Testing Vocabulary Miss.Mona AL-Kahtani

The purpose of testing vocabulary: to measure the comprehension and the production of words used in speaking and writing. Miss.Mona AL-Kahtani

What words to test?? Sources: Course Syllabus Record words the students misuse. Textbook, reader, and exercise manual. Miss.Mona AL-Kahtani

How do we test vocabulary? It is related to the how we teach it. ================================= Checking vocabulary mastery can be adjusted to match your emphasis on oral or written skills. Miss.Mona AL-Kahtani

Informal evaluation a. Homework exercises b. Classroom practice It can be used as a progress tests. It has positive wash back effect. Why ?? Miss.Mona AL-Kahtani

Types of vocabulary tests Miss.Mona AL-Kahtani

Write down as many questions to test vocabulary as possible? Group-work activity Miss.Mona AL-Kahtani

How can we test vocabulary for beginners/children? Miss.Mona AL-Kahtani

Limited Response ((Physical response + visual aids)) Miss.Mona AL-Kahtani

a. Individual testing Ask the students to perform certain tasks. E.g. “Go to ….” “ Show me your …” Miss.Mona AL-Kahtani

Yes/no questions+ visual aids. e.g. The teacher shows the student a green book and asks, “Is this book green?” Miss.Mona AL-Kahtani

b. Group Testing Give commands + pictures e.g. Draw a circle around the girl. Miss.Mona AL-Kahtani

Clock e.g. Draw the hands on the clock showing that it is 4:40 Miss.Mona AL-Kahtani

Match the sentence with the picture. e.g. Circle the picture that matches “My friend is eating” Miss.Mona AL-Kahtani

Target students: Children Beginning level adults Miss.Mona AL-Kahtani

It can be used with advanced students. How? Miss.Mona AL-Kahtani

Advantage of limited response It causes less stress than other types of tests. (positive backwash effect) It avoids skills that have not been mastered yet (i.e. reading and writing) It can be scored easily and objectively Miss.Mona AL-Kahtani

Limitation of limited response It takes long time when it is done individually. It is difficult to test abstract words. Sketches can be ambiguous. Miss.Mona AL-Kahtani

Multiple-choice completion (they have to choose the correct answer) Miss.Mona AL-Kahtani

She quickly ______ her lunch. a. drank b. ate c. drove d. slept Miss.Mona AL-Kahtani

How do we construct such question? Select the word to be tested. Write an appropriate stem Choose distracters. Prepare clear and simple instructions Miss.Mona AL-Kahtani

Vocabulary choice Passive vocabulary. Content words Function words  be careful of bias (content, culture, sex) Miss.Mona AL-Kahtani

Context preparation (stem) Provide a clear context. “Human beings ……………..in many ways” a. interrogate b. philosophy c. communicate* d. investigate Miss.Mona AL-Kahtani

Some people ………………..disapproval by holding their nose between their thumb and the forefinger.” a. interrogate b. philosophy c. communicate* d. investigate Miss.Mona AL-Kahtani

“Frank is certainly very superstitious” ؟؟؟ Frank is very ____; he says, ‘Break a mirror, and you will have a bad luck.” a. ambitious b. superstitious c. courteous d. optimistic Miss.Mona AL-Kahtani

The stem should not be too difficult “Present an analogy which implies the concept you wish to convey” ؟؟ ”he did not actually say so, but he implied that you lied.” Miss.Mona AL-Kahtani

Distractor preparation Source: a. Experience b. Students’ errors Miss.Mona AL-Kahtani

Distractors should have the same form She had to help the ____ old man up the stairs. a. weak* b. slowly c. wisdom d. try Miss.Mona AL-Kahtani

Don’t give away the right answer through grammatical cues. She need to get up earlier so she’s buy an ___ clock. a. time b. alarm c. watch d. bell Miss.Mona AL-Kahtani

Disctractors should be about the same level of difficulty. They needed lots of training to operate such ____ equipment. a. easy b. sophisticated* c. blue d. wise Miss.Mona AL-Kahtani

