Tài liệu bồi dưỡng môn tiếng anh THPT

Since students have to recognize these words but not necessarily produce them, this is a good way to test more difficult vocabulary items than the usual ones that students study in class

Ng i biên so n: ng Hi p Giang

Tr n Minh Châu

M C L C

PH N TH NH T:

NH H NG CH O V I M I KI M TRA, ÁNH GIÁ 3

1 nh h ng ch đ o đ i m i ki m tra, đánh giá 4

2 M t s nhi m v trong ch đ o đ i m i ki m tra, đánh giá 6

PH N TH HAI: BIÊN SO N KI M TRA 13

I – K THU T BIÊN SO N KI M TRA 13

1 K thu t biên so n câu h i T v ng/Vocabulary questions 13

2 K thu t biên so n câu h i Ng pháp/Grammar questions 22

3 K thu t biên so n câu h i c hi u/Reading questions 33

4 K thu t biên so n câu h i Vi t/Writing questions 40

5 ánh giá đ ki m tra / Evaluating the tests 51

6 Ki m tra đánh giá theo chu n Ki n th c K n ng 58

7 Các k n ng đ t câu h i 60

II – KI M TRA MINH H A DÙNG CHO LÀM VI C THEO NHÓM 63

PH N TH BA: TH VI N CÂU H I VÀ BÀI T P 78

1 V d ng câu h i 78

2 V s l ng câu h i 79

3 Yêu c u v câu h i 79

4 nh d ng v n b n 79

5 Các b c ti n hành biên so n câu h i c a m i môn h c 80

6 S d ng câu h i c a m i môn h c trong th vi n câu h i 82

PH N TH B N: H NG D N T CH C T P HU N T I CÁC A PH NG 83

PH L C 85

PH N TH NH T

NH H NG CH O V I M I KI M TRA, ÁNH GIÁ

Ki m tra đánh giá k t qu h c t p c a h c sinh nh m theo dõi quá trình h c

t p c a h c sinh, đ a ra các gi i pháp k p th i đi u ch nh ph ng pháp d y c a thày, ph ng pháp h c c a trò, giúp h c sinh ti n b và đ t đ c m c tiêu giáo

d c

Theo T đi n Ti ng Vi t, ki m tra đ c hi u là: Xem xét tình hình th c t

đ đánh giá, nh n xét Nh v y, vi c ki m tra s cung c p nh ng d ki n, nh ng thông tin c n thi t làm c s cho vi c đánh giá h c sinh

M t s nhà nghiên c u cho r ng: “Ki m tra là thu t ng ch cách th c ho c

ho t đ ng giáo viên s d ng đ thu th p thông tin v bi u hi n ki n th c, k n ng

và thái đ h c t p c a h c sinh trong h c t p nh m cung c p d ki n làm c s cho

vi c đánh giá”; Ki m tra đ c hi u theo ngh a r ng nh là theo dõi quá trình h c

t p và c ng có th đ c hi u theo ngh a h p nh là công c ki m tra ho c m t bài

ki m tra trong các k thi”; “Vi c ki m tra cung c p nh ng d ki n, nh ng thông tin làm c s cho vi c đánh giá”

Có nhi u khái ni m v ánh giá, đ c nêu trong các tài li u c a nhi u tác

gi khác nhau Theo T đi n Ti ng Vi t: “ ánh giá đ c hi u là nh n đ nh giá tr ”

D i đây là m t s khái ni m th ng g p trong các tài li u v đánh giá k t qu h c

t p c a h c sinh:

- “ ánh giá là quá trình thu th p và x lí k p th i, có h th ng thông tin v hi n

tr ng, kh n ng hay nguyên nhân c a ch t l ng và hi u qu giáo d c c n c vào

m c tiêu giáo d c, làm c s cho nh ng ch tr ng, bi n pháp và hành đ ng giáo

d c ti p theo nh m phát huy k t qu , s a ch a thi u sót”

- “ ánh giá k t qu h c t p c a h c sinh là quá trình thu th p và x lí thông tin v trình đ , kh n ng đ t đ c m c tiêu h c t p c a HS cùng v i tác đ ng và nguyên nhân c a tình hình đó, nh m t o c s cho nh ng quy t đ nh s ph m c a giáo viên

- “ ánh giá đ c hi u là quá trình hình thành nh ng nh n đ nh, phán đoán v k t

qu công vi c, d a vào s phân tích nh ng thông tin thu đ c đ i chi u v i m c tiêu, tiêu chu n đã đ ra, nh m đ xu t nh ng quy t đ nh thích h p đ c i thi n

th c tr ng, đi u ch nh, nâng cao ch t l ng và hi u qu công tác giáo d c”

- “ ánh giá là quá trình thu th p thông tin, ch ng c v đ i t ng đánh giá và đ a

ra nh ng phán xét, nh n đ nh v m c đ đ t đ c theo các tiêu chí đã đ a ra trong các chu n hay k t qu h c t p” (mô hình ARC)

- “ ánh giá là quá trình thu th p thông tin, ch ng c v đ i t ng đánh giá và đ a

ra nh ng phán xét, nh n đ nh v m c đ đ t đ c theo các tiêu chí đã đ c đ a ra

trong các tiêu chu n hay k t qu h c t p ánh giá có th là đánh giá đ nh l ng (quantitative) d a vào các con s ho c đ nh tính (qualitative) d vào các ý ki n và giá tr ”

