informal/formal assessment
Informal assessment: A spontaneous, unplanned check of learners’ understanding, often integrated into teaching.
Example: Asking students questions during a lesson to see if they understand a grammar point.
Formal assessment: A planned, structured evaluation of learners’ knowledge or skills, usually with set criteria.
Example: A written test at the end of a unit to measure vocabulary mastery.
placement assessment
Determines learners’ current level to assign them to the appropriate class.
Example: A grammar and vocabulary test before joining a new English course.
diagnostic assessment
Identifies learners’ strengths and weaknesses to guide future teaching.
Example: A test showing a student struggles with past tense forms.
formative assessment
An assessment carried out during the learning process to monitor progress and give feedback so students can improve.
It’s for learning, not just of learning.
Example:
Giving students feedback on a draft essay before final submission.
summative assessment
An assessment carried out during the learning process to monitor progress and give feedback so students can improve.
It’s for learning, not just of learning.
Example:
Giving students feedback on a draft essay before final submission.
self-assessment
Learners evaluate their own learning or performance.
Example: A checklist where students rate their speaking confidence.
peer assessment
Learners give feedback on each other’s work.
Example: Students correcting each other’s essays in pairs.
collaborative assessment
Learners work together to complete a task that is assessed.
Example: A group project graded on teamwork and language use.
discrete point testing
Tests individual language items separately.
Example: A multiple-choice quiz on the past simple tense.
integrative testing
Assesses several language skills or knowledge areas together.
Example: Writing a short essay that requires correct grammar, vocabulary, and organization.
criterion-referenced testing
A test where a learner’s performance is measured against fixed criteria or learning objectives, not against other people.
It shows what the learner can or cannot do.
An EAP writing test where students pass if they can write a clear, structured academic paragraph (based on assessment criteria).
norm-referenced testing
A test where a learner’s performance is compared to other test-takers.
It shows how well someone did relative to a group.
Example: A proficiency test like TOEFL or IELTS, where scores show how a student compares to others worldwide.
reliability
Test reliability: means if it was possible to give the same person the same test at the same time, would the result be the same.
for example, the exam needs to be taken under the same exam conditions with the same instructions. For example, in a listening exam, it needs to be clear if the tape is paused at the same time.
Scorer reliability means If you gave the same test to two different people to mark, would they give the same score. For example, if two people mark a test.
backwash (or washback)
the effect that a final test has on the teaching programme that leads to it. It can be positive or negative. If it is negative, it is also called “teaching to the test”.
For example, the syllable focuses on fluency, but the final assessment is a multiple choice test. So, the teacher will focus on grammar and vocabulary rather than fluency.
A positive form of backwash would be if the management notices that students at the end of the teaching programme are not fluent. As a result, they introduce assessments, such as a seminar assessment, to test fluency.
face validity
how much a test appears to measure what it is supposed to measure
If a speaking test asks students to have a short conversation, it has high face validity — it looks like it’s testing speaking.
But if a speaking test only asks students to choose correct verb forms on paper, it has low face validity — it doesn’t look like a speaking test.
content validity
means if a test test what it is supposed to test and covers all relevant parts of it.
For example, if speaking is only assessed through a presentation, but not through a discussion. This would be low content validity.
progress test vs proficiency test
Progress test: Measures what learners have learned during a course.
Example: End-of-unit grammar test.
Proficiency test: Measures overall language ability regardless of course content.
Example: IELTS or TOEFL.
direct vs indirect testing
direct: The test asks the learner to perform the actual skill being assessed.
Example: Asking students to write an essay to test writing ability
Indirect: The test measures underlying sub-skills or knowledge that support the target ability — not the ability itself.
Example: A multiple-choice listening test rather than an actual interaction.
fixed vs constructed response
Fixed response: Learners select or supply an answer from a limited set.
Example: Multiple-choice questions.
Constructed response: Learners create their own answers.
Example: Writing a short essay or completing a sentence.
objective vs subjective testing
Objective test: Has a clear correct answer, easy to score reliably.
Example: True/false or multiple-choice questions.
Subjective test: Answers are open to interpretation, requiring judgment to score.
Example: Essay or oral presentation
Construct validity
means does the test tests what is supposed to test and nothing else.
For example, if grammar is penalised in a listening exam, the test actually tests grammar.
evaluation vs testing
Testing means asking the students questions to which we already know the answer.
Evaluation (an umbrella term, which also includes testing) is about asking questions to learn about students’ process and attitude.
congruent assessment
An assessment that is aligned with the learning objectives and teaching activities.
In other words, what you teach, how you teach, and how you assess all match each other.
Example, aim of a course is improving fluency, the teaching activities are aligned with this goal, including the exam.
What are “distractors” in a multiple choice test?
These are the wrong answers.
