Testing literacy and related language skills: Part I ...

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Oller, J. W., Jr. (1992). Testing literacy and related language skills: Part I, review of theory. In S. Rattanavich, R. F. Walker, & J. W. Oller, Jr. (Eds.), Teaching all the children to read (pp. 55-66) . London and New York: Open University Press.

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CHAPTER 5

Testing literacy and related language skills: Part I, Review of theory JOHN W, OLLER. Jr

Introduction important because the\' elefine what the curriculum is abollt anci '\ hat is e xpected of the curriculum. of the students. and of the teach e rs, In fact. test, probabl\' define the objectives of schooling more exacth' and I\'ith more binding p()\\'er than any other sort of activity' that takes place in a school context. The fact is that,just as a liquid seeks its own le\eI. teaching lIill rise or fall to the lel'el of the testing . If the expectations set bl testing are high the teaching and learning will tend to rise to the challenge. If the le\el defined bv the tests is mediocre or low, teaching will tend to sink to that le\'e!. Therefore, an approach to testing ought to be based on the best possible theoll' because it will tend to define curricular objectives in addition to most of \"hat happens in the classroom. Part of the need for theor.' will be fulfilled bv a clear idea of what the curriculum should consist or. Pre\iOllS chapters of this book are about theory, curriculum, and its implementation in classroom acti\ities. :-..low, in this chapter, we come to testing the sort of activity that can provide the practical milestones for the curriculum and its implementation. Teaching always tends toward the acti\ities defined by tests. The tests define the ends in \iew throughout the educational process. These facts about the relation between theoll', curriculum . teaching. and testing are shown in Fig. 5.1. This chapter sums up and reviews theory in anticipation of the next. which gives examples of tests. The discussion of theory is consistent with that of previous chapters, although language is viewed from, perhaps, a slightly different perspective. It then presents five basic principles to be followed in testing (and in the curriculum at large). To exemplify the principles and show how they might work in hypothetical cases, a number of example tests that illustrate requirements laid down in the theory are

T t" ;[S ,,,.rli,, ,,,o,- is on the wall L"oorrlinatc cia",,, sees me standing here I ",hord ",.lI ' t1 ,,",C [he immediately runs away I main (1"" 5"). · Referring to Fig. 5.3 again. fans are connected first to sensory experience , stlnst'quenth· to gestures. and finally to language. In interpreting discourse ill ~ l linguistic form. therefore , the problem of comprehension is to dete rmint' the practical con nections of the discourse forms with the facts of experience. Or. in producing discourse , the problem is to arrange forms in stich a way that connections with facts which we choose to represent can be correctly determined by someone else. \Vhat does such a theory teach us about a curriculum for literacy anc! about the kinds of classroom activities and tests that will help children to become literate) One lesson is that the interpreting of linguistic forms is aided by the construction of sensory and gestural representations. In keeping with all that Richard Walker and Saowalak Rattana\ich have said ill earlier chapters, this may be called the principle of scaffolding. It sals that the richer th e sensorv and gestural information about the factual basis of

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