students A The characteristics of tests A1 Different types of test ‘There are four main reasons for testing which give rise to four categories of tests © Placement tests: placing new students in the right lass in a school is facilitated with the use of placement tests, Usually based on syllabuses and materials the stuckents will follow and use once thet level has been decided om, these test grammar and vocabulary knowledge and assess students’ productive and receptive skills Some schools ask students to assess themselves as part of the placement process, adding this self-analysis into the final placing decision. © Diagnostic tests: while placement tests are designed to show how good a student's English is in relation to a previously agreed system of level, diagnostic tests can be used to expose learner difficulties, gaps in their knowledge, and skill deficiencies during a course. Thus, when we know what the problems are, we can do something about them. © Progress or achievement tests: these tests are designed to measure learners’ language and skill progress in relation to the syllabus they have been following, ‘Achievement tests only work if they contain item types which the students are familiar with. This does not mean that in a reading test, for example, we give them texts they have seen before, but it does mean providing them with similar texts and familia task types. If students are faced with completely new material, the test will not measure the learning that has been taking place, even though it can still measure general language proficiency. Achievement tests at the end of aterm (like progress tests at the end of unit, a fortnight, et.) should reflect progress, not fafure. They should reinforce the ‘earning that has taken place, not go out of their way to expose weaknesses. They cant also help us to decide on changes to futute teaching programmes where students do significantly worse in (paris of) the test than we might have expected, © Proficiency tests: proficiency tests give a general picture ofa student's knowledge and ability (rather than measure progress). They ae frequently used 8 stages people have to reach if they want to be admitted to a foreign university, geta job, ar obtain some kind of certificate. 32a2 Bt cHaPren 25 Proficiency tests have a profound backwash effect since, where they are ‘external exams, students obviously want to pass them, and teachers’ reputations sometimes depend (probably unfairly} upon how many of them sucveed, Characteristics of a good test In order to judge the effectiveness of any test it is sensible to lay down criteria against ‘which the test can be measured, as follows: * Validity: a testis valid if it tests what itis supposed to test. Thus itis not valid, for example, to test writing ability with an essay question that requircs specialist knowledge of history or biology — unless it is known that all students share this rrowledge before they do the test. A particular kind of validity‘ that concerns most test designers i face validity. This means that the test should look, on the ‘face’ of it, asf it is valid. A test which consisted of only three multiple choice items would not convince students ofits face validity however reliable or practical teachers thought it tobe, ‘© Reliability: 2 good test should give consistent results. For example, if the same ‘group of students took the same test twice within two days — without reflecting ‘on the first test before they sat it again they should get the same results on each occasion. If they took another similar test, the resuts should be consistent. If two groups who were demonstrably alike took the test, the marking range ‘would be the same. In practice, ‘reliability is enhanced by making the test instructions absolutely clear, restricting the scope for variety in the answers,and making ‘sure that test conditions remain constant. Reliability also depends on the people who mark the tests the scorers (Cleary a testis unreliable if the result depends to any large extent on who is marking it, Much thought has gone into making the scoring of tests as reliable as possible (see c2 below). Types of test item ‘Whatever purpose atest or exam has, major factor in its success or failure as a good measuring instrument willbe determined by the item types tht it contains. Direct and indirect test items ‘Atest item is direct if i asks candidates to perform the communicative skill which is being tested. Indirect test items, on the other hand, try to measure a student's knowledge and ability by getting a what lies beneath ther receptive and productive Skis, Whereas direct test items try to be as much like real-life language use as posible, indirect tems try to find out about a student’ language knowledge through more controlied items, such as multiple choice questions or grammar transformation items. These ace often quicker to design and, crucially, easier to mark, and produce greater scorer reliability aB2 Another: listinction needs to be made between discrete-point testing and integrative testing, Whereas discrete-point testing only tests one thing ata time (such as asking students to choose the correct tense of a verb), integrative test items expect students to use a variety of language at any one given time —as they will have to do when writing a composition or dois In many proficiency tests where students sit a numberof different papers, there isa a conversational oral test. riinture of direct and indirect, discrete point and integrative testing, Test designers find that this combination gives a good overall picture of student ability Placement tests often ‘use discrete-point testing to measure students against an existing language syllabus, but -may then compare this with more