Types of tests used in English Language Teaching Bachelor Paper

students really know.

Another interesting point that could be mentioned it that multiple-

choice differ from the real-life situation by the choice of alternatives.

Usually, in our everyday life we have to choose between two alternatives,

whereas the multiple-choice testing might confuse the learner by the

examples s/he even has not thought about. That will definitely lead to

frustration, and, consequently, to the student’s failure to accomplish the

task successfully.

Besides, regarding Weir (ibid.) who quotes Heaton (1975) we can

stipulate that in some cases multiple-choice tests are not adequate and it

is better to use open-ended questions to avoid the pro-long lists of

multiple-choice items. This probably will concern the subject, which will

require a more precise description and explanation from the students’ side.

To finish up with the drawbacks of MCQs we can declare that they are

relatively costly and time-consuming to prepare. The test designer should

carefully select and analyse each item to be included in the test to avoid

ambiguity and imprecision. Furthermore, s/he should check all possible

grammar, spelling and punctuation mistakes, evaluate the quality of

information offered for the learners’ tasks and choose the correct and

relevant distractors for the students not to confuse them during the test.

To conclude we can cite Heaton (1990:17) who stipulates that designing a

multiple-choice items test is not so fearful and hard as many teachers

think. The only thing you need is practice accompanied by a bit of theory.

He suggests for an inexperienced teacher to use not more than three options

if the teacher encounters certain difficulties in supplying more examples

for the distractors. The options should be grammatically correct and of

equal length. Moreover, the context should be appropriate to illustrate an

example and make the student guess right.

5.2 Short answer tests

A further format that is worth mentioning is short answer test

format. According to Alderson (1996:223) short answer tests could be

substitutes to multiple-choice tests. The only difference is that apart

from the optional answers the students will have to provide short answers.

The author of the paper had not used this test format, thus, she cannot

draw on her experience. Therefore, she will just list the ideas produced by

other linguists, to be more exact Alderson’s suggestions.

Alderson (ibid.) believes that short answer tests will contribute to

the students’ results, for they will be able to support their answers and,

if necessary, clarify why they responded in that way but not the other. It

could be explained that the students will have an opportunity to prove

their answers and support them if necessary.

Nevertheless, the short answer tests are relatively complicated for

the teacher to be designed. The teacher has to consider a variety of ideas

and thoughts to create a fairy relevant test with fairly relevant items.

May be that could explain the fact why this test format is not such a

common occasion as MCQs are.

At this point we have come to advantages and drawbacks of short

answer tests. Weir (1990:44) says that this type of testing differs from

MCQs by the absence of the answers. The students have to provide the answer

themselves. That will give the marker the clear idea whether the students

know what they write about or not. Certainly, the teacher will be definite

about the students’ knowledge, whereas in MCQs s/he can doubt whether the

students know or have just guessed the correct answer. Moreover, short

answer test could make the students apply their various language skills

techniques they use while dealing with any reading, listening or speaking

activity.

Finally, Weir (ibid.) stipulates that if the questions are well

formulated, there is a high chance the student will supply short, well-

formulated answer. Therefore, a variety of questions could be included in

the test to cover a broader field of the student’s knowledge, and certainly

it will require a great work from the teacher.

Nevertheless, there are certain drawbacks displayed by the following

test format. One of the major disadvantages could be the students’

involvement in writing. For if we are determined to check the students

reading abilities, it is not appropriate to give the students writing tasks

due to the high possibility of the spelling and grammar mistakes that may

occur during the process. Therefore, we have to decide upon our priorities

– what do we want to test. Furthermore, the students while writing can

produce far different answers than expected. It will be rather complicated

to decide whether to consider them as mistakes or not.

5.3 The cloze test and gap-filling tests

Before coming to the theory on cloze tests we assume that it is

necessary for us to speak about a term “cloze”. Weir (1990:46) informs that

it was coined by W.L. Taylor (1953) from the word ‘closure’ and meant the

individual’s ability to complete a model.

However, to follow the model one has to posses certain skills to do

so. Hence, we can speak about introduction of such skill that Weir calls

deduction. Deduction is an important aspect for dealing with anything that

is unknown and unfamiliar. Thus, before giving a cloze test the teacher has

to be certain whether his/her students are familiar with the deduction

technique.

Alderson (1996:224) assumes that there are two cloze test techniques:

pseudo-random and rational cloze technique. In the pseudo-random test the

test designer deletes words at a definite rate, or as Heaton (1990:19)

places it, systematically, for example every 7th word should be deleted

occasionally with the initiate letter of the omitting word left as a

prompt:

Although you may think of Britain as England ,i...is really four

countries in one. There a.. …..four very distinct nations within the

British I………: England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland, each with their

o…..unique culture, history, cuisine, literature a…..even languages.

(Discovering Britain, Pavlockij B.

M., 2000)

However, the task could be more demanding if the teacher will not

assist the learners’ guesses and will not provide any hints:

Scotland is in the north and Wales in the west were………separate

countries. They have different customs,……………….., language and, in Scotland’

s case, different legal and educational……………….

(ibid.)

The examples shown above do not yield to be ideal examples at all.

Without doubt, the material used in the task should more or less provide

the students with the appropriate clues to form correct guessing.

Notwithstanding, the author of the paper has used such tests in her

practice and according to her observations; she can conclude that the tasks

with the first letter left are highly motivating for the students and

supply a lot of help for them. Moreover, having discussed the following

test format the teacher has revealed that the students like it and receive

a real pleasure if they are able to confirm their guess and find the right

variant.

