Intro Level Exit Exam Reading and Writing Spring 2013

Directions: Read the statements. Write True or False. (1 point each)

____ 1. People all over the world name children the same way.

____ 2. People in the same family usually share the same last name.

____ 3. A person’s name can tell a story about that person’s family.

____ 4. Most naming traditions are the same.

Directions: Read the statements. For each statement, check the tradition(s) the reading talks

about. (1 point each)

Chinese

African-American

Spanish

1. The sound of the name is important.

2. The first name means something in the language.

3. The first name is from a relative.

4. Family members in the same generation share a name.

5. The last name is from the father.

6. The last names are from the mother and father.

7. The parents create a name for the child.

Directions: Look at Naming Around the World again. Read each question and choose the best

answer. Choose one answer for each question. (1 point each)

1. According to the reading, the word traditions is closest in meaning to ______________.

a. Food people make

b. New things people do

c. Old things people have done for many years

2. Which of the following statements about Chinese naming traditions is NOT true?

a. There are three parts to many Chinese names.

b. The generation name comes from the father’s family.

c. The first name can be almost any word in Chinese.

Intro Level Exit Exam Reading and Writing Spring 2013

3. According to the article, some parents in the African-American naming tradition:

a. Choose a popular name, and then they change it to make it interesting.

b. Give their children the grandparents’ first names.

c. Don’t name their children after famous people or other relatives.

4. According to the article, Chinese names for girls are often words that mean:

a. strength and health

b. beauty or flowers

c. generation

5. All of the following are true of the Spanish naming tradition EXCEPT:

a. In Spain, a name usually has three parts.

b. The mother’s last name is used from one generation to the next.

c. The child’s name tells the family history.

Directions: Complete the paragraph with the correct vocabulary words from the box. (1 point

each)

In the United States, there are no rules about names. Sometimes parents choose a

______________ name, such as John. Sometimes they choose an ______________ name, such

as Candy Apple or Table. Often a child has the name of a family member or a ______________

person. Children can even have __________________names, such as Blahj or Abcde.

Other countries have rules about names. In China, for example, names must use Chinese

characters. One Chinese couple ________________this rule a few years ago. They wanted to

name their child “@.” “@” is not a Chinese character. In China, people pronounce “@” as “ai-

ta.” This _________________like “love him” in Mandarin. There are two reasons for this rule:

made-up common unusual famous

learned sounds uncommon

Intro Level Exit Exam Reading and Writing Spring 2013

Chinese computers cannot read unusual symbols on identity cards, and Chinese speakers

cannot pronounce ________________names.

Directions: Read the following conversation. Then answer the questions.

A: Hi Rebecca. How are you?

B: I’m fine. I’m on my way to work.

A: Where do you work, again?

B: I work at Hennepin County Memorial Hospital, in pediatrics.

A: Oh! Is it fun working with patients who are children?

B: The children are nice, but they are usually sick or injured.

A: Is it hard work?

B: Sometimes. I have to study a lot because I need to know all kinds of information about

diseases and injuries. I have to help the doctors examine patients and follow their directions.

However, I do like my job. It’s important work, and all the people I work with are really nice.

A: That’s good. Well, I have to go. I hope you have a good day at work.

B: Thanks, Steve! See you later.

1. Rebecca enjoys all of the following things about her job EXCEPT:

a. It’s important work.

b. The people she works with are nice.

c. Children are always fun.

2. According to the conversation, which statement is probably true?

a. Rebecca is a nurse.

b. Rebecca is a doctor.

c. Rebecca is a student.

3. According to the conversation, the word pediatrics is closest in meaning to __________.

a. Healthcare for pets

b. Healthcare for children

c. Healthcare for adults

4. Where does Rebecca work?

a. In a clinic

b. At a school

c. In a hospital

Intro Level Exit Exam Reading and Writing Spring 2013

Part 3: Writing

Directions: Choose one of the following topics. Then write a paragraph about the topic you

chose. You may use the back of this paper to plan your paragraph.

1. Write about your daily routine. What do you do every day?

2. Write about a trip or vacation you took. Where did you go? What did you do? When did

you go? Who went on the trip? What did you enjoy most about the trip?

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Intro Level Exit Exam Reading and Writing Spring 2013

Reflection Intro Level Exit Exam

I developed an exit exam for the Intro Level RC students in response to the fall semester of RC.

