Testing vocabulary

By: Ahdab Al ZolaibaniBothaina Al Zolaibani

Dua’a MoftySalha Khafaji

Ling 406

Definition of Vocabulary The Importance of Vocabulary Definition of Testing The Importance of Testing Why Do We Test Vocabulary? Questions for Teachers Preparing

Vocabulary Tests

Outline of the presentation

Types of Questions in a Vocabulary Test Examples of Methods for Testing

Vocabulary Other Methods Teachers can Use to Test

Vocabulary Problems Associated with Testing

Vocabulary

The set of words within a language that are familiar are known as a person’s vocabulary.

Vocabulary develops with age and is a crucial tool for communicating and acquiring language.

Acquiring an extensive vocabulary is one of the largest challenges in learning a second language.

Definition of vocabulary

A large vocabulary helps us to communicate and express what we mean.

The size of your vocabulary is directly linked to your reading comprehension.

A person may be judged by others based on his or her vocabulary.

The importance of vocabulary

A procedure for critical evaluation; a means of determining the presence, quality, or truth of something.

In terms of human beings, testing tells what level of knowledge or skill has been acquired.

Definition of testing

Through a well-crafted test, a teacher can find out: If the student has understood the course that has

been taught or not. The students’ strengths and weaknesses.

Tests and examinations are the main motivation for students to study.

Tests provide a good dose of healthy stress and anxiety that is good training for challenges to be overcome in real life.

The importance of testing

Teachers need to know how developed their students’ vocabulary knowledge is. (Why?) Without a basic vocabulary, the potential for

developing a reading problem is great. Vocabulary knowledge is strongly related to

overall reading comprehension. A limited vocabulary represents a limited

understanding of concepts Well-developed vocabulary skills and wide

background knowledge help individuals comprehend more difficult and complex material

Why do we test vocabulary?

Testing helps to recycle vocabulary as well as to consolidate it.

Testing vocabulary also occurs in placement tests or diagnostic tests to find out students´ level of knowledge or in achievement tests at the end of the school year

Before preparing a vocabulary test, teachers should ask themselves the following questions: How should I test vocabulary? Which kind of vocabulary should I test? Which format(s) should I use? How many items should I include? How important is context? Are there any tools or resources that can help me?

Questions for teachers preparing vocabulary tests

How a teacher intends to test vocabulary should be connected to how they teach the course. Students should not be asked to simply

memorize long vocabulary lists. Vocabulary words should be presented in

context. When testing vocabulary, avoid testing words

in isolation.

How should I test vocabulary?

In most cases, teachers should test vocabulary that they expect their students to know or to use.

Research shows that learners can recognize more words than they can actually use.

Teachers need to decide between testing high frequency words or more specialized technical vocabulary.

What kind of vocabulary should I test?

Teachers should include all the new words that the students have covered in other activities (reading, listening, etc.)

Words should be grouped according to whether their recognition or their production is required.

When creating a vocabulary test, teachers can determine a student’s knowledge of the following: Word collocations. Word derivations. Word meanings. The part of speech of a word. The relative frequency of a word.

Teachers should take into consideration the following issues before choosing a test format: Test validity. To select only the test formats that students are familiar

with. Do not introduce a new test format in a testing situation. Practicality & wash back effect should be considered when

choosing a format. Select formats that will allow easy interpretation of results,

not necessarily easy marking. The chosen format should have a positive wash back

effect.

Which test format should I use?

The number of items on a test is related to the concept of test reliability.

Reliability refers to the degree of consistency of test scores.

In general, the more items on a test, the more reliable it is considered to be.

As far as vocabulary tests are concerned, Nation (2001) recommends a minimum of 30 items for a reliable vocabulary test.

How many items should I include?

Some test formats are “context-independent”, they present students with words in isolation and require them to select meanings for the words without reference to any linguistic context.

In “context-dependent” test formats, students are expected to make use of contextual clues.

How important is context?

Noted scholars in the field of vocabulary (Folse, 2003; Laufer, 1997) have pointed out the limitations involved with contextual clues.

Although teachers may provide their students with contextual clues in tests, they are rarely present in the real world to the same degree.

