Report.

For this task, I have asked a sample of English test from my cooperative

teacher. So, he had given me a sample of ‘Pentaksiran Pengesanan Prestasi Awal

2014’. The main purpose of this test is to divide the pupils according to their level. If

they were in advance level, they will seat in the first class. This test consists of 2

papers which is Paper 1 and Paper 2. Time allocated for Paper 1 is 50 minutes

meanwhile for Paper 2 is 1 hour and 15minutes. After gone through the test papers, I

realized that this test actually has its own strengths and weaknesses.

Referring to one of the basic principles of language assessment which is

practicality, I can conclude that this test is a very practical test. This is because the

teacher who creates this test does not need too much money. This test do not

requires any extra materials which cost extra money. Besides, this test also is

suitable to the time allocated for the pupils to complete this test. Pupils have enough

time to think critically and recheck their answers before submit the test paper. I can

also see that the evaluation for this test is also specific enough. This eases the

teachers’ job to mark the paper. These things considered one of the strength go this

test.

Furthermore, what can I see about this test is also related to the objectivity

which is one of the basic principles of language assessment. By looking at the Paper

1, I can see that this test is not bias. This means that it is suitable of the pupils with

advance, intermediate, and lower level because it has many type of questions. This

test also has Higher Order Thinking Skills (HOTS) questions which require the pupils

to think out of the box. But for paper 2, in my opinion, this paper is not really objective

because the questions were quite simple. It is not fair for the advance level pupils.

They can easily answer the questions. This can be considered one of the

weaknesses of this test. Perhaps the teacher can also give some HOTS questions for

paper 2 so that it is fair for all pupils.

Next is about authenticity. This test is authentic because the language used

for this test is very natural. The teacher used really simple sentences and words and

this make the pupils to easily understand the questions. Then, the topics that have

been test for this test also relevant for the pupils. The teacher focussed on simple

nouns, verbs, wh-questions and so on which were very suitable for year 4 pupils.

One of the strengths that I can realized about this test is the teacher has gave

questions that related to real-world task which is ‘How to was our clothes’. This was

very good for the pupils as they can use the information to wash the clothes by their

own later.

In my opinions, what teacher needs to do to make the test more effective is by

giving more questions that related to real-world task. This is because, a teacher

should not just only teach the pupils about academic. The teacher should be an

educator. They should educate the pupils to be prepared to face the real world when

they grow up later. Besides, the questions for the test also need to be fair to all

pupils. This means that both paper 1 and 2 should have simple questions and HOTS

questions. By this, teachers can actually know the abilities and strength of each pupil.