16 Questions
What is a potential issue with the item 'The child was frightened of being left alone in the dark room.'?
The distractors are not of the same level of difficulty as the word being tested.
Why is the item 'The detective is investigating a hideous crime.' considered poor?
The distractors are not of the same level of difficulty as the word being tested.
What is a characteristic of a good completion-type item?
The distractors are of the same level of difficulty as the word being tested.
What is a potential issue with an item that has only one syntactically substitutable option?
The item is not testing the testee's knowledge of the word being tested.
What is a characteristic of a poor completion-type item?
The distractors are much easier than the word being tested.
Why is the item 'The child was frightened of being left alone in the dark room.' not a good measure of vocabulary?
The item does not test the testee's knowledge of the word being tested.
What is a potential issue with an item that has only one option that 'makes sense' in the context?
The item does not test the testee's knowledge of the word being tested.
What is a characteristic of a good multiple-choice item?
The distractors are plausible and of the same level of difficulty as the word being tested.
What should be considered when constructing a vocabulary item?
Providing a clear and short conversation-like context
What is the main issue with the item 'Behnam borrowed John’s book'?
It only shows that borrow is a verb
What makes the item 'Being unfortunate to have been bereaved of his belongings, Reza........lucky John’s book' poor?
The context is too complex and hard to comprehend
What is the main issue with the item 'We can raise sugar cane in Khuzestan because cane needs a.........climate'?
Finding the correct choice requires a certain body of knowledge beyond lexical items
What should be the characteristics of the choices in a paraphrase type item?
They should be easier than the word being tested and of the same grammatical form
What is the main issue with the item 'The child was frightened of being left alone in the dark room'?
The choices are not easier than the word being tested
What should be avoided when constructing vocabulary items?
Including grammatical structures that the testees may find hard to comprehend
Why is the context 'Did Behnam buy another book?' 'No, he.........John’s.' considered a good item?
It provides a clear and short conversation-like context
Study Notes
Guidelines for Constructing Vocabulary Items
- A clear context is essential to provide testees with a clear meaning of the word being tested.
- A short conversation-like context is better than a brief statement, especially for less proficient subjects.
Contextualizing Vocabulary Items
- A good context should provide a clear frame for the word being tested, such as "Did Behnam buy another book?" "No, he.........John's."
- Avoid using contexts that are difficult to comprehend, as they may add an extra layer of difficulty for the testees.
Avoiding Grammatical Structures and Erroneous Sources of Difficulty
- Care should be exercised not to include grammatical structures or erroneous sources of difficulty that may be hard for testees to comprehend.
- Avoid using complex sentences or contexts that require a certain body of knowledge beyond the mastery of lexical items.
Writing Paraphrase Items
- The choices should be easier than the word being tested, and of the same grammatical form as the underlined word.
- The options should be readily comprehensible to the testees and syntactically acceptable as replacements for the word being tested.
Avoiding Defective Items
- Avoid using items with choices that are approximately of the same level of difficulty as the word being tested.
- Ensure that the correct choice is not identifiable solely based on structural knowledge.
Writing Completion Items
- The distractors and the word being tested should be of the same level of difficulty.
- The distractors must be syntactically acceptable in the stem.
Guidelines for constructing vocabulary items in a language test, including providing clear context and using conversation-like examples.
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