Testing grammar and vocabulary. ...

Testing grammar and vocabulary. ...

1. Grammar.

   • Why test grammar.
     • Before.
       • Grammatical structures was seen as the very core language ability.
     • Now.
       • There is more to any skill than the sum of its parts.
         • One can not accurately predict mastery of the skill by measuring control of what we believe to be the abilities that underlie it.
     • Test writing.
       • The question of content validity.
         • We are severely limited in the number of things.
           • Topics, styles.
             • we aren´t sure if:
               • The sample chosen is truly representative of all possibilities.
               • Grammar test includes a good sample of all possible grammatical elements.
       • The successful writing of academic assignments must depend on some extent on command of more than the most elementary grammatical structures.
   • Writing specifications.
     • Specifications for a placement test will normally include all of the strucutures identified in this way, those strucutures the command of which is taken for granted in even the lowest classes.
       • When there is not listing it become necessary to infer from textbooks and other teaching materials what structures are being taught.
   • Sampling.
     • This will reflect an attempt to give the test content validity by selecting widely from the structures specified.
     • It should not deliberately concentrate on the strucutures which happen to be easier to test.
   • Writing items.
     • Some techniques to reader who attempts to write items.
       • Paraphrase.
         • Student to write a sentence equivalent in meaning to one that is given.
       • Completion.
         • It can be used to test a variety of strucutures. Student must complete a conversation.
       • Modified cloze
         • Testing prepositions of place. Testing articles. Testing a variety of grammatical strucutures. Testing sentence linking.
   • Scoring production grammar test.
     • If a candidate should not be penalised for a missing third person - s when the item is testing relative pronouns; opend should be accepted for opened, without penalty. For valid and reliable scoring of grammmar items

2. Vocabulary.

   • Why test vocabulary?
     • Knowledge of vocabulary is essential to the development and demonstration of linguistic skills. But that does not necessarily mean that it should be tested separately.
       • The learning of specific lexical items in class will rarely depend on previous knowledge of other, specified items. One alternative is to use a published test of vocabulary. The other is to construct one´s own vocabulary proficiency test.
   • Writing specifications.
     • If vocabulary is being consciously taught, then presumably all the items thereby presented to the students should be included in the specifications. a subsequent step is to group the items in terms of their relative importance.
   • Sampling.
     • Words can be grouped according to their frequency and usefulness. From each of these groups items can be taken at random, with more being selected from the groups containing the more frequent and useful words.
   • Item writing.
     • Recognition, this is one testing problem for which multiple choice can be recommended. For one thing, distractors are usually readily available.
       • Items may involve a number of different operations.
         • Synonyms.
           • Choose the alternative. (A,B,C)
         • Definitions.
           • All the options are of about the same length . it is said that test-takers who are uncertain of which option is correct will tend to choose the one which is noticeably different from the others.
         • Gap filling (multiple choice)
           • Context, rather than a definition or a synonym, can be used to test the knowledge of a lexical item.
   • Productions.
     • The testing of vocabulary productively is so difficult that it is practically never attempted in proficiency test. Information on receptive ability is regarded as sufficient.
       • Pictures.
         • This method of testing vocabulary is obviously restricted to concrete nouns which can be unambiguously drawn.
       • Definitions.
         • This may work for a range of lexical items.
       • Gap filling.
         • This can take the form of one or more sentences with a single word missing.