Testing and Assessment in Context

A. Introduction Nowadays, we may find kind of testing and assessment in every daily life aspect easily. Every kind of test has each purpose. Teachers and students are probably being the most familiar people with the term testing and assessment. The teachers also apply testing and assessment to motivate learners to study. Language testing and assessment are a complex social phenomenon. They have a number of function either its in the classroom or in the society at large. They are also gate keeping tools for further agendas. Carol (1961: 314) states: the purpose of language testing is always to render information to aid in making intelligent decision about possible courses of action. Based on that statement, language testing always produces decision differently and certainly should be made very specific for each intended use of a test. B. Content Before we go further to clarify about text in context, lets see the meaning of test from Oxford Advanced Learners Dictionary. Test is an examination of knowledge or ability, consisting of questions for them to answer or activities for them to carry out. It means that test has so many purposes which lead to final goal (advantage), but sometimes emerge unintended consequence (disadvantage). Basically, a conventional testing activity starts from arriving at a prespecified place at the same time as others, sitting in a designated seat a regulation distance from other seats, and then answering the same questions as other learners in the same time period. One of the largest test systems in the world is the National College Entrance Test in China (The Gaokao). The out come is to determine which college or university will be attended by the examinee then. All colleges and universities in China set their own entrance score and allocate a number of places to each province. Millions of students strive to pass that kind of competitive test. From the example above, its obvious that the general purpose of test is to provide equality and opportunity for the examinee. There should be no discrimination or unfairness to any test taker. According to Mill (1873; 257), there are three principles that place limits on what can be done with test: 1. Relates to who makes tests, and thus to who is able to make judgments about which knowledge is valued. 2. Relates to test content and what may not be tested. 3. Relates to test use and the kinds of decisions made about people on the basis of test scores.

A competitive test should not be controlled by the state or ministry of education, but by an independent authority. The best Ministry of Education is that which interferes least in the operation of the system (Cecil, 1971: 4). For Mill, the role of a ministry was merely to provide the infrastructure for the system to operate. In fact, the practice of a test can never be separated from political values. For example, in our country Indonesia, as we know that the largest test for elementary, junior and senior high school student is National Examination (Ujian Nasional). The decision maker of National Examination is Ministry of Education through Department of Education and Culture (DEPDIKBUD). Other large scale test examples are SMPTN and CPNS examination which can never be separated from political values. As mentioned earlier, a test sometimes impacts some unintended consequences, such as: 1. The fact that many students and teachers cease to study language, and start to study the test. 2. The possibility of deteriorating health. 3. The phenomenon of examinee migration C. Comment Having analyzed testing and assessment in context, I would like to give some comments. First, test is very useful in general. It influences our daily life as I have experienced as a teacher, the tests used to determine my students progress in learning either academic or psychology. It can also motivate my students to study harder. Second, the best system of a test in the world will be worthless if human resources (examiner) are not truthful. It will cause the tests result bias and not reliable. Id like to pick up an example of controvertible test in Indonesia; National Examination was actually well prepared by our government through Department of Education and Culture. But, in fact it was failed to prove as a competitive and ideal test for elementary, junior and senior high school students. Some provinces in Indonesia were delayed to execute National Examination. Many schools had got wrong package of question for certain subjects. All of these problems seem obvious; however the system itself is quite good. There can be no doubt that we should save our students by renovating the human resources who are responsible for National Examination. Another example is CPNS examination. Many newspaper and news-online site headlines reported about deceitful of CPNS test. Some of unqualified examinee could pass the test easily by giving millions rupiah or have a close relationship with certain bureaucracy. So, whats for that examination? Its all about human resources again. Fortunately, our government has realized that crucial problem. The next CPNS examination is going to be held by independent institution through CAT (Computer Assisted Test) system instead of a conventional and controversy test.

D. Conclusion In conclusion, language testing and assessment are a complex social phenomenon. They have a number of function either its in the classroom or in the society at large. Its obvious that the general purpose of test is to provide equality and opportunity for the examinee. There should be no discrimination or unfairness to any test taker. But sometimes in the implementation there will be many unintended consequences toward the test result, and they must be minimized. It might be a good idea to develop human resources quality in order to provide a qualified test for our students especially.

E. Reference Caroll, J.B. (1961). Fundamental considerations in testing for English language proficiency of foreign students. Reprinted in Allen, H.B. and Campbell, R.N. 9eds) (1965). Teaching English as a Second Language: A book of Readings. New York: McGraw Hill, 313-330. Cecil, R. (1971). Education and Elitism in Nazi Germany. ICR Monograph Series No. 5. London: Institute for Cultural Research. Fulcher, G. (2010). Practical Language Testing. Great Britain: Hodder Education Hornby, A.S. (2000). Oxford Advanced Learners Dictionary. New York: .Oxford University Press Mill, J.S. (1873). Autobiography. London: Longmans, Green, Reader and Dyer.