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Objective Test And Subjective Test English language testing belongs to linguistics, and it is a scientific theory which estimates

the learners capability of mastering English linguistic knowledge. With many years practice and research, there have formed different theoretical systems and usable methods. Always, people ask the same question that language testing tests whether the usage of language or the use of language. Generally speaking, it is better to use the objective test to test the usage, while the subjective test is more suitable to test the use. But of course, that parlance is not absolutely right. Since the existence of the objective test and the subjective test, there is an argument about which one is better. Actually, we can not make a simple comparison between the two. Because they have the unsubstantial effects on different stages respectively. Even at the moment or in the future, these two kinds of tests are surely to have great effects on testing.

The objective test and the subjective test have their own Objective and Subjective depend on the way of marking. The objective test usually has only one definite answer, and the way of marking is very mechanical. It gets the same objective result whether the test paper is marked by man or by the computer. On the contrary, the subjective test has an opposite way of marking. For it has no definite or standard answers, any answers may be the acceptable ones. As

concerned to test papers, all the things are made by man subjectively. Even the objective test question such as multiple choice is worked out by the writers subjective thinking. The examinee also has to distinguish each choice subjectively in order to make the right choice. And there is no objectivity. advantages and disadvantages. First, we concern to the objective test. The objective test covers a wide range of linguistic knowledge which relates to every aspect of English. By and large, it can be more scientific, and can avoid the subjectivity in the process of marking. Especially, it suits the test of large size. Recent years, we have been using the computer to mark the paper, it not only accelerats the marking speed, but also improves the rate of correctness. And it has saved a lot of manpower and material resources. The familiar kinds of questions are multiple choice items and transformation. But disadvantages of the objective test are

distinct. Always drawing circles and ticking is easy to take from students ability to do writen work. Furthermore, the computer may make mistakes, and can not be one hundred percent correct. Next, we concern to the subjective test. The subjective test can test students ability to use language directly, that is to say, can use different methods to test different abilities. And the forms are such as paragraph writing, answering questions, oral test and so on. Whereas, the disadvantages of the subjective test are no less than that of the objective test. The marking of it needs much time and great vigor, and it is difficult to have a definite marking standard which embarrasses people a lot. So sometimes its unfair to both the examinee and test. From my point of view, I prefer the objective test more. Because it is easier to work out the answer. When you do not really know which one is the correct answer, you also can make a guess instead

of nothing filled in. Correspondingly, it needs less time to finish the questions. On the contrary, the subjective test is what students do not want to deal with, especially to those who are afraid of doing writing. To the students, they feel more depressed to do the subjective test such as paragraph writing. Because there is only a topic and a direction of only one or two sentences, and you must finish it in a given time. In case you got the misunderstanding, you will possibly get a very low mark, of fail in the test. Moreover, the teacher sometimes has different marking standards to different students. In fact, the subjective test is useful to improve students abilities in practical use, and it is essential in high level tests. While the objective test trains students abilities to deal with tests, and it is useful for the low level students to enlarge their basic language knowledge. So it is very hard to say which test style is better because their functions are different,

and we will continue use these two kinds of


tests in the coming days. http://www.yanji.edu.sh.cn/teacher/wy/yy/zhangx iaoshu/newpage2.4.htm

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