Testing Vocabulary

Testing Vocabulary,[object Object],Jonathan Magdalena,[object Object]

What are we trying to MEASURE?,[object Object], “A word is ,[object Object],a microcosm,[object Object], of ,[object Object], human consciousness”,[object Object], (Vygotsky),[object Object]

What is vocabulary?,[object Object],Language emerges first as words, both historically, and in terms of the way each of us learned our first and any subsequent languages. The coining of new words never stops. Nor does the acquisition of words. Even in our first language, we are continually learning new words, and learning new meanings for old words. ,[object Object],Can you think of an example?,[object Object], ,[object Object]

How many words can you find?,[object Object], I like looking for bits and pieces like old second-hand record players and doing them up to look like new.,[object Object],andis repeated once; like three times,[object Object],The first likeis a verb; the other two are prepositions ,[object Object],lookingand look: do they count as two different words or different forms of the same word? ,[object Object],second-hand: two words or just one? ,[object Object],What about record player?,[object Object],And bits and pieces? Is this a self-contained unit or three separate words? ,[object Object],Are looking and looking for the same?,[object Object],Doing up means renovate, but it is separated by the word them; is it one or two words then?,[object Object]

What isaword then?,[object Object],A word is a highly complex phenomenon.,[object Object],Words have different functions. ,[object Object],The same word can have a variety of forms.,[object Object],Words can be added to, or combined, to form new words.,[object Object],Words can group together to form units that behave as if they were single words.,[object Object],Many words commonly co-occur with other words.,[object Object],Words may look and/or sound the same but have quite different meanings.,[object Object],One word may have a variety of overlapping meanings.,[object Object],Different words may share similar meanings, or may have opposite meanings.,[object Object],Words can have the same or similar meanings but be used in different situations or for different effects,[object Object]

What doesknow aword mean?,[object Object],Knowing a word means:,[object Object],having the ability to recognize it in its spoken and written forms,[object Object],knowing its different meanings.,[object Object],knowing its part of speech [eg. a noun, a verb],[object Object],being able to pronounce it properly,[object Object],being able to use it correctly within a sentence in an appropriate grammatical form,[object Object],for technical words, recognizing it in context,[object Object],being able to recognize different types of English e.g boot/trunk, lift/elevator [British/American].,[object Object]

How arewords learned?“Without grammar very little can be conveyed, without vocabulary nothing can be conveyed.”,[object Object],What makes you swerve your car?,[object Object],The limo surges forward and starts to swerve wildly over the road.,[object Object],The bus driver swerved to avoid hitting the cyclists,[object Object],She is one of those rare politicians whom one can trust not to swerve from policy and principle.,[object Object],Hitting the brakes would make the bikes swerve more.,[object Object],The driver made no attempt to swerve out of their path,[object Object],Nothing could swerve him,[object Object],Last and surprisingly, for such a small town you can still get your swerve on with the nightlife.,[object Object],He managed to pass the ball with a perfect body swerve.,[object Object], ,[object Object]

How arewords organized?The mind seems to store words neither randomly or in the form of a list, but in a highly organized and interconnected fashion — in what is often called the mental lexicon.,[object Object]

Why should we test vocabulary?,[object Object],Feedback,[object Object],Backwash effect,[object Object],Motivation,[object Object],Recycling,[object Object]

Howshould we test vocabulary?,[object Object],Separated from skills?,[object Object],Discrete point or integrative items?,[object Object],Focus on lexis or contextualized meaning?,[object Object]

What are the most common test formats for testing vocabulary?,[object Object],Recognition,[object Object],Multiple choice items (Liu, 121),[object Object],Error-recognition items (Liu, 129),[object Object],Pairing and matching items,[object Object],Gap-filling items,[object Object],Cloze/Modified Cloze (Hughes, 144),[object Object],Guessing meaning from context,[object Object]

When should we go for vocabularyrecognition?,[object Object],When…,[object Object],More material needs to be covered. ,[object Object],You want to test different levels of learning. ,[object Object],You have little time for scoring. ,[object Object],You are not interested in evaluating how well a test taker can formulate a correct answer. ,[object Object],You have a large number of test takers. ,[object Object]

What are the most common test formats for testing vocabulary?,[object Object],Production,[object Object],Completion items (Hughes, 143) ,[object Object],Transformation items (Liu, 131),[object Object],Paraphrase (Hughes, 143),[object Object],Table completion,[object Object],Combination and addition items,[object Object],Items involving the changing of words,[object Object]

