语言测试之语法测试.ppt

Language Testing Topic 14 Testing Vocabulary 1. Selection of the test words achievement tests (textbooks) proficiency tests active or passive word lists based on frequency counts of lexical items occurring in actual samples of the language. Useful as they are, the test maker must be alert to their several shortcomings: Word counts are usually based on the written language only; therefore, many words that are extremely common in the oral language will receive low frequency ratings in the word lists. The word lists classify words according to relative frequency rather than absolute difficulty, and the two are by no means always equivalent. Some of the word lists do not differentiate among the various meanings of a word. Thus, although the item bark may be designated “very frequent”, we cannot be sure that this designation would apply equally to the meanings “coverings of trees” and “the sound made by dogs”. 4. Unless the word lists are based on very recent surveys of frequency, they are likely to contain items whose status is currently quite different from what it was at the time the data were collected. 5. Some word lists are based on a sample of written materials quite unlike those which the typical foreign learner of English is likely to have read. Despite these shortcomings, however, the standard word counts remain highly useful in the preparation of vocabulary tests so long as the test writer exercises reasonable judgment in interpreting the data. Frequency does, on the whole, constitute a fairly reliable index of difficulty and hence may serve as the basis upon which to compile lists of lexical items mostly likely to be appropriate for a given test population. 2. The testing of idioms The test writer should consider the desirability of testing idioms. Of particular importance are the two-word verbs or verb-adverb combinations in which the English language abounds. 3. Item types 1. Definition (multiple-choice). What might be called the “classic” type of