1.- What is the purpose of the teacher Marisela's test?

     We conclude that the main purpose is to measure how much we (students) know about the subject (about writing) the exam covers and measure how much we have learned about the material that was taught, based on the chapter 19 – Teaching Writing from D.J. Brown's book, within the objectives of the first unit. So we agree that it is an Achievement Test or some kind of Final Achievement Test, assuming that it is based directly on the content of the subject about writing.


2.- Does it represent direct of indirect testing (or a mixture of both)?

  The test attempt to measure if we are very skillful to understand and to transfer our knowledge about the role of the teacher of written language; its characteristics; its principles and techniques, etc. in order to encourage students to develop their writing skills. So we considered that the testing is absolutely Direct.

3.- Are the items discrete point or integrative (or a mixture of both)?

      The test is formulated for students who have a complete knowledge of the second language, in this case English, we think that is a mixture of both, since the first one refers to the testing of one element but at the same time refers to a particular grammatical structure, and Integrative testing, involves the combination of many language elements. In order to know if the student has acquired the knowledge of the unit, the requirement to have an excellent grade is to answer the questions with the right grammatical structure and combine as many language elements in the second language.

4.- Which items are objective , and which are subjective? Can you order the subjective items according to degree of subjective?

  All the items are objective because no judgment is required on the part of the scorer, the questions have to be answered according to the chapter and the concepts exactly definition. Since it is not a multiple choice test, we cant order the subjective items according to degree of subjective.

5.- The test norm – reference or criterion – referenced?

      The questions 1 to 12 are norm – reference, the students must to answer correctly based on the chapter or the information which teacher give the student.
     About the question 13, the students have to make three specific activities for writing, this question is evaluated with teacher’s criteria, and each of the students could answer different according your creativity, imagination, knowledge, etc.
For instance the 13 question is criterion – reference.
 
6.- Does the test measure communicative abilities? Would you describe it as a communicative test? Justify your answer.

      This test is for future language teachers, it is about writing and how to teach writing, to consider this kind of specific test for measure “the ability to take part in acts of communication (including reading and listening)” we have to apply in the student – teacher communication, but this kind of exam is for specific people who study this particular subject, not for language students.
As we mention before, could be a communicative test in writing communication teacher –student.


ACTIVITY 3
Omar:

      There are three main concepts related to the content of a test. We must say that if a test measures knowledge of the content domain of which it was planned to measure knowledge, the test has Content validity.  
 
     Criterion-related validity tests are useful for vaticinate or predicting the students behavior in a specific situation. There are two kinds of Criterion-related: in Concurrent validity, the criterion information are collected about or at the same time. Concurrent validation is applicable for tests designed to asses students current situation. In Predictive validity, the criterion information or data are are collected at some later point, and the predictor scores are collected first.
      If it accurately measures a non-observable construct, trait or theoretical, the test has Construct validity.
     A test is reliable if it is free from error and provides information about examinees’ "true" test scores and that it provides repeatable, consistent results.
     If test is effective, then it has Practicality. It stays within appropriate time constraints and it’s easy to deal with. It also has evaluation procedures that were designed to be time-efficient.
      Washback:  the test result will give students the chance to be aware of what their weaknesses must be focused on.


Felipe:

Validity.
The term validity refers = evidence (test) and how this evidence is measurable. Obviously we have a different kind of tests in language teaching, for example: reading ability, control of grammar, etc. For this reason exist the term “construct validity”. The two subordinate forms of validity are:
Content validity: specific content to measure.
Criterion – related validity: take other areas to measure, and this criterion – related validity is divided in two form of validity: concurrent validity: the criterion is on real or same time, and predictive validity: predict “future performance”
 
Reliability.
The test, the results, notes, etc. need to be consistent, and don’t show “big changes”
 
Practicality.
The test is easy to administer, and useful for the teacher.
 
Backwash effect.
The impact in learners and teachers could be positive or negative.


Daniela:

 Validity: A test is said to have validity  if it measure what it is supposed to measure.

Reliability: A test with a reliability coefficient of 1 is one which would give precisely the same result for a particular sets of candidates regardless of when it happened to be administrated.

Practicality: Is a not too long or too short test  that is easy to administer, appropriate and accurate, involves scoring/evaluation procedure.

Backwash: is the effect that test have on learning and teaching, is now seen as a part of the impact a test may have on learners and teachers, on educational systems in general, and on society at large.