MODULE 8:

TESTING THE
PRODUCTIVE
SKILLS
TESTING THE PRODUCTIVE SKILLS

A. TESTING B. TESTING WRITING

SPEAKING - Testing the Content
- Testing - Testing the Form
Pronunciation
-Testing Grammar
- Testing Grammar
- Testing Syntactic
- Testing Word Patterns
Choice
- Testing Style
- Testing Fluency
- Testing Mechanics 2
- Testing
Comprehension
A. TESTING SPEAKING
Speaking is one’s ability to carry out
a conversation using the language
learned effortlessly.
In assessing the spoken ability of
learners, several components have to
be considered: pronunciation, grammar,
word choice and fluency. These are the
criteria used for evaluating a person’s
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oral communication skill.
1. TESTING
PRONUNCIATION
 Types of tests for
“ pronunciation:
- recognition of
similar sounds
- putting proper
stress in words and
sentences
- loud reading
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Example: Recognition of similar
sounds/stress
Directions: From a list of words in
each group, read the word that has the
same vowel sound as the guide word’s.
Guide Word:
1. beat steak great leave
2. let sit end lead
3. map mall play fast
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2. TESTING GRAMMAR
 In oral communication,
grammatical usage may be
“ tested through:
- sentence conversion (from
negative to affirmative,
statement to question, etc.)
- answering questions
- expansion (by modification,
subordination, coordination, etc.)
- word transformation in
context (past to present tenses,
singular to plural nouns, nouns to8
pronouns, etc.).
Example: Sentence conversion
Directions: Read the following
statements aloud and change to
questions answerable by yes/no.
1. My friend, Luisa, lives in Makati.
2. She and her sisters are renting a
condominium along Buendia.
3. They used to go home everyday to
Bulacan after school or work.

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3. TESTING WORD
CHOICE
 In oral communication,
“ vocabulary proficiency may
be tested through:
- word substitutions
- supplying appropriate words
in the missing parts of
sentences
- selecting from a given list of
words the most appropriate
for the sentence, etc.
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Example: Word substitutions
Directions: Read the sentences aloud
and substitute new but appropriate
words to underlined words.
1. Life in the city is tedious.
2. You need to wake up early everyday
to avoid traffic congestion.
3. Going home is also a problem
especially if your last class is late.

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4. TESTING FLUENCY
 The speaker’s fluency
“ may be measured
from his/her ability to
answer questions
spontaneously or
speak on any topic
informally with ease
and fluency.
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Example of an evaluation scale for
fluency:

___ 5. Speaks very fast; message is very

clear.
___ 4. Speaks fast; message is clear.
___ 3. Speaks moderately fast; part of
the message is unclear.
___ 2. Speaks slow; message is difficult
to understand.
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___ 1. Falters many times in speaking; 5
5. TESTING
COMPREHENSION
 Comprehension can
“ be tested focusing
on the speaker’s
ability to reply
quickly to a remark
or a question
clearly and
completely. 1
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B. TESTING WRITING
Testing writing is focused primarily on
evaluating the students’ ability to express
their ideas in writing taking into
consideration its five component parts:
1. Content
2. Form
3. Grammar
4. Style
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5. Mechanics 8
1. TESTING THE
CONTENT
 Test items focusing on
“ content may include:
- writing specific details
on a general topic
- writing a general
statement encompassing
all specific details
- identifying and deleting
unrelated sentences in a 2
paragraph 0
Example: Writing a general
statement to express the main idea
of each group of sentences.
Directions: Write a general statement
to express the main idea of each group
of sentences.
Main idea: ____________________________
1. He is often absent in class.
2. He seldom recites.
3. He fails most of his quizzes.
4. He seldom passes an assignment or a 2
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seatwork.
2. TESTING THE FORM
 Tests of this type include:
“ - ordering ideas into
logical order
- connecting ideas using
appropriate connectors
- using topic sentences at
strategic points
- tying up ideas with a
clincher sentence 2
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Example: Ordering sentences in logical
order
Directions: Arrange the following sentences
in jumbled order into one coherent paragraph.
Place the letter corresponding to the first in the
order in number 1, the next in number 2, etc.
1. (a) Each leap year we add that day onto the
end of February.
2. (b) Because of this, every 4 years an extra
day is added to the calendar so we don’t fall
behind in the natural cycle of things.
3. (c) The earth’s solar orbit takes 365 and a
quarter days.
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4. (d) In this way, the calendar is readjusted 4

into the astronomical timetable.

3. TESTING GRAMMAR
“ Grammatical forms refer
to the use of correct
parts of speech like the
plural and possessive
forms of nouns; the case,
number and gender
forms of pronouns; tense
forms of verbs;
derivational and
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comparative forms of 6
Example: Testing grammatical forms
Directions: Change the forms of the
verbs in parentheses to past.

Soon after her family (leave) for the

evening, Carol (start) to think that her
hospital room must be the loneliest
place in the world. Night time had (fall),
her fears about her illness (be) back,
and she (feel) overwhelming despair as
she (lie) there alone.
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4. TESTING SYNTACTIC
PATTERNS
“ Syntactic patterns
involve the proper
combinations of
words and their
correct placement
in sentences.

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Example: Testing syntactic patterns
Directions: Combine the following
groups of words into coherent
sentences.
1. and a candle in the other
1. Michaelangelo painted with a brush
2. from covering his masterpiece
3. legend has it that
4. in one hand
5. in progress
6. to prevent his shadow 3
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5. TESTING STYLE
  Style pertains to
“ the choice of
structures and
lexical items to
give a particular
tone or flavor to
the writing.
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Example: Testing variety of
structures
Directions: Re-arrange the following
sentences according to the directions
given.
1. The contestant was looking anxious
when he entered the theater. (Begin
with ’When’ and ’Looking’)
2. The ushers instructed the guests to
wait at the lobby. (Change to passive
voice)
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3. She went home early yesterday. 3
6. TESTING MECHANICS
“ The mechanics of
writing refers to
the proper use of
graphic symbols
such as
punctuation,
capitalization, and
abbreviation. 3
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Example: Testing abbreviations and
capitalizations
Directions: Abbreviate and capitalize
words where necessary.

1. The 4,000-mile-long great wall of china

was built to keep out invaders from the
north. The first wall was constructed by shi
huangdi, the first emperor of china, who
lived between 259 and 210 before Christ.
But in anno domini 1644 the great
manchus broke through the great wall and 3
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overran china.