However, according to Alderson (ibid.), the teacher commonly does not

intend to check a certain material by the cloze test. The main point here

is the independence of the student and his/her ability to apply all the

necessary techniques to fill in the blank spaces. Concerning the mentioned-

above scholars, we have to agree that the following type of test is

actually relatively challenging, for it demands vast language knowledge

from the student. Heaton (ibid.) believes that each third or fourth deleted

word can turn into the handicap for the learner due to the lack of

prompting devices, such as collocations, prepositions, etc. Whereas, the

removal of each ninth word may even lead to the exhausting reading process.

On the contrary, the rational cloze technique, or as it is usually

called gap-filling, is based on the deletion of words connected with the

topic the teacher wants or intends to check. At this time the teacher

controls the procedure more than it is in the pseudo-random test discussed

above. Moreover, s/he tries to delete every fifth or sixth word, but does

it rather carefully not to distort the meaning and mislead the learner.

Besides, a significant factor in this type of testing is that the teacher

removes exactly the main words that are supposed to be checked, i.e.:

Britain…….a deceptively large island and ……surrounded by some very

beautiful coastline. The south of England has popular sandy beaches,

especially in the west. But the coast in the south west Wales…..a unique

coastal National Park. Its beaches…… great for sunbathing and the rock

pools and cliffs ……..havens for wildlife. Up in Scotland, the striking

white beaches of the west coast and islands……excellent places for

explorative walks.

(Discovering Britain, Pavlockij B. M., 2000)

It is evident that the teacher’s aim by the help of the rational cloze

test is to check the students’ knowledge of the Present simple of the verb

“to be”. Thereof, the cloze tests could be successfully used for testing

grammar, as well.

We have come again to the point when we are going to mention the

advantages and disadvantages of cloze and gap-filling testing coined by

Weir. Regarding Weir, there are more disadvantages than advantages in

applying the cloze tests. He says that to design a cloze test is fairly

easy, and they are easy to evaluate, and it is the best means to check

reading comprehension. Concerning the drawbacks, we can emphasise that

randomly removed words usually will act as distractors and will not be of

true importance for the students to comprehend a message if, for example,

it is a reading task.

Compared to the cloze test, gap filling is more material based, for

it checks the students’ knowledge of a particular topic. Therefore, we can

speak about the first advantage that is the learners will know exactly what

they should insert. Moreover, the selectively deleted items allow focusing

exactly on them and do not confuse the student.

The last what could be said about gap filling tests is that this

technique limits us to check only a certain language skill, e.g. a

vocabulary on different topics.

5.4 C-Tests

It is worth mentioning that in the 80s German school introduced an

alternative to cloze test another type of testing – C-Tests. This test was

based on the cloze test system; however, every second word there was

deleted. It could seem quite a complicated type, though it is not.

According to Weir (1990:47) in this type every deleted word is partially

preserved. Thus, the students, if they possess a fairly good knowledge of

the language and can activate their schemata, or background knowledge of a

topic or the world, they will succeed in completing the test. Such test

format could look as follows:

Cats ha…. always been surro………by superstitions. In anc……Egypt

ca….were cons……. sacred, but in medi…..Europe ma….. people beli…… cats we….

witches in disgu…… A popular supers……... about ca…. is that a blac…cat,

cros… your pa… from left to rig…., will bri… you bad lu…. However, in some

cult….. a black ca… is thought to be a go… omen rat… than a ba… one.

(First certificate Star, Luke

Prodromou, p.134)

Definitely there are advantages and disadvantages of the following

test format. According to Weir, due to the frequency of the deleted items

there is a great possibility to include more tested items in the test.

Moreover, this test is economical. However, despite all the advantages, the

test can mislead the students as it is fragmented. The examples are

deprived from the context that could be very helpful for the students’

guessing of the missing parts.

5.5 True/False items

This test format is familiar for all the teachers and students. Each

reading task will always be followed with true/false activities that will

intend to check the students’ comprehension of a text. The students will be

offered a set of statements some of which are true and some are wrong,

e.g.:

1. People went to see ‘Cats’ because of the story. T F

2. Lloyd Webber’s father helped his career. T F

3. Lloyd Webber comes from a musical family. T F

( Famous Britons, Michael

Dean)

They usually should be ticked, and in order to tick the correct variants

the students have to be able to employ various guessing strategies.

According to Weir (1990:48), the advantage of such test is found in

its applicability and suitability. One can write more true/false statements

for a test and use them to check the students’ progress or achievement.

Furthermore, the current sort of testing could be more motivating for the

students than a multiple-choice test. It will not make the students

confused offering just one possibility than a multiple-choice test, which

typically proposes more than one option to choose from. Moreover, it is

easy to answer for the students and check for the teachers.

5.6 Dictation

Another test format that could be applied in the language classroom is

dictation. We commonly use dictations to check spelling; nevertheless, it

could be applied to test listening comprehension, as well. It is obvious

that to dictate something we have either to speak or read. It means that

while writing a dictation the student has to be able to perceive the spoken

language efficiently enough to produce in on paper. For this purpose the

student will require a variety of techniques such as schemata and its

application, predictions, guessing and context clues, etc. Further, it also

is constrained that dictation help the students develop their abilities to

distinguish between phonemes, separate words and intonation. Besides,

dictations function in spoken language; thereof the students have an

opportunity to learn to understand the language through listening. To

conclude what has been mentioned above we can agree with Weir (1990:49)

that dictations will force the students to use the variety of skills:

listening, reading, speaking and writing skills.

Heaton (1990:28) advises that to enable the students comprehend

successfully, the teacher need to read carefully and clearly, however

avoiding slow, word for word reading. Moreover, to allow the students to

check what they have written the repetition will be required. The author of

the paper when giving dictations to her students had encountered the need

for repetition for a number of times. The following could be explained by

many factors, such as the students are not able to perceive spoken speech

through listening; they are not able to elaborate various guessing,

inferring of the meaning techniques or their pace of writing is simply

rather slow. Thus, we entirely support the next statement claimed by Heaton

that it is wise after the first reading of a dictation to ask a set of

comprehension questions to make the students aware of the general idea of a

text. It will simplify the process of the understanding.

