Subjective and Objective Testing

Subjective and Objective Testing
Subjective tests are those whose scoring is dependent on or affected by the prejudices or judgments of the examiner. Scoring of an objective test cannot be affected by the personal judgement of the examiner.
To answer a subjective test, the testee has to use his own words and expressions; whereas to answer an objective test the testee has to select his answer from among four or even more alternatives. The following table sums up the differences between subjective and objective tests:

Languages Tests
Subjective Objective
1. easy to design
2. difficult to score
3. can be administered to a small number of testees
4. can be used to evaluate overall achievement
5. cannot be scored by machines
6. require self-expression on the part of the testee
7. require recognition and production 1. difficult to design
2. easy to score
3. can be administerrred to a large number of testees
4. can be used to test specific areas of language
5. can be scored by machines
6. require selection of the right answer
7. require recognition more than production


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