TOPIC 1

1.0

OVERVIEW
OF
ASSESSMENT:
CONTEXT, ISSUES AND TRENDS

SYNOPSIS

Topic 1provides you with some meanings of test, measurement, evaluation

and assessment, some basic historical development in language assessment,
and the changing trends of language assessment in the Malaysian context.

1.1

LEARNING OUTCOMES
By the end of this topic, you will be able to:

1.2

1.

define and explain the important terms of test, measurement,

evaluation, and assessment;

2.

examine the historical development in Language Assessment;

3.

describe the changing trends in Language Assessment in the

Malaysian context and discuss the contributing factors.

FRAMEWORK OF TOPICS

Definitions

OVERVIEW OF
ASSESSMENT: CONTEXT,
ISSUES & TRENDS

Purposes

Differences
of various
tests

CONTENT
SESSION ONE (3 hours)
1.3

INTRODUCTION

Assessment and examinations are viewed as highly important in most Asian

countries such as Malaysia. Language tests and assessment have also
become a prevalent part of our education system. Often, public examination
results are taken as important national measures of school accountability.
While schools are ranked and classified according to their students
performance in major public examinations, scores from language tests are
used to infer individuals language ability and to inform decisions we make
about those individuals.
In this topic, lets discuss about the concept of measurement at its
numerous definitions. We will also look into the historical development in
language assessment and the changing trends of language assessment in
our country.

1.4

DEFINITION OF TERMS test, measurement, evaluation, and

assessment.

1.4.1 Test
The four terms above are frequently used interchangeably in any
academic discussions. A test is a subset of assessment intended to measure
a test-taker's language proficiency, knowledge, performance or skills. Testing
is a type of assessment techniques. It is a systematically prepared procedure
that happens at a point in time when a test-taker gathers all his abilities to
achieve ultimate performance because he knows that his responses are being
evaluated and measured. A test is first a method of measuring a test-takers
ability, knowledge or performance in a given area; and second it must
measure.
Bachman (1990) who was also quoted by Brown defined a test as a
process of quantifying a test-takers performance according to explicit
procedures or rules.

1.4.2 Assessment
Assessment is every so often a misunderstood term. Assessment is a
comprehensive process of planning, collecting, analysing, reporting, and
using information on students over time(Gottlieb, 2006, p. 86). Mousavi
(2009) is of the opinion that assessment is appraising or estimating the level
of magnitude of some attribute of a person. Assessment is an important
aspect in the fields of language testing and educational measurement and
perhaps, the most challenging part of it.

It is an ongoing process in

educational practice, which involves a multitude of methodological techniques.

It can consist of tests, projects, portfolios, anecdotal information and student
self-reflection. A test may be assessed formally or informally, subconsciously
or consciously, as well as incidental or intended by an appraiser.

1.4.3 Evaluation
Evaluation is another confusing term.
evaluation and testing.

Many are confused between

Evaluation does not necessary entail testing.

In

reality, evaluation is involved when the results of a test (or other assessment
procedure) are used for decision-making (Bachman, 1990, pp. 22-23).
Evaluation involves the interpretation of information.

If a teacher simply

records numbers or makes check marks on a chart, it does not constitute

evaluation. When a tester or marker evaluate, s/he values the results in
such a way that the worth of the performance is conveyed to the test-taker.
This is usually done with some reference to the consequences, either good or
bad of the performance. This is commonly practised in applied linguistics
research, where the focus is often on describing processes, individuals, and
groups, and the relationships among language use, the language use
situation, and language ability.

Test scores are an example of measurement, and conveying the

meaning of those scores is evaluation.

However, evaluation can occur

without measurement. For example, if a teacher appraises a students correct

oral response with words like Excellent insight, Lilly!it is evaluation.

1.4.4 Measurement
Measurement is the assigning of numbers to certain attributes of
objects, events, or people according to a rule-governed system. For our
purposes of language testing, we will limit the discussion to unobservable
abilities or attributes, sometimes referred to as traits, such as grammatical
knowledge, strategic competence or language aptitude. Similar to other types
of assessment, measurement must be conducted according to explicit rules
and procedures as spelled out in test specifications, criteria, and procedures
for scoring. Measurement could be interpreted as the process of quantifying
the observed performance of classroom learners. Bachman (1990) cautioned
us to distinguish between quantitative and qualitative descriptions. Simply
put, the former involves assigning numbers (including rankings and letter
grades) to observed performance, while the latter consists of written
descriptions, oral feedback, and non-quantifiable reports.
The relationships among test, measurement, assessment, and their
uses are illustrated in Figure 1.

