Questions and Answers
Proficiency Test - Designed to measure people's ability in a language
Achievement Testing - (In language courses) it establishes how successful students or courses are in
achieving objectives
Diagnostic Testing - Identifies learners' strengths and weaknesses
Placement Testing - Provides information to help place a student at the stage/place/program most
appropriate for the student's abilities
Discrete Point Testing - Refers to testing one element at a time, item by item
Integrative Testing - Combines many language elements in the completion of a task
Norm-Referenced Testing - A test that relates one candidate's performance to that of other
candidates. You are not told directly what the student can do, just how they stack up against others.
Criterion-Referenced Testing - Testing that classifies people according to whether or not they are able
to perform some task or set of tasks satisfactorily.
Portfolio Assessment - A selective collection of student work, teacher observations, and self-
assessments that are used to show progress over time with regard to specific criteria
Authentic Assessment - Procedures for evaluating student achievement/performance using activities
that represent classroom goals, curricula, instruction, or real-life performance
Formative Assessment - Ongoing diagnostic assessment providing information to guide instruction
Performance Assessment - Assessment tasks that require students to construct a response, create a
product, or demonstrate applications of knowledge