Many language teachers harbour a deep mistrust of tests and of testers. The author defines a good test as one that contains validity, reliability, practicality and a positive reaction. This is a must have book for every gradstudent involved in languagetesting or for any teacher interested in improving their own practices. To be effective teachers, we need to know what students already know and can do, what they need to know and how they learn best, or how to teach them in the. Issues in language testing this book is based on papers and discussions at a lancaster university symposium in october 1980 where seven applied linguists met to discuss problems in language testing. There is no other text that is as comprehensive and accessible as testing for language teachers. The main objective of this text is to assist language teachers in writing better tests. According to my teaching experience in taiwan, however, many university teachers have regarded using rating scales with detailed descriptors in speaking tests as a waste of time. Cambridge core elt applied linguistics testing for language teachers by arthur hughes. The starting point for this book is the admission that this mistrust is frequently wellfounded. Macmillan 1983 techniques in testing by madsen, harold s.
Play reduces stress in our lives and has been shown to increase children. Buy testing for language teachers 2 by hughes, arthur isbn. Cambridge language teaching library series by arthur hughes. Columns 2 and 3 contain an overview of how these features are handled by first and second language speakers. Assessment can seem like a timewasting, pointless, and even. This content was uploaded by our users and we assume good faith they have the permission to share this book. The tasks should elicit writing that is truly representative of the students writing ability. The author pays special attention to the effect of testing on teaching. The washback effects of taskbased assessment on the iranian. They often turned to holistic scoring, where they simply.
Arthur hughes has written a very practical guide for teachers and students involved in test design to enable them to have a better understanding of the role that testing has in teaching. British council 198 issues in language testing research by oller, john w. Testing for language teachers 2nd edition 9780521484954. The content is clearly presented and easy to follow.
If you own the to this book and it is wrongfully on our website, we offer a simple dmca. This chapter begins by considering the purposes for which language testing is carried out. All of the chapters for this second edition have been revised and updated. Arthur hughes this 2nd edition includes a new chapter on testing young learners and features expanded chapters on common test techniques and testing overall ability. Hughes offers practical and realistic guidance on how to create a good test. In the introduction, the books editor charles alderson refers to the discomfort felt by many language. The washback effects of taskbased assessment on the. This second edition remains the most practical guide for teachers who want to have a better understanding of the role of testing in language teaching.
Testing for language teachers 2003 cambridge university press cambridge. Writing tasks should be set that are properly representative of the range of tasks we would expect students to be able to perform. Hughes 2003 a, b theorized that play over time has become the preventative to human extinction. However, according to brown 2003, by the mid1980s, the languagetesting field had begun to focus on designing communicative languagetesting tasks p. Taken cumulatively, it is striking to see how many aspects of language learning and use are affected. Newbury house 1983 a language testing handbook by harrison, andrew london.
It has a new chapter on testing young learners and expanded chapters on common test techniques and testing overall ability. However, the nature of this effect on the development of different language elements and skills is yet to be explored. Too often language tests have a harmful effect on teaching and learning, and fail to measure. Buy testing for language teachers 2 by arthur hughes isbn. Language testing in practice 1996 oxford university press oxford. Testing for language teachers edition 2 by arthur hughes. Share with the class an issue of interest to you raised by this weeks reading hughes, tflt, pp. The testing of grammar has an important role in learning and teaching second andor foreign languages. Cambridge language teaching library a series covering central issues in language teaching and learning, by authors who have. Review of hughes, arthur 2003 testing for language teachers.
Teacher interpretation of test scores and feedback to. Everyday low prices and free delivery on eligible orders. Testing language proficiency whether you are an esl or foreign language instructor is difficult and misunderstood and most measurements of fluency are terribly inaccurate. Dec 17, 2015 discrete point testing refers to the testing of one element at a time, item by item. Click on document testing for language teachers arthur hughes. The book is designed to help language teachers write better tests, taking the view that test construction is an exercise in problemsolving, with every teaching situation presenting a different problem that an understanding of the underlying principles of testing can help solve. Testing for language teachers by hughes, arthur, 1941. Cambridge university press, 2003 dlc 2003268576 ocolc51234145. Bachman and palmer 1996 mention the benefits of tests by stating that a test is useful. Testing for language teachers author hughes in pdf. This is a must have book for every gradstudent involved in language testing or for any teacher interested in improving their own practices. Discrete point testing refers to the testing of one element at a time, item by item.
Buy testing for language teachers cambridge language teaching library. This means that the need for communicative language test has been recognised, and much research on communicative language tests have been done since then. Language assessment in real classrooms 1 language assessment in real classrooms. Examples are given from testing of english as a second language esl. Traditionally, most language tests aim at testing knowledge about the language, such as testing knowledge about vocabulary and grammar. It has a new chapter on testing young learners and expanded chapters on. Unit, emmanuel alayande college of edu, oyo abstract.
One of the ways through which feedback can be obtained from the learners on what the teachers had taught them is evaluation. Few institutions, in my experience, really bother to try to follow the principles in this book, but anyone purporting to try to teach language should. Testing for language teachers pdf free download epdf. Testing for language teachers cambridge language teaching library. This study aimed to investigate grammar testing in an efl context, putting the emphasis on teachers and students perceptions of test specifications specs. Arthur hughes is executive vice president of acs, inc. Second edition 2003 2007 printed in the united kingdom at the university. English language features are identified key in column 1. Testing for language teachers by hughes, arthur, 1941publication date 1989 topics language and languages, engels, taalonderwijs, examens, langage et langues publisher. Testing for language teachers by hughes, arthur at. It has a new chapter on testing young learners and expanded chapters on common test. However, according to brown 2003, by the mid1980s, the language testing field had begun to focus on designing communicative language testing task. Testing for language teachers author hughes in pdf slideshare. It cannot be denied that a great deal of language testing is of very poor quality.
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