There should be only one correct answer. She sent the ____ yesterday. a. letter* b. gift c. food d. books Miss.Mona AL-Kahtani

Instruction preparation It should be brief. It should be clear. “Circle the letter if the word that best complete each sentence” Miss.Mona AL-Kahtani

Alternative forms of multiple- choice completion Definition e.g. Loathe means: a. dislike * b. become ill c. search d. look angry Multiple-choice cloze Miss.Mona AL-Kahtani

Target students: Those who can read in the foreign language. Why? Miss.Mona AL-Kahtani

Advantages of multiple-choice completion It helps students to see the full meaning of words. Why??? Discourage word list memorization. Scoring is easy and consistent. It is a sensitive measure of achievement. Miss.Mona AL-Kahtani

Limitations of multiple-choice completion It is difficult to prepare. It is easy for the students to cheat. Miss.Mona AL-Kahtani

Multiple-choice Paraphrase (They have to choose the best synonym or paraphrase) Miss.Mona AL-Kahtani

Q. Circle the word which is closet in the meaning of the underlined word. He was irate when he heard about the new plans. a. interested b. surprises c. Angry* d. sad Miss.Mona AL-Kahtani

Sometimes, we can not find an equivalent for some words. ?? Definition “My brother is a pilot. He can …… a. help sick people b. make clothes c. fly an airplane.* d. teaches students at school. Miss.Mona AL-Kahtani

Distractors preparation Choose words that are related to the subject covered. “He just hit his shin” a. leg X b. cousin c. fender d. fruit Miss.Mona AL-Kahtani

Avoid antonyms ”He plans to purchase some candy for his mother.” a. make b. buy* c. sell d. steal Miss.Mona AL-Kahtani

Avoid synonyms “His remorse was great indeed.” a. wealth b. sadness* c. strengthX d. powerX Miss.Mona AL-Kahtani

Avoid tricky items with close spelling or sound contrast. “They crossed the ocean on a liner” a. sheep b. streamer c. bolt d. vessel* Miss.Mona AL-Kahtani

Distractors should be of the same length. ”That boy is very unusual; he is genius. a. can see the future b. has received much money c. has usual mental, inventive, and creative ability* d. has a terrible illness. Miss.Mona AL-Kahtani

Advantage of multiple-choice paraphrase Context preparation is easy Scoring is easy and consistence It is a sensitive measure of achievement. Miss.Mona AL-Kahtani

Limitation of multiple-choice paraphrase It is difficult to find good synonyms. It is easy for the students to cheat. Miss.Mona AL-Kahtani

Simple Completion (Fill in the missing parts of words that appear in sentences) Miss.Mona AL-Kahtani

How to construct this type of questions? No distractors List the prefixes and suffixes that you have taught your students. Match these to content words they have studied. Prepare a sentence that clarify the meaning of this word. Write clear, and simple instructions Miss.Mona AL-Kahtani

Q. Complete the following sentences with the missing prefix if necessary. “My teach___ is very helpful.” “Did she teach____ you anything?” Miss.Mona AL-Kahtani

Vocabulary choice From what the students have studied. Miss.Mona AL-Kahtani

Context preparation “ He was a very nerv___ person” ??? “That was a care___ answer.” ??? Miss.Mona AL-Kahtani

Provide enough context. So, “Yesterday he got on the wrong bus. So today he was care___ to find the right one.” Miss.Mona AL-Kahtani

Instruction preparation “Complete the words in these sentences. When nothing is needed, put an X in the blank.” Miss.Mona AL-Kahtani

Alternative forms of simple- completion Items. Stem- first procedure. “(beauty) she has a ______ new dress. Phrasal context. “An ____ convenient delay.”“ Miss.Mona AL-Kahtani

Compounds “He found the bedroom, but he could not open the door to the clothes _____” Inflectional cloze Miss.Mona AL-Kahtani

 Advantages of the simple completion:  It is faster and easier to construct. Limitation of the simple completion: Fewer words can be tested this way. There is some difficulty in avoiding ambiguous context. Miss.Mona AL-Kahtani

Assignment Check the word document in my website Miss.Mona AL-Kahtani