Notwithstanding, even an ideal variant will definitely contain some

drawbacks. The same could be applied to dictations. First, to write a

dictation, the student requires a good memory. S/he has to retain

information they have heard in order to display it later; moreover, the

information should be identical to the original. Therefore, we can claim

that the student has to recognize at least seventy-eighty per cent of what

has been dictated. In that case we short-term memory should be well

developed.

Apart from memory, scoring could be problematic, as well. Weir

(1990:50) believes that is difficult to decide what to pay attention to:

whether to evaluate spelling and grammar, or just perceived information.

Thus, the teacher has to work out a certain set of criteria, as we have

already mentioned that in Chapter 1, the criteria s/he will be operating

with. Besides, the students should be acquainted with it, as well.

In addition, Weir (ibid.) says that dictating is more efficient if it

is recorded on the tape and is delivered by a native speaker. It could mean

that the students will have a chance to fell themselves in the real-life

situation; for this is the actual purpose they learn the language for. The

following has been expanded by Heaton (ibid.) that speaking face to face

with a speaker is even more beneficial, for we can compensate the lack of

understanding by his/her facial expression, gestures and movements.

Listening to a cassette does not provide us with such a chance, and

therefore, it is more challenging and requires more developed skills to

understand a recorded message.

5.7 Listening Recall

This test format is specifically applied to testing listening skills.

It differs from a dictation that it supplies the students with a printed

text. However, the text is given not as the complete script of the tape.

Certain words that carry the meaning load are deleted from a passage, and

the students after listening to the tape are supposed to insert them.

Hence, it could be related to a gap-filling test. Here the cassette is

usually played for two times; first, the students listen for information

and attempt to insert the missing details. The second time allows them to

add what they had failed to understand at the beginning. The author of the

paper had not used that as a direct test format but as a while-listening

activity during her classes. According to her scrutiny the students with

more advanced language abilities were able to comprehend the texts

immediately, whereas the weaker students sometimes could not manage to

understand the message even listening for the tape for the third time. That

again proves the significance of usage of pre-, while and post-listening

activities in the language classroom. Weir (ibid.) states that such type of

testing involves the students’ short-time memory, which they need to switch

while listening to the tape.

According to Weir (ibid.), one of the advantages of listening recall

is uncomplicated construction, administration and marking.

Nevertheless, there are several disadvantages, as well. There is a

danger, that the students will read the passage before listening to the

tape, thus we will not be able to evaluate exactly their listening skills.

The author of the current paper had encountered the similar situation,

where the teacher warns the students not to read but just listen. However,

they start reading immediately after receiving the text, even though the

tape record being still turned off.

5.8 Testing Grammar Through Error-recognition Items and Word Formation

Tasks

One of the test formats for testing grammar is error-recognition

items. Here the teacher writes sentences underlining various words. One of

the words is obligatory wrong, and the students have to identify what word

is wrong and should be corrected. Heaton (ibid.) introduces a variation of

that type, saying that the teacher can supply the students with incorrect

sentences asking the students to provide the right variant. This again

demands a fairly good knowledge of the subject from the students to

differentiate between the right and wrong variants. In that case the error-

recognition format could be compared with multiple-choice format and even

called a branch of it. Below you can find the example of error-recognition

items format:

1. I can’t come to the phone – I have / I’m having a shower!

2. I watched/ I was watching TV when suddenly the telephone

rang.

3. I had been waiting/ I had waited in the rain for ages when

she finally turned up.

(First certificate Star, Luke

Prodromou, p.12)

Further, for testing grammar and language structures we often use

word-formation tasks, e.g.:

Making friends and ………people is a gift that some influence

………….people seem to be born with, while for others it luck

is a skill that has to be ……..through practice and acquire

hard work. It is, however, …….to know that most skills, comfort

particularly ………….skill, can be learnt and that it is never society

too late to start improving.

(First certificate Star, Luke

Prodromou, p.41)

or

|verb |noun |person |Adjective |

|Invent | | | |

| | |discoverer |- |

| |creation | | |

It is frequently used in centralized exams to know the students’

ability to coin new words that displays the students’ advanced level of the

language. The students are demanded coining nouns from verbs, adjectives

from nouns, etc. This requires certain knowledge of prefixes, suffixes and

roots in order to create a necessary word. Word coinage is an inevitable

skill for recognizing new word items either.

5.9 Controlled writing

In order to check the students grammar and writing ability the

teacher can use different test formats: transformation, broken sentences,

sentence and paragraph completion, form filling, notes and diaries.

According to Heaton (1990:32), transformation deals with re-writing

sentences. For example, the students are asked to change a sentence in

Active voice into a sentence in Passive voice. To differ the task the

teacher can put the required word in brackets at the end of each sentence.

The students will need to transform a sentence to fit the word in brackets.

Or another example of transformation could be changing the focus of the

sentence, e.g.:

1. Berlin is not an easy city to move about in.

Difficult

It………………………in Berlin.

2. I wonder if you could open the window.

Could

You couldn’t ………………….

3. When did you start to learn English?

Been

How…………………….English?

(First certificate Star, Luke

Prodromou, and p.40)

Further, he discusses the sentences that are divided into fragments

(he calls them broken sentences), and the student’s task is to arrange the

words in order to produce correct examples. Thus, the students have to know

grammar and syntaxes to make a right sentence with the correct word order.

