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1.0 INTRODUCTION.

This English test paper is constructed as a medium of assessment in the Ujian Selaras 2

for the Form 4 students. It is designed to assess learners at the upper intermediate level of

English proficiency. The test functions as the formative assessment as the items constructed are

extracted from the topics taught in the classroom prior the test. According to Weaver (2012) the

general purposes of assessment can be categorized into two which are: 1) to provide more

effective instruction, 2) to evaluate achievement or learning. Since there are two classes of Form

4 learners, the test is distributed as a standardized test at school. This test is categorized as the

norm-referenced testing as its major reason for conduct is to classify the learners. Stiggins (1994)

as cited in Bond (1996) mentions that ‘norm-referenced tests (NRTs) are designed to highlight

achievement differences between and among students to produce a dependable rank order of

students across a continuum of achievement from high achievers to low achievers.’ Bond (1996)

also states that ‘the content of an NRT test is selected according to how well it ranks students

from high achievers to low.’ This test aims at assessing learners on their understanding on the

topics taught in the English lessons and at the same time to rank the learners according to their

performance in the test. This test consists of seven (7) topics adapted from the KBSM English

textbook which include:

1. Wired Youth
2. Random Acts of Kindness
3. Active Ageing
4. Helping Hands
5. Water, Water Everywhere
6. The Competitive Edge
7. For the Common Good.

2.0 PLANNING.

2.1 Table of Specification

In constructing the test, many aspects were taken into considerations in order to ensure its

validity and reliabilities. As there are seven (7) topics to be assessed in the 30-questions-test,

careful planning is required throughout the construction of the test items. Thus the table of

specification is utilized as a blueprint of the test construction in determining the allocation of the

number of questions according to the topics. Table of specification is a plan prepared by teachers

as a basis for test construction especially a periodic test. A table of specifications also provides

the proof needed to make sure the test has content validity. Stated below is the table of specification mapped out

in the process of item construction:

BLOOM’S TAXONOM

Y
TOPIC KNOWLEDG COMPREHENSIO APPLICATIO ANALYSIS SYNTHESIS EVALUATIO TOTAL

E N N N
Wired Youth 2 2 4
Random 1 1 1 3
Acts of
Kindness
Active 1 3 1 5
Ageing
Helping 2 4 6
Hands
Water, Water 1 2 3
Everywhere
The 2 2 4
Competitive
Edge
For The 1 2 2 5
Common
Good
30
Percentage 5/30 = 17% 14/30 = 46% 3/30 = 10% 8/30 = 27% 0 0
(100%)

Table 1 – Table of Specifications.

2.2 Instructional Objectives and Content

The test is designed with references to the topics taught in the classroom during English

period. These topics are listed in the English KBSM textbook and the teacher also refers to the

English language curriculum specifications outlined by the Ministry of Education (2003) for the

English language curriculum objectives and as the guideline to predict the learning outcomes.

The Curriculum Specifications for English Form 4 document (2003) outlines the objectives of

the English language curriculum to enable learners to obtain, process, and use information from

various audio-visual and printed sources; and present the information in spoken and written

form and listen to, view, read and respond to different texts, and express ideas, opinions,

thoughts, and feelings imaginatively and creatively in spoken and written form. According to the

Curriculum Specification for English Form 4 (2003), among of the learning outcomes expected

in the English lessons are for the learners to obtain information for different purposes by reading

materials in prints such as reports and articles and comprehend a variety of texts. Other than,

learners are also expected to be able to process information by skimming and scanning for

specific information and ideas and also to interpret non-linear texts such as maps, charts,

diagrams, tables and graphs.

2.3 Test Specification

This test consists of 30 multiple-choice questions (MCQ) and the learners are required to

complete it within one hour. There are 6 printed pages in the test paper and the questions are

grouped according to the topics taught. The test was carried out in the middle of the second

semester, precisely in July in the Ujian Selaras 2 examination week which acts as the monthly

test. This test is constructed by an English teacher form the English Panel of Sekolah Agama

Bantuan Kerajaan Maahad Ehyak Diniah Islamiah, Kampung Gajah, Perak. Upon constructing

the test items, approval by the expert in the English language was sought. The test was endorsed

by the Head of the English Panel of the school, Mr. Mior Amran Bin Mior Abdullah for its face

and content validity. The learners are instructed to read the questions and study the information

provided, identify the best answer for each questions before marking the correct answers on the

answer sheet. Besides, the learners are also reminded to make clear corrections if they decide to

correct their answers or else their answer will be invalid.

