英语毕业论文:COMPUTERS IN LANGUAGE TESTING

COMPUTERS IN LANGUAGE TESTING

ABSTRACT 本文来自

The article then examines the educational measurement literature in an attempt to forecast the directions future research on computers in language testing might take and suggests addressing the following issues: (a) piloting practices in computer adaptive language tests (CALTs), (b) standardizing or varying CALT lengths, (c) sampling CALT items, (d) changing the difficulty of CALT items, (e) dealing with CALT item sets, (f) scoring CALTS, (g) dealing with CALT item omissions, (h) making decisions about CALT cut-points, (i) avoiding CALT item exposure, (j) providing CALT item review opportunities, and (k) complying with legal disclosure laws when using CALTs.

本文来自

Item Banking

本文来自

I am not saying that item banking is without potential problems. Green (1988) outlines some of the problems that might be encountered in using IRT in general, and Henning (1991) discusses specific problems that may be encountered with the validity of item banking techniques in language testing settings. Another serious limitation of IRT is the large number of students that must be tested before it can responsibly be applied. Typically, IRT is only applicable for full item analysis (that is, for analysis of two or three parameters) when the numbers of students being tested are very large by the standards of most language programs, that is to say, in excess of one thousand. Smaller samples in the hundreds can be used only if the item difficulty parameter is studied. 本文来自

Computer-Assisted Language Testing

Tests that are administered at computer terminals, or on personal computers, are called computer-assisted tests. Receptive-response items-including multiple-choice, true-false, and matching items-are fairly easy to adapt to the computer-assisted testing medium. Relatively cheap authoring software like Testmaster (1988) can be used to create such tests. Even productive-response item types-including fill-in and cloze-can be created using authoring software like Testmaster. Unfortunately, the more interesting types of language tasks (e.g., role plays, interviews, compositions, oral presentations) prove much more difficult to develop for computer-assisted testing.

However, advancing technologies have many potential ramifications for computer-assisted language testing. Brown (1992a) outlined some of the technological advances that may have an impact on language teaching and testing:

Consider the multi-media combinations that will be available in the very near future: CD-ROM players working with video-image projectors, and computers controlling the whole interactive process between students and machines for situations and language tailored to each student's specific needs....Consider the uses to which computer communications networks could be put. What about scanners and hand-writing recognition devices? Won't voice sensitive computers and talking computers be valuable tools in the language media services of the future? (p. 2)

-45-

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The new technologies such as the CD-ROM and interactive video discussed in Brown (1992a) do make it possible for students to interact with a computer. Hence, no technical reason remains why interactive testing like role plays, interviews, compositions, and presentations cannot be done in a computer-assisted mode. Naturally, the expense involved may impose some limits, and the scoring will probably continue to involve rater judgments (thus, further increasing the expense involved). But at least, the logistics of gathering the language samples can now be sim