This is a second edition of this classic text on language testing. Over the years the first edition has established itself as a core text on many ESL teacher training programs. There is no other text that is as comprehensive and accessible as Testing for Language Teachers. All of the chapters for this second edition have been revised and updated. It also has new chapters on tests for young learners and testing overall ability, as well as new and accessible appendices on statistical analysis and item banking. No other book on language testing covers the areas that all language teachers need to know when testing their students' language skills.
PRODUCT DETAILS
Publisher: Cambridge University Press Pub. Date: 16th December 2002 Catalog: Book Media: Paperback Number Of Pages: 264 Ean: 9780521484954 Isbn: 0521484952
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USER REVIEWS
good ~ Written on Mar 5, 2009. out of 1 users found this review helpful.
The book was in good condition just as described. The shipment took a little longer than I expected, but still in the range of claim.
An Excellent Resource for Practicing Teachers ~ Written on Oct 19, 2005. 12 out of 12 users found this review helpful.
It seems that a lot of books in the market on testing deal with the theoretical background of designing large scale tests on the institutional level. Those sorts of books are not so useful for the practicing teacher who is looking for a little guidance on improving their test writing skills for daily classes. This book is written with that teacher in mind. It doesn't overload the reader with loads of statistics, but if you are interested in the statistical basis of the ideas presented in this book, there is a section on statistics in the appendix.
Basically, this book is divided into three sections. The first section covers the different types of test a teacher might want to give and the differences between those types. The second part delves into the theory of validity and realiability, but doesn't overwhelm the reader with loads of numbers and figures. The third part goes into how to test different skills. The attitude the author takes toward testing is that a test should focus on one of the four basic skills: speaking, reading, writing, or listening. Grammar and vocabulary, he claims, are not ends in themselves, but merely components of the four basic skills, so they don't need to be given much emphasis in testing. I thought that was an interesting idea.
If you're a teacher looking for a book to help you with your test writing skills, I can recommend this one.
(2 customer reviews)
An Excellent Resource for Practicing Teachers
