- Due to the fact that Communicative
test can measure all language skills; it can help pupils in getting the score.
Consider pupils have a poor ability in using spoken language but may score quite
highly on tests of reading.
- Detailed statements of each
performance level serve to increase the reliability of the scoring by enabling
the examiner to make decisions according to carefully drawn-up and well-established
criteria.
c. The Weaknesses of Communicative Approach
- Different from structuralist approach
this approach will not be able to grasp structurally because communicative
competence can ever be achieved without a considerable mastery of the grammar
of a language.
- It is unavoidable that cultural bias
affects the reliability of the tests being administered.
