METHODS OF EVALUATION

By

                                                       METHODS OF EVALUATION


INTRODUCTION : 

    Testing and Evaluation are important concepts in English language teaching. Teaching creates opportunities for learning and testing creates opportunities for assessing what has been learnt. Without this the teaching practice cannot proceed. So, testing is the touch stone for the teaching and learning processes. Evaluation is a large scale process like evaluating syllabuses, textbooks, programme etc. Testing, a part of evaluation is a smalls Scale process like testing the learners' specific skill like reading, writing etc. Evaluation can be either  which takes place at the end of the course or formative which is used in course assessment. If teaching and learning are to go on efficiently, the achievements of students should be devoted to the assessment of the progress made by the students. In this connection, evaluation in any scheme of teaching become important. 

MEANING OF EVALUATION : 

 “ Every decision you make reflects your evaluation of who you are”. Evaluation is a more comprehensive term than test or examination. It is concerned not only with the measurement of the extend of learning but also with determining the value of that learning. Evaluation aims at ascertaining aptitude, proficiency and achievement and at performing a diagnosis of difficulties for future action. Evaluation is carried out by means of testes and examinations. 

TYPES OF EVALUATION : OBJECTIVE TYPE :

 One of the four major type tests is objective type test. It derives its name from the objectivity in scoring. As there is only one correct answer to such a test and since in most cases the answer is given along with the test and the candidate is required to indicate the correct answer simply with a tick or a number, the subjectivity judgement of the examiner cannot impair the scoring. So as far as scoring is concerned these tests are highly reliable. Some of the popular type of objective type test are : multi-choice type, true or false type, completion type etc. The advantage of objective type tests are, they can cover a large area of the syllabus in a short time and they can be scored easily and objectively, sometimes even by a machine. The disadvantages of the objective type test are that it can evaluate only certain limited aspects of language skills and at its worst, it can be harmful encouraging blind guessing and fragmentary learning of important items. In recent times objective-type tests have become very popular. Various quiz competitions and intelligence tests have increased their popularity.

 SHORT ANSWER TYPE :

 The students are asked to answer these questions in a few lines. Here the examiner has limited liberty to award marks. They are used to test writing skills. In a short answer question, the student types in a word or phrase in response to a question. Answers may or may not be case sensitive. The answer could be a word or a phrase, but it must match one of your acceptable answers exactly. 

COMPREHENSIVE TYPE : 

Yet that basic understanding of language a comprehensive working knowledge of grammar, spelling, and punctuation coupled with the ability to write decent sentences and paragraphs are only the first skills that a writer acquires. Those skills are sufficient for beginner writing.

 YES / NO TYPE : The student answer Yes or No for the question. Typically, in English, the choices are either “yes” or “no”. This question present an exclusive disjunction, namely a pair of alternatives of which only one is a felicitous answer. In English, such questions can be formed in both positive and negative forms.

 TEST : 

 “ Intelligence is not discernment and judgment or critical evaluation”. Teaching of English as a second language will be effective only if tests on the four skills are held periodically. The teacher can make use of the results of the tests for future guidance to give instructions to the learners. It will be practicable for the teacher to follow entirely objective system of tests at the elementary stage and entirely non-objective tests at the advanced stage and in the interviewing stages both types existing side by side.. 

CHARACTERISTICS OF TESTS :

 VALIDITY : 

In English, proficiency in skills is evaluated. A test in written English must test the writing ability of the student and the test scores in the test must correlate highly with the actual ability in the written skill. Validity is of two kinds. They are content validity and emphirical validity. 

 CONTENT VALIDITY : Content Validity refers to the items of the test representing adequately each portion or part of the skill or content that is being tested. For example, if the test is meant to measure the students' mastery of sentence structure, an analysis is first made of the language structure and the items will be based directly on each of them. The analysis must be acceptable to the recognized authorities in the area. Then the test is said to have content validity. 

 EMPIRICAL VALIDITY : Empirical validity refers to the compatibility of the test with an independent outside criterion. There must be a high correlation between test scores and a trustworthy external criterion. Empirical validity is of two kinds. They are predictive validity and concurrent validity. 

EXAMINATIONS : “Objective evaluations set the foundation that moves leaders to the tipping point”. The word „examine‟ has come from the Latin word “examen” which means the pointer of a balance. The pointer in the balance indicates by its movements whether the weights in tbe two pans are equal or not. So also in an examination, the student is weighed as if in a balance. For every examination, the standards are fixed by the examining authorities. Through examination, the examining bodies compare the students with those standards. 