direct and integrative tasks to get a fuller pictue. Indirect test item types Although there is a wide range of indirect test possibilities certain types are in common use: ¢ Multiple choice questions (MCQs): traditional vocabulary multiple choice question looks like this: The journalist was by enemy fire as he tried to send a story by radio. dayprsed —b wounded —¢ injured damaged a For many years MOQs were considered to be ideal test instruments for ‘measuring students’ knowledge of grammar and vocabulary. Above allthis was because they wete easy to mark, and since the advent of computers the answet books for these tests can be read by machines, not people, thereby cutting out the possibility of scorer error. ‘However there area number of problems with multiple choice questions. In the frst place, they are extremely difficult to write well, especially in the design of the incorrect choices, These distractors’ may actually put ideas into students! hheads that they did not have before they read them. Second, while i is possible to train students so that their MCQ abilities are enhanced, this may not actually improve their English, ‘The difference berween two student scores may be between the person who has been trained in the technique and a person who has not, rather than being a difference of language knowledge and ability. -MCQs are sill widely used, but though they score highly in terms of practicality and scorer reliability their‘validity’ and overall ‘reliability’ are suspect. Cloze procedures: cloze procedures seem to offer us the ideal indirect but integrative testing item. They can be prepared quickly and ifthe claims made for them are true, they are an extremely enst-effective way of finding out about a testee’s overall knowledge. ‘Cloze, in its purest form, is the deletion of every nth word in a text (somewhere between every fifth or tenth word), Because the procedure is random, it avoids test designer failings. It produces test items lke this: 323‘cuaeren 25 ‘They sat on a bench attached 1___a picnic table. Below them they 2 see the river gurgling between overgrown 3 . The sky was diamond blue, with 4 white clouds dancing in the freshening 5 . They could hear the call of 6 and the buzzing of countless insects. 7 were completely atone, cms Cloze testing seems, on the face of it ike a perfect test instrument, since, because of the randomness ofthe deleted words, anything miay be tested (e.g. grammar, collocation, fixed phrases, reading comprehension), and therefore it becomes ‘more integrative in its reach. However it turns out that the actual score a student gets depends on the particular words that are deleted, rather than on any general English knowledge. Some are more difficult to supply than others, and in some cases there ae several possible answers, Even in the short sample text above itis ear that whilst there is no doubt about items such as | and 8, for example item 4 is less predictable, Different passages produce different rests. Despite such problems of ‘reliability, cloze is too useful a technique to abandon altogether, however, because itis clear that supplying the correct word for a blank does imply an understanding of context and a knowledge of that ‘word and how it operates, Perhaps it would be better, therefore, to use rational” or modified’ cloze procedures (Alderson 1996: 222) where the test designer can. ‘be sure that the deleted words are recoverable from the context. This means abandoning the completely random nature of traditional cloze procedure. Instead, every eighth or tenth word is deleted, but the teacher has the option to delete a word to the left or right if the context makes this more sensible, “Modified cloze is useful for placement tests since students can be given texts that they would be expected to cope with at certain levels — thus allowing us 0 Judge their suitability for those levels. They are useful, too, as part of atest battery in either achievement ot proficiency tests. ‘* Transformation and paraphrase: « common test item asks candidates to rewrite sentences in a slightly different form, retaining the exact meaning of the original. For example, the following item tests the candidates’ knowledge of verb and clause patterns that ave triggered by the use of Fish: ‘Tm sony that I didn’t get her an anniversary present. 2 Twish In order to complete the item successfully the student has to understand the first sentence, and then know how to construct an equivalent which i grammatically possible, As such they do tell us something about the candidates “Knowledge ofthe language system, ‘+ Sentence re-ordering: getting students to put words in the right order to ‘make appropriate sentences tells us quite @ lot about their underlying omBS knowledge of syntax and lexico- grammatical elements. The following example is typical: Put the words in order to make correct sentences. called’/ 1/1 / in / sony / wase't / when / you Re-ordering exercises are fairly easy to write, though it is not always possible to censure only one correct order, ‘There are many other indirect techniques too, induding sentence fill-ins (lan__to the gym every Tuesday morning), choosing the correct tense of verbs in sentences and passages (J have arvived/arrived yesterday), finding ercors in sentences (She noticed about his new jacket), and choosing the cottect form of a word (He didn't enjoy being com the (lose)___ side). Al of these offer items which are quick and effcient to score and which aim to tell us something about a student's underlying knowledge. Direct test item types For direct test items to achieve ‘validity’ and to be ‘reliable’ test designers need to do the following: © Create a ‘level playing field’: in the case of @ written test, teachers