The usage of different types of control in the lesson of Foreign Language.

1. For each word write a sentence context that reflects the meaning of word as clearly as possible.
2. Prepare three good distractors for each test item.
3. Write simple, clear instructions, and include an example.

 

 

Advantages of Multiple- Choice Completion:

• It helps students see the full meaning of words by providing natural contexts. Also, it is a good influence on instruction: It discourages word-list memorization.
• Scoring is easy and consistent.
• It is a sensitive measure of achievement.

Limitations of Multiple –Choice Completion:

• It is rather difficult to prepare good sentence contexts that clearly show the meaning of the word being tested.
• It is easy for students to cheat by copying what others have circled.

 

Grammar tests are designed to measure student proficiency in matters ranging from inflections (bottle-bottles, bake-baked) to syntax. Syntax involves the relationship of words in a sentence, including matters such as word order, use of negative, question forms, and connectives.

LIMITED RESPONSE: The grammar of students with very little ability in English can be checked without having them speak or write anything. This can be done by means of directed physical responses and visuals. So here was presented two basic ways to measure grammar skills of these beginning level students: (1) testing them one at a time, and (2) testing them in groups.

Individual testing: You can test students individually by using oral requests. These requests can ask for easy spoken replies or simply for nonverbal actions. When teaching students who know almost no English, you can permit answers in their native language.

                         Example: (students hear in English)

                       “How many books are on the table?”

                         (students answer in their language)

                       “There are six.”

Pictures can be used to test students individually or in a groups. To test preposition recognition, we can ask , “Is the lady on the house?” Or we can say, “Point to the child behind the car.”

Group testing: You can also test students in groups by using directed physical responses. The following “drawing” activity can test prepositions of place: First, explain and illustrate any new vocabulary words. Then have students make a drawing according to your spoken instructions: “Draw an airplane in the middle of the paper.[pause while students draw.] Now draw a  house below the airplane. [Pause] Next draw a cloud in front of the airplane.” Using a picture like the first one, you can test your student’s understanding of prepositions. For example, we can say, “Draw a circle around the person on the house” or “Draw an ‘X’ on the boy behind the car”. Sets of three or four related pictures can evaluate mastery of a number of grammar points. Here is a set that tests the comparative:

(nonverbal) “Circle the picture that illustrates this sentence: ‘The boy is as big as the girl.’”

(yes-no) “Look at picture ‘B.’ Is the boy as big as the girl?”

(true-false) “Look at picture ‘C’ The girl is taller than the boy”

Advantages of Limited Response:

• It puts students at ease and avoids unnecessary stress.
• It avoids skills such as reading and writing that have not yet been developed.
• It can be scored easily and objectively.

Limitations of Limited Response:

• Individual testing takes longer than group testing.
• It is difficult to find suitable pictures (although the teacher can make needed sketches).
• Only a limited number of grammatical structures can be tested.

 

СLOZE PROCEDURE.

Cloze tests are prose passages, usually a paragraph or more in length, from which words have been deleted. The student relies on the context in order to supply the missing words. At the present time, no single test format is more popular than the cloze procedure. It is easy to prepare and rather easy to score. Teachers like it too because it is integrative – that is, it requires students to process the components of language simultaneously, much like what happens when people communicate. Moreover, studies have shown that it relates well to various language measures- from listening comprehension to overall performance on a battery of language tests. In brief, it is a good measure of overall proficiency.

1. Write out the major problem that you see in the following cloze test. Disregard its short length.

 There was much conflict in early Vermont. It remained an unbroken wilderness until_____  , when a French officer established  Fort  ____  on Isle La Motte. In 1924 Massachusetts ____ fearing attacks by the French and _____ , built Fort  Dummer near the present  ____ of Brattleboro. The French forts at ____  and Crown Point were used as  ___  for attacks.

Key: (1666, St. Anne, colonists, Indians, site, Chimney Point, bases).

2. Two different cloze passages were prepared from a single essay. The actual key to each test is listed here, though the essay is not printed. Compare their usefulness as grammar tests. Key#1: basically, drawings, called, reappear, story, a, a, a, of, outlined, page, of. Key#2: by, can, the, in, to, so, Their, of, who, a, the, have.

 

3. Prepare a full-length cloze test. It should test grammar, and it should be on the right level for your students. Write out the instructions and the passage (with numbered blanks). Include a key at the end. Optional activity: Administer the test and choose equivalent correct answers. Tell what they are and how you chose them.

Advantages of Cloze:

• It is easy to prepare and quite easy to score.
• It is a good measure of integrative English skills.
• Standard cloze is a good measure of overall ability in English.

Limitations of Cloze:

• It is not a sensitive measure of short-term gains.
• It is difficult for teachers who are non-native English speakers to choose acceptable equivalent words.

 

 

 

Reading and Writing tests

Test of reading come in a wide variety of forms and evaluates a broad spectrum of reading activities. These range from pre-reading concerns (learning the Roman alphabet, for example, or word- attack skills) to reading comprehension, reading speed, and skimming techniques. Advanced and more specialized applications include translations, reading aloud, and reading literature. Reading speed is especially important for students with lots of out-of-class reading to do. Skimming is handy for people who need to hunt for information in print: This includes reading a newspaper as well as doing research in a library. The advanced applications are helpful for translators as well as radio and television announcers. Many students at the advanced level can use skills of literary analysis for school and leisure. 