TYPES OF TESTS : A test may be either oral or written. As listening and speaking are two major objectives of teaching English, Oral tests play an important role. Oral tests is a quick and effective device fo test pupil's progress and difficulties: written tests are the most popular testing tools in schools. They are used to test most of the objectives of teaching English, including some of the components of the aural-oral skills. 

QUALITY OF TEST : The tests help the teacher to judge the achievement of his students. A good test must have validity, reliability and practically. A teacher should have his objectives well defined. The validity of his tests depends on his objectives. Validity can be obtained only if the teacher is sure in his mind as to what skill and ability he is going to test. A test is valid only if it tests what it is supposed to test. A test intended to test a particular skill should not try to test the other skills. A good standard test will have content validity that is the content of the test is the one that the test wants to test. A good test should have construct validity which refers to the validity in terms of the components of the test content. A good test must have predictive validity that is, the scores of the test language test. If the scores of a test when composed with the scores of another test administered without any lapse of time between the two tests, then the test has concurrent validity. A good test must also have face validity which means that most of the learners should feel that is a good test. Face validity of a test motivates the learners should feel that is a good test. Face validity of a test motivates the learners and minimises their fears of examinations. 

RELIABILITY : “ Simplicity is prerequisite for reliability.” Reliability means the stability of test scores. There must be consistency in the test. We may administer a test on any day of the week. Two parallel forms of a test may be given to the same group on two different days. Even then the score must be the same. Further, whether A values the paper or B values the paper, a student must get the same score. Or whatever be the circumstances in which a teacher values the paper, the scores must have no chance of a change. That is even if he values the paper on some other day, the candidate will get the same score.

 CONCLUSION:

 “ Teachers support evaluations based on multiple measures:student growth, classroom observation and feedback from peers and parents”. Tests and examinations are of great importance and they can remain important only if they are really good tests. While preparing the tests, the teacher should know his goals and reduce them to their simple elements and know what ability he wants to teach. He should test only one ability at a time. The Evaluation criteria covers all aspects of making a conclusion and evaluating your procedures, including critical comments about the accuracy or appropriateness of results and method. In the evaluation you should discuss the results you obtained in relation to your hypothesis

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

By
Image
                                            JOHN MILTON John Milton   (9 December 1608 – 8 November 1674) was an English poet, pamphleteer,and historian,   polemicist,   man of letters, and a civil servant for the   Commonwealth of England   under   Oliver Cromwell. He wrote at a time of religious flux and political upheaval, and is best known for his   epic poem   Paradise Lost   (1667), written in   blank verse. He is considered the most significant English author after   William Shakespeare Milton's poetry and prose reflect deep personal convictions, a passion for freedom and self-determination, and the urgent issues and political turbulence of his day. Writing in English, Latin, Greek, and Italian, he achieved international renown within his lifetime, and his celebrated   Areopagitica   (1644)—written in condemnation of pre-publication censorship—is among history's most influential and impassioned defences of free speech and freedom of the press. Milton is best
Read more

KINDLY ADJUST TO OUR ENGLISH -Shashi Tharoor

By
KINDLY ADJUST TO OUR ENGLISH                                                                                     -Shashi Tharoor         He is the Indian national Congress MP Thiruvananthapuram. He is the Author of 23 books, Ex- minister of stat e, government of India and Former under Secretary General, United Nations. He outlines the key of elements of a possible peace in Ukraine and urges UN Secretary-General to give a call to the warning nation to stop the war. He plays his part in bringing the needless suffering and destruction to an end. His ideas on the way English is used in this country are helpful to the English learning persons.            Indian English is a result of the British colonization of India which lasted more than 200 years. Officially, Indians follow the rules of British English grammar but there are a lot of differences in the way Indians speak English. A little over 108 of Indians speak English. There is diversity among Indian English speakers due to cultu
Read more
By
Image
JOHN KEATS                                                                             John Keats was an English Romantic poet. He was one of the main figures of the second generation of romantic poets along with Lord Byron and Percy Bysshe Shelley , despite his work only having been in publication for four years before his death.            Although his poems were not generally well received by critics during his life, his reputation grew after his death, so that by the end of the 19th century he had become one of the most beloved of all English poets. He had a significant influence on a diverse range of later poets and writers. Jorge Luis Borges stated that his first encounter with Keats was the most significant literary experience of his life.           The poetry of Keats is characterized by sensual imagery, most notably in the series of odes. Today his poems and letters are some of the most popular and most analyzed in English literature. CHARACTERISTIC
Read more