Sometimes the students are asked to alter the words to make grammatically

correct sentences, e.g.:

1. a German/hunting/huge/black dog

2. a 25-year-old/Opera/tall singer

3. a brand-new/plastic/shopping/green bag

4. an English/young/interesting teacher

(First certificate Star, Luke

Prodromou, and p.80)

Afterwards, the students can be asked to complete the whole

paragraphs, finish dialogues, write diaries using the given information,

and fill the form, for example hotel check-in. The author of the paper had

used writing a diary in her 8th form, when the learners had to write the

diary of captain’s wife whose husband disappeared in the sea. They also had

to write the diary of the captain himself before the catastrophe. The

students liked the task immensely.

5.10 Free writing

Heaton (ibid.) believes that the most suitable way to check the

students’ writing skills is asking them to write a composition. The teacher

can include a variety of testing criteria there depending on what is really

being tested. The topics for a composition should be appropriate to the age

of the students and respond to their interest. However, the teacher has to

establish clearly what s/he is going to check (the material studied: e.g.

grammar) and what could be neglected. The students have to know whether

the teacher is interested in the context or may be s/he is concerned with

grammar and spelling, as well.

5.11 Test Formats Used in Testing Speaking Skills

We are not going to deep into details of test formats used for

testing speaking skills. Heaton (ibid.) displays that one of the most

essential elements of testing speaking is pronunciation. To check how the

students pronounce certain testing items the teacher may ask his/her

students to read aloud and retell stories. Moreover, the teacher will

receive the impression how well his/her students can operate with the

spoken language.

Afterwards, the teachers can use pictures to test the students’

speaking skills. This is widely used task, and a lot of teachers use it to

check the students speaking skills and the knowledge of the vocabulary.

Moreover, while describing the picture the student will have to imply the

correct grammar and knowledge of the English sentence structure. The

description could be done on the spot and does not require a lot of time

for preparation, though Heaton (ibid.) stipulates that the teacher should

ensure his/her students with a time during which they can formulate their

ideas before presentation.

Apart from the pictures the students could be offered to describe a

person if their topic is people’s appearance or jobs, stay the sequence of

events basing on the provided information or pictures accompanying the

task, spot differences between two pictures and compare them. Further,

Heaton (ibid.) displays a rather interesting task. The students receive a

picture with speech bubbles. They are asked to write what they think people

are saying. This in turn involves creativity from the students and could be

assessed as an additional element and contribute to the students’ marks.

Definitely, each teacher will develop and give the students various tasks

regarding the criteria and demands to be tested.

In conclusion we can say that the teacher can use a variety of test

formats, such as multiple-choice questions, transfer of information;

reordering the words, describe a picture, listening to the instructions to

check the language skills of his/her students. Every teacher has to choose

him/herself the tasks that will be appropriate to their way of teaching and

the needs of the students.

Below we have attached the table of four language skills and test

formats applicable for each skill.

| | |

|Language Skills |Test Formats |

| | |

|Reading skills |1 Multiple-choice items |

| |Short answers test |

| |Cloze test |

| |Gap-filling test |

| |False/true statement |

| | |

|Listening skills |Multiple-choice items |

| |False/true statements |

| |Gap-filling tests |

| |Dictations |

| |Listening recall |

| | |

|Writing skills |Dictations |

| |Compositions |

| |Reproductions |

| |Writing stories |

| |Writing diaries |

| |Filling-in forms |

| |Word formation |

| |Sentence transformation |

| | |

|Speaking skills |Retelling stories |

| |Describing pictures |

| |Describing people |

| |Spotting the differences |

Chapter 6

Analysis of the Test of English as a Foreign Language and Cambridge First

Certificate test according to test design criteria.

The present chapter deals with the practical part of the research. It

will be based on the analysis and comparison of two proficiency tests

formats TOEFL (The Test of English as a Foreign Language) test and CFC

(Cambridge First Certificate) test. We will start with the brief

description of their overall features; afterwards we will make an attempt

to contrast them and draw relevant conclusions.

The first test to be discussed is Cambridge First Certificate test. It

will usually consist of five papers: reading with the duration time 1 hour

and 15 minutes, writing -1 hour 30 minutes, use of English -1 hour 15

minutes, listening - 40 minutes and speaking approximately 14 minutes.

There is no absolute pass mark, but the candidates need to get about 60% of

the total marks to pass with a Grade C (Prodromou, 1998:6-7).

TOEFL test is an examination that intends to evaluate the level of the

English language of a foreign speaker (Gear, 1996:3-4). Moreover, it is

commonly one of the aspects included into the entrance exams of any

university in the USA. The institution the person requires the test for

could implement the demanded score here. Nevertheless, the highest score

does not differ from that of the CFC. TOEFL test as CFC test consists of

four different parts: listening comprehension that occupies approximately

35 minutes and consists of three parts, structure and written expression

with time limit 25 minutes composed of two tasks and reading comprehension

– 55 minutes, consisting of several passages.

Here we can notice some differences between CFC and TOEFL tests: when

TOEFL test consists of just four parts, CFC includes a speaking part more.

Moreover, each part of each test will include a various range of tasks,

i.e. each part TOEFL test will mainly be composed of two tasks, whereas

CFC will classically contain four different activities.

Doing the tests in both cases the students will get special answers

sheets where they will have to mark the answers they think are the right

ones. The instructions before the taking the test usually warn the

participants not to write in the books with questions. Moreover, both tests

are checked by the scoring machine, therefore the students should be aware

of what type of marking the answers they have to use. In both cases it

should be a black lead pencil for the scoring machine to read. The answers

should not be circled or lightly marked; in TOEFL test the students are

supposed to fill in an oval answer with a letter inside corresponding to

the question, whereas in CFC the students will have to fill in a small

rectangular under a certain letter. Together the two tests remind the

participants to choose only one answer. If the student changes his/her mind

and decides to choose another answer, s/he can easily rub out the previous

answer.

