Language Testing 7, 1 (1990); pp. 119-20
Book review Baker, D. 1989: Language testing: a critical survey
and practical guide. London: Edward Arnold. iii + 1 14 pp. ISBN
0-71 31 -6538-3.
There are by now so many different interests in language testing
that books tend to be written for particular audiences, and the one
comprehensive text of the traditional kind, intended to cover all
requirements, is either too superficial or too massive to be
viable. It is therefore worth establishing which group of readers
would find this book most useful for their needs - specialists,
students, teachers, learners, or combinations, e.g., teachers as
students on initial or development courses. Baker considers that
there is currently some confusion about the means and ends of
language testing as a result of controversy between 'adherents to
different schools'. I am not sure about the appropriateness of this
mediaeval parallel (not how many angels can dance on the head of a
pin but how many dimensions can dance under the heading of a
construct?) because it seems to imply that the language testing
world is one nation divided among itself into mutually antagonistic
groups of theorists. I would prefer to see testing as an area in
which all contributions are welcome because they help to improve
thinking and, eventually, promote the student's interests. Baker's
stated aim is 'to put [the] issues into perspective and to give the
user or writer of language tests the necessary conceptual tools to
make sound, informed decisions in this field' (p. 2). The statement
is usefully specific about intentions, but 'the user or writer'
could be almost anybody.
Summarizing the areas covered should help to clarify who would
find the book most useful. The first chapter is concerned with what
testing is supposed to achieve, rightly emphasizing its purpose as
a means of helping users to reach good decisions and suggesting
that by nature it is a substitute for more complete procedures.
Chapter 2 introduces four models of language test types. Baker's
rather negative view of theorists leads him to start afresh with
his own categorization, attempting a neutral and jargon- free
description of possibilities for language test types. These are set
out in a two-dimensional grid, with 'performance-referenced' and
'system- referenced' plotted against 'direct' and 'indirect'. The
third chapter begins with a historical review of language testing
from the second world war onwards and develops into a discussion of
the 'psychometric approach', with an evaluation of its merits and
disadvantages and comments on norm-and criterion-referenced
assessment. Chapter 4 deals with the use and interpreta- tion of
statistics, including distributions, ranking, item analysis,
correlation
120 Book review
and factor analysis. Chapter 5 is headed 'The integrative
interlude', and includes an account of the rise and fall of the
Unitary Competence Hypothesis, the structure of language
proficiency and the use of cloze and dictation tests, and Chapter 6
considers 'performance-referenced' tests, both 'direct' and
'indirect' (he regards the label 'communicative' as 'probably the
least helpful' description), suggesting ways in which they can be
most appropriately used. Chapter 7 is concerned with the different
contexts in which tests are deployed, for example the various kinds
of test required within a programme of language instruction as
against an external examina- tion set by a national or
international body. This chapter ends with seven key questions
which help to establish whether, in a given situation, a test is
necessary at all, and if so what introducing it will involve. There
follow short lists of references and further reading, and an
index.
The tone of the book is certainly 'critical' in the best sense:
it takes nothing for granted, questioning the meanings of various
approaches to testing and taking a healthily sceptical view of the
use of test statistics as sole evidence about debatable points.
Baker makes commendable efforts to avoid using what he regards as
jargon, but (not surprisingly in view of the need to label
concepts) tends to get wrapped up in some of his own, for example:
'The model for this kind of test construction resembles that of the
direct test except that between the test and criterion performance
are now interposed the two intermediate constructs of criterion and
test proficiency' (p. 91). In any case, avoiding the common
language of the field does not necessarily making things clearer,
as the discussion about norm-referenced and criterion-referenced
testing shows (pp. 39-40). This may seem a rather trivial level of
comment, but it reflects a certain inconsistency in approach. The
book seems to be attempting on occasion a somewhat academic tone,
but in that case deals rather too briefly with complex issues such
as difficulty levels and the implications of multiple-choice
formats and is too unspecific about sources ('recent research has
shown . . .'). On the other hand, if it is aimed at people who are
relatively new to testing, such as teachers in training, it
includes diversions such as the historical account of testing
developments since the 1940s, at the expense perhaps of more
guidance on test content and test writing. There are lots of good
things in the book, deriving mainly from Baker's logical approach
to what is involved in testing in general. But there are also many
points on which I would disagree with the conclusions reached, for
example that there are occasions when 'we can see how difficult a
test is by just looking at it' (p. 89) and the notion that it is
legitimate to calibrate a test of one skill against that of another
(p. 95). There is also a tendency to oversimplify quite complex
situations: 'All the test constructor has to do is to sample from
this proficiency and devise a test to measure it.' All, indeed!
On the whole, I find the book a better critical survey than
practical guide. It covers a great deal of ground in quite a small
space and attempts a refreshingly unbiased approach, but I am still
uncertain which kind of reader would gain most from it - perhaps
after all it is the 'general' book in the middle, for the
non-specialist.
Andrew Harrison