ánh giá g m có 3 khâu chính là: Thu th p thông tin, x lí thông tin và ra quy t đ nh ánh giá là m t quá trình b t đ u khi chúng ta đ nh ra m t m c tiêu

ph i theo đu i và k t thúc khi đ a ra quy t đ nh liên quan đ n m c tiêu đó, đ ng

th i c ng l i m đ u cho m t chu trình giáo d c ti p theo

ánh giḠth c hi n đ ng th i 2 ch c n ng: v a là ngu n thông tin ph n h i

v quá trình d y h c, v a góp ph n đi u ch nh ho t đ ng này

Chu n đánh giá là c n c quan tr ng đ th c hi n vi c đánh giá, chu n đ c

hi u là yêu c u c b n, t i thi u c n đ t đ c trong vi c xem xét ch t l ng s n

ph m

Vi c đánh giá ph i đ m b o các yêu c u c b n sau đây

1 m b o tính khách quan, chính xác

Ph n ánh chính xác k t qu nh nó t n t i trên c s đ i chi u v i m c tiêu

đ ra, không ph thu c vào ý mu n ch quan c a ng i đánh giá

4 m b o tính công khai và tính phát tri n

ánh giá đ c ti n hành công khai, k t qu đ c công b k p th i, t o ra

đ ng l c đ thúc đ y đ i t ng đ c đánh giá mong mu n v n lên, có tác d ng thúc đ y các m t t t, h n ch m t x u

th c ti n n c ta Các c p qu n lý GD c n ch đ o ch t ch , coi tr ng vi c h ng

d n các c quan qu n lý GD c p d i, các tr ng h c, các t chuyên môn và t ng

GV trong vi c t ch c th c hi n, sao cho đi đ n t ng k t, đánh giá đ c hi u qu

đo thành công c a các gi i pháp ch đ o là s đ i m i cách ngh ,

v i đ c tr ng m i môn h c, nên ph i coi tr ng vai trò c a các t chuyên môn, là

n i trao đ i kinh nghi m gi i quy t m i khó kh n, v ng m c Trong vi c t ch c

th c hi n đ i m i KT- G, c n phát huy vai trò c a đ i ng GV gi i có nhi u kinh nghi m, GV c t cán chuyên môn đ h tr GV m i, GV tay ngh ch a cao, không

đ GV nào ph i đ n đ c Ph i coi tr ng hình th c h i th o, thao gi ng, d gi th m

l p đ rút kinh nghi m k p th i, đánh giá hi u qu t ng gi i pháp c th trong vi c

đ i m i PPDH và đ i m i KT- G: ra đ ki m tra b o đ m ch t l ng, k t h p hình th c t lu n v i tr c nghi m cho phù h p v i đ c tr ng b môn

3) C n l y ý ki n xây d ng c a HS đ hoàn thi n PPDH và KT- G

i m i PPDH và đ i m i KT- G ch mang l i k t qu khi HS phát huy vai trò tích c c, ch đ ng, sáng t o, bi t t tìm cho mình PP h c t p h u hi u, bi t t

h c, t đánh giá k t qu h c t p Trong môi tr ng s ph m thân thi n, vi c thu

th p ý ki n xây d ng c a HS đ giúp GV đánh giá đúng v mình, tìm ra con đ ng

kh c ph c các h n ch , thi u sót, hoàn thi n PPDH, đ i m i KT- G là h t s c c n thi t và là cách làm mang l i nhi u l i ích, phát huy m i quan h thúc đ y t ng h

gi a ng i d y và ng i h c

4) i m i KT- G ph i đ ng b v i các khâu liên quan và nâng cao các đi u

ki n b o đ m ch t l ng d y h c

i m i KT- G g n li n v i đ i m i PPDH c a GV và đ i m i PPHT c a

HS, k t h p đánh giá trong v i đánh giá ngoài c p đ th p, GV có th dùng đ

ki m tra c a ng i khác (c a đ ng nghi p, do nhà tr ng cung c p, t ngu n d

li u trên các Website chuyên ngành) đ KT- G k t qu h c t p c a HS l p mình

c p đ cao h n, nhà tr ng có th tr ng c u m t tr ng khác, c quan chuyên môn bên ngoài t ch c KT- G k t qu h c t p c a HS tr ng mình

i m i KT- G ch có hi u qu khi k t h p đánh giá c a GV v i t đánh giá

c a HS Sau m i k ki m tra, GV c n b trí th i gian tr bài, h ng d n HS t đánh giá k t qu làm bài, t cho đi m bài làm c a mình, nh n xét m c đ chính xác trong ch m bài c a GV Trong quá trình d y h c và khi ti n hành KT- G, GV

ph i bi t “khai thác l i” đ giúp HS t nh n rõ sai sót nh m rèn luy n PPHT, PP t duy

đ ng b cho quá trình h ng t i nâng cao ch t l ng d y h c Khi đ i m i KT- G

b o đ m yêu c u khách quan, chính xác, công b ng s t o ti n đ xây d ng môi

tr ng s ph m thân thi n, t o đ ng l c m i thúc đ y đ i m i PPDH và đ i m i công tác qu n lý T đó, s giúp GV và các c quan qu n lý xác đ nh đúng đ n

hi u qu gi ng d y, t o c s đ GV đ i m i PPDH và các c p qu n lý đ ra gi i pháp qu n lý phù h p

6) Ph i đ a n i dung ch đ o đ i m i KT- G vào tr ng tâm cu c v n đ ng

"M i th y cô giáo là m t t m g ng đ o đ c, t h c và sáng t o" và phong trào thi

đua “Xây d ng tr ng h c thân thi n, h c sinh tích c c”

Trong nhà tr ng, ho t đ ng d y h c là trung tâm đ th c hi n nhi m v chính tr đ c giao, th c hi n s m nh “tr ng ng i” Ho t đ ng d y h c ch đ t

hi u qu cao khi t o l p đ c môi tr ng s ph m lành m nh, b u không khí thân thi n, phát huy ngày càng cao vai trò tích c c, ch đ ng, sáng t o c a HS Do đó,

ph i đ a n i dung ch đ o đ i m i PPDH nói chung và đ i m i KT- G nói riêng thành tr ng tâm c a cu c v n đ ng "M i th y cô giáo là m t t m g ng đ o đ c,

t h c và sáng t o" và phong trào thi đua “Xây d ng tr ng h c thân thi n, h c

sinh tích c c” C ng trong m i quan h đó, b c phát tri n c a cu c v n đ ng và phong trào thi đua này s t o đ ng l c thúc đ y quá trình đ i m i PPDH và đ i

m i KT- G đ t đ c m c tiêu cu i cùng là thúc đ y nâng cao ch t l ng GD toàn

di n

2 M t s nhi m v trong ch đ o đ i m i ki m tra, đánh giá

2.1 Các công vi c c n t ch c th c hi n

a) Các c p qu n lý GD và các tr ng PT c n có k ho ch ch đ o đ i m i PPDH, trong đó có đ i m i KT- G trong t ng n m h c và trong 5 n m t i K