We can call the both tests valid, for they test what is supposed to be

tested and measured and they usually have the same format and length;

regarding reliability, we cannot say exactly whether there is reliability

or not, for if the student was not lucky for the first time taking the

test, s/he can study hard and take the test again for the second time and,

thus, score a better result.

Both of the tests involve the four skills: reading, listening, speaking

and writing. The difference could be found in the sequence of them, for

example if CFC test will start with reading first, TOEFL test will deal

with listening. The types of tasks and activities implied in the test

differ as well. We will start our analysis with reading part.

Reading Comprehension Part

CFC reading paper will test the students’ ability to read in a variety of

ways: reading for gist (understanding of the text), reading for details,

understanding how a text is organized and deducing the meaning from the

context. (Typically, the students could be given four parts to fill)

(Prodromou, 1998:8). For that purpose CFC reading paper will offer the

students multiple matching. The students will have to match headings or

summary sentences to the parts of the text. They will have to show their

ability to grasp the overall meaning of the text involving various kinds of

knowledge such as morphological, semantic and syntactical one. For example:

Meet the Flinstones, a modern Stone Age family. From the town of Bedrock,

here’s a bit about their history….

1. Somewhere in the world, every hour of every day, The Flinstones is being

broadcast. An incredible 300 million fans tune in to watch it regularly.

Whether you like them or not, Fred, Wilma and their neighbours are

impossible to avoid….

A) Rocky jokes B) A Stone Age family in skins C) A new idea D) A

popular show, etc.

Prodromou, First Certificate Star,

1998

Thus, basing on the theory we have discussed in the first part of our

paper, we can claim that it is integrative type of test, though being

direct, that denotes testing one particular skill directly, but not through

other language skills.

Afterwards, CFC may offer the students multiple choice, gapped texts and

again multiple matching only connected with information. In multiple-choice

activity the students will have to answer four-option multiple-choice

questions about a text. For example:

Mad Cow Disease is a deadly illness of the brain and it is the non-

technical term for BSE or Bovine Spongiform Encephalitis. This so difficult

to say that journalists and even some doctors prefer the more vivid Mad Cow

Disease…

1. We use the expression Mad Cow Disease because

A) it is more accurate.

B) It is easier to say.

C) It links cows with people.

D) It sounds less scientific.

Prodromou, First Certificate Star,

1998

It is obvious that only one answer will be the right one, but the others

will be distractors that will try to confuse the reader. It will limit the

students and make them use a variety of reading strategies, knowledge of

vocabulary and syntaxes to discover the right variant. However, the

students will not have an opportunity to support their choices and prove

why the answer they have chosen is the exact one. Moreover, the students

will be checked whether they understand the general meaning of the text,

its details, whether they can infer the meaning from the text and

understand references (who refers who). Thus, we can declare that this type

of test is integrative, for it involves the students’ abilities to apply

various reading strategies and still direct, for it tests just reading

skills.

The same could be said about gapped texts that will check the students’

knowledge of reading strategies, such as organization of the text, reading

for gist, etc. (examples available in Appendix p.17) To complete it the

students will have to show their knowledge of the certain areas of the

language. Multiple matching will require the students to match pieces of

information either with a certain text divided into fragments or with

several texts joined together with one topic (examples available in

Appendix p.8).

CFC will display various types of texts in order to see how well the

students can cope with any authentic material when dealing with reading.

They will have to show their capability of dealing with advertisements,

letters, stories, travelling brochures, guides, manuals, and magazine and

newspaper articles. The type of test applicable here will be integrative,

including a variety of strategies and direct checking the students reading

skills.

TOEFL test’s reading part usually involves the students’ general

comprehension of a text. It is regularly a text followed by a number of

questions about it typically in the form of multiple choice items format.

However, this part of the test requires the students to show their skills

in reading for gist, the students have to define the main idea of a text;

afterwards, the students will have to display their knowledge of the

vocabulary, especially synonyms, ability to infer the meaning, define the

words and apply their skills connected with working with references, i.e.:

….The biggest disadvantage was that the sound and pictures could become

unsynchronised if, for example, the gramophone needle jumped or if the

speed of the projector changed. This system was only effective for a single

song or dialogue sequence…..

47. The word “sequence” in line 14 is closest in meaning to

A) interpretation

B) progression

C) distribution

D) organization

Gear, Cambridge preparation for the TOEFL test, 1996

The students will be offered to read several passages, usually

historical, scientific, medical, etc. facts. They will intend to check the

students’ ability to understand specific types of tests taken from specific

fields, the skill required at the universities, whereas CFC will offer the

students the texts they can encounter in their everyday life being abroad.

Each text will be typically accompanied with seven questions.

TOEFL test will chiefly use multiple-choice items; there will be no gap

filling or matching implied. Thus, we can call a reading part of TOEFL test

as a direct, for it tests the students reading skills, and more discrete

point tests than integrative, for it is mainly concerned with checking the

students’ knowledge of vocabulary (examples available in Appendix p.391-

396).

The above mentioned could be stated as the first difference: TOEFL test

is a discreet point test, while CFC is integrative one.

Another difference between CFC and TOEFL reading part could be a variety

of tasks given to test the students’ reading skills. CFC will mostly offer

a great range of tasks (headings, summary, fragmented texts) and texts

types, while TOEFL will not vary a lot.

Listening Part

The listening part of CFC test aims to test the students’ ability to

listen and understand the gist, the main points, and specific information

is to deduce meaning. TOEFL test will check whether the students are able

to understand conversations and talks in English.

