Published

2016-07-01

Aligning English Language Testing With Curriculum

Alineación de exámenes de un programa de inglés con su currículo

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.15446/profile.v18n2.53302

Keywords:

Classroom tests, integrated language skills, reliability, validity (en)
confiabilidad, habilidades lingüísticas integradas, pruebas, validez (es)

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Authors

  • Marcela Palacio Universidad EAFIT
  • Sandra Gaviria Universidad EAFIT
  • James Dean Brown University of Hawaii

Frustrations with traditional testing led a group of teachers at the English for adults program at Universidad EAFIT (Colombia) to design tests aligned with the institutional teaching philosophy and classroom practices. This article reports on a study of an item-by-item evaluation of a series of English exams for validity and reliability in an effort to guarantee the quality of the process of test design. The study included descriptive statistics, item analysis, correlational analyses, reliability estimates, and validity analyses. The results show that the new tests are an excellent addition to the program and an improvement over traditional tests. Implications are discussed and recommendations given for the development of any institutional testing program.

Las frustraciones con la evaluación tradicional llevaron a un grupo de profesores del programa de inglés para adultos de la Universidad EAFIT (Colombia) a diseñar pruebas alineadas con la filosofía de enseñanza institucional y las prácticas de clase. Este artículo describe un estudio de validez y confiabilidad de exámenes de inglés, ítem por ítem, para garantizar la calidad del diseño de pruebas. El estudio incluyó estadística descriptiva, análisis de ítems, análisis de correlación, confiabilidad de las estimaciones y análisis de validez. Los resultados muestran que las pruebas son una excelente adición al programa con respecto a exámenes tradicionales. Igualmente se discuten las implicaciones y se hacen recomendaciones para el desarrollo de cualquier programa institucional de pruebas.

References

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How to Cite

Aligning English Language Testing With Curriculum. (2016). Profile: Issues in Teachers’ Professional Development, 18(2), 63-77. https://doi.org/10.15446/profile.v18n2.53302

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