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关于英语词汇测试设计的几点建议摘要:词汇测试作为英语语言测试的重要组成部分,必须有效并且可信。有效的词汇测试是指测试该测试的词汇而可信的词汇测试则是指在同等的条件下给出相同的测试结果。词汇测试的设计必须要考虑到其效度与信度。关键词:词汇测试效度信度选择题Abstract:Vocabularytest,asanimportantpartofEnglishIanguagetests,shouldbevalidandreliable.Avalidvocabularytestisonewhichtestswhatitissupposedtotest,whileareliablevocabularytestisonewhichwillalwaysgivethesameresultunderthesamecondition.Atthefirstplace,vocabularytestshouldbethereforedesignedwithconsideringvalidityandreliability.Keywords:testingvocabulary,validity,reliability,multiple-choiceVocabularytestisconsideredasanimportantpartofIanguagetests,becausethereisasenseinwhichlearningaforeignIanguageisbasicallyamatteroflearningthevocabularyofthatIanguage.Itispointedoutthatthe purposeofvocabularytestsisusuallytosupplyinformatiorbandtheinformationshouldbeaccurate・Sovocabularytestsshouldbevalidandreliable,andshouldbedesignedwithconsideringvalidityandreliability・TestvalidityindesigningvocabularytestsAvalidvocabularytestisonewhichtestswhatitissupposedtotest.Therearetwopointsshouldbeconcernedhere:oneistheselectionoflexicalitems;theotheristhewaysofconstructingitemsfortestingvocabulary・Thewriterofavocabularytestfirstdeterminesthedegreetowhichhe/shewishestoconcentrateontestingthestudent,sactiveorpassivevocabulary,anddecideswhetherthelexicalitemsinthetestshouldbetakenfromspokenorthewrittenIanguage・Lexicalitemscanbeselectedfrom:-…thesyllabus(includingawordfrequencylistifavailable);-■一thestudents'textbook(providedtheitemsapproximatetothoseusedinnaturalspeechsituations);-■一thestudents'readingmaterial(e.g.simplified readers,literarytexts);and-一-lexicalerrorstakenfromstudents,free-writtenwork(orfromstudents'incorrectanswersinaclozetest)・Thenthewriterofavocabularytestshouldselectoutthetypicalwordsfromthelexicalitems・Whatiscalled“typical”isthatitcantesttheextentofastudent,svocabularybysometypicalwords・Supposethereare30wordsselected,whichcanbedividedintoseveralclasses・Anditispossiblemeasuretheextentofastudent'svocabularyaccordingtotheclassthatthetypicalwordsrecognizedorproducedbelongto.That"sthetestvalidityonselectinglexicalitems.Therearekindsofwaysofconstructingitemstotestvocabulary.Generallyspeaking,theitemsaredesignedonthebasisoftwopointsasfollow・Oneistotestthevocabularyvalidly;theotheristochangewaysofconstructingitemsaccordingtothepurposeofthetests.Letustake,forexample,atestwhichisdesignedtofindoutwhetherstudentsunderstandthemeaningsofcertainwordsinawrittencontext・Therubricforthetestmaysay:'Givethemeaningsofthefollowingwordstakenfrom thepassagethatyouhavejustread':(thenfollowsalistofwords)・Whatisthiswrongwithatestofcomprehension?Theproblemisthatitispossibletounderstandthemeaningofawordwithoutnecessarilybeingabletoproduceanotherword(orphrase)whichhasthesamemeaning.Thisisthereforeatestofbothcomprehensionandproduc廿on.Ifweareonlyinterestedincomprehensionthenweshouldadoptanothertestingstrategy,perhapsbyrewordingtherubricthus:"lookatthefollowinglistofwordmeanings.Oppositeeachonewritedownawordfromthepassagewhichhasthatmeaning.,Thisinvolvesthecandidateonlyinmatchingthemeaningwithawordtakenfromthepassage,apurelyreceptiveskill.Asimilarproblemariseswiththemultiple-choicevocabularyitems・Exercises1&2ofthefollowingtestitemsarebelongtovocabularyitems,whileexercises3&4testthegrammarincludingusageandtense.Exl.Theministeraccusedthefarmersofthepotatoshortageinordertoforcepricesup. A.depletingB・expectingC・exploitingD.misapplyingE.misappropriatingEx2.Since1954therivalryinmilitarystrengthbetweentheworld'sgreatpowershasproducedabalaneedpeace・presentlyB.precociouslyC・previouslyD.deviouslyE.precariouslyEx3・Whydoyoukeepyoureyes?rubB.rubbingC・rubbedD.torubEx4.Hemadethemistakeinthedictationexercise.lessB.leastC.fewerD.fewestAnotherexampleoftestthatmaynotbevalidoftenoccurswiththeexerciseasfollow・Therubricofthetestmaysay:"Usethefollowingwordsinsentences:pretty,drive,complex••-'andtheanswersmaybelikethis:Maryisaprettygirl.Igotaprettypicturefromtheshop.Buttestingtheextentofastudent,svocabularyis