CFC test will offer the students a variety of activities in order to

check whether the students can imply effective listening strategies to

comprehend the message. It suggests the idea of the test being integrative,

for it will focus on different means that could be used to deal with a

listening task. For example, CFC offers multiple choices as a task

(examples available in Appendix p.37): the students listen to several short

extracts that are taken from different contexts. They could be dialogues or

monologues as well. The answer sheet will display the three answer items

from which the students will have to choose the correct one. The task could

ask the students to guess who the speaker is, where the action takes place,

what the conversation is about and even it can include the question about

the feelings and emotions of speakers that could be guessed from the

contexts.

Afterwards, there will be another task – note taking or blank filling

that will check the student’s ability to listen for gist and for details.

This type will demand the student’s capability to use his/her writing

skills to put down information they will hear. They will have to be able to

pick up the necessary information and retain it in their memory in order to

fulfil the task (examples available in Appendix p.87).

Subsequently, a further task could engage multiple matching where the

students will have to concentrate on a particular kind of information. This

task could be displayed in the form of a dialogue or a monologue. The

students will be given several answers with letters that should be inserted

into the right box. However, there will always be one option that does not

suit any question, the so-called distractor. Moreover, asking the students

to complete a grid, i.e. advantages and disadvantages of anything, could

expand the task, i.e. advantages and disadvantages of keeping a certain

pet:

| |Advantages |Disadvantages |

|dog | | |

|cat | | |

|fish | | |

Prodromou, First Certificate Star,

1998

Moreover, the listening task could involve True/false activities where

the students will have to listen to a dialogue or a monologue and react to

it (examples available in Appendix). The students will have to display how

well they have comprehended the message ticking the statements whether they

are true or false. In spite of that, Yes/No questions could take place. We

have been discussing them already in our theoretical part and mentioned

that the so-called open-ended questions allow the students support their

answers. Answering them, the students are having a chance to prove why they

have chosen a certain answer, but not the other. Usually, if the students

are aware of such a possibility, they fill more secure and motivated, for

they can be certain that the examiner will be able to realize the students’

point. However, it is not a very appropriate type for such a test as CFC,

for checking such tests will be rather time-consuming.

Listening part of the TOEFL test differs a lot from that of CFC, for it

is fully based on the multiple-choice items that focus mainly on the

understanding of the main idea of a message (examples available in Appendix

p.379-384) The participants are exposed to a set of short dialogues that

are accompanied with four answers, where three are usually distractors and

the rest one is correct, i.e.:

(man) I think, I’ll have the curtains changed.

(woman) They are a bit worn.

(narrator) What does the woman mean?

A) She thinks every bit of change is important.

B) She wants to wear them.

C) She thinks they’ve been worn enough.

D) She thinks they’re in bad condition.

Gear, Cambridge preparation for the TOEFL test,

1996

The test implies the idea that to do it the students have to use a

variety of listening strategies, but it is not directly aimed at it.

Whereas, the listening part of CFC test is structured so that the students

would be able to display their listening skills and strategies, that are so

useful for them to comprehend the real message in the real-life situation

dealing with a native speaker.

Thus, we can distinguish certain similarities and differences, which we

can encounter comparing them. They are both direct aiming at checking one

exact skill; however, CFC is integrative, but TOEFL is discreet point test.

Moreover, the test formats differ as well. CFC is richer in activities,

than TOEFL test, which offer the students just multiple-choice items test.

The author of the paper presumes that CFC listening part is more testee-

friendly, while TOEFL listening part is more “reserved” and does not allow

the students fill free, but alarmed.

Writing Part

Writing part of CFC test tests the students’ ability to write different

types of writing texts. These could be transactional letters, simple

letters, compositions, descriptions, reports, etc. Moreover, the students

could be asked to write an opinion composition and even an article

(examples available in Appendix p.38).

Transactional letters are aimed at making somebody do something. Writing

them, the students have to keep in mind that they are supposed to get a

relevant answer.

There are different types of transactional letters, such as a letter of

complaint, a letter of invitation, a letter asking for information and a

letter describing something. The task requiring the students ability to

write these letters will supply the students with necessary information,

may be even pictures, and usually will ask for the students’ personal

opinion. Moreover, the students have to be aware of the style that should

be used depending on the requirements. Furthermore, the students will have

to know how the letters are structured, for it will be the factor that will

be evaluated as well.

Another writing task such as writing articles for a magazine will require

the students to display their writing abilities, the knowledge of the

vocabulary, the style and letter organization knowledge (examples available

in Appendix 38).

Writing a report will be based on the students’ capability to gather

facts and analyse them. It could involve a kind of a research work and

knowledge how to express and link the ideas together (examples available in

Appendix 30).

Writing a narrative story will ask the creativity from the students to

make it interesting and original. Again the students will have to be able

to express and link their ideas to produce a meaningful text.

Opinion composition will involve the students’ abilities to state

advantages and disadvantages of the topic being discussed, expressing own

opinion, stating the problem and possible solutions of it and expansion on

the topic analysing various aspects of a topic.

Another writing task could be a book review. The students will have to

know how to plan and organize the review, giving brief information about an

author and some essential details about a book. Moreover, personal opinion

of the students will be required as well.

Thus, looking at the facts stated above we can declare that the writing

part of CFC is purely integrative type of test, for it involves all

possible written tasks and strategies that should be used to accomplish the

tasks effectively. Furthermore, it will be a direct testing aimed at

testing the students’ writing skills. The tasks and activities presented in

this part of CFC reflect the students’ needs they may meet in a real-life

situation, for every possible writing piece is given.

The writing part of TOEFL test will generally involve essay writing.

There will not be any letters or book reviews. The students will be given a

topic that is typically a statement and they will have to expand it and

write about it giving the facts, ideas and sometimes even a personal

opinion, i.e.: “ If the earth to be saved from environmental catastrophe,

we shall all have to make major changes in our lifestyles” (Gear, Cambridge

preparation for the TOEFL test, 1996). This type of writing will focus on

expressing ideas and their linking as well. To write a good essay the

students will require the knowledge of the topic, or schemata, the

knowledge of a relevant vocabulary, appropriate style and organization of

the written text, i.e. thesis sentence, paragraphs, etc (examples available

in Appendix p. 377 – 378).

