Testing vocabulary

Testing Vocabulary

Types of Vocabulary knowledgeActive speaking vocabularyPassive listening vocabulary

Passive reading vocabularyActive writing vocabulary

Sources of Words to Test

The test maker’s job is easiest if all the students have been using the same syllabus or course of study.

Multiple Choice tasks:

- Words that have a similar meaning to the correct word but which are inappropriate in context

- Words that are contextually related but which do not fit in the context.

Example:

Choose the letter of the item which is the nearest in meaning to the word in italics:He was reluctant to answer.

a)unprepared      b)unwilling       c) refusing      d)slow

Synonyms/ Definition Items

The simplest multiple choice item has a single word in the stem, with four or five alternatives. Testees choose from among the alternatives the word or the definition that is the closest in meaning to the word in the stem.

Example:

Choose the letter of the item which is the definition of the word in bold.

1. Idiosyncrasy isa.the ideology of a political party or

organizationb.a peculiar habit or characteristic of an

individual or groupc. synchronous movement between two

mechanical partsd.a characteristic of selfish people

Picture Items:

The stem in the previous type of item can be replaced with a picture. The testees choose which of the four or five alternative matches the picture. Obviously it should be clear what is being depicted in the picture, so that the test is meaning of the word, not the testee’s ability to interpret the picture.

Example:

Choose the letter of the item.Look at the picture and tell what facial expression it is.

a. smilingb. laughingc. gigglingd. crying

1.

Sentence items:

Another option is to test the vocabulary item by putting it in a sentence and having the testees choose the alternative that has the same meaning as a word in the sentence that is underlines, in italics, in bold type.

Example:

Choose the word closest in meaning to the word surrounded by apostrophes ('word').

1. Be careful not to ' rush ' your studies, even when in a hurry.

a.Improveb. Hurryc. deepen

Context items:

Another type of multiple choice item is one that has a sentence with a blank in it, and the testees choose which of the alternatives fit in the sentence.

Example:

1. The _______ moon was shiny that night.a. Whiningb. Waxingc. Willingd. wafering

Set Items

Another types of item is one where testees are presented with a set of word. In the case of a recognition types of item, the testees decide which word in the set does not fit with the other; in the case of production types items, the testees indicated what topic lies all of the words together.

Example:

Underline the word that does not fit.

Dollar yen poundmoney

Matching Items:

Another type of item is one in which the testee is presented with a short passage or several unconnected sentences with blanks.

Example:

Draw lines connecting the pairs of opposites.

A  

B

brave awakefemale expensivecheap succeedasleep cowardlyfail male

Completion Items:

Except that testees are not given words from which to choose. They must supply the words for the blanks.

Example:

Complete the sentence.The ________ steps confirmed he was hiding from someone.

furtive

Word Formation Items:

Another type of items not the testees’ knowledge of the meaning of word but their knowledge of word from. In this case, testees are given a sentence or paragraph, and they are instructed to fill in blanks with the correct forms of the words that they are given.

Example:

Write the correct form of the word in capital letters in the blank.

HONEST Darren says he didn’t cheat, but I ___________

don’t know what to think.

Guessing Meaning from Context

Another vocabulary-related skill to test is the ability to guess the meaning of an unknown item from context. In testing this skill, students are usually presented with a word that they would ne unlikely to know and are asked to figure out what it means

1. A synonym in another clause:

Example:

Your explanation doesn’t need to be so convoluted.

2. An antonym or contrasted word in another clause

Example:

May was indignant about the problem, and had to calm her down.

3. A cause or effect of the word in question

Example:

pollution from the factory is contaminating the local farmers’ field.

4. An illustration of the word in question

Example:

Jeff is so parsimonious that he won’t spend a penny is he doesn’t have to.

5. The use of an object

Example:

I used a pitter to remove the seeds from the cherries.