specific language tests

7/31/2019 Specific Language Tests

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CHAPTER 7


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Language ability is a skill and therefore there are

specific formats used to access language ability.

The two specific test formats for testing language are

:

The Cloze Test

Dictation


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The Cloze Test is a test often associated with

language proficiency testing.

It is more than simply filling in blanks in a

passage as it has a theoretical basis.

The term cloze comes from the word closure,

reflects a psychoanalytical human tendency to

close any incomplete object.


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The cloze test is thought to elicit a respondents

language competency by requiring the respondent

to complete a passage which has been mutilated

with blanks.There are many different types of cloze tests, two of

the more common are The Fixed Deletion Cloze

and The Rational Deletion Cloze.


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Consists of a passage with blanks

The first sentence is left intact without any blanks.

It also provides other information such as to indicate

the tense of the passage.

In order not to provide a cue as to what the word is,the length of every blank in the passage is the same

length


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Length of the text

Familiarity of vocabulary and structures

Length and complexity of the sentences

Familiarity with topic and discourse genre

Frequency with which blanks are spaced


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There are two methods to how a cloze test can be

graded. These methods are :

The exact word method

The acceptable word method


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Only one answer is accepted for each blank.

More objective and more reliable

However, stifles creativity


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Accept any suitable answers.

More subjective and less reliable

However, it does not suffer from being unnecessarily

rigid and stringent.


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The C-test is a variant of the cloze test in which thesecond half of every word is deleted and replaced byspaces representing each letter deleted.

The advantages of the C-test : it is highly correlated to the cloze test . by providing half of the word, it is also seen to be

more reliable and objective.

the C-test assesses the final half of the word which isseen to be relevant especially to the English language inwhich many of the inflections occur at the end of theword.


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The disadvantages of the C-test :

looks complicated and may therefore confuse the

students.

merely tests spelling and not an overallunderstanding of the English language.


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The dictation test involves candidates listening to

and taking down a text that is read out, often

several times and at different rates of reading.

The paragraph that has been selected must be

appropriate to the students language ability as well

as cultural background


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Usually read out three times.

The first time it is read out, it is done at a normal rate of

reading.

Students are expected to listen and get the gist of thepassage.

The second reading is a little slower and students are

expected to take down what is read. Teacher usually

pauses to break the passage into meaningful chunksreferred to as bursts.

Finally, the passage is read a third times and students

are expected to check their work, editing for errors.


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Some of the factors are :

the length of the phrase or burst

the length of the pauses between bursts

The content of the dictation passage The syntactic and structural properties of the

sentences in the passage.

Clarity of voice, expression and pace or tempo.


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There are two general methods to score a dictation

which is called the traditional method and the

pragmatic method.

The main difference between the two methods is the

treatment of spelling errors.


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The graded or graduated dictation

simply a technique where the dictation passage

becomes difficult.

This is done by increasing the number of words in aburst.

May begin with a burst consisting of two words and

the number of words increases until thirteen or

fourteen words in a burst. The processing load becomes too high when a burst

exceeds seven words.


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The partial dictation

is essentially like a listening cloze activity.

Students are provided the passage with some words or

phrases deleted. They are expected to listen to a passage and fill in words

or phrases.

o The dictocomp

the students are expected to use the information they

hear to construct a coherent piece of composition instead

of taking down the passage exactly as it was dictated.


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Teacher determine the key elements of the original

passage which is the student is expected to include in

the composition.

Dictocomp also tests writing ability as well becausethe students are expected to write a cohesive piece

based on the passage that was dictated to them.

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