Therefore, we can conclude that the writing part of TOEFL test could be

called also an integrative type of test involving the range of strategies.

Moreover, it could be defined as direct testing, for it implies testing

exactly the writing skill. Furthermore, it is totally based on the

knowledge how to organize an essay with all necessary paragraphs,

introductions and conclusions.

Use of English or Structure and Written Expressions

An import role in both tests is occupied by use of English or as it is

called in TOEFL Structure and Written Expressions part. It aims at testing

the students’ knowledge of grammar and vocabulary used in the English

language.

CFC offers the students a range of various activities and task to be done

during the testing time. They are multiple choice cloze, open cloze, key

word transformations, error correction and word formation. Whereas, the

usual procedure of the same part in TOEFL test will mostly include multiple-

choice cloze and error correction.

The multiple choice cloze in CFC will usually be in the form of a gapped

text followed by fifteen multiple questions with four options, as always

the only one will be the correct. It will mostly be concerned with

vocabulary items or grammar issues (examples available in Appendix p.44).

For example:

Robin Williams was creative and gifted from an early age. He was a/an

(1)_______________child and at school was always a (2)_____________pupil:

he wrestled, ran cross-country and worked (3)_____________at his studies.

1. A imaginary B imaginative C fantastic D mythical

2. A classic B model C superior D spoilt

3. A quickly B easily C hard D fast

Prodromou, First Certificate Star,

1998

Open cloze will mostly be presented in the form of a text with several

spaces, which the students will have to complete with an appropriate word.

It will imply the students’ knowledge of grammar and vocabulary and will

involve the students’ ability to predict and guess from the context

(examples available in Appendix p.94). The task will be rather complicated,

for it will not be a C-test type where the words to be inserted preserve

the initial letter or letters to make the guessing process easier. In our

case the students will have to know how the words and phrases are connected

together, how the sentences are linked, and they will have to know the

grammar forms and structures, so, for example, if they see have/has, they

should immediately know that Present perfect is used. For example:

When you join the International Bird Society, your membership

(1)_____________ make a positive difference to birds everywhere – even if

the only ones you see are the blue tits…..

Prodromou, First Certificate Star,

1998

Key word transformations will make the students alter the sentences

structures, however preserving the entire meaning of them. They will have

to complete a sentence with a given word; here the vocabulary and grammar

will be of major interest again (examples available in Appendix p.86). The

usual change will occur with phrasal verbs, active and passive voice, verbs

and prepositions that go together, etc.:

1. I didn’t like the story and I didn’t like the actors. neither

I ______________________the actors.

Prodromou, First Certificate Star,

1998

Error correction will implement the students’ knowledge of grammar

structures. The students will receive a passage in which they will have to

find incorrect item and highlight it (examples available in Appendix p.55).

Such types of activities will usually include an extra or unnecessary word.

These words could be relative pronouns, prepositions, articles,

conjunctions, etc. For example:

________ If you want to find out about someone’s personality, one way of

to do it is to

________take a sample of their handwriting and analyse it; this is called

by

________graphology. To do graphology properly, it is important to use

fairly typical…..

Prodromou, First Certificate Star, 1998

Word formation will based on completing a text by making an appropriate

word form from a word stem given, i.e. discover – discovery (examples

available in Appendix p.104). This part will focus mainly on vocabulary,

especially on word formation rules. Here the knowledge of suffixes and

prefixes will be essential for the students. For example:

Who is mad? Cows or farmers?

Bovine Spongiform Encephalitis is a (1)___________ brain DEAD

Disorder found amongst cows. As this medical term is almost

(2) _________for the majority of ordinary people to say, the illness

POSSIBLE

is (3)________known as Mad Cow Disease. POPULAR

Prodromou, First Certificate Star, 1998

Concerning TOEFL test, we might say that it is similar to CFC use of

English; however, it displays just several types of tasks. As we have

already mentioned they are error correction and multiple choice cloze.

Multiple choice cloze typically consists of a range of statements in which

there will be a certain grammar structure missing. It is usually based on

grammar, than on vocabulary (examples available in Appendix p. 385 – 386).

The students will have to know how the subject and predicate go together,

how the words and sentence parts are linked with each other. For example:

1. --------infinitely large number of undiscovered galaxies.

A) An

B) There are an

C) From an

D) Since there are

Gear, Cambridge preparation for the TOEFL test, 1996

Error correction will differ from that in CFC, for in TOEFL test we will

have a statement with the underlined words that are supposed to be wrong.

The students will have to choose the correct variant (examples available in

Appendix p. 387 – 390). It will usually be based on the students’ knowledge

of grammar items and word formation as well. For example:

Drying food by means of solar energy is ancient process applied wherever

food and climate conditions

A B C D

make it possible.

Gear, Cambridge preparation for the TOEFL test, 1996

In conclusion we can state that Use of English is both discreet and

integrative type of testing, for in some tasks of CFC the knowledge of word

formation is demanded, but in some grammar will be included either.

The Use of English of CFC and TOEFL will be a direct testing, for it will

test the students’ grammar and vocabulary knowledge.

Speaking

Speaking is another part of the test that is present in CFC and is not

included into TOEFL test. It could be explained by the fact that if the

student passes TOEFL test successfully, s/he will be interviewed directly

at the place s/he needed the test for.

Therefore, will briefly look at CFC speaking part and discuss it. It aims

at the students’ ability to use spoken language effectively in different

types of interaction. The students could be asked to give personal

information, talk about pictures and photographs, be involved in pair work

task or even in discussion.

