CBA

 Diagnose specified aspects of a language.

Not limited to any one course, curriculum, or single skill in the language.

to give test-takers feedback, usually in the form of grades, on specific course or lesson objectives.

The tasks must be legitimate samples of English language use in the defined context.

elicit information on what students need to work on in the future.

Often summative, but also formative in offering washback about the quality of a learners’ performance in subsets of the unit or course.

Test overall ability.

Measure capacity/ general ability to learn a foreign language and ultimate success in that undertaking.

Scores are usually reported back to the test-taker in the form of a numerical score and a percentile rank

measuring success by similar processes of mimicry, memorisation, and puzzle-solving

Predict a person’s success

TOEFL, TOEIC, IELTS

to place test-takers along a mathematical continuum in rank order

analyse the extent to which students have acquired language features that have already been taught.analyse the extent to which students have acquired language features that have already been taught.

to determine whether course objectives have been met – and appropriate knowledge and skills acquired – by the end of a period of instruction.

classroom-based tests

Creating these tasks and validating them with research is time-consuming and costly process.

to place a student into a particular level or section of a language curriculum or school

Face validity, diagnostic information on students’ performance and authenticity