外语教育评价综述
英语测试与评价简介
教育评价学：
教育评价学是教育科学的一个重要分支学科。教育评价是从教育测量活动中发展出来的。始于1934年至1943年\教育评价之父\美国心理学家泰勒(Tyler, r) 人的\八年研究\。
As has been documented by many scholars, objective testing began in China during the Han dynasty (Spolsky, 1995). Such testing was used in Imperial China to select the highest officials of the land (Arnove, Altback & Kelly, 1992; Hu, 1984; Lai, 1970), which were probably the first civil service examinations ever developed in the world. Imperial Examination科举考试
? the Four Books and Five Classics (四书五经) were basic examination
materials: The Great Learning (大学), The Doctrine of the Mean (中庸), The Analects (论语), and The Mencius (孟子). The Five Classics were: Classic of Changes (易经), Classic of Poetry (诗经), Classic of Rites (礼记), Classic of History (书经), and Spring and Autumn Annals (春秋). ? to know of books and courtesy (rites) (知書達禮)
? the lowest preliminary examinations in the district (解试: Xie shi), the
second examination (乡试: Xiang shi) in the provincial capital, and the third (会试: Hui shi) in the capital of the empire with a ? nal re-examination in the imperial palace (殿试).
? Sheng Yuan (生员), cultivated talent (秀才: Xiou Cai), “recommended
men” (举人: Jiu Ren)—“provincial graduates”. presented scholars (进士: Jin Shi)—metropolitan graduates, “Zhuang Yuan” (状元), “Bang Yan” (榜眼), and “Tan Hua” (探花).
传统意义或是狭义的“课程评价”是指“对课程计划、课程标准、教材在改进学生学习方面的价值作出判断的活动或过程，一般包括对课程目标体系的评价、对课程计划的评价、对课程标准的评价、对教材的评价等核心内容，它的实施一般是由受过专门培训的评价人
员借助于专门的评价方法和技术而进行的” （周卫勇2002：1）
广义的“课程评价”包括“对学生心理特征、学习方法、学习效果等的评定，对教师教学行为、个性特征的评定，对教学技术应用的评价”（丁朝蓬2003：6-7）。
根据Brown（2001）的系统化课程设计理论，课程设计要素包括：需求分析（needs analysis）、目 标 制 定（objectives）、目 标 检 测（testing）、教材编写（materials development）、教学实施（teaching）以及教学评价（program evaluation）。该课程设计模式阐明了“评价”在教学系统中的核心作用。在论述“评价”这一要素的作用时，Brown（2001：217）指出：“课程设计和实施的各要素是互相关联的，所以图中均采用双向箭头，而且这些要素都指向一个不断进行的活动，
即评价。”
英语教学和英语测试(testing)/评价(assessment)--Testing, Assessment and Evaluation
评估和评价概念的混乱首先来源于翻译的混乱，assessment与evaluation孰为“评价”，孰为“评估”，国内翻译不尽相同。有的将assessment翻译为评估（龚亚夫，罗少茜，2002；罗少茜，2003；Upshur，2001；彭金定，2004），而目前多数学者是将assessment翻译为评价，将evaluation翻译为评估，如董奇主编翻译的教学评价系列（中国轻工业出版社出版），外语教学与研究出版社出版的汤姆森教师丛书。但尽管翻译不同，尽管有的把两个概念交替使用，认为评价或者评估是指通过不同的渠道收集学生的相关资料，将这些收集到的资料与预先设置的标准进行比较，并基于这些信息做出决策或判断的过程（Montgomery,2004：8），人们对assessment与evaluation两者概念的区分认识基本相同。赞同区分两者的学者认为，评价是基于学生是否达到了目标所设置的标准而进行的决策过程，而评估则具有批判的含义，是基于对多种材料的评价而做出的判断（Eby, 1997）。Hart(2004)认为，评价是收集有关学生的信息的过程，所关注的是“我们如何发现学生正在学习什么”，而评估是对评价信息进行解释和判断的过程，所关注的是“学生正在学习他们想让他们学习的东西吗？”可以看出，评价指通过多种渠道收集有关学习过程、语言能力、态度、参与、认知发展等方面的信息，借以促进学习和教学，而评估是广义上分析评价数据的过程，是对教学和学习的总体的价值判断，如高校本科教学评估、课程评估等。
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---语言测试和它的方法_刘润清、韩宝成.pdf : P2
---语言测试和它的方法_刘润清、韩宝成.pdf : P3
Testing
Testing often takes the “pencil and paper” form and it is usually done at the end of a learning period. The result is often expressed by a mark(60,75,90,etc), a grade (A,B,C,D) or a ratio(7/10,85/100,95/120). Students’ test scores are compared with each other and sometimes ranked for selection purposes.
What is a test?
A test, in simple terms, is a method of measuring a person?s ability, knowledge, or performance in a given domain.
Assessment on the other hand is an ongoing process that encompasses a much wider domain. (Brown, 2003: P3)
Assessment
Assessment involves the collecting of information or evidence of a learner’s learning progress and achievement over a period of time for the purposes of improving teaching and learning. It is not based on one test or one task, nor is it expressed by a mark or grade, but rather in a report form with scales or levels as well as description and comment from the teacher.
