Module 2 - Extension Activity

8/16/2019 Module 2 - Extension Activity

1/6

Module 2 - Extension Activity

Test Review Activity

Mr. Knott has just developed his midterm English exam for his integrated skills ESL

class. Take a look at the grammar and vocabulary section. Which aspects of his test

are good? What could be done to improve the test?


2/6

Directions: Questions 1-10 are in complete sentences. Choose the best word or phrase to complete each sentence. Indicate the correct letter (10 points total; 1 point

each).

1.

Obet lives in Detroit. ____________ works in the auto industry.

a. her c. him

b. he d. she

2. My sister _____________ as an air hostess.

a. working c. she works

b. works d. job

3.

Tuesday and Wednesday come before Thursday but after ……..a. Sunday c. Monday b. Saturday d. Friday

e. None of the above

4. I’m hungry. I think I’ll eat an:

a. orange juice c. éclair

b. fork d. automobile

5.

The answer to question three is the _______ day of the week.

a. first c. three

b. forth d. fifth

6. I usually participate in the regatta _________________________ June.

a. from c. at

b. on d. to

7.

Juan is a lazy person. He usually takes a siesta _________ the weekend.

a. on c. at

b. during d. throughout

8. Although the proposal has some disadvantages, they are outweighed by the

_______________.a. advantages c. drawbacks

b. negatives d. problem

9. While my mother prepared the _________ for dinner, I watched television.

a. kitchen c. chicken

b. children d. cartoon

10. An architect is a person who does not ________________.

a. design automobiles c. design houses b. design buildings d. design offices

11. Can you type __________ on a computer?


3/6

a. typing c. typed

b. to type d. type

See the appendix for a critical review of Mr. Knott’s grammar and vocabulary test.


4/6

Appendix: Mr. Knott’s Grammar and Vocabulary Test—A Critical Review

Good Things:

• Directions aren’t too bad.

• Point values for the section and each question are indicated

Problematic Areas:

• Directions:

o Typo: should read ‘incomplete’

o ‘Indicate the correct letter’ is not precise enough; should state how

students will indicate it; do they ‘circle the letter of the correct answer’or ‘write the letter of the correct answer on the answer sheet provided’

or ‘write the letter of the correct answer in the blank’

o There are in fact 11 questions, not 10. The extra question could be an

issue. Do we add a point for the section or delete one of the questions?

If so, which question should we delete?

•

Test Items:

o Question 1:

• Is Obet a male or a female? When testing gender specific

subject pronouns it is better to use a name that all students are

familiar with

• Since the blank is in sentence initial position, all response

options need to begin with a capital letter

o Question 2:

• 3 for 1 split item violation (3=working, works, she works; 1=

job)

•

Inappropriate terminology item violation- The term ‘airhostess’ is dated and some would argue that it is politically

incorrect; a better term here would be ‘flight attendant’

• Response option c is a commonly-made mistake amongst

several language groups (i.e. Arab speakers etc); in

heterogeneously grouped classes where there are several

different language groups represented, this could be viewed as

entrapment.

o Question 3:

• This is a confusing way to assess days of the week and

sequencing

•

Impure item as it tests both days of the week and sequencing

• More than one response option is keyable

• Use of five response options is not consistent with otherquestions

• The first day of the week in many countries is Monday.

However, in the Arab world, the first day of the week is

Saturday.

• Use of ‘none of the above’ should be avoided

o Question 4:

• Extraneous clue item violation- the use of ‘an’ in the stem is a

clue that only three response options work• Response option D (automobile) is a giveaway distractor


5/6

• If students know that ‘juice’ is something you drink, they caneasily eliminate A as an answer

• As such, students can figure out that C (éclair) is the key

without really knowing what it means

• Surely there is another more high frequency noun that could be

used in place of éclairo Question 5:

• 3 for 1 split item violation (3 ordinal numbers=first, fourth,

fifth; 1 roman numeral=three)

• Presupposed knowledge item violation- the successfulcompletion of this question is linked to the successful

completion of question 3. Therefore, if the student has missed

Q 3, then he/she automatically misses Q. 5. This is known as a

double jeopardy.

• Typo: ‘forth’ should be written as ‘fourth’

o

Question 6:• No key item violation-key is not among the list of response

options

• The term ‘regatta’ is a word associated with affluent people.

Perhaps a term like ‘boat race’ would be more accessible to the

average student

o Question 7:

• Double key item violation- both ‘on’ and ‘at’ (British English)the weekend are acceptable. One could also argue that ‘during’

and ‘throughout’ are possible

• Stereotype item violation- the association of a Hispanic name

with taking a siesta promotes a stereotypeo Question 8:

• 3 for 1 split item violations- (3 plurals/1 singular or 3 negative

words and 1 positive). The latter is the most serious type of 3for 1 split because the ‘odd man out’ (advantages) is the key

• There is a collocation between advantages and disadvantages

which could be counted as an extraneous clue

o Question 9:

• Multiple key violations-arguably A, B and C could fit and

make sense

o Question 10:

• Use of the word `not’ increases the difficulty on this questionso much so that it is even difficult for native speakers

• We don’t often define a person/profession by what he/she does

not do

• The word ‘design’ should be moved to the stem

o Question 11:

• Answer ‘type’ has been left in the stem

• Section as a whole:

o Grammar and vocabulary should be tested in separate sections

o Grammar questions outnumber vocabulary items

o

No real sense of cohesion as to what the main grammar points areo For more reliable results, more than 10 questions should be included


6/6

Documents

Module 2 - Extension Activity