used to score the lesson but also to describe person’s behavior. The student as a test- taker will get the same opportunities in a restricted situation with its instructions.
According to Oxford dictionary, “Test is an examination of a person’s knowledge or ability.”
9
From the definition, the writer thinks that we can know individual knowledge and ability with using test.
While McNamara states that “Language test is a procedure for gathering evidence of general or specific language abilities from performance on tasks
designed to provide a basis for predictions about an individual’s use of those abilities in real world contexts.”
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With using test we can know general or specific language abilities of the student and can be used in real world contexts.
Based on the opinion above, the writer can conclude that a test is a procedure or an appliance used to know or measure the students’ comprehension or knowledge
about the subject area more accurately. Also test is the way to determine the level of education. A test is a tool or device either in the form of question, order or direction
used to measure and value the students’ achievement in mastering the material given by the teacher in accordance to the curriculum.
2. Purposes of Test
There are 8 kinds purpose of test. Those are description, prediction, assessing individual differences, objectives evaluation, domain estimation, mastery decisions,
diagnosis, and pre- and post assessment. It supports by William Wiersma that an illustrative but not exhaustive list of
test purposes follows: a.
Description Many tests are developed to describe the present status of individuals on a
variety of variables. b.
Prediction Some tests are used to predict the future performance of the examinees.
c. Assessing individual differences
9
Oxford, Learner’s Pocket Dictionary, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2005, 3
rd
Edition, p. 446.
10
Tim McNamara, Language Testing, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2000, p. 11.
Some tests are used to differentiate between people in order to identify those who are the highest and those who are the lowest on some measure.
d. Objectives evaluation
Many schools operate within an objectives based environment. It is essential in such situations to report progress and to plan instruction in terms of the
objectives that have been mastered by the student. Of course, the mastery of an objective is a decision that is often based on test scores.
e. Domain estimation
In some educational setting, there is a well specified domain of content. Many tests are designed to estimate the percentage of a domain that the
student understands.
f. Mastery decisions
Mastery of specific objectives as well as mastery of a larger block of content is often determined on the basis of test scores.
g. Diagnosis
An instructional plan for a student should be based on a thorough diagnosis of his or her areas of strength and weakness. The educational diagnosis is
usually determined by performance on one or more tests. Diagnosis tests are very detailed because they focus on specific and discrete responses of the
student.
h. Pre- and post assessment
These tests need to be sensitive enough to measure the changes in status or performance from one time to another. The focus in this case is the difference
between the pretest and the posttest scores rather than the scores themselves.
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Based on the explanation above, it shows that the purposes of test consist of description, prediction, etc.
3. Types of Test and Types of Test Item
a. Types of Test
There are many types of test used to measure students’ achievement. Based on its purpose, there are three types of test namely achievement test, proficiency test,
and aptitude test.
1 Achievement Tests
11
William Wiersma and Stephen G. Jurs, Educational Measurement and Testing, London: Allyn and Bacon, 1990, 2
nd
Edition, p. 27-28.
