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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.