Figure 1:The relationship between tests, measurement and assessment.

(Source: Bachman, 1990)
2.0

Historical development in language assessment

From the mid-1960s, through the 1970s, language testing practices

reflected in large-scale institutional language testing and in most language

testing textbooks of the time - was informed essentially by a theoretical view
of language ability as consisting of skills (listening, speaking, reading and

writing) and components (e.g. grammar, vocabulary, pronunciation) and

an

approach to test design that focused on testing isolated discrete

points of language, while

the primary concern was with psychometric

reliability (e.g. Lado,1961; Carroll,1968). Language testing research was

dominated largely by the hypothesis that language proficiency consisted of a
single unitary trait, and a quantitative, statistical research methodology (Oller,
1979).
The 1980s saw other areas of expansion in language testing, most
importantly, perhaps, in the influence of second language acquisition(SLA)
research, which spurred language testers to investigate not only a wide
variety of factors such as field independence/dependence (e.g. Stansfield
and Hansen, 1983; Hansen, 1984; Chapelle, 1988), academic discipline
and background knowledge (e.g. Erickson and Molly, 1983; Alderson and
Urquhart, 1985; Hale, 1988) and discourse domains (Douglas and Selinker,
1985) on language test performance, but also the strategies involved in
the process of test-taking itself(e.g. Grotjahn, 1986; Cohen, 1987).

If the 1980s saw a broadening of the issues and concerns of language

testing into other areas of applied linguistics, the 1990s saw a continuation of
this trend. In this decade the field also witnessed expansions in a number of
areas:
a)

research methodology;

b)

practical advances;

c)

factors that affect performance on language tests;

d)

authentic, or performance, assessments; and

e)

concerns with the ethics of language testing and professionalising

the field
The beginning of the new millennium is another exciting time for

anyone interested in language testing and assessment research.

Current

developments in the fields of applied linguistics, language learning and

pedagogy, technological innovation, and educational measurement have
opened up some rich new research avenues.

3.0

Changing trends in Language Assessment-Malaysian context

History has clearly shown that teaching and assessment should be

intertwined in education. Assessment and examinations are viewed as highly

important in Malaysia. One does not need to look very far to see how
important testing and assessment have become in our education system.
Often, public examination results are taken as important national measures of
school accountability. Schools are ranked and classified according to their
students performance in major public examinations. Just as assessment
impacts student learning and motivation, it also influences the nature of
instruction in the classroom. There has been considerable recent literature
that has promoted assessment as something that is integrated with
instruction, and not an activity that merely audits learning (Shepard, 2000).
When assessment is integrated with instructions, it informs teachers about
what activities and assignments will be most useful, what level of teaching is
most appropriate, and how summative assessments provide diagnostic
information.
With this in mind, we have to look at the changing trends in
assessment particularly language assessment in this country, which has been
carried out mainly through the examination system until recent years. Starting
from the year 1845, written tests in schools were introduced for a number of
subjects. This trend in assessment continued with the intent to gauge the
effectiveness of the teaching-learning process. In Malaysia, the development
of formal evaluation and testing in education began after Independence.
Public examinations have long been the only measurement of students
achievement.

Figure 1 shows the four stages/phases of development of

examination system in our country. The stages are as follow:

Pre-Independence
Razak Report
Rahman Talib Report
Cabinet Report
Malaysia Education Blueprint (2013-2025)
On 3rd May 1956, the Examination Unit (later known as Examination
Syndicate) in the Ministry of Education (MOE) was formed on the

recommendation of the Razak Report (1956).