and candidates would almost certainly complain about the following essay question: Why was the discovery of DNA so important for the science ofthe swontieth century? since it unfairly favours candidates who have sound scientific knowledge and presupposes a knowledge of twentieth-century scientific history. However, the following topic comes close to ensuring that all candidates have the same chance of success: ‘Some businesses now say that no one can smoke cigarettes in or ‘even near any of their offices, Some governments have banned 2 -smoking in all public places - whether outside or inside. This is a good idea but it also takes away some of our freedom. ~ Do you agree or disagree? Give reasons for your answer. rs ‘General writing question from The IELTS Hancdook (ee notes atthe end of this chapter) Receptive sill testing also needs to avoid making excessive demands on the student's general or specialist knowledge. Receptive ability testing can also be undermined if the means of testing requires students to perform well in writing ‘or speaking (when it sa test of reading or listening). In such a situation we can tno longer be sue that itis the receptive skill we are measuring. 225© Replicate real-life interaction: in real life when people speak or write they generally do so with some real purpose. Yet traditional writing tests have often been based exclusively on general essay questions, and speaking tests often included hypothetical questions about what candidates might say ifthey happened to be ina certain situation. More modern test writers now include tasks which attempt to replicate features of real life (Weir 1993: 167). They will ‘often look similar to the kind of speaking activities described in Chapter 19. Tests of reading and listening should ako, as far as possible, reflect real life. ‘This means that texts should be as realistic as possible, even where they are not authentic (see Chapter 14, m). Although there are ways of assessing student ‘understanding (using matching tasks or multiple choice questions) which do not necessarily satisfy these criteria, test items should be as much like real reading and listening as possible. The following direct test item types are afew ofthe many which attempt to meet the criteria we have mentioned above: SPEAKING ‘an interviewer questioning a candidate about themselves © ‘information gap’ activities where @ candidate has to find out information «either from an interlocutor or a fellow candidate. (The role-play on page 279, Example 5, would not need much modification to serve asa test iter.) ‘¢ ‘decision-making? activities, such as showing paired candidates ten photos of people and asking them to put them in order of the best and worst dressed ‘ using pictures for candidates to compare and contrast, whether they can both see them or whether (as in many communication games) they have found similarities and differences without being able to look at each cother’s material + role-play activities where candidates perform tasks such as introducing themselves, or ringing a theatre to book tickets wriTg + vevting compositions and stories + ‘transactional letters’ where candidates reply toa job advertisement, or pen a complaint to a hotel based on information given in the exam paper information leaflets about their school or a place in theic town © aset of instructions for some common task © newspaper articles about a recent event READING ‘» ukiple choice questions to test comprehension of a text ‘© matching written descriptions with pictures of the items, or procedure, they describe 336ct ‘resting STUDENTS «transferring writen information to charts, graphs, maps, etc (Uhough special care has to be taken not to disadvantage non-mathematicaly minded candidates) ‘+ choosing the best summary of a paragraph or a whole text ‘© matching jumbled headings with paragraphs * inserting sentences provided by the examiner in the correct place fn the text LISTENING «© completing charts with facts and figures from a listening text © identifying which of a number of objects (pictures on the test paper) is being described « identifying which (out of two or three speakers) says what « identifying whether speakers are enthusiastic, encouraging in isogreement, or amused « following directions on a map and identifying the correct house or place In the interests of ‘reliability, stening tests are most often supplied on tape to ensure that all candidates have the same opportunities, irrespective of the speakers voices, speeds, or expressions, Sometimes, asin the computerised TOEFL test (see the notes atthe end of this chapter) candidates work with headphones from an individual computer, Where a group of students listen to the same tape or disk, however, we need to be sure thatthe material i clearly and easly audible (see Chapter 26, a2). Writing and marking tests _Atvarious times during our teaching careers we may have to write tests forthe students ‘we ae taching, and mark the tess they have completed for us. These may range from lesson test at the end of the week to an achievement test at the end of a term or a year, Writing tests: ‘Before designing a test and then giving it to a group of students, there are a number of things we need to do: ‘+ Assess the test situation: before we start to write the test we need to remind ourselves of the context in which the test takes place. We have to decide how ‘mach time should be given to the test-taking, when and where it willtake place, and how much time there is for marking. * Decide what to test: ve have to list what we want to include in our test. This _means taking a conscious decision to include or exclude skills such as reading comprehension or speaking (if speaking tests are impractical). t