The Efficacy of Dictocomp as a Testing Tool

EFFICACY OF DICTO – COMP AS A TESTING TOOL
V.Arthy , Assistant Professor in English
Humanities Department
Coimbatore Institute of Technology
Coimbatore – 641 014
Email: [e-mail]
Mobile: [phone]

ABSRACT
In the past twenty years, language testing research and practice have witnessed the refinement of a rich variety of approaches and tools for research and development. While this research has deepened the understanding of the factors and processes that affect performance on language tests, as well as of the consequences and ethics of test use, it has also revealed lacunae in our knowledge, and pointed to new areas for research. This article reviews one such development in language testing – Dicto-comp. The method adopted engages students in the learning difficulties and also helps to identify the requirements in grammatical patterns and structures. This method is not only an effective classroom assessment method but becomes an integrated part of the learning process within and beyond the classroom.

EFFICACY OF DICTO – COMP AS A TESTING TOOL
V.Arthy , Assistant Professor in English Humanities Department Coimbatore Institute of Technology Coimbatore – 641 014 Email: [e-mail] Mobile: [phone]

Language involves the ability to expose and receive information in a meaningful way. Language assessment and testing is one way to determining the level of academic and cognitive functions. Language assessment is the process of using language tests to accomplish particular tasks in language classrooms. Indeed, the ultimate goal of language assessment is to use tests to better inform on the decisions to be made and the actions to be taken in language education. Language teachers are often faced with the responsibility of selecting or developing language tests for their classrooms. However, deciding which testing alternatives are the most appropriate for a particular language education

References: Brown, J. 1995. The elements of language curriculum: A systematic approach to program development. Boston: Heinle and Heinle. Cohen, A. 1994. Assessing language ability in the classroom. 2nd ed. New York: Heinle and Heinle. Riley, P .M 1972. The Dicto-comp. English Teaching Forum 10,1,pp 21-23. Sawyer, J. and Silver, S. 1961. Dictation in Language Learning. Language Learning, II 1&2.