ho ch c n quy đ nh rõ n i dung các b c, quy trình ti n hành, công tác ki m tra, thanh tra chuyên môn và bi n pháp đánh giá ch t ch , hi u qu cu i cùng th hi n thông qua k t qu áp d ng c a GV

b) làm rõ c n c khoa h c c a vi c KT- G, c n t ch c b i d ng cho

đ i ng GV c t cán và toàn th GV n m v ng CTGDPT c a c p h c, t m c tiêu

c p h c, c u trúc ch ng trình, ch ng trình các môn h c, các ho t đ ng GD và

đ c bi t là chu n KT-KN, yêu c u v thái đ đ i v i ng i h c

Ph i kh c ph c tình tr ng GV ch d a vào sách giáo khoa đ làm c n c so n bài, gi ng d y và KT- G đã thành thói quen, tình tr ng này d n đ n vi c ki n th c

c a HS không đ c m r ng, không đ c liên h nhi u v i th c ti n, làm cho gi

h c tr nên khô khan, gò bó, d n đ n ki m tra đánh giá đ n đi u, không kích thích

đ c s sáng t o c a HS

c) v a coi tr ng vi c nâng cao nh n th c v a coi tr ng đ i m i trong ho t

đ ng KT- G c a t ng GV, ph i l y đ n v tr ng h c và t chuyên môn làm đ n

v c b n tri n khai th c hi n

T n m h c 2010-2011, các S GD T c n ch đ o các tr ng PT tri n khai

m t s chuyên đ sinh ho t chuyên môn sau đây (t ch c theo c p: c p t chuyên môn, c p tr ng, theo các c m và toàn t nh, thành ph )

- V nghiên c u Ch ng trình GDPT: Chu n KT-KN và yêu c u v thái đ

đ i v i ng i h c c a các môn h c và các ho t đ ng GD; khai thác chu n đ so n bài, d y h c trên l p và KT- G

- V k thu t ra đ ki m tra, đ thi: K thu t ra đ ki m tra t lu n, đ tr c nghi m và cách k t h p h p lý hình th c t lu n v i hình th c tr c nghi m cho phù

h p v i n i dung ki m tra và đ c tr ng môn h c; xây d ng ma tr n đ ki m tra;

bi t cách khai thác ngu n d li u m : Th vi n câu h i và bài t p, trên các Website chuyên môn

- V s d ng SGK: GV s d ng SGK và s d ng chu n KT-KN c a ch ng trình môn h c th nào cho khoa h c, s d ng SGK trên l p th nào cho h p lý, s

Trên c s ti n hành c a các tr ng, các S GD T có th t ch c h i th o khu v c ho c toàn t nh, thành ph , nhân r ng v ng ch c kinh nghi m t t đã đúc k t

đ c Sau đó, ti n hành thanh tra, ki m tra chuyên môn theo t ng chuyên đ đ thúc đ y GV áp d ng và đánh giá hi u qu

2.2 Ph ng pháp t ch c th c hi n

a) Công tác đ i m i KT- G là nhi m v quan tr ng lâu dài nh ng ph i có

bi n pháp ch đ o c th có chi u sâu cho m i n m h c, tránh chung chung theo

ki u phát đ ng phong trào thi đua sôi n i ch nh m th c hi n m t “chi n d ch”

đ nh i m i KT- G là m t ho t đ ng th c ti n chuyên

môn có tính khoa h c cao trong nhà tr ng, cho nên ph i đ ng th i nâng cao nh n

th c, b sung ki n th c, trang b k n ng cho đ i ng GV, đông đ o HS và ph i t

n p chuyên môn v ng ch c trong ho t đ ng d y h c:

- Tr c h t, ph i yêu c u và t o đi u ki n cho t ng GV n m v ng chu n

KT-KN và yêu c u v thái đ đ i v i ng i h c đã đ c quy đ nh t i ch ng trình môn

h c vì đây là c n c pháp lý khách quan đ ti n hành KT- G;

- Ph i nâng cao nh n th c v m c tiêu, vai trò và t m quan tr ng c a KT- G,

s c n thi t khách quan ph i đ i m i KT- G, b o đ m khách quan, chính xác, công b ng đ nâng cao ch t l ng d y h c;

- Ph i trang b các ki n th c và k n ng t i c n thi t có tính k thu t v

KT-G nói chung và các hình th c KT- KT-G nói riêng, trong đó đ c bi t là k thu t xây

d ng các đ ki m tra C n s d ng đa d ng các lo i câu h i trong đ ki m tra Các câu h i biên so n đ m b o đúng k thu t, có ch t l ng

ây là khâu công tác có t m quan tr ng đ c bi t vì trong th c t , ph n đông

GV ch a đ c trang b k thu t này khi đ c đào t o tr ng s ph m, nh ng

ch a ph i đ a ph ng nào, tr ng PT nào c ng đã gi i quy t t t V n còn m t b

ph n không ít GV ph i t mày mò trong vi c ti p c n hình th c tr c nghi m, d n

đ n ch t l ng đ tr c nghi m ch a cao, ch a phù h p v i n i dung ki m tra và

đ c tr ng b môn, không ít tr ng h p có tình tr ng l m d ng tr c nghi m

- Ph i ch đ o đ i m i KT- G theo chuyên đ có chi u sâu c n thi t, coi

tr ng ph bi n kinh nghi m t t và t ng c ng tháo g khó kh n, v ng m c thông qua sinh ho t t chuyên môn gi a các GV cùng b môn

b) Các c p qu n lý ph i coi tr ng s k t, t ng k t, đúc rút kinh nghi m, nhân

đi n hình t p th , cá nhân tiên ti n trong đ i m i KT- G

c) Trong m i n m h c, các c p qu n lý t ch c các đ t ki m tra, thanh tra chuyên đ đ đánh giá hi u qu đ i m i KT- G các tr ng PT, các t chuyên môn và t ng GV Thông qua đó, rút ra kinh nghi m ch đ o, bi u d ng khen

v n đ ng “M i th y cô giáo là m t t m g ng đ o đ c, t h c và sáng t o” và

phong trào thi đua “Xây d ng tr ng h c thân thi n, HS tích c c”, v i m c tiêu

xây d ng môi tr ng s ph m lành m nh và phát huy vai trò tích c c, tinh th n

n m theo chu n đã ban hành

+ Xây d ng đ i ng GV c t cán v ng vàng cho t ng b môn và t p hu n nghi p v v đ i m i PPDH, đ i m i KT- G cho nh ng ng i làm công tác thanh tra chuyên môn