onlyoneaspectofthewholeproblem:controlofthevocabularyathisorherdisposalmustalsobemeasured・Letustakethemultiplechoice(whichareusuallyorganizedsothatthecandidatehasanumberofoptions,onlyoneofwhichiscorrect,theothersbeingwrong.)unlessthevocabularyitembeingtestedhasaverylowfrequencycount(i.e・isveryrarelyused),however,theitemwriterisadvisedtolimittheoptionstothesamegeneraIareaofactivitywherepossible・ItemlItem2apparitionapparitionA.skeletonA.seeneryB.ghostB.ghostC.nightmareC・magicianD.corpseD.castleIfitem2weresetinatest,studentswhohadreadafewghoststorieswouldprobablyselectoptionBbecausetheywouldassociateapparitionwiththestoriestheyhadread・Initeml,however,studentsarerequiredtoshowamuchgreatercontrolovervocabulary.Anabilitytodiscriminatebetweenwordsisofthe utmostimportaneeatallbuttheelementarylevels・Herethestemofmultiplechoiceconsistsofasentence:thetesteeshavetoselectthebestsynonymordefinitionofthelexicalitemsunderlined.Theburglarwasarrested,butthepersonwhohelpedhiminthecrimegotaway・hisassociateB.hisaffiliateC・hisaccompliceD.hisemployerEinstein,stheoryofrelativityseemedincrediblewhenitwasfirstintroduced・unbelievableB.unaccountableC.impressiveD.inconsistentShetrembledassheadmittedwhatshehaddone.A.stumbledB.shrankC・hesitatedD・shookInbroaderterms,thisabilitymentionedabovemayberegardedasdevelopingafeelfortheIanguage・Vocabularyismuchmoreusefultestedincontextsinceitisthecontextthatgivesspecificmeaningandrelevaneetoaword,thuscreatingasituationwhichisaslinguis廿callyvalidaspossibleinthecircumstances.Pleasecomparethesetwoitems:ItemlcontemptuousdeepinthoughtB・withoutasenseofhumorC. self-satisfiedD.scornfulItem2Lanwascontemptuousoftheeffortsofhisfriendstoraisesomemoneyforthecharity・deepinthoughtB・withoutasenseofhumorC.self-satisfiedD.scornfulObviously,item2isvalidwhenthelexicalitemisputinacontext・TestreliabilityindesigningvocabularytestsAreliablevocabularytestisonewhichwillalwaysgivethesameresultunderthesamecondi廿ons.Fortunately,reliabilityisnotusuallysuchagreatprobleminvocabularytestingasitisinsomeotherareasoflanguagetesting.Intestingcompositionortestingconversationalcompetence,forexample,thereisoftenasubjectiveelementwhichhastobeovercome,byusingadetailedmarkingscheme,perhaps,and/orbyusingmorethanoneexaminer.That"swhythemultiple-choicetechniqueissopopularasatestingdevice,especiallyinavocabularytest・Oneofthemainproblemsinmakingupmultiple-choicetestsisthatthedistractorshavetobeplausible(seem possible),withbeingmisleading.Forexample:Isthatgentlemanmarriedor?A.aloneB.bachelorC.singleD.withoutwifeAlltheoptionsintheabovequestionareinroughlythesameareaofmeaning,butonlyC(single)soundsnatural,sincemarriedandsinglearewordswhichusuallycollocateasopposites・Ontheotherhand,caremustbetakennottounfairlymisleadthecandidate,asinthefollowingexample・Thesergeantshowedthenewhowtosalute・A.volunteersB.conscriptsC.recruitsD.novicesThecurrentanswerisgivenasC(recruits),butitcouldbearguedthatA(volunteers)andB(conscripts)arealsopossible・Sothisitemisnotreliable・Thereareseveralrulesshouldbeobeywhendesigningthemultiple-choiceitemonthestandardsofreliability.2.Eachoptionshouldbelongtothesamewordclassasthewordinthestem,particularlywhentheworldappearsinthecontextofasentence.Forexample:WhathappenedtoJackintheaccident? A.cameaboutB.cameacrossC.carriedoutD.broughtaboutItisnosayingthat“Whatcameabouttojack?”sothestemshouldbechangedintoformlikethis:Canyoutellmehowthisaccidenthappened?2.Thecorrectoptionandthedistractorsshouldbeatapproximatelythesamelevelofdifficultyorhavethesamegrammarconstructions.Forexample:ItemltheatricalangryB.histrionicC.proudD.foolishItem2Tomseemstohavetoldastorytohisfriends,foreverybodyislaughing.detectiveB.withoutanyhumorC・funnyD.unbelievableIniteml,studentswillselectthecorrectoptionBnotbecausetheyknowitiscorrectbutonlybecausetheyknowtheotheroptionA.C・Darewrong.Andinitem2,studentscaneliminateoptionBforjudgingfromthegrammarconstruction.Sothosetwoitemare neitherreliable・2.Itisadvisabletoavoidusingapairofsynonymsasdistractors:ifthetesteesrecognizethesynonyms,theymayrealizeimmediatelythatneitheristhecorrectop廿on,sincetherecanbeonlyonecorrectanswer.Theoldwomanwasalwayswhenanyonespoketoher.politeB.gladC.kindD・pleasedEvensuchnearsynonymsasgladandpleasedaresufficienttoindicatetointelligentstudentsthatthechoicemustbebetweenpoliteandkind.3.Itisalsodangerousto“pairoff”optionsbyprovidinganantonymasadistractor.OptionAandCinthefollowingvocabularyitemimmediatelystandout;again,cleverstudentswillbeabletonarrowtheirchoicedowntotwooptionsoncetheyrealizethatAmeanstheoppositeofC.ascendA.goupB.talkC.comedownD.fetchConclusionValidityandreliabilityaretwoimportantstandardsofassessingatest・Sincetheyusedindesigning vocabularytests,thechaneeismuchbiggerfortheconstructorstoachievetheexpectedeffect-…tosupplyinformation.