The main objective of the

Malaysia Examination Syndicate (MES) was to fulfil one of the Razak Reports
recommendations, which was to establish a common examination system for
all the schools in the country.
In line with the on-going transformation of the national educational
system, the current scenario is gradually changing. A new evaluation system
known as the School Based Assessment (SBA) was introduced in 2002 as a
move away from traditional teaching to keep abreast with changing trends of
assessment and to gauge the competence of students by taking into
consideration both academic and extra curricular achievements.
According to the Malaysian Ministry of Education (MOE), the new
assessment system aims to promote a combination of centralised and schoolbased assessment. Malaysian Teacher Education Division (TED) is entrusted
by the Ministry of Education to formulate policies and guidelines to prepare
teachers for the new implementation of assessment. As emphasised in the
innovation of the student assessment, continuous school-based assessment
is administered at all grades and all levels. Additionally, students sit for
common public examinations at the end of each level. It is also a fact that the
role of teachers in the new assessment system is vital. Teachers will be given
empowerment in assessing their students.
The Malaysia Education Blueprint was launched in September this
year, and with it, a three-wave initiative to revamp the education system over
the next 12 years. One of its main focuses is to overhaul the national
curriculum and examination system, widely seen as heavily content-based
and un-holistic.It is a timely move, given our poor results at the 2009
Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) tests. Based on the
2009 assessment, Malaysia lags far behind regional peers like Singapore,
Japan,

South

Korea,

and

Hong

Kong

in

every

category.

Poor performance in Pisa is normally linked to students not being able

to demonstrate higher order thinking skill. To remedy this, the Ministry of
Education has started to implement numerous changes to the examination
system. Two out of the three nationwide examinations that we currently
administer to primary and secondary students have gradually seen major
changes. Generally, the policies are ideal and impressive, but there are still a

few questions on feasibility that have been raised by concern parties.

Figure 1 below shows the development of educational evaluation in
Malaysia since pre-independence until today.
PreIndependence

Implementation
of the Razak
Report (1956)

Implementation
of the
RahmanTalib
Report (1960)

Implementation
of the Cabinet
Report (1979)

Implementation of
the Malaysia
Education Blueprint
(2013 2025)

Examinations were conducted according

to the needs of school or based on
overseas examinations such as the
Overseas School Certificate.

Razak Report gave birth to the National

Education Policy and the creation of
Examination Syndicate (LP). LP conducted
examinations such as the Cambridge and
Malayan Secondary School Entrance
Examination (MSSEE), and Lower
Certificate of Education (LCE)
Examination.

RahmanTalib Report recommended the

following actions:
1. Extend schooling age to 15 years old.
2. Automatic promotion to higher classes.
3. Multi-stream education (Aneka Jurusan).
The following changes in examination were
made:
- The entry of elective subjects in LCE and
SRP.
- Introduction examination of the Standard 5
Evaluation Examination.
- The introduction of Malaysia's Vocational
Education Examination.
- The introduction of the Standard 3 Dignostic
Test (UDT).

The implementation of Cabinet Report

resulted in evolution of the education system
to its present state, especially with KBSR
and KBSM. Adjustments were made in
examination to fulfill the new curriculum's
needs and to ensure it is in line with the
National Education Philosophy.

The emphasis is on School-Based Assessment

(SBA). It was first introduced in 2002. It is a new
system of assessment and is one of the new
areas where teachers are directly involved. The
revamp of the national examination and schoolbased assessments in stages, whereby by 2016,
at least 40% of questions in Ujian Penilaian
Sekolah Rendah (UPSR) and 50% in Sijil
Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM) are of high order
thinking skills questions.

Figure 1: The development of educational evaluation in Malaysia

Source: Malaysia Examination Board (MES)
http://apps.emoe.gov.my/1pm/maklumatam.htm
By and large, the role of MES is to complement and complete the
implementation of the national education policy. Among its achievements are:

i
vi

Implementation
of Malay
Language as the
National
Language (1960)

Implementation of
the Open
Certificate
Syndicate
The
achievements
of Malaysia
Examination
Syndicate
v
iv
Recognition of
Examination
certificates

Putting in place an
examination system
to meet national
needs

ii
Pioneering the
use of
computer in
the country
(1967)

iii
Taking over the
work of the
Cambridge
Examination
Syndicate

Figure 2: The achievements of Malaysia Examination Syndicate (MES)

Source: Malaysia Examination Board (MES)
http://apps.emoe.gov.my/1pm/maklumatam.htm

Exercise
Describe the stages involved in the development of
educational evaluation in Malaysia.
Read
more: http://www.nst.com.my/nation/general/schoolbased-assessment-plan-may-need-tweaking1.166386

Tutorial question
Examine the contributing factors to the changing trends of
language assessment.
Create and present findings using graphic organisers.