Testing in Language Programs by James Dean Brown

Testing in Language Programs is an ideal book for teachers who want to learn how to make good tests, analyses and interpret the results, and how to improve such tests so that grades or placement decisions can have meaning and be fair to one's students. I liked this book because it is very thorough in basics. You will learn about the different types and uses of language tests such as norm-referenced tests (eg; the TOEFL), which can be used to ascertain general proficiency or for making placement decisions, and criterion-referenced tests (eg; your end-of-term test), which can inform you to what extent students are learning and meeting previously set and well-defined objectives. You will learn how to describe the distribution of your test results in terms of central tendency (average, median, mode) or spread (range, standard deviation), and when to favor one form of presentation over another, and you will also learn the various ways of improving your tests by scrutinizing test items. After you have understood this, you will then be able to understand reliability and error of measurement, and how this can help you in making decisions about grades. Finally, the chapter on validity will help you focus on what you are really measuring in a test and how you can make your tests accountable with respect to language constructs or other well-established tests. If you have a congenital fear of statistics, then this book may take some time to digest. If not, (or perhaps even if) then this book is well worth buying.

Read about Testing in Language Programs at Amazon.com.