OUTLINE

Background

Since language implicated some activities in humans life makes there is a lot of activities

also which is relevant with the applied linguistics like education. Nowadays, Education plays an

important role for human being to achieve their life goal and language education concerned with

the role of learning a language to be able to communicate with others while, applied linguistics is

an academic discipline focused on the relationship between language and the knowledge of users

to make a decision of life in rational consideration for effective actualization (Cook, 2003). This

discipline involves the knowledge about what the students know about the language, how the

students learn the language (i.e. by using some methods and technique) and how the language

itself is used to communicate as the purpose of learning the language.

In language and education, there are three areas called first language education and

additional language education, clinical linguistics and language testing (Cook, 2003). First

language education refers to the students who learn their mother tongue, additional language

education can be divided into two called second language education (i.e. the students learn their

official language and not their mother tongue) and foreign language that refers to the students

who learn other countries language, the next one is called clinical language which refers to the

study of speech communication damage whether it is hereditary or not. The last one is called

language testing which refers to the evaluation of the students achievement toward the language

in their first language as well as their additional language in terms of specific or general

purposes.

The evaluation of the students achievement toward the language is needed to proof that the

students have ability in using that kind of language in their real life with rational consideration
for effective actualization. Relating with the students first language and additional language

there are some test which is followed by the students to certain purposes. Aptitude tests,

placement tests, achievement test, progress tests, diagnostic tests, and proficiency test are types

of test which measured the individual aspect (Sarosdy, Bencze, Poor & Vadnay. 2006). In

academic program, the term summative and formative test are more common. Those tests should

be passed by the students in order to achieve their purpose in language learning. But, when they

able to pass it, it not always means that they are have a good ability toward the language.

Chapter I

- What is applied linguistics

According to international encyclopedia of linguistics, applied linguistics defines as a
knowledge about language that is used to solve language-related problem or it can be said
as a mediator between theory and practice to make the abstract idea and research finding
accessible and relevant to the real world.
- What is language education
Language education refers to the process and practice of acquiring a second or foreign
language. It primarily is a branch of applied linguistics, however can be considered an
interdisciplinary field. There are four main learning categories for language education:
communicative competencies, proficiencies, cross-cultural experiences, and multiple
literacies
- What is language testing
The activity of developing and using language tests. As a psychometric activity, language
testing traditionally was more concerned with the production, development and analysis
of tests. Recent critical and ethical approaches to language testing have placed more
emphasis on the uses of language tests. The purpose of a language test is to determine a
persons knowledge and/or ability in the language and to discriminate that persons ability
from that of others. Such ability may be of different kinds, achievement, proficiency or
aptitude. Tests, unlike scales, consist of specified tasks through which language abilities
are elicited. The term language assessment is used in free variation with language testing
 although it is also used somewhat more widely to include for example classroom testing
for learning and institutional examinations (Alan Davies, University of Edinburgh).
- The relationship between applied linguistics and language education
- The role of language testing in applied linguistics and language education
- What is the purpose of language testing
The purposes of language testing are:
1. To measure language proficiency regardless of any language courses that candidates
may have followed.
2. To discover how far students have achieved the objectives of a course of study.
3. To diagnose students strengths and weaknesses
4. To identify what they know and what they dont know
5. To assist placement of students by identifying he stage or part of a teaching program
most appropriate to their ability
- Why language testing is important

Pit Corder (1973:351) is of the view that language tests are measuring instruments and
they are applied to learners, not to the teaching materials or teachers. For this reason they
do not tell us directly about the contribution of the teacher or the materials to the
learning process. They are designed to measure the learners knowledge of or
competence in the language at particular moment in his course and nothing else.

The knowledge of one pupil may be compared with the knowledge of others or with that
of the same pupil at a different time, or with same standard or norm, as in the case of
height, weight, temperature etc.

According to Halliday, et al., (1966:215), tests are an attempt to construct an instrument

for measuring attainment, or progress, or ability in language skills. Thus, testing is a set
of techniques of questioning and observing to find out how far learning is taking place,
whether the students are following the teacher or instructor, and what are the problems of
the students? It is also used to assess the knowledge of the students in order to compare
one individual to another individual in the same group.

