A STUDY ON THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHERSʹ PREPARATION OF TESTS

In this article the researcher has examined the current situation in test (a) construction: designing, structuring, developing, (b) administering, and (c) assessing the foreign language tests to see if we are still at the same point (traditional) and has given some suggestions on this indispensable issue. To collect the necessary data the 4th year students doing their practicum studies at a state high school in Ankara under the supervision of the researcher are asked to collect one sample of each test (written or oral form) their mentors have been using to assess their foreign language students. The common characteristics of the test samples are scrutinized in terms of validity and reliability, language skills and areas including spelling, contextualization, time, typing, studentsʹ foreign language level (simple or complex structures), instructions, and backwash effect. Relying on the findings of the study some recommendations have been made for foreign language teachers.