READING TEST

LIMITED RESPONSE

For those teaching beginning reading, informal techniques of evaluation are recommended such as exercise and individual practice. Early testing is often limited to reading subskills, the most common being vocabulary (see chapter 2). In addition “word-attack” skills usually need attention on the beginning level. Here we see if the student can tell the student can tell the different fairly rapidly between various combination of letters in English words.

The most typical test of this skill is the “same-different” technique, which is also used as a reading exercis in an occasional ESL text :

(5.1) Sad          Sat                   S   D

(5.2) Red         Red                  S   D

(5.3) Meat       Meet               S   D

This can also be used with phrases :

Same-Different Phrases.

(5.4) from the mayor / for the mayor

(5.4) with her brother / with her brother

A similar testing arrangement has the student circle the odd item (notice that these are not necessarily minimal pairs).

(5.6) net          net       ten

(5.7) naps        span     naps

A third form uses a key word. Working rapidly, students have to circle the matching word from a list of four items.

(5.8) pots :

          Stop                   pods                 pots                 spot

(5.9) figure :

          Figure                finger              fissure             ringer

Directions for this kind of test should be very simple. They can be read aloud by the teacher to help those whose reading is limited. If necessary, directions can even be given in the native language. Here are some sample instructions:

“Each item has two words. In same items the words are the same. But in other items the words are different. When the two words are the same, draw a circle around ‘S’. When the two words aren different , draw a circle around ‘D’. Work quickly. You have only the minute.”

Example :

Too                  to                     S    D

In                     in                     S    D

Besides limited-response vocabulary practice and these “same-different” techniques, there simple sentence-level and even simple passage-comprehension items that can be used with students whose English is quite limited. These rather elementary sentence and passage question will be discussed in the following two sections.

Alternate Forms of Limited-Response Items

1.      Advance odd items. The student still looks for the word that is different from the others. But now all three can be different, or all three can be the same. If only one word is different, he cirlcles the odd word. If each word is different, he checks the “All Different” column. If each word is different, he checks the “All Same” column.

Items

            (5.10) Speak                peaks               seeks

            (5.11) peace                peace              peace

            (5.12) into bed                        in the bed        in the bed

2.      Key word and odd option. There is only one difference between this alternate form and the original. Originally, we found the word that matched the key item. Now we find the word that does not match the key item, in short, the different word :

(5.13) pleasure : pleasing       pleasure          pleasure          pleasure

(5.14) want to go :  want to go          want to go       want to go       won’t go

Advantages of Limited-Response Items

1.      These are quite to construct and score

2.      Only the recognition of letters is required, making this a simple task for beginning studnets.

Limitations of Limited-Response Items

1.      This is not an integrative skill involving sctual reading

2.      Overemphasis on this technique could reduce reading speed.

TESTING SENTENCE COMPREHENSION

There is no need to test comprehension of an easy if students still have difficulty understanding  sentence. Sentence comprehension must precede essay comprehension items are good for beginning students. Some elementary question question simplyask for the right picture to be circled. There are other questions that ask only for a one-word response. Besides their is another good reason to use these types of question: Much of what we read everyb day appears in only a single sentence or phrase-“keep off the grass,” “open other end,” “No Trespassing,” “help wanted.”

We will begin this section with examples of sentenc-comprehension question that are designed  for beginners. Then we will look at  more challenging sentence-comprehension items, which can be used with more advanced students. These may ask for an appropriate paraphrase. In such question, we check vocabulary, grammar, and sometimes even social appropriate-ness at the same time.

Ellicitation Techniques

1.      Picture Cues

We will start with questions that simply ask for the right picture to be circled. For the set of pictures on the next page, we can use the sentence:

(5.15) The children are playing on their new toy.

Students would pick the second picture. More obvious sentences can be prepared for students with less reading skill (“Mother is pushing the children on the tricycl”). From the larger picture we can prepare true-false items: for example,

(5.16) The robber cannot see the TV.             T          F

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Or yes-no question could be asked:

(5.17) Is the lady reading the newspaper?     Yes       No

In example 5.15, we used multiple-choice pictures. It is of course possible to have multiple-choice questions on a single picture.