1. LIMITED RESPONSE.

1. Prepare a list of five pairs of letters that students might confuse. (Example: “b” and “d”)
2. Prepare a set of ten same- different phrase items. Select them from your student’s ESL text, or use these phrases and choose five more: at the fountain/ has been paid/ an ill man/ shall we go/ that’s quite petty.
3. Prepare a set of ten odd-item triplets. Use words from ESL text.
4. Prepare a set of ten key-word items, each with three distractors, plus the word that matches the key. Select them from your student’s ESL text. Or you may use these words and then choose five more: slips, matted, stacks, paper, fright.

Advantages of Limited- Response items:

• These are quite easy to construct and score.
• Only the recognition of letters is required, making this a simple task for beginning students.

Limitations of Limited- Response Items:

• This is not an integrative skill involving actual reading.
• Overemphasis on this technique could reduce reading speed.

 

2. SENTENCES COMPREHENSION.

1. Prepare or select a set of three related sketches. Prepare a statement on one of them. Make sure it involves reading comprehension.

2. Find a picture- preferably one with various activities in it. Prepare three true –false items related to it. These should be written on a level that your students can understand. Then prepare two yes-no items on the picture. These should be on your student’s level.
3. Prepare a list of twenty signs. If these are available in your student text, use them. If not, use signs that your students could encounter in English. Write these out. Then choose five of these to test the meaning of. Prepare five three- option multiple- choice questions that test meaning through paraphrase.
4. Prepare four three-option multiple-choice questions to test the most advanced grammar items that you have recently taught to your students. Or you may use the items below. Use paraphrase.

1. I’d live in a dorm if I didn’t have an uncle in town.
2. If she hadn’t answered the telephone, she wouldn’t have heard the good news.
3. He said I wouldn’t graduate unless I studied harder.
4. She’ll invite him whether or not he finishes the painting.

 

5. Prepare sentence-comprehension items.

1. Write five true-false sentences on your student’s level.
2. Write directions for these items and include an example.

Advantages of Sentence- Comprehension Items

• It is rather easy to write true-false items on pictures.
• These are good for testing the skills of near beginning students.
• This is a rapid way to test reading comprehension.

Limitations of Sentence- Comprehension Items

• Finding good pictures can be rather time consuming.
• Not all reading skills are covered in sentence-+ comprehension questions.

C. PASSAGE COMPREHENSION.

1. Prepare a multiple-choice cloze test form the following passage. Get three distractors for each word in bold face. If possible, get your distractors by administering the passage to your ESL students or students in other class.

The miller had a hut in a little town in a land across the sea. The beautiful castle where the king lived was in the same town. But the miller had not met the king. One day the miller had to take a sack of corn to the king’s castle. As he was going into the castle, he met the king. The miller bowed to the king and the king stopped to talk to him. They talked and talked. The miller told the king that he lived in the town. And from this time on, they became the best of friends.

 

Advantages of Passage Comprehension

• This is the most integrative type of reading test.
• It is objective and easy to score.
• It can evaluate students at every level of reading development.

 

Limitations of Passage Comprehension

• Passage comprehension is more time consuming to take than other kinds of tests.
• One pitfall in preparing this kind of test is utilizing questions that deal with trivial details.
• Passage- comprehension tests which use questions on trivial details encourage word-by-word reading.

 

Writing tests: There are many kinds of writing tests. The reason for this is fairly simple: A wide variety of writing tests is needed to test the many kinds of writing tasks that we engage in. For one thing, there are usually distinct stages of instruction in writing such as pre-writing, guided writing, and free writing. Each stage tends to require different types of evaluation. Test variety also stems from the various applications of writing. These range from school uses such as note taking and class reports to common personal needs such as letter writing and filling out forms. Beside these, there specialized advanced applications: the attorney’s legal brief or summary, translation, secretarial uses, advertising, research reports, journalism, and literature. Such different writing applications also often call for different test applications. Another reason for the variety of writing tests in use is the great number of factors that can be evaluated: mechanics (including spelling and punctuation), vocabulary, grammar, appropriate content, diction (or word selection), rhetorical matters of various kinds (organization, cohesion, unity; appropriateness to the audience, topic, and occasion); as well as sophisticated concerns such as logic and style.

 

 

 

1. LIMITED RESPONSE.

1. Prepare ten sentence-combining items that are suitable for your students. Use sentence connectors (not subordinators). Beginning and lower intermediate students may need a list of connectors to choose from it.

2. Prepare a ten-item expansion task. Use sentences from your student’s ESL text. Or you may use the following four sentences and then compose six of your own. Indicate where the additions should be placed. Write out suggested answers.

1. One reason is that he had not finished school.
2. The scenery is beautiful.
3. Mary’s friend injured her foot.
4. The strike inconvenienced everyone.