2.4 The Items

In constructing the test, it has been decided that for the Ujian Selaras 2, only multiple choice

questions will be utilized as the test items. This is because, according to Cranton, Pascal & Notar

(1977) as cited in Seaman (2003), the multiple choice items have the identified advantages of the

‘abilities to be objective (only one right answer, no interpretation of answers), efficient use of

marking time, high reliabilities and the opportunity to test on more topic areas than one can do in

essay testing.’ Moreover, Conkin & Serra (1997) and Fuhrman (1996) as cited in Seaman (2003)

also suggest that through MCQ items ‘one can eliminate the opportunity for students to write

large volumes of material, hoping to hit the points that are required for marks.’ There are various

aspects taken into consideration. The 30 MCQ items are topical items selected from the Form 4

reference and exercise books and grouped according to the respective topics taught during the

English lessons. In selecting the items, the teacher paid great attention to the learners’ level of

English proficiency. The items selected are suitable for the learners’ cognitive abilities to ensure

that the test is not too easy or too difficult for the learners and able to measure their achievement.

Other than that, reference on the English Panel’s question bank has also been made in the quest

to search for suitable questions to be assessed with regards to the content of the topics.

2.5 Marking Scheme

One of the advantages of distributing the multiple choice questions is the ease at marking the

test paper. This is because, as learners state their answer in the answer sheets, it is a convenience

for teachers to mark only the answer sheets as there is only one exact answer. Furthermore,

teachers are able to grade the learners without having to flip through the questions paper or

facing the hustle to correct learners’ grammatical and structural errors. The learners’ answer

sheets were marked and the numbers of correct answers were calculated. Next, the fraction is

converted into percentage to obtain the grades of the learners. The formula of grading calculation

is as stated below while the answer key for the test paper is included in the Appendix section.

N [the number of correct answers] x 100% = _______ %
30 [the number of overall questions]

Table 2 – Formula of marking and grading.

3.0 CONSTRUCTING AND REVIEWING.

3.1 The Process of Constructing and Reviewing

In the process of constructing the test paper, planning and strategizing is very crucial. In

the planning stage, the teacher needs to identify the topics to be included in the test. Furthermore,

the teacher needs be aware of the level of English proficiency among her learners in order to

select the suitable items to be included in the test. Then, the types of test and items to be

distributed are taken into consideration. Upon deciding on the multiple choice questions, the

teacher starts to locate potential items in the reference and exercise books which relate to the

topics decided. Next, the suitable items selected will be improvised according to learners’

proficiency level. The questions are carefully arranged and the answer key is prepared. After

distributing the test papers and collecting them back, the teacher marks the papers and gives

scores to the learners. The learners’ marks are then analyzed for the teacher to evaluate their

performance and the effectiveness of the English lessons.

3.2 Items Construction

As the potential items are identified from the various resources, the teacher makes

necessary changes so that the items included cater the learners’ cognitive abilities. The potential

topical items are improvised to make them simpler or a little bit challenging in order to assess the

learners’ comprehension and thinking skills. The finalized questions for this Ujian Selaras 2 are

at the lower level of the Bloom’s Taxonomy which test learners on their lower order thinking

skills such as their knowledge, comprehension and simple application of grammar rules.

The breakdown of the topical questions depends on the time spent in the classroom

teaching the topics. The teacher has spent 7 English periods to teach on the topic Helping

Hands, thus the topic has the most number of questions tested. On the other hand, the least

classroom lesson spent on the topics of Random Act of Kindness and Water, Water Everywhere

leads to the small numbers of questions asked related to those topics.