means knowing what spllabus items can be legitimately included (in an achievement test), and what kinds of topics and situations are appropriate for our students Just because we havea list ofall the vocabulary items or grammar points the students have studied over the term, this does not mean we have to test every a7‘cuaPTeR 23 single item, Ifwe include a representative sample from across the whole lst, the students’ success or failure with those items will bea good indicator of how well they have learnt all of the language they have studied, © Balance the elements: if we are to include direct and indirect test items we hhave to make a decision about how many of each we should put in out test. ‘A 200-item multiple choice test with a short real-life writing task tacked onto the end suggests that we think that MCQs are a better way of finding out about students than more integrative writing tasks would be. Balancing elements involves estimating how long we want each section of the test to take and then writing test items within those time constraints. The amount of space and time we give to the various clements should also reflect their importance in our teaching. © Weight the scores: however well we have balanced the elements in our test, our perception of our students’ success or failure will depend upon how many marks are given to each section or sections of the test. If we give two marks for each of our ten MCQs, but only one mark for each of our ten transformation items, it means that its more important for students to do well in the former than in the latter. © Making the test work: itis absolutely vital that we try out individual items andJor whole tests on colleagues and students alike before administering them to real candidates ‘When we write test items the fist thing to do isto get fellow teachers to try them out. Frequently they spot problems which we are not aware of and/or come up with possible answers and alternatives that we had not anticipated. Later, having made changes based on our colleagues’ reactions, we will want to try out the test on students. We will not do this with the students who are going to take the test, of course, but if we can find a class that is roughly similar ora class one level above the proposed test —then we will soon find out what items cause unnecessary problems, We can also discover how long the test takes. Such trialling is designed to avoid disaster, and to yicld a whole range of possible answers/responses to the various test ters. This means that when other people finally mark the test we can give them a list of possible alternatives and thus ensure reliable scoring. C2 Marking tests ‘When Cyril Weir gave copies of the same eight exam scripts to his postgraduate students they marked them first on the basis of ‘impressionistic’ marking out of a possible total of 20 marks. The results were alarming, Some scorers gave higher ‘marks overall than others. But for some of the EFL student scripts, the range of marks was excessive. For one script the lowest mark awarded was 5, whereas another scorer gave it 20, For another the range was 1-15. As Cyril Weir writes ‘the worst scripts... if they had been marked by certain markers, might have been given higher marks than the best scripts!” (993: 157). ame‘There are a number of solutions to this kind of scorer subjectivity: © Training: if scorers have seen examples of scripts at various different levels and, discussed what marks they should be given, then their marking is likely to be less erratic than ifthey come to the task fresh. If scoters are allowed to watch, and discuss videoed orl tests, they can be trained to rate the samples of spoken English accurately and consistently in terms of the pre-defined descriptions of performance’ (Savile and Hargreaves 1999: 49). '* More than one scorer: reliability can be greatly enhanced by having more than ‘one scorer. The more people who look ata scrip, the greater the chance that its {ruc worth will be located somewhere between the various scores itis given, Two ‘examiners watching an oral test are likely to agree a more reliable score than one. “Many public examination boards use moderators whose job it isto check samples of individual scorers! work to sce that it conforms with the genctal standards laid down for the exam, © Global assessment scales: a way of specifying scores that cat be given to productive skill work isto create‘pre-defined descriptions of performance’ ‘Such descriptions say what students need to be capable of in order to gain the fequited marks, asin the following assessment (or rating) scale for oral ability: Score Description 0 The candidate is almost unital uses words wrongly. and & shows no sign of any grammatical understanding, 1 The candidate fs able to transmit only very basi ideas using Individual words rather than phrases or fuller patterns of discourse, Speech fs very hesizint and che pronunciation makes inteligbly dticue. “The candidate eransmits basic Ideas ina fairly slted way Pronunciation is sometimes problematic and there are examples of grammatical and lexical misuse and gaps which impede communication on occasions. ‘The candidate transmits ideas moderately clearly Speech is. somewhat hesitant and there are frequent lapses in grammar and vocabulary use. Nevertheless, the candidate makes hinvherself understood. ‘The candidate speaks fairly fiently, showing an abiticy «0 ‘communicate ideas with nat too much trouble-There are some problems of grammatical accuracy and some words are a Inappropriataly used ‘The candidate speaks fluendy wit few obvious mistakes anda wide variety of lexis and expression. Pronunciation is almost always, ncellgble, and there is ltue difficulty in communicating ideas, acnarren 