After that term, some students who were not prepared for Level 1 passed Intro Level RC. The

exit exam is meant to be sort of a gate-keeping tool that can give instructors a better idea of

whether students are really prepared to enter Level 1. The fact that Intro Level has only been

around for 2 terms means that the level is a work in progress. It seemed that students entering

Intro Level were coming in with a really wide range of language proficiencies. I’m unsure of the

admission policy, but it seemed that any student scoring lower than the Level 1 test score range

was placed into the Intro Level. It seems that if we are going to serve these students in the best

way we can, we need to accept that not all of them will move onto Level 1 after one term. This

exit exam is an attempt at gauging whether students are prepared for Level 1 or if they should

repeat Intro Level for another term.

So far, the exam has only been given to the exiting Intro Level students. It is my impression that

the exam will be given to entering Level 1 RC students next term to ascertain whether it is a

reliable assessment measure. While it will take time to make this exam effective, I think it’s

worth pursuing if our program wants to continue to serve these low level students.

The exam includes an article from Q: Skills for Success (Reading and Writing) Level 1. The

textbook was previously perceived by Level 1 instructors to be too easy for Level 1 students,

and the topics covered included topics covered in Interchange: Intro used in Intro Level RC this

term. The reading chosen is from Unit 1 of Q (Naming Around the World). The reading

comprehension questions for this article were both created and chosen from the textbook. The

format of the questions created were based on Level 1 reading assessments given this term.

The items were multiple choice with one correct answer and three distractors. The items were

meant to assess inferencing skills, reading for details, reading for main ideas, and vocabulary. In

addition to the multiple choice items, a cloze task was also included. The text for the cloze is of

the same topic as the first article (naming traditions/rules), and it was meant to assess

vocabulary knowledge. A second text (a conversation from Unit 1 in Q) was included to assess

students’ ability to read a different kind of text. Four multiple choice questions followed that

assessed inferencing ability, vocabulary, and reading for details.

In addition to the reading items, a writing task was included as well. The writing section of the

exam includes two prompts related to topics we had covered over the course of the semester.

One asked students to write about their daily routines (simple present tense) and the other

asked students to write about a trip or vacation they went on (simple past tense). The students

Intro Level Exit Exam Reading and Writing Spring 2013

were asked to write a paragraph (at least 5 sentences) about one of the topics. A grading rubric

was not created prior to the exam being given. An effective rubric might include criteria related

to including parts of a paragraph (topic sentence, detail sentences, concluding sentence, title),

correct grammar (using the correct verb tense), mechanics (using correct punctuation and

capitalization), and responding to the prompt (how well did students respond to the prompt

they chose). It was suggested by Annie that we use the Jacob’s Scale to score the writing, but I

am unfamiliar with the scale as of yet.

The exam was given on the last day of class (05/10/13). Students were aware that the exam

would be given and that it would not significantly affect their grades. Since the exam was

developed over the course of the term, it was not included in the syllabus, and it has not been

given to any other students to test its validity and reliability, it didn’t seem fair to have the

exam impact grades at this point. Ideally, the exam would be worth points toward student final

grades.

I originally gave students 40 minutes to complete the exam, but I decided to extend that time

to 50 minutes about half way through the exam. At the end of 50 minutes, everyone but 2

students had finished. The students had a lot of questions during the exam, and they said it was

quite difficult. I was surprised at the level of confusion and uncertainty expressed by the

students. The topics included in the exam are ones we covered during Intro RC, and I thought

they would have an easier time than they did. One student even said, “I don’t like quiz today.”

Upon looking at the first page (the first text) a couple students asked, “Teacher, what is this?” It

was as if they were overwhelmed by the text and didn’t feel capable of turning the page to see

the questions. One student in particular had a really difficult time reading and understanding

the directions. This was an issue all semester, but it seemed like he didn’t attempt to read the

instructions at all. During the writing section, he began writing a paragraph about wrestling (a

topic he feels comfortable writing about) and only asked for clarification later. I told him to read

the instructions and choose one of the topics provided (both of which we had written about

during the semester). All the students but one chose topic 2 (describe a trip you went on). I

wasn’t surprised, as we had written a paragraph on this topic a couple weeks prior to the exam.