+ T ng c ng đ u t xây d ng CSVC, thi t b d y h c đ t o đi u ki n thu n l i cho vi c đ i m i PPDH, đ i m i KT- G

+ Gi i thi u các đi n hình, t ch c trao đ i, ph bi n và phát huy tác d ng

c a các g ng đi n hình v đ i m i PPDH, đ i m i KT- G

+ T ch c t t vi c b i d ng GV:

C n t ch c s d ng tài li u “H ng d n th c hi n chu n KT-KN c a

Ch ng trình giáo d c ph thông” do B GD T ban hành, s m ch m d t tình

tr ng GV ch d a vào SGK nh m t c n c duy nh t đ d y h c và KT- G, không

có đi u ki n và thói quen ti p c n nghiên c u n m v ng chu n KT-KN c a ch ng trình môn h c

- T ng c ng khai thác CNTT trong công tác ch đ o và thông tin v đ i m i PPDH, KT- G:

+ L p chuyên m c trên Website c a S GD T v PPDH và KT- G, l p ngu n d li u v th vi n câu h i và bài t p, đ ki m tra, giáo án, kinh nghi m, các

v n b n h ng d n đ i m i PPDH, KT- G, các video bài gi ng minh h a…;

+ Thí đi m hình th c d y h c qua m ng (learning online) đ h tr GV, HS trong gi ng d y, h c t p, ôn thi;

- Ch đ o phong trào đ i m i PPHT đ phát huy vai trò tích c c, ch đ ng, sáng t o trong h c t p và rèn luy n đ o đ c c a HS, g n v i ch ng b o l c trong

t ng k t, rút kinh nghi m, nhân đi n hình tiên ti n và ch m lo đ u t xây d ng CSVC, TBDH ph c v đ i m i PPDH, đ i m i KT- G;

+ T ch c h p lý vi c l y ý ki n c a GV và HS v ch t l ng gi ng d y, giáo

d c c a t ng GV; đánh giá sát đúng trình đ , n ng l c đ i m i PPDH, đ i m i

KT-G c a t ng KT-GV trong tr ng, t đó, k p th i đ ng viên, khen th ng nh ng GV

th c hi n đ i m i PPDH có hi u qu ;

+ T ch c t t công tác b i d ng GV:

(i) Tr c h t, ph i t ch c cho GV nghiên c u n m v ng chu n KT-KN c a

ch ng trình, tích c c chu n b TBDH, t làm đ dùng DH đ tri t đ ch ng “d y chay”, khai thác h s chuyên môn, ch n l c t li u liên h th c t nh m kích thích

h ng thú h c t p cho HS

(ii) Nghiên c u áp d ng PPDHTC vào đi u ki n c th c a l p; nghiên c u tâm lý l a tu i đ v n d ng vào ho t đ ng giáo d c và gi ng d y Nghiên c u các

KN, k thu t d y h c và k n ng t ch c các ho t đ ng cho HS T ch c cho GV

h c ngo i ng , tin h c đ làm ch các ph ng ti n d y h c, ng d ng CNTT, khai thác Internet ph c v vi c h c t p nâng cao trình đ chuyên môn

(iii) H ng d n GV l p h s chuyên môn và khai thác h s đ ch đ ng liên h th c t d y h c, b i d ng tình c m h ng thú h c t p cho HS

+ T ch c di n đàn v đ i m i PPDH, đ i m i KT- G c a GV, di n đàn đ i

m i PPHT cho HS; h tr GV v k thu t ra đ t lu n, tr c nghi m, cách k t h p

hình th c t lu n v i tr c nghi m sao cho phù h p v i n i dung ki m tra và đ c

tr ng c a môn h c

+ Ki m tra các t chuyên môn và đánh giá ho t đ ng s ph m c a GV:

(i) Ki m tra công tác b i d ng và t b i d ng c a GV, k p th i đ ng viên

m i c g ng sáng t o, u n n n các bi u hi n ch quan t mãn, b o th và x lý m i hành vi thi u tinh th n trách nhi m;

(ii) Ti n hành đánh giá phân lo i GV theo chu n đã ban hành m t cách khách quan, chính xác, công b ng và s d ng làm c n c đ th c hi n chính sách thi đua, khen th ng;

+ Khai thác CNTT trong công tác ch đ o đ i m i PPDH, KT- G:

+ L p chuyên m c trên Website c a tr ng v PPDH và KT- G, l p ngu n

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d n đ i m i PPDH, KT- G, các video bài gi ng minh h a…;

+ Thí đi m hình th c d y h c qua m ng LAN c a tr ng (learning online) đ

GV gi i, chuyên gia h tr GV, HS trong gi ng d y, h c t p, ôn thi

- Trách nhi m c a T chuyên môn:

+ n v t ch c b i d ng th ng xuyên quan tr ng nh t là các t chuyên môn C n coi tr ng hình th c t ch c cho GV t h c, t nghiên c u, sau đó GV có

đáp th c m c, trao đ i kinh

nghi m Sau khi nghiên c u m i chuyên đ , c n t ch c d gi , rút kinh nghi m đ

h tr GV th c hi n đ i m i PPDH và KT- G;

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y u, GV m i ra tr ng;

+ Ph n ánh, đ xu t v i nhà tr ng v công tác chuyên môn và công tác b i

d ng GV, phát hi n và đ ngh nhân đi n hình tiên ti n v chuyên môn, cung c p các giáo án t t, đ ki m tra t t đ các đ ng nghi p tham kh o;

+ ánh giá đúng đ n và đ xu t khen th ng nh ng GV th c hi n đ i m i PPDH, đ i m i KT- G có hi u qu

- Trách nhi m c a GV:

