APPROACHES TO LANGUAGE TESTING
Approximately language tests can be categorized according to four main approaches to testing. They are: The Essay-Translation Approach, The Structuralist Approach, The Integrative Approach and The Communicative Approach. The model of every approach using in testing will be discussed as follows.
1. The Essay-Translation Approach
a. The Characteristic and Types of Test of Essay-Translation Approach:
v This approach is commonly referred to as the pre-scientific stage of language testing.
v No special skill or expertise in testing is required.
v Tests usually consist of essay writing, translation, and grammatical analysis.
v Tests have a heavy literary and cultural bias.
v Public examinations resulting from the tests using this approach sometimes have an oral component at upper intermediate and advance levels.
b. The Strengths of Essay-Translation Approach:
v This approach is easy to do due to the reason that teachers will simply use their subjective judgment.
v The Essay-Translation Approach may be use for testing any levels of testees.
v The model of tester can easily be modified based on the essential of the tests.
c. The Weakness of Essay-Translation Approach:
v Subjective judgment of the teacher tends to make bias.
v As mentioned, the tests have a heavy literary and cultural bias.
2. The Structuralist Approach
a. The Characteristic and Types of Test of Structuralist Approach:
v This approach views that language learning is chiefly concerned wit a systematic acquisition of a set of habit.
v The Structural Approach involves structural linguistics in which the importance of constructive analysis and the need to identify and measure the learners’ mastery of the separate elements of the target language such as phonology, vocabulary, and grammar.
v In testing the skill of listening, speaking, reading, and writing are separated from another as much as possible.
b. The Strengths of Structuralist Approach:
v In testing pupils’ capability this approach may objectively and surely be used by tester.
v Many forms of test can be cover.
v Many forms of tests can be covered in the test in short time.
v This approach using in testing will helping pupils to find their strength and weakness in the every skill they studied.
c. The Weakness of Structuralist Approach:
v It tends to be a complicated job for teacher to prepare questionnaires this approach.
v By using this approach we will never consider that it is better to measure integrated skills that to measure non-integrated skills.