| |Short answers test |
| |Cloze test |
| |Gap-filling test |
| |False/true statement |
| | |
|Listening skills |Multiple-choice items |
| |False/true statements |
| |Gap-filling tests |
| |Dictations |
| |Listening recall |
| | |
|Writing skills |Dictations |
| |Compositions |
| |Reproductions |
| |Writing stories |
| |Writing diaries |
| |Filling-in forms |
| |Word formation |
| |Sentence transformation |
| | |
|Speaking skills |Retelling stories |
| |Describing pictures |
| |Describing people |
| |Spotting the differences |
Chapter 6
Analysis of the Test of English as a Foreign Language and Cambridge First
Certificate test according to test design criteria.
The present chapter deals with the practical part of the research. It
will be based on the analysis and comparison of two proficiency tests
formats TOEFL (The Test of English as a Foreign Language) test and CFC
(Cambridge First Certificate) test. We will start with the brief
description of their overall features; afterwards we will make an attempt
to contrast them and draw relevant conclusions.
The first test to be discussed is Cambridge First Certificate test. It
will usually consist of five papers: reading with the duration time 1 hour
and 15 minutes, writing -1 hour 30 minutes, use of English -1 hour 15
minutes, listening - 40 minutes and speaking approximately 14 minutes.
There is no absolute pass mark, but the candidates need to get about 60% of
the total marks to pass with a Grade C (Prodromou, 1998:6-7).
TOEFL test is an examination that intends to evaluate the level of the
English language of a foreign speaker (Gear, 1996:3-4). Moreover, it is
commonly one of the aspects included into the entrance exams of any
university in the USA. The institution the person requires the test for
could implement the demanded score here. Nevertheless, the highest score
does not differ from that of the CFC. TOEFL test as CFC test consists of
four different parts: listening comprehension that occupies approximately
35 minutes and consists of three parts, structure and written expression
with time limit 25 minutes composed of two tasks and reading comprehension
– 55 minutes, consisting of several passages.
Here we can notice some differences between CFC and TOEFL tests: when
TOEFL test consists of just four parts, CFC includes a speaking part more.
Moreover, each part of each test will include a various range of tasks,
i.e. each part TOEFL test will mainly be composed of two tasks, whereas
CFC will classically contain four different activities.
Doing the tests in both cases the students will get special answers
sheets where they will have to mark the answers they think are the right
ones. The instructions before the taking the test usually warn the
participants not to write in the books with questions. Moreover, both tests
are checked by the scoring machine, therefore the students should be aware
of what type of marking the answers they have to use. In both cases it
should be a black lead pencil for the scoring machine to read. The answers
should not be circled or lightly marked; in TOEFL test the students are
supposed to fill in an oval answer with a letter inside corresponding to
the question, whereas in CFC the students will have to fill in a small
rectangular under a certain letter. Together the two tests remind the
participants to choose only one answer. If the student changes his/her mind
and decides to choose another answer, s/he can easily rub out the previous
answer.
We can call the both tests valid, for they test what is supposed to be
tested and measured and they usually have the same format and length;
regarding reliability, we cannot say exactly whether there is reliability
or not, for if the student was not lucky for the first time taking the
test, s/he can study hard and take the test again for the second time and,
thus, score a better result.
Both of the tests involve the four skills: reading, listening, speaking
and writing. The difference could be found in the sequence of them, for
example if CFC test will start with reading first, TOEFL test will deal
with listening. The types of tasks and activities implied in the test
differ as well. We will start our analysis with reading part.
Reading Comprehension Part
CFC reading paper will test the students’ ability to read in a variety of
ways: reading for gist (understanding of the text), reading for details,
understanding how a text is organized and deducing the meaning from the
context. (Typically, the students could be given four parts to fill)
(Prodromou, 1998:8). For that purpose CFC reading paper will offer the
students multiple matching. The students will have to match headings or
summary sentences to the parts of the text. They will have to show their
ability to grasp the overall meaning of the text involving various kinds of
knowledge such as morphological, semantic and syntactical one. For example:
Meet the Flinstones, a modern Stone Age family. From the town of Bedrock,
here’s a bit about their history….
1. Somewhere in the world, every hour of every day, The Flinstones is being
broadcast. An incredible 300 million fans tune in to watch it regularly.
Whether you like them or not, Fred, Wilma and their neighbours are
impossible to avoid….
A) Rocky jokes B) A Stone Age family in skins C) A new idea D) A
popular show, etc.
Prodromou, First Certificate Star,
1998
Thus, basing on the theory we have discussed in the first part of our
paper, we can claim that it is integrative type of test, though being
direct, that denotes testing one particular skill directly, but not through
other language skills.
Afterwards, CFC may offer the students multiple choice, gapped texts and
again multiple matching only connected with information. In multiple-choice
activity the students will have to answer four-option multiple-choice
questions about a text. For example:
Mad Cow Disease is a deadly illness of the brain and it is the non-
technical term for BSE or Bovine Spongiform Encephalitis. This so difficult
to say that journalists and even some doctors prefer the more vivid Mad Cow
Disease…
1. We use the expression Mad Cow Disease because
A) it is more accurate.
B) It is easier to say.
C) It links cows with people.
D) It sounds less scientific.
Prodromou, First Certificate Star,
1998
It is obvious that only one answer will be the right one, but the others
will be distractors that will try to confuse the reader. It will limit the
students and make them use a variety of reading strategies, knowledge of
vocabulary and syntaxes to discover the right variant. However, the
students will not have an opportunity to support their choices and prove
why the answer they have chosen is the exact one. Moreover, the students
will be checked whether they understand the general meaning of the text,
its details, whether they can infer the meaning from the text and
understand references (who refers who). Thus, we can declare that this type
of test is integrative, for it involves the students’ abilities to apply
various reading strategies and still direct, for it tests just reading
skills.
The same could be said about gapped texts that will check the students’
knowledge of reading strategies, such as organization of the text, reading
for gist, etc. (examples available in Appendix p.17) To complete it the
students will have to show their knowledge of the certain areas of the
language. Multiple matching will require the students to match pieces of
information either with a certain text divided into fragments or with
several texts joined together with one topic (examples available in
Appendix p.8).
CFC will display various types of texts in order to see how well the
students can cope with any authentic material when dealing with reading.
They will have to show their capability of dealing with advertisements,
letters, stories, travelling brochures, guides, manuals, and magazine and
newspaper articles. The type of test applicable here will be integrative,
including a variety of strategies and direct checking the students reading
skills.
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