+ M i GV c n xác đ nh thái đ c u th , tinh th n h c su t đ i, không ch

quan th a mãn; t giác tham gia các l p b i d ng, t b i d ng th ng xuyên và

s n sàng hoàn thành nhi m v GV c t cán chuyên môn khi đ c l a ch n; kiên trì

v n d ng nh ng đi u đã h c đ nâng cao ch t l ng d y h c;

+ Tham gia t p hu n chuyên môn, nghi p v ; d gi c a đ ng nghi p, ti p

nh n đ ng nghi p d gi c a mình, th ng th n góp ý ki n cho đ ng nghi p và khiêm t n ti p thu góp ý c a đ ng nghi p; t giác tham gia h i gi ng, thao gi ng, thi GV gi i, báo cáo kinh nghi m đ chia s , h c h i kinh nghi m nh m trau d i

n ng l c chuyên môn

đ i m i s nghi p GD, vi c đ i m i PPDH và KT- G là gi i

pháp then ch t đ nâng cao ch t l ng d y h c nói riêng và ch t l ng GD toàn

di n nói chung ây là m t yêu c u v a c p bách v a lâu dài, đòi h i ph i ch đ o

ch t ch , liên t c và ph i đ ng viên m i s kiên trì n l c sáng t o c a đ i ng GV, lôi cu n s h ng ng c a đông đ o HS t o đi u ki n th c hi n có hi u qu

PH N TH HAI BIÊN SO N KI M TRA

I – K THU T BIÊN SO N KI M TRA

In general, the language components and skills involved in communication are speaking, writing, reading, listening, vocabulary, grammar or syntax and pronunciation On a higher level of language use, those involved may include communication norms, socio-linguistic etiquettes; pragmatics and even cultural elements from a certain community Nevertheless, the language requirements or the goals for students at secondary level are quite fundamental according to the Handbook of Standards in Knowledge and Skills for Secondary Education In testing and evaluation, the components of language are and should be integrated into a unity in order to assess students’ competences Due to the limitations of this short training workshop in testing and evalation, the aforementioned components will be dealt with separately for the sake of understanding and undertaking

1 K thu t biên so n câu h i T v ng/Vocabulary questions

The purpose of vocabulary tests is to measure the comprehension and production of words used in language skills In designing a test question, simply choosing difficult words or random Lists of words doesn't make much sense either Somehow we need to find out which words our students need to know The problem can be solved by referring to the Glossary that tells what words must be learned in each unit at the end of the course books

Another way is to record the words that students misuse These become test items Still other sources are your textbook, reader, and exercise manual Finally,

do not overlook the words and phrases needed to run the class, such as "Take your seat" or "The assignment for tomorrow." These are useful test items at the beginning level

Deciding how to test vocabulary is related to how we teach it Most teachers today do not recommend having students simply memorize lists of words Instead, they teach students to find the meaning of words through the context of the sentence, and they help increase comprehension by teaching important affixes (happy: unhappy/beauty: beautiful) In testing vocabulary, we also need to avoid presenting words in isolation

This part will illustrate a variety of ways to use context cues and word building skills in testing vocabulary Checking vocabulary mastery can be adjusted

to match your emphasis on oral or written skills Suppose improving conversation skills is your primary objective, you can test vocabulary by using aural cues ("What time is it?") and by requiring responses such as "It's nine o'clock" On the other hand, suppose you are stressing reading, you can offer a written multiple-

choice format "He bought a cake at the (A) bank, (B) bakery, (C) hardware store, (D) bookstore"

1.1 Hoàn thành câu nhi u l a ch n (Multiple-choice completion)

A good vocabulary test type for students is multiple choice completion It makes the student depend on context dues and sentence meaning This kind of item

is constructed by deleting a word from a sentence, for example:

She quickly _ her lunch

(A) drank (B) ate* (C) drove (D) slept

(The correct choice is marked with an asterisk "*")

After reading the sentence, students look at the group of words and chooses which one best completes what they have read

The following steps should be taken in writing multiple choice completion items:

(1) Select the words to be tested

(2) Get the right kind of sentence to put each word in (this sentence creating

the context is called the stem)

(3) Choose several wrong words to put the right word with (these wrong words are called distractors) Three distractors plus the right word are enough for a written item

(4) Finally, prepare clear and simple instructions And if this kind of test question is new to your students, it would be recommendable to prepare one or two examples

Vocabulary Choice

When selecting vocabulary items, remember the suggestions given earlier Also, realize that sentence-completion items tend to give you a chance to test passive vocabulary Since students have to recognize these words but not necessarily produce them, this is a good way to test more difficult vocabulary items than the usual ones that students study in class But these should still be words or phrases that are useful to your students – words, for example, from their reading materials Of course, words can be chosen from other sources like newspapers, magazines, and textbooks from other reference materials, if you have used these in your English class Another point to remember is that usually only content words (nouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs) are included in vocabulary tests Function words (articles, determiners, prepositions, conjunctions, pronouns, auxiliary verbs) appear in grammar tests

When using words not found in your classroom textbook, be careful of bias Material from other sources could give students who have experienced them a special advantage (most students may not know the specific vocabulary related from those sources)

Context Preparation

With suitable words selected, our next step is to prepare contexts for them Sometimes –especially for beginning students – more than one sentence is needed

to help clarify meaning You can prepare a two-line mini-dialog like those in the

students' books to check the meaning of a word such as (paint) brush:

E.g.: "I want to paint, too!”

"All right Use that _ over there!'

*A brush B pencil C broom D spoon

Another way is to find a passage (on your students' level) in which the word appears, remembering that some sentences are much more helpful than others

Consider a fairly difficult word - communicate A passage from an English language reader might begin with the sentence: "Human being communicate in many ways." This shows us only that communicate is a verb and that it can be

performed by humans Another sentence from the same passage limits the meaning

of the word: "Some people communicate disapproval by holding their nose

between their thumb and forefinger." This second sentence provides a better

"frame" for the word Other verbs such as interrogate, philosophize and investigate can be used as distractors with the second sentence (An asterisk indicates the correct answer.)