Rea-Dickens (2000: 376) suggests that:
‘... assessment is the more inclusive term: it refers to the general process of monitoring or keeping track of the learner's progress. Testing is one kind of assessment, one which is typically used at the end of a stage of instruction to measure student achievement. Assessment is a broader concept: it is part of the whole educational process of teaching and learning...?
Evaluation
Evaluation involves making an overall judgment about one’s work or a whole school’s work. It produces a global view of achievement usually based on many different types of information, such as observation of lessons, students’ test scores, teachers’ assessment reports, course documents, or interviews with students and teachers, etc.
Assessment Purposes：
◇ Discover learners? achievements ◇ Evaluate learners? progress
◇ Check upon teachers? performance ◇ Motivate students, not to frustrate them ◇ Provide motive for learning, etc
In general, the purpose of assessment in language teaching and learning is to discover what the learners know and can do at a certain stage of the learning process, to a certain extent.
And in the past, the assessors could be administrators, teachers, sometimes, maybe the parents. However, students can be assessors who can assess
themselves (and teachers? teaching in some occasions. But the roles of the variety of assessors are more or less different.
It is very clear that all the people involved in education have some reasons to consider assessment necessary:
Administrators need to know whether the programmes they have planned are working well.
Teachers need to know what has been done and what needs to be done next Parents value the feedback about their children?s performance from the teachers and the school.
Students need to know what they have accomplished, be aware of what they need to work on next and build up their confidence from what they have achieved.
(Blum, 1984: 3-6) 12 characteristics of effective teaching were identified: 1. Instruction is guided by a preplanned curriculum. 2. There are high expectations for student learning. 3. Students are carefully oriented to lessons. 4. Instruction is clear and focused.
5. Learning progress is monitored closely.
6. When students don?t understand, they are retaught. 7. Class time is used for learning.
8. There are smooth and efficient classroom routines.
9. Instructional groups formed in the classroom fit instructional needs. 10. Standards for classroom behavior are high.
11. Personal interactions between teachers and students are positive. 12. Incentives and rewards for students are used to promote excellence.
The ?Learner Centered Curriculum? is one of a number of terms used to refer to approaches to language teaching which are based on the belief that learners are self-directed responsible decision makers. Learners are seen to learn in different ways and, to have different needs and interests. Language programs and the teachers who work in them should therefore set out to provide learners with efficient learning strategies, to assist learners identify their own preferred ways of learning, to develop skills needed to negotiate the curriculum, to encourage learners to set their own objectives, to encourage learners to adopt realistic goals and time frames, and to develop learner?s skills in self-evaluation.
外语言测试的发展：
近一个世纪，国外语言测试的发展经历了三个。斯波尔斯基 ( Spolsky)将这三个阶段称之为
前科学阶段（1940s前）、 心理测量与结构主义相结合的阶段(1940s-1970s中期，discrete-point assessment分离式测试)和心理语言学与社会语言学为基础的阶段。
----参考：语言测试的历史演变及发展趋势.pdf
从外语测试的发展过程来看，它可以划分为四个阶段： 1) 第一阶段：科学前阶段（pre-scientific period）。1940s前这个阶段，语言测
试根本谈不上具有什么科学性。外语教学采用传统的语法翻译法，它的试题一是母语与外语互译；二是作文。评分由任课教师进行，这完全是主观性的测试方法。
2) 第二阶段：结构主义语言学和心理测量统计学相结合的听说法阶段。它主要
采用分离式的试题，也就是一套包括测试单项语言知识和技能（如语音、句型、词汇、结构）的试题。
3) 第三阶段：转换生成语法与认知心理学相结合的认知法阶段，它主要采用综
合性试题。
4) 第四阶段：社会语言学与心理语言学相结合的功能法阶段，它主要采用交际
性试题类型。
? Background: Historically, language-testing trends and practices have followed the changing winds of the teaching methodology.
In the 1950s and 1960s, under the influence of behaviorism and structural linguistics, language tests were designed to assess learners? mastery of different areas of the linguistic system such as phoneme discrimination, grammatical knowledge and vocabulary. Tests often used objective testing formats such as multiple choices. However, such discrete item tests provided no information on learners? ability to use language for communicative purposes.
In the 1970s and early 1980s this led to an upsurge of integrative tests such as cloze and dictation, which required learners to use linguistic and contextual knowledge to reconstitute the meaning of written or spoken texts. Since the early 1980s, with the widespread of Communicative Language Teaching (CLT), assessment has become increasingly direct. Many language tests often contain tasks which resemble the kinds of language-use situations that test takers would encounter in using the language for communicative purposes in everyday life. The tasks typically include activities such as oral interviews, listening to and reading extracts from the media, and various kinds of authentic writing tasks which reflect real-life demands. Today, test designers are still challenged in their quest for more authentic, content-valid instruments that stimulate real-world interaction while still meeting reliability and practicality criteria.
The best way to evaluate students? performance in a second language is still a matter of debate. Given the wide variety of assessment methods available and the lack of consensus on the most appropriate means to use, the best way to assess language performance in the classroom may be through a multifaceted or eclectic approach, whereby a variety of methods are used.