UNIVERSIDAD MAYOR DE SAN SIMON
FACULTAD DE HUMANIDADES Y CIENCIAS DE LA EDUCACIÓN
DEPARTAMENTO DE POST-GRADO
MAESTRIA EN DIDACTICA DE LA ENSEÑANZA DE LENGUAS EXTRANJERASEVALUACIÓN Vocabulary Testing
Vocabulary, grammar and pronunciation are the language components involved in communicating, and in this chapter Harold Madsen explains various ways to test vocabulary mastery, describing three or four sections with different kind ok testing technique. Choosing which kind of vocabulary test to use depends on the students’age and language ability. The purpose of vocabulary tests is to measure the comprehension and production of words used in speaking or writing. Even, most of English second language teachers do not recommend having students simply memorize lists of words. Instead, they teach students to find the meaning of words through the context of the sentence, and they increase comprehension do not presenting words in isolation. Let’s see how to evaluate vocabulary mastery in four general kinds: First: it’s for beginners, with a limited response (simple physical action or yes or no) it could be:
a) Individual testing
Directed physical responses can easily be used, for example: Please sit down, please hand me the eraser, etc. The student can show he understands by doing what he is told. We can also test beginning students by asking for only very short answer, for example, Are you from La Paz? Is the boy reading or writing?
b) Group testing (visual activities)
We can use nonverbal physical responses as well to test the whole class at the same time, drawing or commanding to do something easy, like to match the sentence with a picture.
Advantages of Limited Response 1. it causes less stress 2. it avoids skills such as reading or writing 3. it can be scored easily and objectively. | Limitations 1. it requires individual testing. 2. It is difficult to test abstract words 3. Sketches are sometimes ambiguous. |
Second: multiple-choise completion, sentences with a missing word are presented. Students choose one of four vocabulary items given to complete the sentences.
It is for students who can read in the foreing language. It makes the student depend on context.
Example:
They ________ by phone
A came B spoke C talked
Vocabulary choise
Pay attention to the cultural bias, that means to prejudices, cause people could misunderstand the messages. Context preparation
It’s important to clarify meaning. We can prepare mini dialogs to help the students:
Example: Your daugther’s going to the cinema.
Ok. I’ll _______ her money.
A lend B give C ask
We can also find a passage in wich the word appears, remembering that some sentences are much more helpful than others.
Example: some people______disaproval by holding their nose between their thumb and forefinger.
A Interrogate B philosophize C* communicate D investigate
A, B and D are good distractors because not one of them fits this context.
Distractor Preparation
There are two common ways to chosse distractors: Teachers who create their own distractors and to use student errors as distractors.
1. Teachers who create their own distractors:
* make sure the distractors are the same form of word as the correct answer.
· also be sure you don’t give away the rigt answer through grammatical cues.
· Multiple choise items for any question should be about the same level of difficulty, and, the sentence context should not be difficult for students to read.
· Also besure not include more than one correct answer.
Instruction preparation
The instructions for this test should be short. It is better to give the students clear instruction by written. Alternate forms of multiple choise completion
We have four ways to prepare vocabulary:
1. Definition
2. phrase completion
a. idioms
b. appropriateness to context
3.phrasal context (not sentence completion)
4. multiple-choise cloze
Advantages of multiple-choise completion 1. it helps students see the full menaing of word by providing natural contexts. 2. Scoring is easy and consistent. 3. It is a sensitive measure of achievement. | Limitation of multiple-choise completion 1. It is rather difficult to prepare good sentence contexts that clearly show the meaning of the word being tested. 2. It is easy for students to cheat by copying what others have circled. |
Third: multiple-choise paraphrase, a sentence with on word underlined is given. Students choose wich of four words is the closest in meaning to underlined item.
Vocabulary choise and context preparation
They are the same steps that to prepare completion items:
a) select the words to be tested
b) prepare a sentence context
c) choose distractors
c) write instructions
Example: He was irate when he heard about the new plans
A. interested B surprised C* angry D sad
Distractors preparation
In preparing one word disctractors, keep in mind the suggestions made in the section on multiple-choise completion.
Instructor preparation
It can be prepared by following the guidelines for multiple-choise completion instructions.
Alternate forms of multiple-choise paraphrase
There are two kinds of paraphrase questions: both use a key word in a sentence.
One: asks the students to find the best synonym or related word.
Two: has the student choose the phrase that is the best short definition.
We can use four alternate ways to write paraphrase items.
1. Idioms and other phrases.
2. Phrasal context.
3. Reading passage context (vocabulary questions can be included with reading comprehension questions)
4. Related-word identification (these questions do not use synonyms, they use examples and nonexamples of the key word).
5. Unrelated-word identification
Advantages of multiple choise paraphrase 1. context preparation is rather easy. 2. Scoring is easy and consistent 3. It is a sensitive measure of achievement. | Limitations 1. it is difficult to find good synonyms 2. it is easy for students to cheat. |
Fourth: simple completion (words). Students write in the missing part of words that appear in sentences.
The steps in preparing a simple-completion vocabulary test are similar to those followed in the two previous sections, but distractors are not needed. 1. List the prefixes and sufixes that you have taugh to your students.
2. Prepare sentences that clarify the meaning of these words.
3. Write your instructions and examples.
Vocabulary choise
You will see if the students can produce uncooperative. Context preparation
Student success on the exam will depend in part on your sentence contexts. Instruction preparation
It would be helpful to put examples on the exam for students who have not done simple-completion items before. You would probably need to illustrate a prefix, a suffix, and an X blank. Alternate forms of simple completion items
1. Stem-first procedure
2. Phrasal context
3. Compounds
4. Inflectional cloze
Advantages of simple completion (words) 1. It reflects teaching approaches. 2. It is generally faster and easier to construct than are items with distractors. | Limitations 1. fewer words can be tested this way than with multiple choice. 2. There is some difficulty in avoiding ambiguous contexts. |
On the other hand, Arthur Hughes, talking about testing vocabulary, says that clearly 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. Writing specifications
They have suggested that a vocabulary placement test will be in essence a proficiency test.Writing items may involve a number of different operations: 1. Synonyms
Choose the alternative which is closets in meaning to the word. 2. Definitions
Note that all of the options are of about the same lenght.Loathe means a. Dislike intensely b. became seriously ill c. search carefully d. look very angry 3. Gap filling (multiple choice)
Context, rather than a definition or a synonyms, can be used to test knowledge of a lexical item. Production
The testing of vocabulary productively is so difficult that is practically never attempted in proficiency tests. Suggestions for achievement tests: 1. pictures 2. definitions3. gap filling Postcript
While grammar and vocabulary contribute to communicative skills, they are rarely to be regarded as ends in themselves. It is essential to create a backwash effect that undermines the achievement of the objectives of teaching and learning.