E.g.: Some people disapproval by holding their nose between

their thumb and forefinger

A interrogate B philosophize *C communicate D investigate

A, B, and D are good distractors because not one of them fits this context

Assume that a second rather difficult word, superstitious, appears only in a general context "Frank is certainly very superstitious." We see that a large number

of words (such as old, tall, happy, kind; or ambitious, optimistic, courteous)

could fit here Since a better sentence is not available in the text, we can write one

of our own: "Frank is so superstitious that he thinks you'll have bad luck if you

break a mirror." Simplified slightly, it reads:

Frank is very ; he says, "Break a mirror, and you'll have bad luck."

A ambitious B optimistic C courteous D superstitious*

Finally, avoid contexts that are too difficult The following sentence

contextualizes the verb implies, which you may want to test, but notice how difficult it is to understand: "Present an analogy which implies the concept you

wish to convey.” The vocabulary item is much more easily understood in the following context: "He didn't actually say so, but he implied that you lied."

Distractor Preparation

There are two common ways to choose distractors Experienced teachers often create their own They can do so because they have developed a “feel" for the language that is appropriate for their students But there is a second and equally good way That is to use student errors as distractors

Teachers who create their own distractors should follow certain guidelines:

1 Make sure the distractors are the same form of word as the correct answer

E.g.: (A poor example)

She had to help the _ old man up the stairs

*A weak B slowly C try D wisdom

When distractors are not the same form as the right answer, students might answer the item correctly for the wrong reason For example, some may know an adjective is needed in this item and they might notice that weak is the only

adjective listed (Note that words like strong, energetic and athletic are distractors

that contrast with the old man's weakened condition On the other hand, words such

as wise, kind, pleasant or bent do not contrast as well and are therefore weaker

distractors.)

2 ALSO be sure you don't give away the right answer through grammatical cues Notice the effect of the article in the following example

She needs to get up earlier so she's buying an clock

A time *B alarm C watch D bell

In this question, meaning and grammar indicate that alarm clock is right

because an is only used with a word beginning with a vowel sound One way of

correcting this would be to remove “an” from the sentence and use this form for the choices: A a time *B an alarm C a watch D a bell

3 Multiple-choice items for any one question should be about the same level

of difficulty, and ideally, the sentence context should not be difficult for students to read

E.g.: They needed lots of training to operate such equipment

A: easy *B sophisticated C blue D wise

Students might pick sophisticated simply because it contrasts in difficulty

with the distractors or because students can eliminate the three easy choices

4 Also be sure not to include more than one correct answer

E.g.: She sent the _ yesterday

Actually, any one of the four choices is acceptable The item would be

improved by changing the verb to mailed But we know that gifts, food, and books

are also mailed Therefore, we can use unmailable choices such as post office,

friend, or courage

Another possibility is to choose a new sentence But notice how this problem can arise again:

She wrote a yesterday

A letter B gift C friend D book

While "D” is unlikely, "C" is completely acceptable So we still have two ''correct'' answers, and of course we should have only one To eliminate slips like these, have someone else read through your items before you use them on a test

At the beginning of the discussion on distractors it was suggested that you could write your own, or that you could use student errors One source of student errors is the composition, and another is student speech These are good because they involve actual communication The difficulty is that such sources take a lot of time to sort through, and usually much of the information that we want is missing, because students can avoid words that they are not sure of

A more efficient way to find vocabulary errors is to look at homework and classroom exercises on vocabulary But if the test that you're preparing is important enough, you can collect errors (for distractors) even more systematically: Give the students sentence- completion items without the multiple choice options, and simply have them fill in the blank in each sentence You can then write down their wrong answers You will also find some correct alternatives, but naturally you can't use these as distractors For example, suppose you used "Frank is very ;

he says, 'Break a mirror, and you'll have bad luck."' Besides superstitious, you might get words such as silly, wrong, stupid, liar, because, religious, knowing, lucky The first three can't be used because they could possibly appear in such a sentence The last three are adjectives, and so they seem usable However, liar and because do not match distractor requirements What do you do with these? You

can probably use them anyway, particularly if more than one person wrote them down Our guidelines are useful generalizations, but the errors made by your students reflect their exact level and their special way of "seeing" the language

Distractors chosen from these errors can test your class even better than those that you create yourself

Instruction Preparation

The instructions for your test should be brief; students shouldn't have to spend a lot of time reading them And they should be clear, anxiety can come from poorly worded questions, and resentment from misunderstood directions Some teachers prefer to give instructions orally, but if any students come late, repeated instructions can distract those working on the exam Keep in mind that instructions can really become a kind of "test," and oral instructions can amount to an unintended "listening test."

If you have used multiple-choice sentence-completion exercises in class, instructions can be very short: "Circle the letter of the right answers" (or) "Circle the letter of the word that best completes each sentence!' Naturally the kind of directions given depends on your students' reading ability and how you want them

to mark the test paper Consider the following:

Read each sentence carefully Then look at the four words below it Choose the one that completes the sentence correctly Put the letter of that word (A, B, C,

or D) in the blank at the left

You will find it helpful to give both oral and written instructions for students

at the beginning level For classes with very little skill in English, you can even give the instructions in the native language

One final note: Instructions can be made clearer by one or two examples They are not given for practice They are given to show how to answer the questions Therefore, they should be simple enough that everyone can do them without any difficulty

E.g.: They drove to work in their new

A, house *B car C office D street

If needed, a short explanation can follow the example: 'We circle 'B' because 'car' is the only word that fits into the sentence."

Alternative to sentence completion, we can use multiple-choice doze Cloze tests are made from stories or essays by deleting words at regular intervals Students have to write in each blank the word that they think belongs there or select the right choice from a group of options given Multiple-choice cloze tests work like regular multiple-choice sentence completion; but usually content words

(like school or run) and function words (such as the or in) are deleted In addition,

cloze tests provide more context – often more than one paragraph Multiple-choice cloze can test vocabulary when only content words are deleted

E.g.: After the capture of Troy, Ulysses set out for his (A neighborhood B continent *C homeland D street) many miles away But so many strange (A sights *B things C places D people) happened to him on his journey that ten (*A years B timer C roads D cities) passed before he reached Ithaca''

Advantages of Multiple-Choice Completion

1 It helps students see the full meaning of words by providing natural contexts Also, it is a good influence on instruction: It discourages word-list memorization

