ESL EFL Writing Tests

The interlinear test

Findley and warren (1953) made an attempt to overcome the defects of essay examinations arising from its unreliability of scoring, by the development of ‘semi – objective’ tests of writing ability termed the Interlinear Test.  This test overcomes most of the objections to objective tests of writing ability.  Objective tests usually present the learner with poorly written material and provide him with several options regarding the corrections, which should be made.  According to Swinford, France (1956), the interlinear test structures the learner’s response to such an extent that the reliability of scoring is of a very high order.

The interlinear test presents the candidate with a triple spaced copy of a badly garbled piece of writing.  The learner is allowed thirty minutes to indicate the necessary co-relations and deletions but is instructed not to add his own ideas. The learner’s paper is then ‘scored’ for his treatment of predetermined errors. The reliability of the interlinear test compares favourably with that obtained for objective tests of the same working time and length.  The validity of the interlinear test also is as valid as that of the objective test.

It would be useful to analyse the objective test in detail so as to get a clear understanding of its advantages and disadvantages.