Testing vocabulary For each example, define for yourself what aspects of the item(s) are being tested, and just as important what is not being tested! VOCABULARY-TESTING TECHNIQUES Example 1 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 Example 2 Choose the letter of the definition which comes closest in meaning to the word elated. a) ready and willing b) tense and excited c) tending to talk a lot d) in high spirits Example 3 Draw lines connecting the pairs of opposites. A brave female cheap asleep fail B awake expensive succeed cowardly male Example 4 Which of the prefixes in Column A can combine with which of the words in Column B? Write out the complete words. A B over human trans national super flow dis form inter infect Example 5 Underline the odd one out: goat, horse, cow, spider, sheep, dog, cat. Example 6 For each of the following words, write a sentence that makes its meaning clear. 1. wealth 2. laughter 3. decision 4. brilliant Example 7
(The teacher dictates the words from Example 6, the students write them down.) Example 8 (The teacher dictates the mother-tongue equivalents of the words in Example 6, the students write down the target-language versions.) Example 9 Fill in the gaps: In the seventeenth Spanish ships sailed to Central and. America to fetch gold for the Spanish The ships were often attacked by,who infested the 'Spanish Main' (the sea north-east of Central and South America). Example 10 Complete the passage using the words from the list: area, century, pirates, government, regularly, South In the seventeenth Spanish ships sailed to Central and America to fetch gold for the Spanish. The ships were often attacked by, who infested the 'Spanish Main' (the sea north-east of Central and South America). Example 11 (Students are given sentences in the mother tongue to translate into the target language; or vice versa.) Example 12 Finish the following sentences: 1.1 feel depressed when... 2.1 never have an appetite when... 3. It was a great relief when... Example 13 Words and phrases Taken from: http://schulen.asn-noe.ac.at/arge/eltnoe/nym/ Unit 06 When I think of the future, I'm. we should not use the car so much, but we like to travel around a lot. I think we start working together. We ought to help the. They want to the public transport system. In 1950, only twenty-nine of the people in the world lived in a town or a city. Large cities need amounts of water. Cities often don't what people need. Angst haben einerseits... andererseits sollte(n) Entwicklungsland verbessern Prozent enorm, riesig (an) bieten Comments Denotation: the literal meaning of a word Connotation: In everyday usage, connotation has a different meaning. To explain this meaning, it is helpful to explicate the partial theory or meaning that it presupposes. The theory goes like this: every
word or phrase has two kinds of meaning: primary, literal meanings (sometimes called denotations), and secondary meanings known as connotations. Connotations are thought to colour what a word "really means" with emotion or value judgments. For example, a stubborn person may be described as being either strong-willed or pig-headed. Although these have the same literal meaning (i.e. stubborn), strong-willed connotes admiration for someone's convictions, while pig-headed connotes frustration in dealing with someone. Childish means like a child, usually applied to an adult s behaviour with negative connotations. Examples 1 and 2: Multiple-choice Multiple-choice questions are tricky and time-consuming to compose, but, if the answers are clear, very quick and easy to mark. Note that a testee who does not know the answer has a 25 per cent chance of being right by guessing! The second example allows for more careful and subtle distinctions in meaning. Example 3: Matching As in the previous examples, only meaning is tested; and is knowledge of an opposite a proof that the testee knows the meaning of the original word? Matching items are quicker and easier to compose than multiple-choice; but note that the last option - if the learner has all the others right - becomes obvious. This problem can be corrected by the provision of more items in Column B than in A. Example 4: Matching Here the only thing that is being tested is whether the testee is aware of the existence of the (combined) word! Which probably means they also know its meaning, but this fact is not actually being tested. Example 5: Odd one out Again, only meaning is being tested, and you have no way of being sure that all the items are known. But this is at least more interesting to do, and usually easy to mark. Example 6: Writing sentences Spelling and pronunciation of the items are not tested, but most other aspects are. This is a bit boring to do, and difficult to mark objectively, but does check the testee's knowledge fairly well. Example 7: Dictation Dictation tests aural recognition and spelling only. However, if learners can recognize and spell an item correctly they probably also know what it means: it is extremely difficult to perceive, let alone spell, words you do not know. A relatively easy test to administer and check. Example 8: Dictation-translation This checks if students know meaning and spelling only. There is the problem that the mother-tongue translation may be inexact or misleading; but if it is a reasonable equivalent, then this is a very quick, easy and convenient test to administer and check. Example 9: Gap-filling This tests meaning, spelling, to some extent grammar and collocation. But testees may write down possibly acceptable items that are not in fact the originals, or what you intended; will you accept them?
Example 10: Gap-filling with a 'pool' of answers Meaning is tested here, also to some extent grammar and collocation. This version is easier to do and mark than Example 9. Example 11: Translation Translation can test all aspects of an item. But there are better ways of testing. Example 12: Sentence completition This tests meaning only; but is personalised and interestimg to do and read! Example 14: Words and phrases Words in context. To make it a bit more challenging for the studnets the words on the right might be listed in a different order. Task: Which of the above mentions techniques do these examples match? 1) Read the letter and fill in the missing words. Dear Sue, Italy was wonderful. Mum, Dad, Christine and I there by car and we at a small hotel near Ancona. The food wonderful. You know how I love good food. I spaghetti every day. We swimming in the morning and in the afternoon. There just one problem. We only for ten days. Frank 2) Write down the opposites of the following words. long hot old black bad beautiful day difficult happy 3) Circle the correct word. Does John have a mascot? - Yes, he does. He always it to school when he has a test. turns takes stays puts Where's your mascot? - In my room. I always it there on my bookshelf. keep get work do Do you have a mascot? - No, I don't a mascot can help. make know think miss Do you have a mascot, Sue? - I don't a mascot, but I've got a wristband. know worry melt need What happened when the man saw the snakes? - He and ran away. showed shouted built took
What did the two men do? - They down to the lake and parked their car. stopped drove tried swam Why did the man stop? - He wanted to the girl home. go put take find What happened when they got to the house? - The man out of the car. went found took got 4) Match the verbs in the box with the pictures below. 1 light 2 drive 3 cut off 4 knock 5 wipe 6 watch 7 listen 8 bite 9 buy 10 put in 11 build 12 wait 13 take out 14 shout 15 collect 16 laugh at 5) Write down the words.
6) What did Peter have to do last week? Write sentences and use the verbs from the box. cook wash the dishes (Geschirr abwaschen) help clean go to bed go shopping 7) Write the sentences. things, painted the castle and worked for the King in the mountains. a lot of things but nothing happened. teacher. in a cave Kra, his old in the garden. his magic words, went to see Melric did He cooked meals, repaired. One morning he said. So Melric. Kra lived.
8) Fill in the correct words from the box. Note: there are more words in the box than you can fill in! time pet her sing their know cow families goldfish flowers dogs buy it steal minute us About fifty per cent of all the in the United Kingdom have some sort of. There are about eight million dogs and seven million cats in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland! Do you also want to a pet? Then you must how to look after it. Too many people buy a pet and then after a short want to get rid of it because they don't like looking after. So every year, about fifty thousand people get rid of pet dogs. There are over four hundred thousand stray in the United Kingdom. 9) Look at the pictures and fill in the words from the box. put open fridge walk put wait bowl lead your finished tin call food Open the. Take out a of dog. the tin. your dog. the meat in a. until your dog has. Get the. your dog on the lead. Go for a with dog. 10) Picture dictionary
11) Wordfield