There are many tools and resources that can help a language teacher in evaluating vocabulary.

One recommended resource can be found on the website Tom Cobb’s Compleat Lexical Tutor (www.lextutor.ca).

The website is divided into three sections: Tutorial, Research, and Teachers.

Are there any tools or resources that can help me?

In a vocabulary test, as in most other tests, there are two kinds or types of questions. Recognition items. Production items.

Types of questions in a vocabulary test

Multiple choice tests. This technique is simple to mark but challenging and

difficult to design. It can be used for testing single words, words in

sentences or in texts. Teachers should take into account that students may

guess the right answer without actually knowing the word. There is a 25% chance if there are 4 options.

Students may also choose the correct answer without really knowing the word through a process of elimination.

Examples of methods for testing vocabulary

Recognition items

There may be more than one possible answer among the choices.

Teachers should use “distractors” in MCQ tests so that the answer is not too obvious or easy to pick.

However, some “distractors” are too distracting to the students, or too close to the correct answer and will confuse students.

Multiple choice questions can be employed to test a variety of concepts. For example:

Recognize synonyms:Choose the alternative (a, b, c, d) which is

closest in meaning to the word “gleam”.a) gather B) shine C) welcome D) clean

Recognize definitions:“loathe” means:

a) Dislike intenselyb) Become seriously illc) Search carefullyd) Look very angry

Thornbury suggested another way of using Multiple Choice questions which is unusual.

He suggested the use of a contextualized choice test.

In it, the options are put directly into a text.

Example of his idea: Someone else is (a) playing; b)

calling; c) singing;) the tune, and for the moment you´re quite happy to go (a) along; b) around; c) away) with what seems like a reasonable idea.

Hobbies (a) make; b) use; c) take) up far too much time and children could need support with a new activity.

Recognize appropriate word for context: Students must show that they understand the appropriate word for the context.

It can also be portrayed as a multiple choice question.

Example: The strong wind ________ the man’s efforts to put up the tent.

a) disabled b) hamperedc) derangedd) regaled

The testing of vocabulary productivity is so difficult that it is practically never attempted in proficiency tests.

The main difficulty is the need to limit the candidate to the (usually one) lexical item that we have in mind.

However, there are still several methods around this.

Production items

Using pictures: The teacher can display pictures of various

objects/people and ask the students to write down the names of them.

This method is obviously restricted to concrete nouns that are simple to name.

An example is located in the book (p.182-183)

Definitions: The teacher writes the definition or meaning of

a particular word and the students must answer with the word itself.

This may work for a range of lexical items. However, not every word can be easily defined,

and sometimes there is more than just one correct answer.

The definition should be clear so that the students can understand it and come to the correct answer.

Example: A ________ is a person who looks

after our teeth. ___________ is frozen water. __________ is the second month of

the year.

Gap filling: This can take the form of one or

more sentences with a single word missing.“because of the snow, the football match was ________ until the following week.”

Too often there is an alternative word to the one that we had in mind.

This problem can be solved by giving the first letter of the word and even an indication of the number of letters in the word. Example:

I r_______ have to tell you…Or I r_ _ _ _ _ have to tell you…

Expressive/ Peabody Vocabulary test: The teacher shows the student(s) pictures

and asks the student to describe the picture. The teacher may show the student a picture

and ask the student to give another meaning for a word. (Synonyms)

The teacher may ask for the opposite meaning of a word while showing a picture to students.

The test is quick to administer and can provide valid results and reliable scoring.

A Video demonstrating the Expressive Vocabulary Test:

Translation. Oral testing. Associations. Placing. Synonyms and antonyms. Transformation. Writing/composition questions. Matching.

Other methods teachers can use to test vocabulary

Teachers should take into consideration the following the points when testing their students’ vocabulary: It is difficult to estimate the size of a student’s

vocabulary. How many words does a student know?

It is often difficult to decide which words should be included in an exam and which shouldn’t be.

It is difficult to decide what is the criterion for knowing a word.

Certain tests do not give valid and reliable results.

Problems associated with testing vocabulary

THE ENDANY QUESTIONS?