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With this question type, the candidate must link items from the first column to items in the
second. This could be individual words, words and definitions, parts of sentences, pictures to words
etc. Whilst it is easy to mark, candidates can get the right answers without knowing the words, if
she has most of the answers correct she knows the last one left must be right. To avoid this, have
more words than is necessary[2, с.26].
Matching exercises are most often used to test vocabulary.
Cloze
Complete the text by adding a word to each gap.
This is the kind _____ test where a word _____ omitted from a passage every so
often. The candidate must _____ the gaps, usually the first two lines are without gaps.
This kind of task type is much more integrative as candidates have to process the components
of the language simultaneously. It has also been proved to be a good indicator of overall language
proficiency. The teacher must be careful about multiple correct answers and students may need
some practice of this type of task[2, с.27].
Cloze tests can be very effective for testing grammar, vocabulary and intensive reading.
True / False
In true-false type of tests pupils determine whether answers are correct or wrong. On the
special sheets of paper they write “W” (wrong) or “R” (right) opposite the number of appropriate
task. The priority of this type of test is in lightness of checking, but the conducting of the test do not
exclude the possibility for casual guessing what essentially decreases the objectivity
Decide if the statement is true or false.
England won the world cup in 1966 T/F
Here the candidate must decide if a statement is true or false. Again this type is easy to mark
but guessing can result in many correct answers. The best way to counteract this effect is to have a
lot of items[2, с.28].
This question type is mostly used to test listening and reading comprehension.
Open
questions
Answer the questions.
Why did John steal the money?
Here the candidate must answer a simple questions after a reading or listening or as part of an
oral interview. It can be used to test anything. If the answer is open-ended it will be more difficult
and time consuming to mark and there may also be an element of subjectivity involved in judging
how 'complete' the answer is, but it may also be a more accurate test.
These question types are very useful for testing any of the four skills, but less useful for
testing grammar or vocabulary.
Error correction
Find the mistakes in the sentence and correct them.
Ipswich Town was the more better team on the night.
Errors must be found and corrected in a sentence or passage. It could be an extra word,
mistakes with verb forms, words missed etc. One problem with this question type is that some
errors can be corrected in more than one way[2, с.30].
Error correction is useful for testing grammar and vocabulary as well as readings and
listening.
There are of course many other elicitation techniques such as translation, essays, dictations,
ordering words/phrases into a sequence and sentence construction (He/go/school/yesterday).
It is important to ask yourself what exactly you are trying to test, which techniques suit this
purpose best and to bear in mind the drawbacks of each technique. Awareness of this will help you
to minimize the problems and produce a more effective.
In order to compile a good test it is necessary that the test should be valid, reliable, scorable,
economic and administrable. The first criterion is validity. If the test measures what it is intended to
measure, it is a valid test. If a test, for example, measures pronunciation and nothing else, it is a
valid test of pronunciation.