The term evaluation in modern educational practice is used for tests and
examination. It is a general term that covers both. It is a much more comprehensive
term than either test or examination. The term test refers to the measurement of the
competence of the learners with reference to the particular area of knowledge, whereas
 the term examination refers to particular standard that is to be achieved by the learner
after a particular level.

A test is regarded as an attempt to see whether the things taught have been learned, while
examination is regarded as an attempt to find out whether the students have attained
certain predetermined standard. Thus, a test is directly concerned with teaching while an
examination is linked with an externally fixed standard of achievement.

However, since both tests and examinations have the same common function, namely
evaluation, it has become conventional to call them tests.

Chapter II

- Kinds of language testing

Tests are designed for different purposes, which help in making decisions about possible
course of action. Keeping in view the purpose, tests may be characterized as follows:
(a) Proficiency tests:
It is designed to find out how much of a language a person actually knows. As
Davies (1977:46) suggests, proficiency tests, as we see it, are concerned with assessing
what has been learned of a known or an unknown syllabus. This test may be used
generally before language teaching programme in order to prepare the teaching materials
for the learning programme. On the basis of the information collected through this test,
language teachers prepare their teaching materials. This test is very helpful in order to
organize teaching materials according to the current need.
(b) Achievement tests:
This test is constructed to find out that how much of a course a learner has actually
mastered. Paterno (1965: 376) is of the view that An achievement test is an inquiry to
see if what has been taught is retained. It determines that how much of the material of a
course has actually been mastered by the learner. This includes only what has been taught
to him. These tests are generally given at the end of the teaching program.
(c) Prognostic tests:
This test is designed to predict the knowledge of a person, that, up to which level he is
able to learn. This test is very useful for selecting the students in any language learning
program and the material of teaching, which is sufficient to the learner in any teaching
program.
 (d) Diagnostic tests:
Diagnostic test differs from other tests on the basis of the use of the information obtained
and to the absence of a skill in the learner. The purpose of this test is to find out what
remains to be taught during the course of learning. As Davies (1977:47) points out that,
a diagnostic test may be constructed for itself or it may be an additional use made of an
achievement or proficiency test. If it is specially constructed it could perhaps be argued
that some element of learners skills, or rather absence of skill, is involved because the
tester is concerned with discovering what might be termed non achievement.
Through this test a teacher can know where the learner needs more attention and which
area of language skills has to be practiced more. This test also points out the
shortcomings of the learner and of teaching materials. And if teacher will know
shortcomings of the learner and of teaching materials, he could adopt certain remedial
methods in order to remove the learning difficulties.
- How is the criteria of proficiency to be achieved
Elder (in Widdwson, 1995) states proficiency can be define into three as follows:
1. The general type of knowledge towards language included how the language is

used and in what type of context of conversation.

2. The students ability in using language specifically. For example proficiency in

English to be a tour guide in Thailand or proficiency in English to study in USA.

3. The students performance that already assess by using language testing. Some

characteristics towards the result of test can give a judge towards the students

language proficiency whether it is superior, intermediate or novice.

Language proficiency itself is designed by the language test. It is more theory

based.

- What is the achievement on language testing related to language and evaluation

Achievement refers to the syllabus or material based. Achievement will tell about the

result of learning a course. For example when the students can achieve the objectives of

descriptive test.
- Review journal that is related to language testing

Chapter III

- Conclusion
 The proper relationship between teaching and testing is surely that of partnership. It is
true that there may be occasions when the teaching is good and appropriate and testing is
not. Because the learner likely to suffer from harmful backwash. Students true abilities
are not always reflected in the test scores that they obtain. Language abilities are not easy
to measure; we cannot expect the level of accuracy comparable to those of measurements
in the physical sciences. Information about peoples language ability is often very useful
and sometimes necessary. It can be for applying work, school or for the carrier
orientation.

Refferences