TESTING READING Büşra Nur Durmaz

CONTENTS LIMITED RESPONSE SENTENCE COMPREHENSION Picture Cues Phrase and Sentence Cues PASSAGE COMPREHENSION Context Selection Techniques for Beginners True/False Matching Techniques for Advanced Students Standard Multiple Choice Paraphrase Synthesis Inference Multiple Choice Cloze Test Alternate Forms of Passage- Comprehension Items

WHY TEST READING?

LIMITED RESPONSE SAME- DIFFERENT TECHNIQUE sad sat S D red red S D Advanced odd items All Different All the Same speak peaks seeks ____________ _________ peace peace peace ___________ _________

LIMITED RESPONSE SAME- DIFFERENT TECHNIQUE Key-word and odd option pleasure: pleasing ✔ pleasure pleasure pleasure want to go: want to go want to go want to go won’t go ✔

LIMITED RESPONSE Easy to construct Simple task for beginners Not and integrative skill No actual reading Overemphasis may reduce reading speed.

TESTING SENTENCE COMPLETION Why do we need ‘sentence’ completion?

SENTENCE COMPREHENSION - Picture Cues Ask the right picture to be circled. E.g. The children are playing on their new toy.

SENTENCE COMPREHENSION - Picture Cues TRUE/ FALSE QUESTIONS E.g. The robber cannot see the TV. T F YES/ NO QUESTIONS E.g. Is the lady reading the newspaper? MULTIPLE CHOICE E.g. The robber is successful because___________. he doesn’t see the family. B. the family is at home in the living room. C. it is dark outside D. the family doesn’t hear him.

SENTENCE COMPLETION- Phrase and Sentence Cues Beginner, truths or untruths or impossibilities: E.g . The sun sets in the east. T F ✔ People have two legs. T ✔ F

SENTENCE COMPREHENSION - Phrase and Sentence Cues Teaching and testing the recognition of signs: Location Sign Park A) Fasten seatbelts Restaurant B) Beware of the dog. Hotel C) Please do not walk on the grass. Home D) Dangerous curve Highway E) Please wait to be seated by Hostess Airplane F) In case of Fire, Do not Use Elevators.

SSENTENCE COMPREHENSION - Phrase and Sentence Cues You can use signs instead of sentences as well: Location Sign Park Restaurant Hotel Home Highway Airplane

SENTENCE COMPREHENSION Paraphrase E.g. ‘’Please wait to be seated by the Hostess.’’ Sit near the hostess. The hostess will show you where to sit. * There are no seats for you at this time. With paraphrase you can test the meaning of complex structures: E.g. ‘’She can come if she wants to.’’ She wants to come. She will come. She has permission to come.

SENTENCE COMPREHENSION Do not make the answer rely on the facts that have nothing to do with language skill. Don’t make the answer rely on the cultural facts, unless you’re testing specific culture. Make choice simple and clear.

POOR EXAMPLE- Why do you think it’s poor?

Instruction Preparation For beginner students, instructions can be in their native tongue. When a set of pictures is used, you can prepare direcitons like: ‘’ Instructions: First look at the pictures. Then read the sentence. It describes one of the pictures. Draw a circle around that picture. ‘’ For True/ False Questions: ‘’Instuctions: Read these sentences. Some say strange things like ‘’He drank his bicycle.’’ (We ride a bicycle, not drink it. ) Some are false like ‘’ Rain falls up.’’(It falls down, not up.) For these sentences circle F (F means False). For the other (good) sentences, circle T ( T means true).

Instruction Preparation For advanced students: E.g. ‘’These paraphrases follow each of the following sentences. The paraphrase may refer to just part of the sentence or to the entire sentence. Circle the letter of the best paraphrase.’’

Advantages & Disadvantages Easy to write True/ False items based on the pictures. Good for testing the skills of beginner students. Rapid way to test reading comprehension. Finding appropriate pictures can be hard. Not all skills are covered in sentence completion.

TESTING PASSAGE COMPREHENSION HOW CAN WE CHOOSE THE CONTEXTS???

Context Selection WHAT TO TEST? It depends on the kind of reading material used with students. If you have exposed students to a variety of written contexts, you don’t have to restrict your questions to the traditional essay. Advertisements, business and social letters, driver’s license, loan applications, bank statements, rental and sales agreements can be used

Question Techniques for Beginners True/ False Questions However; students may guess the right answer.

Question Techniques for Beginners 2) Matching Questions

Question Techniques for More Advanced Students Standard Multiple-Choice Passages could be chosen from the sources mentioned before (course books, advertisements, business and social letters…) a)Paraphrase b) Synthesis c) Inference

A sample paraphrase Item

Question Techniques for More Advanced Students Synthesis item.

Question Techniques for More Advanced Students Inference item. It requires students to see implications in what they read. Here is an example;

2. Multiple-Choice Cloze - The correct underlined word is to be circled.

Alternate Forms of Passage-Comprehension Items Typical objections to multiple-choice tests include ; 1- They are passive, 2- They expose students to errors 3- They may indicate that a student who has just guessed on the test is successful.

Alternate Forms of Passage-Comprehension Items Sentence-level items

Alternate Forms of Passage-Comprehension Items 2. Editing Tests Cloze test in reverse. We put words in. Sample Instruction: ‘’We have added words to this story. They don’t make sense. Cross out any you see.’’

Advantages & Disadvantages Integrative Objective & easy to score Evaluate students at every level of reading development Time consuming to take Utilizing questions with trivial details What else?

REFERENCES Brown, H. D., & Abeywickrama, P. (2004). Language assessment. Principles and Classroom Practices. White Plains, NY: Pearson Education. Madsen, H. S. (1983). Techniques in Testing. Oxford University Press, 200 Madison Ave., New York, NY 10016

THANK YOU!