2 Scoring is easy and consistent

3 It is a sensitive measure of achievement

Limitations of Multiple-Choice Completion

1 It is rather difficult to prepare good sentence contexts that clearly show the meaning of the word being tested

2 It is easy for students to cheat by copying what others have circled

1.2 Hoàn thành câu v i d ng đúng c a t cho tr c/ Word formation

Word-formation items require students to fill in missing parts of words that appear in sentences These missing parts are usually prefixes and suffixes-for

example, the un- in untie or the -ful in thankful A related task is to use words

like the following in a sentence and have students supply missing syllables of any

kind, such as the rel- in relative or the -ate in deliberate We can see, then, that

there is a different emphasis in simple-completion tests than in those we have just looked at Context is still useful, but the emphasis is on word building Moreover, this is a test of active not passive skills

The steps in preparing a simple-completion vocabulary test are similar to those mentioned in the previous sections, but with one difference: No distractors are needed Here are the steps: (1) List the prefixes and suffixes that you have taught to your students Then match these with content words that they have studied (including even their passive vocabulary) (2) Prepare sentences that clarify the meaning of these words (3) Then write your instructions and examples If the test is quite important, try it out ahead of time You can have other teachers take it,

or possibly native English speakers Then revise it and use it in your class

Vocabulary Choice

Perhaps your students have studied the -ly ending used with many adverbs (and some adjectives) They might not know adjectives like manly or adverbs like

the suffix (quickly) They might also know the negative prefix un- Recalling that cooperative is part of their passive vocabulary, you decide to challenge them on the test You expect to see if they can produce uncooperative in the test

Context Preparation

Student success on the exam will depend in part on your sentence contexts For example, one simple-completion vocabulary test included a stem (base word)

requiring -ous The sentence read, "He was a very nerv _ person." But a number

of these rather advanced students wrote in a "y" instead – an unexpected but correct

ending They thus produced nervy, which means "bold" or "offensive." The context did not show that the person intended was "worried" or "timid" (nervous),

so nervy had to be accepted

It is also possible to check student knowledge of when not to add a prefix or suffix Compare the following:

1 My teach _ is very helpful

2 Did she teach you anything?

In the first sentence, the suffix -er is required In the second sentence, no

suffix is needed Such sentences are not left empty; students must put an "X" in the blank But notice again how careful we must be in writing our sentences:

E.g.: That was a care answer

Note that either careful or careless can be used So sometimes, more context

is needed to clarify which word we mean:

E.g.: Yesterday he got on the wrong bus So today he was care to find the right one

Another very popular vocabulary test type is stem-first procedure An advantage of this type is that many words need spelling changes when suffixes are added Following is an example:

She has a beautiful new dress (BEAUTY)

Advantages

1 It reflects teaching approaches

2 It is generally faster and easier to construct than are items with distractors

Limitations

1 Fewer words can be tested this way than with multiple choice

2 There is some difficulty in avoiding ambiguous contexts

Bài t p/Tasks

1 The following sentences contain examples of distractor difficulties Identify the weakness in each item Then correct it

a Do you need some to write on?

A paper B pen C table D material

b The mouse _ quickly away

A very B little C baby D ran

c I think he'll be here in an -

A hour B day after tomorrow C weekend D soon

d They _ me to get up right away

A asked B needed C told D wanted

e Choose the odd one out

A pleased B nervous C study D interesting

2 Prepare five test items from words in your students' text, or use the

following vocabulary words: truth/weekend/secret/ridiculous/perfume

a For each word write a sentence context that reflects the meaning of the word as clearly as possible

b Prepare three good distractors for each test item

c Write simple, clear instructions, and include an example

3 First, supply a word with a prefix or suffix for each blank in the following sentences Then prepare word completion items

Example: It was a most mistake

(Answer: deplorable/regrettable/ inexcusable, etc.) (It was a most deplor mistake)

1 When you write your check, make it to my sister

2 Please wipe your hands on that cloth

3 The police arrested him for the riot

4 The of the volcano destroyed several villages

5 The boy didn't his shoelaces before taking off his shoes

2 K thu t biên so n câu h i Ng pháp/Grammar questions

Grammar tests are designed to measure student proficiency in matters ranging from inflections (bottle-bottles, bake-baked) to syntax Syntax involves the relationship of words in a sentence including manners such as word order, use of the negative, question forms, and connectives

As indicated earlier, this material covers vocabulary, grammar, and pronunciation tests Of these three, grammar ones seem to be the most popular There are several reasons for this: Much English teaching has been based on grammar; and unlike various measures of communicative skills, there is general agreement on what to test Grammar items, such as auxiliary verbs, are easy to identify, and errors in grammar can be quickly spotted and counted As with vocabulary exams, either passive or active skills can be checked Also, grammar can be tailored to beginners or advanced learners

Of course, in testing grammar, we don't pretend to measure actual communication But we can do a good job of measuring progress in a grammar class, and we can diagnose student needs in this area

2.1 Hoàn thành câu nhi u l a ch n (Multiple-choice completion)

The test type presented in this part includes an incomplete sentence stem followed by four multiple-choice options for completing the sentence Here is an easy sample item:

E.g.: She is _ her breakfast

While multiple-choice completion is an efficient way to test grammar, teachers need to be cautioned about the temptation to use this bid of item for all of their testing needs Many people are very excited about objective tests, feeling that multiple choice objective exams in particular should be used to test everything

However, any given test is a kind of tool; it may be very useful for some jabs but not for others For example, while multiple-choice tests can be used successfully in testing grammar, they don't seem to work as well in testing conversational ability

Preparing multiple-choice completion gmmmar items follows about the same procedure as that described in the previous part for writing multiple-choice completion vocabulary items:

(1) Choose the grammar points that you need to test; (2) prepare the right kind of sentence context (or stem) for the grammar structure; (3) select three

Grammar Choice

Choosing grammar points to test is usually rather easy: Just determine what structures you have taught since the last test The results on quizzes or homework assignments can show those things that students have learnt well and those things that need reviewing The points they know well can be generally ignored A few of these, however, could be included at the beginning of the test to encourage students

A related matter is how to give different "weight" to various grammar points Let's say you spent three times longer on modal auxiliaries than on two-word verbs You could prepare two or three times as many questions on the modals This is part

of the planning that is necessary Before starting to write the questions, you need to decide how many of each grammar type to include