33 Global assessment scales are not without problems however: perhaps the description does not exactly match the student whe is speaking asin a case (for the scale above) where he or she had very poor pronunciation but was nevertheless grammatically accurate. There is also the danger that different teachers will not agree on the meaning of scale descriptors'(Upshur and. ‘Turner 1995: 5). Global assessment, on its own, still falls short of the kind of reliability we wish to achieve. © Analytic profiles: macking gets more reliable when a student's performance is analysed in much greater detail, Instead of just a general assessment, marks are awarded for different elements, For oral assessment we can judge a students speaking in a number of different ways such as pronunciation, fluency, use of lexis and grammar, and intelligibility. We may want to rate their ability to get themselves out of trouble (repair skills) and how well they successfully completed the task which we set ‘hem. ‘The resulting analytic profile might end up looking lke this: Score (see analytic scales) Pronunciation Fluency Use of vocabulary Use of grammar Inteligibitty Repair skils Task completion oe ay For each separate criterion, we can now provide a separate ‘analytic scale as in the following example for lucncy: = 2 AE ATT Score Description 0 The candidace cannot get words or phrases out at all 1 ‘The candidate speaks hesiatingy in short interrupted bursts. 2 ‘The candidate speaks slowly with frequent pauses. a 3 Tie candidate speaks ata comfortable speed with quite a lot of pauses and hesitations. 4 ‘The candidate speaks at a comfortable speed with only an 4 ‘oceasional pause or upset. 5 The candace speaks quickly wih ow hesiations. my a0‘A combination of global and analytic scoring gives us the best chance of reliable ‘marking. However, a profusion of criteria may make the marking of atest extremely lengthy and cumbersome; test designers and administrators will have to decide how to accommodate the competing claims of reliability and practicality. Scoring and interacting during oral tests: scorer reliability in oral tests is haclped not only by global assessment scores and analytic profiles but also by separating the role of scorer (or examiner) from the role of interlocutor (the examiner who guides and provokes conversation). This may cause practical ptoblems, but it will allow the scorer to observe and assess, fee from the responsibility of keeping the interaction with the candidate or candidates going. In many tests of speaking, students are now put in pairs or groups for certain tasks since it is fet that this will ensure genuine interaction, and will help to relax students in a way that interlocutor-candidate interaction might fail ( do on its own, However, at least one commentator worries that pairing students in this way leads candidates to perform below thei level of proficiency, and that when students with the same mother tongue are paired together their intelligibility to the examiner may suffer (Foot 1999: 52). D Teaching the test ‘When students are preparing for a public exam or school test it is the teacher's responsibility not only to help them get their English to the level required, but also familiarise them with the kinds of exam items they are likely to encounter, and give them training in how to succeed. Students can be prepared for furure tests and exams in 2 variety of ways: ‘Training for test types: we can show the various test types and ask them what the item is testing so that they are clear about what is required. We can help them to understand what the test or exam designer is aiming for; by showing ‘them the kind of marking scales that ae used, we can make them aware of what constitutes success, We can then give them training to help them approach such items more effectively. After they have completed atest item type we can tll ‘them what score an examiner might give and why. We will also equip students ‘with appropriate negotiating language (see Chapter 1 a) to help them get ‘over awkward moments in sich tasks. ‘When training students to handle reading test items we will discuss with ‘them the best way to approach a first reading of the text, and how that can be ‘modified on second reading to allow them to answer the questions provided. If the test or exam is likely to contain multiple choice questions, we can help students to appreciate the advantages of finding the obvious distractor(s) fist, They can then work out what similarities and differences the other dlistractors have so that they can identify the area of meaning or grammnar that isbeing targeted. 31enarren 23 332 Discussing general exam skills: most students benefit from being reminded about general test and exam skills, without which much of the work they do ‘will be wasted. Such general skills for written tests include studying questions properly and then reading them again so that they are absolutely sure what they should do. Students need to check their work over thoroughly before considering that they have finished. They need to pace themselves so that they do not spend a disproportionate amount of time on only one part of an exam. Doing practice tests: students need a chance to practise taking the test or ‘exam so that they get a feel for the experience, especially with regard to issues stich as pacing, At various points in a course students can sit practice papers, or Whole practice tests, but this should not be done too often since not only will it ive teachers horrific marking, schedutes, but it will also be less productive than ‘other test and exam preparation procedures ate, Promoting autonomy: although we can doa lot of exam preparation in class, ‘we need to impress on students that