For instance,

(5.18) The robber is succesful because ........

            A. he doesn’t see the family.              B. The family is at home in the living room.

            C. it is dark outside.                            *D. The family doesn’t hear him.

Here more reading is involved. This kinf of question is usually more difficult than the true-false or yes-no item.

            There are one or two problmes that come up when using question like these. Look at the following sentence: “the robber is oblivious of the family.” Here everything might depend on one difficult word, “oblivious.” Therefore, this items is really testing vocabulary.

2.      Phrase and Sentence Cues

 One of the simplest forms of sentence comprehension is the true-false sentence. It is used with beginners. The student looks for truths, untruths, or impossibilites:

(5.19) The sun sets in the east.           T          F

(5.20) She is my brother.                    T          F

Teaching and testing the recognition of signs can be an interesting activity. What we test depends naturally on the age and interest of our students, and on what we teach. The following is a simple matching task. It ask only for the location of the sign. Students must understand the meaning of the location. 

Symbols can be used if necessary :

Location                                 Sign

(5.12) 1. Park                                      A. Fasten Seat Belts

(5.22) 2. Restaurant                            B. Beware of the Dog

(5.23) 3. Hotel                                     C. Please do not walk on the Grass.

(5.24) 4. Home                                    D. Dangerous Curve

(5.25) 5. Highway                                E. PleaseWaith to be Seated by Hostess

(5.26) 6. Airplane                                F. In Case of Fire, Do Not Use Elevators

(5.27) 7. Supermarket                         G. No Smoking in Lavatories

                                                            H. Self-Serve Pumps

                                                            I. Express Checkout 8 Items of Less

                                                            J. No Salesmen or Solicitors

                                                            K. Sorry. No Checks or Credit Cards

                                                            L. Check Out Time 1:00 p.m

                                                            M. Shake Well Before Using

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This can also be used as a pre-test. Some signs use technical low-frequency words (“No Loitering,” “High Voltage,” “Do not bend or staple”); understanding these requires students to become familiar with new vocabulary items. Other signs make frequent use of the imperative (“Open other end”) and the negative (“please do not litter”), for example; understanding these signs requires familiarity with the grammatical structures that are used.

The paraphrase is a good way to check for more exact or detailed comprehension of phrases and sentenses.

(5.28) “Please waith to be seated by the hostess.”

            A. Sit near the hostess.                       *B. The hostess will show you where to sit.

            C. There are no seats for you at this time.

The meaning of complex grammatical structures such as the conditional is often the key to the meaning of an entire passage. Paraphrase items the one that follows check the meaning of such structures.

(5.29) “She can come if she wants to.”

            A. She wants to come.                        B. She will come

            *C. She has permission to come

However, we see that items like 5.30 do not necessarily use a paraphrase of the entire sentence.

(5.30) “Although my friend Senator Ashmore is a man of great honesty and integrity, I find his well-written proposal totally unacceptable.”

A. The speaker has found the bad proposal.              B. The senator liked the honesty and integrity  of his friend.

C. The speaker doesn’t like the senator’s proposal.

There are three cautions to keep in mind when preparing sentence and phrase items:

1.      Don’t make the answer rely on knowledge of facts that have nothing to do with language skill.

For example, here is a poor true-false question that requires the student to know details of United States geography.

“Cincinnati is west of Detroit.”

Student might understand what is being asid but miss the item because they don’t know the location of these two cities.

2.      Unless you are testing curtural facts, don’t make the answer depend on a knowledge of a specific culture. Here is another weak true-false item:

“Easter is on Saturday.”

Studenta who are not Christians may not know that Easter is on Sunday.

3.      When preparing multiple-choice items, make the choice simple and clear. In this poor question, the paraphrase options are expressed in language that is much more difficult to understan d that the original statement.

(5.31) (poor)  “No Shirt, No Shoes, No Service.”

            A. No articles of wearing apparel are available for purchase.

            B. Unless  one is properly attired, he will be refused service.

            C. One most remove certain articles of chothing for given situations.