Testing young learners

What is testing



Testing is one of the

techniques for assessing
children’s performance
on a specific task.

What is testing



The test checks in an

objective way whether
the learner has acquired
some aspects of
language.

What is testing



The results are usually

given in the form of grades
or percentages and show
an individual’s achievement
against the whole class.

What is testing



Testing is an element of

assessment.



It provides quantitative

information.

What is testing



Testing is one of the

forms of assessment.



Assessment is a wider

domain than testing.

What is testing



Formal testing is not the

most common way of

assessing young learners.



Teachers use tests to

measure their pupils’

progress at a certain point

of a language course.

Principles of testing



Tests should include the

types of tasks children
are familiar with.

Principles of testing



Tests should cover all
language skills.



Tests for pre-school children
can be based on listening
and speaking only.

Principles of testing



Tests should contain

visual stimulation to
indicate meaning and
test understanding.

Principles of testing



The tasks should be of

different difficulty to
ensure success of all
children.

Principles of testing



The test should not be long.



The instructions have to be
short, simple and clear.



The test should be piloted
on a comparable group.

Principles of testing



When teaching children
using formal tests is rare.



Observation and noting
progress are crucial –
informal assessment.

Testing oral skills



Can only be done during

pair- or group-work or when

children are individually

interviewed by the teacher.



There are four categories

of tasks:

Testing oral skills -

tasks



Reacting to a visual stimulus



Dialogues in pairs



Acting out scenes and
dialogues (supervised)



Memory games (vocab)

Techniques for testing

oral skills



Responding with one word



Dialogues in pairs



Acting out scenes/dialogues



Memory game



Describing a

picture/retelling a story

Techniques for testing

receptive skills and

writing



Picture dictation



Listening and circling the
right picture



Number dictation



Listening and T/F marking

Techniques for testing

receptive skills and

writing



Matching words and pictures



Listening and filling in a chart



Sequencing pictures in a story



Gap filling in a text



Solving crosswords

Techniques for testing

receptive skills and

writing



Grouping words into categories



Writing sentences from
memory



Describing/labelling pictures



Completing and transforming
sentences

Techniques for testing

receptive skills and

writing



Correcting mistakes in
sentences



Arranging words into
sentences



Free writing of a few
sentences

The enumerated

techniques can also be
used in testing
grammar, vocabulary
and pronunciation.

Thank you for your

attention

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