An Application Of The S-P Chart Analysis In English Language Diagnostic Testing

The S-P chart analysis, invented by Takahiro Sato in 1969, is a test analytical method which uses the response data obtained from students'answers to test items (called problems) to analyze the learning condition. The S-P chart can help teachers diagnose the abnormal patterns made by students or problems (Rao, 1988; Wu, 1999; Yu, 2003). Recent development of educational technology makes it easier to conduct such analysis with the help of language learning systems. The numbered indices used in the S-P chart analysis include the disparity index, the student caution index, and the problem caution index. Comparing these indices with the critical value and the diagnostic analysis chart, teachers can learn the learning condition of each student, the quality of each problem and the successes and failures of their instruction.This study took a natural class in a senior middle school as the subjects to conduct respective S-P analysis of their three teacher-made tests with the help of Panasonic LL-300A language learning system. The results were given to the teacher and the teacher would inform the students of their learning style. Further suggestions would be given to those students of abnormal response patterns.The study lasted about four months and at the end of the term, the English teacher of the class was interviewed on her opinions of the S-P chart analysis.This study was intended to explore: (1) what information can be obtained through a teacher-made unit-based test; (2) how the information obtained from the individuals'test performance is used to provide suggestions for future teaching and learning and what the effect will be; (3) how the information about the quality of individual test items helps the teacher realize the successes and failures in the previous classroom teaching as well as the test design.The study shows some significant improvement of the students'learning condition. Major findings show that (1) the S-P chart can help to diagnose student's learning; (2) it can help to diagnose the test quality; (3) it can offer some feedback information for the establishment of a test bank; and (4) The S-P chart can help to manage the student's performance profile. The study provides a way to obtain diagnostic information from the teacher-made English language test. When the analysis is integrated with instruction objectives, teachers will be able to provide more detailed suggestions to students, and be able to realize their specific successes and failures in teaching.