their chances of success are far greater if they study and revise om their own. We will want them to read more Hsten more, work on self-study exercises, and use dictionaries and other means to build up their language store. All ofthese activities are desirable for any student (see Chapter 24, 2) but are especially appropriate when an exam is approaching. ‘Having fun: just because students need to practise certain test types does not ‘mean this has to be done in a boring or tense manner. There are a nurnber of ‘ways of having fan with tests and exams. If typical test item asks candidates to put words in order to make sentences (see #2 above), the teacher might prepare the class for this kind of item by giving students a number of words on cards which they have to physically assemble into sentences. They can hold them above their heads (so that chey cannot see the words on them} and their classmates have to tell them ‘where to stand to make a human sentence’ Students can play ‘transformation tennis Where one student ‘serves’ a sentence, €.g India isthe country I would like 10 visit more than any other and the receiving student has to reply with a transformation starting with The country,e.g, The country E would most like to visit is India (Prodromou 1995: 22-23). They can change the sex of all the people in direct and indirect test items to sec ifthe items still work and if not, why not. Students can be encouraged to write their own test items, based on language they have been working on and the examples they have seen so far. “The new test items can now be given to other students to see hove well they have ‘been written and how dificult they are. This helps students to get into the minds of their test and exam writers. Ignoring the test: if students who are studying for an exam only ever look at test types, discuss exam technique, and take practice tests, lessons may become monotonous. There is also the possibility that general English improvement will be compromised atthe expense of exam preparation,‘When we are preparing students for an exam, we need to ignore the exam from time to time so that we have opportunities to work on general language {ssues, and so that students can take part inthe kind of motivating activities that are appropriate forall English lessons. Chapter notes and further reading © Public exams Among the international exams which students can take are the following: ~ Cambridge exams are offered by the University of Cambridge Local Examinations Syndicate (UICLES), Cambridge, UK (http://www cambridge- fhorg.uk), These are exams in general English. There are five main levels: ey English Test (KET) for elementary candidates Preliminary English Test (PET) for lower intermediate candidates First Certificate in Fnglish (FCE) for upper intermediate candidates Certificate of Advanced English (CAE) for upper intermediate/advanced candidates, Certificate of Proficiency in English (CPE) for very advanced candidates = City and Guilds Pitman qualifications offered by City and Guilds, London (hitp://www.city-and-guilds.co.uk/Pitman/default htm). Exams are offered in: ‘Communication in Technical English English for Business Communication English for Office Skills ESOL (English for Speakers of Other Languages) ESOL for Young Learners Spoken ESOL, Spoken ESOL for Young Learners ~ IELTS (International English Language Testing System), administered jointly by UCLES (see above), the British Couneil,and IDP Education, Australia (hitp://wwwielts.org) IELTS scores (on a 0-9 band) are used especially by British and Australian “universities to gauge the level of would-be students or trainers/teachers. ‘There are papers in listening and speaking, Candidates then choose general or academic writing, and general or academic reading. — Diploma in English for International Comununication is offered by the Institute of Linguists, London (hetp://ww.iolorg.uk) for anyone who has reached a degree- ‘equivalent evel of attainment and does not have English as thei ist language, ~ SESOL (Spoken English for Speakers of Other Languages) offered by Trinity College London (wwew.rinitycollege.co.uk). These are one-to-one interviews with an examiner at a level to suit the candidate, 333charren 25 TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language) is offered by Educational “Testing Services, New Jersey, USA (http://wwwtoefl.org) ‘TOEFL scores are used by colleges and universities in North America and ‘elsewhere to measure English proficiency for would-be students. The tests are now computer-administered in parts ofthe world where thisis possible. — TOEIC (Test of English for International Communication) is offered by TOEIC ‘Service International, Princeton, New Jersey, USA (http:(/www.toeic.comn), ‘TOEIC scores are used by a number of companies in the USA and elsewhere to judge the level of English of potential employees. ~ Exams for Business are offered by the University of Cambridge Local Examinations Syndicate (see above} and by the London Chambet of ‘Commerce and Industry (LOCI) ¢httpe/www.lecieb org uk/qualifications htm), Testing in general ‘The best and most accessible books on testing are still A Hughes (1989) and C Weir (1993). See also JC AMerson et al. (1993). © Cloze procedures ‘A Hughes (1989: 67-70) repeats his earlier claims that cloze passages taken from real conversation transeripts can be good predictors of oral abilt © Oral testing B Knight (1992) describes a fascinating workshop in which teachers investigate how to measure students’ speaking skills © Using rating scales J Upshur and C Turner (1995) suggest replacing descriptive rating scales with scales where test markers have to answer a series of binary (yes/no) questions about student performance. 36