Test reporting of English language proficiencies of teacher trainees: Towards a profiling assessment system

Abstract

A single overall grading is the hallmark of test reporting practices in education. This assessment system has provided an efficient and convenient means of reporting test results for a summative purpose such as certifying students on completion of a course of study or selecting students who can benefit from the next level of education. However it is less useful for reporting results for a formative purpose such as monitoring students' learning progress or diagnosing their learning difficulties. The National Institute of Education has developed a computerised assessment tool known as "NIE Computerised English Language Test" (NIECELT) for testing the English language proficiencies of prospective students in pre-service teacher training programmes. NIECELT, however, can be used for creating appropriate tests meant for any other grade level as well – primary, secondary or college. This paper will describe a profiling assessment system to be incorporated into the test reporting of language proficiencies. NIECELT, an interactive mode of computerised testing, presents a number of sub-tests for assessing a student’s level of competence in English sentence structure, collocation, text cohesion, text meaning, editing skills as well as semantic awareness. By harnessing the computer's unique capabilities in data management, the student's performance in specific language skill areas can be profiled.