In personal information part the students could be asked to supply the

personal details about themselves: i.e. their job, family position,

studies, etc.( examples available in Appendix 10 – 11).

In describing pictures or photographs they will have to share their

opinion about them speaking with an examiner. There will be a time limit

set for the talk.

In pair work task and discussion the students will be supplied either by

pictures or photos or by charts and diagrams. They will be joined in pairs

and will have to carry out the task together. It could be either the

solving the problem, planning something, putting something in order or

discussing a certain topic. Discussion will certainly require the students’

personal opinion and analysis of a topic (examples available in Appendix

63).

In CFC the students will have to cooperate with another interlocutor:

either the examiner or another participant.

The author of the paper assume that this part is both integrative and

indirect testing. It is integrative, for it will involve the students’

knowledge of the whole aspects of the language: grammar, sentence

structure, vocabulary, listening skills and may be even reading skills if

the task will be written. To communicate successfully the students will

require listening and comprehending the other speaker’s message to respond.

Grammar should be accurate to produce a good and correct dialogue or a

monologue, for accuracy is an important factor there. The rich word stock

will be inevitable element as well.

Indirect testing means that the whole material will be included while

testing speaking skills.

To conclude we can declare that CFC and TOEFL tests are both integrative

and discreet point tests. They are also direct, however, speaking part in

CFC could be defined as indirect one involving all four skills to be used.

Conclusions

The present research attempted to investigate the essence of two

types of tests, such as TOEFL and CFC tests. The research has achieved the

initially set goals and objectives. It dealt with the basic data about

testing, where the author had displayed the ideas what was the essence of

tests, why the students should be tested, what consequences could tests

produce and whom they would mostly influence. Afterwards, the reasons for

testing were discussed, where the author of the paper had gradually showed

why tests were significant in the process of learning and the role of

testing in the teaching process. After the basic data had been discussed,

the author came directly to types of testing. At that point the author of

the research made an attempt to review various sources on the topic she was

able to find. She had presented the definitions of the types of tests

offered in Longman dictionary of LTAL and then had compared them with the

definitions given by various authors. Later, the author of the research

displayed the ways of their applications and reasons for that. She had also

presented several examples of tests types in the Appendix. The author of

the paper had also discussed ways of testing, such as discrete point test

and integrative test, objective and subjective tests, direct and indirect

tests, etc. The attention was drawn to the significance of their usage and

the purpose for it. Furthermore, the discussion had changed the focus on

another important issue, such as tests formats and approaches for testing

four language skills. Here the author had broadly and explicitly discussed

and analysed the tests formats, such as MCQs, false/true items, cloze

tests, gap-filling tests, etc. She had focused on their application and

skills for which they are used. Moreover, she had displayed various

examples to exemplify each test format, offering several of them in

Appendix of the paper. Likewise, a table with the language skills and test

formats applicable for them was attached to the work as well. Further, a

practical part in the form of the tests’ analysis was presented.

The author of the paper had also dealt with the main issues that are

very vital and essential in analysis of the tests. She had focused on the

reliability and validity of the tests and tried to trace them in TOEFL and

CFC tests. She had thoroughly discussed the tasks and activities composing

the tests designed to test the students’ language skills. Moreover, she had

attempted to compare the two tests and find out any similarities and

differences between them. She had methodically studied each part of the

tests, starting from reading skills finishing with speaking. She had

presented a detailed investigation into the matter together with the

examples that could be observed in Appendix, as well.

Eventually, she had gained her aim having checked the theory into

practice and had proved that it really functioned in the real world.

Moreover, she had revealed that though being sometimes different in their

purpose, design and structure, the TOEFL test and CFC test are constructed

according to the universally accepted pattern.

Thus, the hypothesis of the present research has been confirmed.

Theses

1. The role of tests is very useful and important, especially in language

learning, for they indicates how much the learners have learnt during a

course, as well as display the strength and weaknesses of the teaching

process and help the teacher improve it.

2. The tests can facilitate the students’ acquisition process and function

as a tool to increase their motivation; however, too much of testing

could be disastrous changing entirely the students’ attitude towards

learning the language, especially if the results are usually

dissatisfying.

3. Assessment and evaluation are important aspects for the teacher and the

students and should be correlated in order to make evaluation and

assessment “go hand in hand”.

4. The test should be valid and reliable. They should test what was taught,

taking the learner’s individual pace into account. Moreover, the

instructions of the test should be unambiguous.

5. Validity deals with what is tested and degree to which a test measures

what is supposed to measure.

6. Reliability shows that the test’s results will be similar and will not

change if one and the same test will be given on various days.

7. There are four traditional categories or types of tests: proficiency

tests measuring how much of a language a person knows or has learnt;

achievement tests measuring a language someone has learned during a

specific course, study or program; diagnostic tests displaying the

knowledge of the students or lack of it, and placement tests placing the

students at an appropriate level in a programme or a course.

8. There are two important aspect direct and indirect testing. Direct

testing means the involvement of a skill that is supposed to be tested,

whereas indirect testing tests the usage of the language in real-life

situation and is assumed to be more effective.

9. Discrete point test is a language test that is meant to test a

particular language item, whereas the integrative test intends to check

several language skills and language components together or

simultaneously.

10. There are various tests formats, such as multiple-choice tasks, gap-

filling tests, cloze tests, true/false statements, etc. used to check

four language skills.

11. To enter any foreign university the students are supposed to take the

TOEFL or CFC tests. Besides, they can be taken to reveal the student’s

level of the English language.

12. Serving for almost similar purpose, however being sometimes different

in their design and structure, the TOEFL and CFC tests are usually

constructed according to the accepted universal pattern.

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Appendix

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