3.3 Input from Experts

The test paper is submitted to the Head of English Panel in the school, Mr. Mior Amran

Bin Mior Abdullah for comments and approval. Upon examining the test paper, Mr. Mior

provides the feedback that content wise, the test paper is valid as it consists of questions related

to the topics taught in the classroom. However, he suggests that the distracters to be improved as

there are a few questions which have weak distracters that enable learners to guess the correct

answers. Moreover, he gives a few tips on writing plausible distracters and answers. He mentions

that in writing the correct answers, they should not be too lengthy and the distracters should not

be too short as this will give in to the learners to guess the correct answers. This is supported by

Just (2009) who states that it is important to write plausible distracters because of three reasons:

1. Poorly written distracters can invalidate a question.

2. You can control the question difficulty through the distracters.

3. The frequency with which the students choose each distracter is meaningful.

4.0 ASSEMBLING AND ADMINISTERING.

4.1 How Selected Items Are Assembled?

Upon deciding on the number of questions to be included for each topic, the teacher

organizes the questions in the test paper. Questions are arranged according to the topics,

according to the sequence of the topics in the KBSM textbook which is from Chapter __ to

Chapter ___. The question paper starts with the questions from the topic Wired Youth (4

questions), followed by Random Acts of Kindness (3 questions), Active Ageing (5 questions),

Helping Hands (6 questions), Water, Water Everywhere (3 questions), The Competitive Edge (4

questions) and For the Common Good (5 questions).

Within the topical arrangement, the questions are organized according to the difficulty

levels which are easy, intermediate and difficult. For example, under the topic of Wired Youth,

the first 2 questions are at the easy level, followed by 1 intermediate level question and finally 1

difficult question. The rationale of this arrangement is to provide a sense of achievement to the

learners. If they are able to answer the 2 easy questions, they will be motivated to continue

answering the rest of the questions.

6.0 INTERPRETING THE SCORE

6.1 Frequency Table

The frequency of a particular data value is the number of times the data value occurs. A
frequency table is constructed by arranging collected data value is ascending order of magnitude
with their corresponding frequencies.

The marks awarded for a test set for a Form 4 class of 16 students were as follows :

65 67 85 75 60 72 48 60 72 77 59 71 77 57 59 54

The frequency table:

Mark Tally Frequency
48 // 2
49
50
51
52
53
54 / 1
55
56
57 / 1
58
59 // 2
60 // 2
61
62
63
64
65 / 1
66
67 / 1
68
69
70
71 / 1
72 // 2

73
74
75 / 1
76
77 // 2
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85 / 1

6.3 Mode

The mode of a set of data values is the value(s) that occurs most often.

The mark of 16 students in this test are given below :

65 67 85 75 60 72 48 60 72 77 59 71 77 57 59 54

The data values have no mode since there is no data value that occurs most frequently.

Median

The median of a set of data values is the middle of the data set when it has been arranged in
ascending order. That is, from the smallest value to the highest value.

The data vales from the lowest value to the highest value :

48 54 57 59 59 60 60 65 67 71 72 72 75 77 77 85

The number of values in the data set is 16, which is even. So, the median is the average of the
two middle values.

Therefore,

Median = 8th data value + 9th data value
________________________
2

= 65 + 67 = 132 = 66
_______ _____
2 2

6.4 Mean

The mean or average of a set of a data values is the sum of all data values divided by the number
of data values.

Mean = Sum of all data values
__________________
Number of data values

The mark of 16 students in this test are given below :

65 67 85 75 60 72 48 60 72 77 59 71 77 57 59 54

Therefore,

65+67+85+75+60+72+48+60+72+77+59+71+77+57+59+54
_________________________________________________
16

= 1058 = 66.125
_____
16

So, the mean mark is 66.13

ANALYSIS OF THE TEST ITEMS.

This section will study the discrimination index of the items and their reference to
Bloom’s taxonomy.

REFERENCES.

1. Bond, Linda A. (1996). Norm- and criterion-referenced testing. Practical Assessment,
Research & Evaluation, 5(2). Retrieved December 10, 2012 from
http://PAREonline.net/getvn.asp?v=5&n=2

2. Weaver, (2012). The Importance of Assessment. Retrieved on December 11, 2012 from
http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/article/importance-assessment

3. Seaman, P. (2003). Multiple Choice Testing: Will It Work For Me? Retrieved on
December11, 2012 from http://www.lib.unb.ca/Texts/Teaching/JAN03/seaman.htm

4. Just, S. (2009). Writing Distracters for Multiple Choice Questions. Retrieved on
December 11, 2012 from
http://www.pedagogue.com/articles/writing_distractors_SBJ.htm

5. Curriculum Specifications for English Language (2003), Ministry of Education.
Retrieved on December 11, 2012 from
http://www.scribd.com/doc/489022/BInggerisTingkatan-4

6.

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