Testing

Grammar
Jonathan Magdalena
 What are we trying to MEASURE?

“English grammar is chiefly a system

of
syntax, that decides
the order and
patterns in which
words are arranged
into
sentences.” (Close,
1982)
 Why should we test grammar?

 Linguistic or communicative competence?

 Structures or functions?

 Usage or use?

 Prescriptive or descriptive?
 How should we test grammar?

 Separated from skills?

 Discrete point or integrative items?

 Focus on grammar or meaning?

What are the most common test formats for
testing grammar?

RECOGNITION
 Multiple choice items (Liu, 121)
 Error-recognition items (Liu, 129)
 True/False (Baxter, 35)
 Pairing and matching items
 Cloze/Modified Cloze (Hughes, 144)
What are the most common test formats for
testing grammar?

Production
 Completion items (Hughes, 143)
 Transformation items (Liu, 131)
 Paraphrase (Hughes, 143)
 Rearrangement
 Editing
 Combination and addition items
 Items involving the changing of words
 When should we go for grammar
recognition?
When…
 More material needs to be covered.

 You want to test different levels of

learning.
 You have little time for scoring.

 You are not interested in evaluating

how well a test taker can formulate a

correct answer.
 You have a large number of test takers.
 When should we go for grammar
production?
When…
 You want to evaluate a person’s ability

to formulate a correct answer.

 You have more time to score the

items
 You want to test a persons ability to

apply concepts and information to

 a
Younew situation.
have a clear idea of the aspects
and concepts that should be
tested.
 True/False
Is this sentences true or false?
“He works from Monday to Friday”
 Does not demonstrate broader knowledge
 Difficult to construct in higher levels
 Encourages guessing due to 50/50 chance
 Difficult to test attitudes toward learning
 Multiple Choice
John usually from Monday to
Friday
a. works b. worked c. has worked d. is
working
 They can be tricky or too picky
 Difficult to test attitudes towards learning
 Difficult to construct at higher levels
 Knowledge is limited to options provided
 Encourages guessing (25% chance)
 More than one option may be possible
 All options must be grammatically possible
 Gap-Filling
John usually (work) from Monday to
Friday
 They must be part of a broader context
 More than one option may be possible
 First gap may be offered as a sample

 Difficult
Knowledge to test attitudes
is limited towards
to options learning
provided
 Limitations result in negative backwash
 Focus should be on the aspect assessed.
 Cloze/C-test
John works Monday Friday
 Tests student’s understanding of the whole
language
 More than one option may be possible
 First letter may be offered as a sample
 Difficult to test attitudes towards learning
 Some words may be impossible to guess
 Can test student’s IQ rather than language
proficiency
 Difficult for some students (bias)
 Sentence Building
Friday/usually/to/John/Monday/work
 Tests recognition and/or production
 More than one option may be possible
 Capital letters and punctuation may
interfere in the production of the answer
 Difficult to test attitudes towards learning
 Some context may be added
 Can test student’s IQ rather than language
proficiency
 Difficult for some students (bias)
 Sentence Transformation
John is a doctor. He
 (work)
More than one option may be possible
 Clues will limit the answers
 Difficult to test attitudes towards learning
 Some context may be added
 Instructions are essential
 Few aspects might be assessed (passive,
reported, comparatives, conditionals…)
 Correction/Editing
John usually working from Monday to Friday
 Tests recognition of mistakes
 Can also test production through
corrections
 More than one correction may be possible
 Mistakes must be grammatically possible
 Good backwash
 Context is essential
 Five characteristics to measure
communicative grammar
 The test must provide more context than
only a single sentence.
 The test taker should understand what
the communicative purpose of the task
is.
 He or she should also know who the
intended audience is.
 He or she must have to focus on meaning
and not form to answer correctly.
 Recognize is not sufficient. The
test taker must be able “to produce
grammatical responses.”
(R. Dickins)
 Therefore…
 Have the test taker say or write
something of discourse length in
order to perform some
communicative task for a known
audience.

 What is said or written must make

sense.
 Split Sentences
 Write out some sentences, and then
cut each sentence in half. Place the
two halves in two separate columns
and ask students to find the
matching half.
 Students’ abilities in
sentences
combing
 Grammar knowledge to all forms of
the sentences
 Examples
 If you eat that  you’ll be
 If you touch the  sick it’ll bite
dog  you
 If you steal my I’ll never
boyfriend speak to you
 If you go out now again
 If you don’t  you’ll
 leave get
If you don’t soaked
book a ticket  I’ll call
the
police
 Sentences from pictures
 Hand out a sheet of pictures. Ask
students to come out sentences from
the pictures or ask them to tell a
story.
 Enough grammar knowledge to make
sentences by students.
 Accuracy
 Memory Test
 Give limited time for students to see
the picture. Ask them to describe
the picture without seeing it.
 Testing students’ ability of
sentences.(enough grammar
making
knowledge)
 Accuracy
 The transformation of
sentences
students’
 Picture Dictation
 A student try to describe the picture
to other students who haven’t
seen it.
 Testing if a student can make
sentences which can help him/her
communicate well.
 Accuracy
 Strip Story
 Give students a text from a strip
story. Ask them to find the order
and resolve the problem from the
story.
 See if students can find the time
order from the tenses of the
sentences.
 Accuracy
 Miming an action
 Ask students to role play in a limited
situation.
 Through acting, it can test students’
ability of thinking of lines. (which
may contains different tenses.)
 Accuracy
 Growing Stories
 Story-building activities
 Students’ ability of making
with different tenses
sentences
 Questionnaires
 Turn what have taught in class into a
questionnaire. Get students to
survey each other. (does not contain
fully-written-out questions.)
 It can see if students’
understand what have learned in
totally
class. Also it can see if students’
can use it well.