CHAPTER II THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK
A. Test
1. The Definition of Test
Test is one of instruments for collecting data. Test can be used in an instructional program to assess entry behavior, monitoring learning progress,
diagnose learning difficulties, and measure performance at the end of instruction. Tests are given for many different reasons. In order to achieve
such diverse purposes, they need to be carefully planned. In classroom settings, this planning usually entails instructional objectives.
A test is a procedure designed to elicit certain behavior from which one can make inferences about certain characteristics of an individual.
1
A test is an instrument, device, or procedure that proposes a sequence of tasks which
a student is to respond – the result of which are used as measures of a specific
trait. Test may be defined as a task or series of tasks used to obtain systematic observations presumed to be representative of educational or psychological
traits or attributes.
2
Cronbach defines a test as a “systematic procedure for observing a person’s behavior and describing it with the aid of a numerical scale or a
1
Lyle F. Bahman, Statistical Analysis for Language Assessment, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2004, p. 9.
2
Gilbert Sax, Principles of Educational and Psychological Measurement and Evaluation, Belmont: Wadsworth Publishing Company, 1980, p. 13.
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category system”. The phrase “systematic procedure” indicates that a test is constructed, administered, scored and described according to prescribed rules.
The term behavior implies that a test measures the responses a person makes to the test items. Tests do not measure a person directly but rather they infer
his characteristics from his responses to test items. We do not observe all behavior but only a sample of behavior. A test contains only a sample of all
possible items. The test results are described with the aid of measurement scales.
3
Based on the definitions above, the writer can conclude that a test is an instrument
which is administered to measure students’ responses to the test items.
2. Types of Test
Test can be categorized according to the types of information they provide. This categorization will prove useful both in deciding whether an
existing test is suitable for a particular purpose and in writing appropriate new tests where these are necessary.
4
Test can be classified based on its purpose and based on its test maker.
a. Based on its purpose
1 Aptitude Test
An aptitude test is primarily designed to predict success in some future learning activity. It is generally given before the student begins
language study, and may be used to select students for a language course or to place students in section appropriate to their ability.
There are some information provided by aptitude test that the test is useful in determining learning readiness, individualizing instruction,
organizing classroom groups, identifying underachievers, diagnosing
3
H.J.X. Fernandes, Testing and Measurement, Jakarta: National Educational Planning, Evaluation and Curriculum Development, 1984, p.1.
4
Arthur Hughes, Testing for Language Teachers, New York: Cambridge University Press, 2003, p.5.
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