Vocab Testing

7/29/2019 Vocab Testing

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VOCABULARY TESTING


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Purpose

To measure the comprehension and

production of words used in speaking or

writing.

gives us information about how well our

students proceed in their learning of English. testing helps to recycle vocabulary as well

as to consolidate it.


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What to test?

We can test the basic aspects of words which

are written and spoken forms as well as

collocations, derivations, meaning, part of

speech, relative frequency and certain

register style.


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How to test

Contextualized test where the vocabulary isexamined through a text.

De-contextualized test which test only on thewords without any text.

Using aural clues and requiring answers.

Informal testing such as homework exercisesand classroom practice to revise words fromprevious lesson.


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Kinds of Vocabulary Test

1) Limited responsefor beginners.

- Require either a simple physical action or a very

simple verbal answer such as yes or no.

2) Multiple-choice completion.

- A test in which a sentence with a missing word is

presented.

- Students choose one of four vocabulary items

given to complete the sentence.


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3) Multiple-choice paraphrase.

- A test in which a sentence with one word

underlined is given.- Students choose which of four words is the

closest in the meaning.

4) Single completion (words)

- Students write in the missing part of words that

appear in sentences.


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Limited Response

Individual Testing

Group Testing


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Individual Testing

Directed physical responses can be easilyused when testing one student at a time.

Individual interaction can also be veryproductive when testing language skills orbeginning students.

E.g. asking for very short answer


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Group Testing

Nonverbal physical response used to test thewhole test at the same time.

E.g. draw/ duplicate a sketch


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Disadvantages

- It requires individual testing , which takeslonger than group testing.

- It is usually difficult to test abstract wordswith this technique.

- Sketches are sometimes ambiguous.


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Advantages & Disadvantages

of Limited Response Advantages- It causes less stress or nervousness than other

types of tests.- It avoids skills such as reading and writing

that have not yet been developed.

- It can be scored easily and objectively.


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Multiple Choice Paraphrase

- Tests of vocabulary items offer much of thesame advantage that multiple-choicecompletion tests do.

- Understanding is checked by the studentshaving to choose the best synonym orparaphrase of the vocabulary item.

- A sentence context is still used however,choosing the right word depends more onknowing the key vocabulary item than onfinding meaning in sentence.


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Vocabulary Choice and

Context Preparation1) Select the words to be tested.

2) Prepare a sentence context.

3) Choose distractors.

4) Write instruction.


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Example

1) He was delightedwhen he saw his old friendyesterday.

a) Interested

b) Happy

c) Shockedd) Confused


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Distrctor Preparation

1) Try to get distractors that are related to thesubject covered in the sentence. This isparticularly true in testing intermediate andadvanced students.

2) Try to avoid pairing a word of oppositemeaning with the right answer. Often this

attracts students and gives them a betterchance of getting the item right.


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3) Try to avoid using distractors with the samemeaning.

4) Also avoid trick items that use close spelling orsound contrasts, since a vocabulary test is not aspelling exam. Students with limited ability may

know the meaning of a word without being

certain of its spelling or exact pronunciation.

5) When using phrase distractors, be careful thatthe correct answer is not generally the longest.

Teachers often make the right answer longerbecause they want to be sure they haveparaphrased the key word adequately.


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Alternate Forms of Multiple-

Choice Paraphrase1) Idioms and other phrase.

2) Phrasal context.

3) Reading passage context. (Vocabularyquestions can be included with readingcomprehension questions.)

4) Related-word identification. ( These questions

do not use synonyms, they use examples andnon-examples of the key word)

5) 5) Unrelated-word identification.


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Advantages of Multiple-

Choice Paraphrase1) Context preparation is rather easy.

2) Scoring is easy and consistent.

3) It is a sensitive measure of achievement.


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Limitation of Multiple-

Choice Paraphrase1) It is difficult to find good synonyms (but

recall the explanation alternative.

2) It is easy for students to cheat.


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Simple Completion

Word formation items require students to fillin missing parts of words that appear insentences.

The missing parts are actually prefixes andsuffixes. (e.g dis-agree & thank-full)

Use words like the following in a sentence

and have students supply missing syllables ofany kind. (e.g. rel- in relative)


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Steps in simple completion

1) List the prefixes and suffixes that you havetaught to your students and then matchthese with content words that they havestudied.

2) Prepare sentences that clarify the meaningof these words.

3) Then write your instructions and examples


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Alternate form of Simple-

completion items

1) Stem-first procedure.

2) Phrasal context.

3) Compounds. 4) inflectional cloze.


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Advantages of Simple

Completion (words)1) It reflects teaching approaches.

2) It is generally faster and easier to construct

than are item with distractors.


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Limitations of Simple

Completion (words)1) Fewer words can be tested this way than

with multiple choice.

2) There is some difficulty in avoidingambiguous contexts.

Vocab Testing

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