3. Prepare a ten-item sentence- reduction task. Underline the part of the sentence to be replaced. Add necessary clue words. Then indicate what the revision should be.

4. Select a 100-to-150-word passage, and prepare an oral cloze. Write out a set of instructions.

Advantages of Limited-Response Items:

• These are generally quite easy to construct.
• These are suitable for students with limited ability in English.
• Except for the open-ended variety, these are rather objective for a writing-related task.

Limitations of Limited- Response Items:

• These do not measure actual writing skill.
• These can be rather slow to correct-especially the open-ended variety.

 

2. GUIDED WRITING.

1. Write a paragraph to check organization (or find one in your student’s text). Use clear transition words (such as “a second reason…..” or “just before noon……”). Scramble the sentences, and prepare instructions for the student.

2. Find a dialog in one of the texts that you are using in your English class. Copy it out, and write instructions for your students to write a narrative from it, not using any quotation marks. Give a short example. Then prepare model of what you think the students should write.
3. Now provide a different kind of guided- writing test. After writing out a set of instructions, prepare six or eight questions on a specific topic (such as a sport, a vocation, a city). Then prepare a model of what you think the students should write.

Advantages of Guided-Writing Tests:

• Guided writing tests are rather quick and easy to construct.
• Because they require an active rather than a passive response, guided testing techniques give the appearance of being an effective measure of writing.
• Guided-writing tests provide appropriate control for those students who not ready to write on their own.

Limitations of Guided-Writing Tests:

• Guided-writing tests do not measure ingredients such as organization found in extended writing.
• Guided-writing of the paragraph –outline variety is often rather time consuming and difficult to grade.
• Guided-writing of the paragraph –outline variety is difficult to score with real consistency.

 

3. FREE WRITING.

1. Find or draw a picture sequence that tells a story. Write instructions for your students so they can write a narrative based on the pictures.

2. Find a chart or table or diagram for your students to interpret in a free-writing task. Include this with your set of instructions to the students.
3. Provide a very specific situation to serve as a guideline for your student writing.
4. Using a holistic approach, team up with another teacher and grade a set of compositions, if possible at least 10 to 20 of them. Determine your criteria in advance. Report the results of your grading.

Advantages of Free-Writing Approaches

• Despite its limitations, this is an important, sound measure of overall writing ability.
• This can have a good effect on instruction: Students will be more motivated to write in and out of class, knowing that their test will be an actual writing task.
• There is virtually no chance of getting a passing grade on a free-writing test by cheating. (Like other examinations, it would be conducted in the classroom under supervision.)

 

Limitations of Free-Writing Approaches

• Grading of free- writing tends to lack objectivity and consistency.
• Free-writing is time consuming to grade.

 

 

Listening and Speaking tests.

There are broad categories of tests that incorporate the listening skill. One group of these oral tests simply uses listening as a tool to evaluate something else. For instance, in the limited-response section, we mentioned how beginner’s word mastery could be checked by having them listen and respond to simple commands such as “Hand me the chalk”. Listening was also used as a means of evaluating low-level proficiency in grammar and pronunciation. But we have also seen listening used to evaluate more advance integrative skills – by means of a dictation. Listening tests are those that evaluate proficiency in the listening skill itself, namely listening comprehension. Since listening includes the recognition of words and structures and pronunciation features, the difference between subskill tests using listening as a tool and the integrative lesson comprehension test can be blurred at times. But the essential difference is that subskill tests focus on the linguistic components of language, while the comprehension test is concerned with broader communication. Moreover, broader communication is concerned not with the bits and pieces of language but with the exchange of facts and ideas, as well as interpreting the speaker’s intentions. First of all, I begin with a variety of ways to test the listening comprehension of beginning students. Then examine the appropriate-response technique, and it includes with the testing of extended communication.

LIMITED RESPONSE

There are simple effective ways to test the listening skill of beginning adults or children. One involves listening and native language responses. Another uses listening and picture clues. A third involves listening plus simple task responses.

Native-Language Responses: There is an interesting little quiz that can be used with beginners during their first days of instruction. Suppose you were teaching Spanish speakers, and suppose also that you had friends who spoke German, French and Arabic. You could tape random sentences or two-line dialogs of English, intermingled with utterance in these three other languages. After each number on their paper, students could indicate in their native language “English” or “other”. For those just slightly more advanced, you could use true-false questions with the true-false options printed in the native language. Classes with mixed language background could simply circle “T” for true and “F” for false. Depending on how much vocabulary they had acquired, students would respond to questions such as the following:

Horses can fly. T : F

Houses are bigger than people.  T : F

Picture clues: Visual of various kinds have long been used to test listening comprehension. Although the technique is not limited to beginning students, it is especially useful with beginners: Students do not need to be literate in their second language in order to be tested. When using a set of three or four related pictures, keep these ideas in mind: There does not have to be a story line relating the pictures to each other. The same set can be used for several questions. You could duplicate them so each student has his own, or you could make a transparency and use an overhead projector to display them to the class. Another possibility is to sketch them on the chalkboard. If students have own, they can circle objects referred to, or you can have them identify pictures by number. The sample set on page 130 can be followed by this listening comprehension question: