testing-grammar

TestinggrammarGrammar语法就是指语言的法则。它反映的是语言的结构方式及组织规律，从广义上说，语法包括词法(morphology)和句法(syntax),所涉及的是词的构成和变化，还有词组和句子的组织。两种语法观：1.规定性语法(perscriptivegrammar)指的是语法家的观点,是他们制定的规则,这些规则反应的是他们所认为的正确的或者是最好的表达方式。但这些规则与实际使用并不完全一致，规定性语法也可理解为我们通常所说的传统语法。它对我国的教育产生过深刻的影响。--LanguageTestingandItsMethods(LiuRunqing&HanBaocheng)2.描述性语法（descriptivegrammar）是一种新的语法观，它的建立不依据人为规定的规则，而是依据观察到的惯用法，也就是说，说母语的人实际上怎样使用语言，我们就应该怎样对待语言,而不是人为的规定他们应该怎样使用语言。TestsofGrammarandUsageSomeofthemostcommontypesofobjectiveitemsusedtotestawarenessofthegrammaticalfeaturesofthelanguage.1.Multyiple-choiceitems2.Error-recognitionitems3.Rearrangementitems4.Completionitems5.Transformationitems6.Itemsinvolvingthechangingofwords7.“Brokensentences”items8.Combinationitems&additionitems9.Pairingandmatchingitems1.Contructingmultyiple-choiceitemsAmultyiple-choiceitemcanbewrittenindifferentforms.Themostpopulartypesincludeincompletestatementtype,ashortanswertypeandtheparaphraseofagivenstatement,eachwithachoiceof4or5options.e.g.1.Tomoughtnottomeyoursecret.A.tellB.havingtoldC.betellingD.havetold2.Tomoughtnottohavetoldanyonethesecret._______A.SooughtyouB.Neitheryououghtn'tC.NeitheroughtyouD.Sooughtn'tyou3.Tomoughtnottohavetoldme.A.Tomdidn'ttellmebutheshouldbe.B.PerhapsTommaynottellme.C.Tomtoldme,butitwaswrongofhim.D.ItwasnecessaryforTomnottotellme.CommentsMultyiple-choiceitemsarecriticizedforitsartificiality,sotestwritersshouldmakeeffortstoproduceitemsinthetestofgrammarandstructurethatsoundasnaturalaspossible.Thedistractorsshouldbecorrectinwritingandspeech.Thereforeitisadvisabletoconstructnatural,contextulisedtestitemsbytakingapassagefromauthenticmaterials,suchasthetextsadaptedfromnewspaperandmagazinearticles.2.Constructingerror-recognitionitemsError-recognitionitemisanotherusefultypeofitemtoteststudents'knowledgeofgrammar.Themostpopulartypeistoprovidestudentswithasentence.Inthesentence,fourwordsorphrasesareunderlinedandmarkedA,B,C,andD.Studentsarerequiredtoidentifytheoneunderlinedwordorphrasethatisincorrectorunacceptable.e.g.1.Idohopeyouwouldn'tmindwaitingABCforsuchalongtime.D2.Iamworriedthatyou'llbeangrytome.ABCDCommentsItispopularinmanypublictestsinvolvingalargenumberofcandidates.Oneimportantreasonisthatitcanbemarkedmechanicallyandquicklywiththehelpofacomputeroramachine,andispossibletocovermoretestpointsinarelativelylimitedtesttime.Howerver,itisclearlynotsufficientforstudentssimplytorecognizesourcesoferror.Becausethistypeofitememphasizesthemorenegativeaspectsoflearningbyrequiringstudentstoconcentrateonfindingouttheincorrectusageofthetargetlanguage.Insteaditisbelievedthatstudentsshouldbeexposedtocorrectformsandencouragedtoproducecorrectforms.3.Constructingrearrangementitemse.g.-Won'tIneedacoat?-Well,youknowhow.......?A.warmisittodayB.todayitiswarmC.isitwarmtodayD.warmitistodayThistypecantakeseveralforms.Thefirstofwhichwillbethemultiple-choiceform.Thesecondoneiswordorderitem:e.g.--Won'tIneedacoat?--Well,youknowhow.......?A.itB.todayC.warmD.isThethirdoneisthattherearrangementitemcanbeusedforsentences.Whenusedforthispurpose,suchitemscanofferameansoftestingonunderstandingofconnectivesandreferencedevices.e.g.4.ConstructingcompletionitemsCarefullyconstructedcompletionitemsareausefulmeansoftestingastudent'sabilitytoproduceacceptableandappropriateformsoflanguage.Themeasureproductionratherthanrecognition,testingtheabilitytoinsertthemostappropriatewordsinselectedblanksinstentences.Thewordsforomissionaregrammaticalwordsorfunctionalwords.e.g.Writethecorrectwordineachblank.1.Heenjoyslooking__thechildrenplaying.2.Thecarbelongs__Helen'smother.3.Today,AmericancoinshonorprominentfiguresoftheUSgovernment—mostlyfamousformer_____.ButtheBuffalonickel,producedfrom1913to1938,honoredapairofconnectedtragediesfromthesettlementofthe_____frontier—thedestructionofthebuffaloherdsandthe_______.CommentsCompletionitemsareveryusefulinclassroomtestsandforexercisespurposes.Thoughthescoringcannotbecarriedoutwithcomputer,theyareusedtoteststudents'productiveskillratherthanrecognitionskill.Inordertomakethestudentsproducetheanswers,thetestwriterwantstotestineachblank,anumberofmeasurecanbetaken.e.g.Thetestwritercanprovideatextamultiple-choicetechniquestorestrictthepossiableanswers.Therewas__agedfrienddyingofcancer.Hehad__activelifeas___headof___newspapersyndicate.As___friendhepossessed____qualitiesofcompassionandunderstandingthatwerenotgiventomany.5.ConstructingtransformationitemsThetransformationtypeofitemisusefulfortestingabilitytoproducestructuresinthetargetlanguageandhelptoprovideabalancewhenincludedintestscontainingmultiple-choiceitems.Itistheoneobjectiveitemtypewhichcomestheclosesttomeasuringsomeoftheskillstestedincompositionwriting,althoughtransformingsentencesisdifferentfromproducingsentences.Subjectivedecisions,ofcourse,mayhavetobemadeinthescoringprocess.e.g.Howshouldspellingerrorsbemarked?Anotherproblemsthattheremaybemorethanoneacceptableorcorrectanswerforoneitem.Thisfeaturemakesitmoresuitableforclassroomtests.e.g.Rewriteeachofthesentenceinanotherthatisassimilaraspossibleinmeaningtothesentenceprinte