Communicative

Grammar Testing

González, M. (2012)
What is Grammar?
Crystal (1995) says it is "... that branch of
the description of language which
accounts for the way in which words
combine to form sentences.”

González, M. (2012)
Why testing Grammar?
a) Linguistic or communicative
competence?

b) Structures or functions?

González, M. (2012)
Why testing Grammar in a
communicative manner?
Comunicative tests aim to test students’
success in using the language for
communication. For this purpose, real life
tasks are used for testing purposes.

González, M. (2012)
 Test formats
Recognition Production

For
⃝students
Multiple to identify
choice For students toitems
show
errors ⃝ Completion
items in a given communicative
⃝ Paraphrase skills.
context.
⃝ Error-recognition ⃝ Editing
⃝ Items True/False ⃝ Sentence transformation
⃝ Pairing and
matching items
González, M. (2012)
 IMPORTANT
The use of grammatical terms should
preferably be avoided in the
instructions.

González, M. (2012)
Examples
Choose the correct tense forms Choose the most appropriate
option.
I opened the window. The rain (1)______but the
wind (2)________.

A) (1) had stopped, (2) was blowing

B) (1) has stopped, (2) is blowing
C) (1) was stopped, (2) was blowing
D) (1) stopped, (2) is blowing
E) (1) stopped, (2) was blowing

González, M. (2012)
 Multiple Choice
Fill in the blank using a word from the box.
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
⃝ Knowledge is limited to options provided
⃝ Difficult to construct at higher levels
⃝ Encourages guessing (25% chance)
⃝ More than one option may be possible
⃝ All options must be grammatically possible
Magdalena, J.
 BE CAREFUL
A context must be provided so
students identify functions.
 Sentence Transformation
Complete sentense using the appropiate form of the word in parentheses.
John is a doctor. He ______(work) in a hospital.

⃝ 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…)
Magdalena, J.
References

Crystal, David. 1995. The Cambridge Encyclopedia of The English Language.

Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Magdalenda, Jonathan. (W/D). Testing grammar.

González, M. (2012)