When should we go for vocabularyproduction?,[object Object],When…,[object Object],You want to evaluate a person’s ability to formulate a correct answer. ,[object Object],You have more time to score the items,[object Object],You want to test a persons ability to apply concepts and information to a new situation. ,[object Object],You have a clear idea of the aspects and concepts that should be tested. ,[object Object]

Multiple Choice,[object Object],The flight attendant asked the passengers to ______ attention to the safety demonstration.,[object Object],a. give b. devote c. pay d. lend ,[object Object],They can be tricky or too picky ,[object Object],Difficult to test attitudes towards learning ,[object Object],Knowledge is limited to options provided ,[object Object],Difficult to construct at higher levels ,[object Object],Encourages guessing (25% chance) ,[object Object],More than one option may be possible,[object Object],All options must be grammatically possible,[object Object]

Matching Word-Definition,[object Object],Tangle means… ,[object Object],A type of dance,[object Object],A tropical forest,[object Object],A confused mass,[object Object],A kind of fruit ,[object Object],They are not communicative ,[object Object],Difficult to test attitudes towards learning ,[object Object],Words have diverse connotations,[object Object],Encourages guessing (25% chance) ,[object Object],One word class at a time,[object Object]

Single Selection,[object Object], Someone was (playing/singing) the tune and for a moment you were happy to go (along/away) with what seemed a reasonable idea.,[object Object],They are authentic and communicative,[object Object],Words are part of a broader context ,[object Object],Knowledge is limited to options provided ,[object Object],Encourages guessing (50%),[object Object],Difficult to design but easy to mark,[object Object]

Correction/Editing,[object Object],Maria bought a skarf for the winter,[object Object],Tests recognition of mistakes,[object Object],Is focused on word spelling only,[object Object],Mistakes are ungrammatical,[object Object],Negative backwash ,[object Object],Context is important but not essential,[object Object]

Guessing Meaning from Context,[object Object], Unlike the guitar, the fiddle has four strings on a fingerboard without frets.,[object Object],Tests contextualized knowledge,[object Object],Context is crucial,[object Object],Communicative and authentic,[object Object],Positive backwash ,[object Object],Difficult for some students (bias),[object Object],Tests various types of word relationships,[object Object]

Gap-Filling,[object Object], The flight attendant asked the passengers to ______ attention to the safety demonstration.,[object Object],They must have a broader context ,[object Object],More than one option may be possible (unless tester provides limited options or first letter),[object Object],Tests can focus on content words,[object Object],Production is tested unless options are provided ,[object Object],Focus should be on the aspect assessed,[object Object]

Cloze,[object Object],John ______ works ______Monday ______Friday,[object Object],Tests student’s understanding of the whole language ,[object Object],Many word types can be tested,[object Object],Understanding of context is crucial,[object Object],Difficult to test attitudes towards learning ,[object Object],Some words may be impossible to guess ,[object Object],Can test student’s IQ rather than language proficiency,[object Object],Difficult for some students (bias),[object Object]

Table Completion,[object Object],Complete the table with positive, negative and neutral adjectives,[object Object],Tests language structure,[object Object],Tests word-building ,[object Object],Many word types can be tested,[object Object],Not communicative at all,[object Object],Tests use but not language usage,[object Object],Difficult to test attitudes towards learning ,[object Object]

Word Transformation,[object Object],Turn verbs into nouns:,[object Object],The opera was conducted by the (compose)____,[object Object],Not very communicative (without context),[object Object],Clues will limit the answers,[object Object],Difficult to test attitudes towards learning,[object Object],Some context may be added ,[object Object],Instructions are essential,[object Object],Few aspects might be assessed (word classes, synonyms, antonyms…),[object Object]

Five characteristics to measure communicativevocabulary,[object Object],The test must provide more context than only a single sentence.,[object Object],The items must assess lexis within a limited number of semantic fields.,[object Object],The test taker should understand what the communicative purpose of the task is.,[object Object],He or she should also know who the intended audience is.,[object Object],He or she must have to focus on meaning and not form to answer correctly.,[object Object],Recognize is not sufficient. The test taker must be able “to produce grammatical responses.”,[object Object],(R. Dickins),[object Object]

Evidence shows that semantically related items are 'stored together'. Items are arranged in a series of associative networks, a large 'master file', and a variety of 'peripheral access files' which contain information about spelling, phonology, syntax and meaning. ,[object Object],Knowing a word, then, is the sum total of all these connections — semantic, syntactic, phonological, orthographic, morphological, cognitive, cultural and autobiographical. It is unlikely, therefore, that any two speakers will 'know' a word in exactly the same way.,[object Object],In Conclusion,[object Object]

Testing Vocabulary

Testing Vocabulary

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