Context Preparation

Assuming that you have decided what points to test, what multiple-choice type to use, and how many questions to prepare, you are now ready to start writing the items First, choose a structure and then use it correctly in a sentence

Remember, a good context is very important! Sometimes only a few words are

enough, such as "I don't want to go" (in testing 'to plus verb")

But notice how much context is needed for other grammar points In the

following sentence, must is used to express a conclusion or deduction: "Jimmy

hasn't eaten anything, and he won't talk or play He must be ill." When many of your test items require a lot of context like this, you may consider using a two-sentence approach

Distractor Preparation

We are now ready for distractors You will recall that these are the incorrect options which we put with the correct word or phrase to complete the sentence Experienced teachers usually have a good sense for what to use, but inexperienced teachers need some help For example, "could of' has sometimes been used as a distractor for "could have." This won't work, because it is a native English-speaker error and is almost never made by non-native English speakers Also, avoid using distractors that sound alike Look at this item from an inexperienced teacher's test:

E.g.: _ the ones who know the answers

A They are B There C They're D Their

This is really just a spelling item It might be used on a writing test, but not

on a grammar test Another problem is that both A and C are correct options

It is also a good idea to avoid items that test divided usage, or items that only test different levels of formality

E.g.: You can get it from the lady _ he sold it to

Debatable items like this just confuse non-native speakers Notice that choice "C" is in the "correct" case But choice "B" is closer to what native speakers would actually say The easiest way of saying the sentence isn't even provided – dropping out the relative pronoun altogether “You can get it from the lady he sold

it to" In addition, the who/whom choices tend to stick out as the obvious pair to choose from; and "why" is a very weak distractor

But even with this help, how can the inexperienced teacher write distractors that sound right! One way is to look at the errors that students make on exercises or doze passages These errors can be used as distractors Another source of distractors is errors from students’ writing

It is good not either to confuse or tire your students by having them reread unnecessary material Take out any repeated words from the distractors and put these in the stem

E.g.: If I had a new fur coat,

A I showed it to everyone B I'd show it to everyone

C I've shown it to everyone D I'll show it to everyone

(revised) If I had a new fur coat, _ to everyone

A I showed B I'd show C I've shown D I'll show

Also, it is best not to mix categories like the following:

E.g.: They just bought furniture

A a few B several C some D with (revised) They just bought _

C some furniture D a furniture

The example above requires recognition of furniture as a non-count noun and recognition of the right determiner to use with this word Choice "D" (with) is unsatisfactory because it is a preposition and not a determiner

Alternate Form of Multiple-Choice Completion

Unlike previous test items in this section, error identification does not require students to complete a sentence Instead, they have to find the part containing an error This kind of test question is particularly useful in testing

grammar points for which there are few logical options, such as the choice between few and a few, little and a little, some and any, much and many, or this and that, etc

E.g.: Rain is slight acidic even in unpolluted air, because carbon dioxide in the A* B

atmosphere and other natural acid-forming gases dissolve in the water

In addition to having students identify the error, it is also possible to have them give the correct form

Advantages of Multiple-Choice Completion

1 It is impossible for students to avoid the grammar point being evaluated

2 Scoring is easy and reliable

3 This is a sensitive measure of achievement (and like other multiple-choice language tests, it allows teachers to diagnose specific problems of students)

Limitations of Multiple-Choice Completion

1 Preparing good items is not easy

2 It is easy for students to cheat (It is possible to create a second form of the test by rearranging the items, but this is time consuming for the teacher.)

3 It doesn't appear to measure students' ability to reproduce language structures (although in actual fact this kind of test is a good measure of the grammar subskill)

I This can have a negative influence on class work if used exclusively (Students may see no need to practice writing if tests are objective.)

will deal with the three basic kinds of sentence-completion grammar tests: (1) the option form, (2) the inflection form, and (3) the free-response form

These three forms vary not only in difficulty but also in objectivity and in the degree of active or passive response that is required As a result, you can tailor the test to the students that you have

Your advance planning will determine which general question type to use If you need to check mastery of many structures, you will probably select multiple-choice completion If you have to test sentence combining, word order, or sentence transformation skill, you can use a guided writing procedure

E.g.: Combine these two sentences:

She knew something He loved her

(Answer) She knew that he loved her

But if you want a quick way to check the mastery of a few specific points for only one or two classes of students, simple completion is ideal

E.g.: He (sing) very well when he was a child

The Option Form

The easiest simple-completion items are like multiple-choice questions with only two options

E.g.: Direction: Complete the following sentences with "do" or

E.g.: The women _ for the tragedy (was crying, cry)

The magician performed some _ tricks (astonishing, astonished)

Often there are three or four choices listed, and at times even more For example, here is a nine-option completion item from an English test Students

choose the best question word from among the following: who, whom, where, what, when, why, how many, how much, how

E.g.:

QUESTION 1) _ did the clock stop

running?

2) were you late?

ANSWER

At twelve o'clock

We ran out of gas.

The Inflection Form

Testing the mastery of inflections provides for a productive response These vary from simple comparatives to verb tense questions:

E.g.:

1) He's the (tall) person in the class

2) They _ (be) in Colorado last week

When students have to write in their own answer like this, you have to

be careful about context For example, new teachers might think that if they write a sentence like "He (sing) a song," only "is singing" will fit If they're testing the progressive, they may be disappointed to find that several other answers are possible, such as sings, sang, has been singing, had been singing, will sing, etc This problem can be solved by giving part of the verb

or adding more context

E.g.: He is ing (sing) (or) He singing now (Add one word.)

or "What's Tom doing now?" "Oh, he _ (sing)."

Another technique is to use a separate blank for each word in the verb phrase

E.g.: He _ _ (sing) now

The Free-Response Form

Sometimes a few simple terms can be used, if everybody in the class knows what they mean The free-response form illustrates how that common terminology can occasionally be used Here are some sentences from an English test:

Example: Add a question tag to these sentences:

1) Hamlet was indecisive, ?

2) Polonius knew a lot of aphorisms, _?

It is good to use an example to make sure that no one is confused

Here are some illustrations used widely in English test

Example: Directions: Write in the missing part of the two-word verb

"What time did he get this morning?"

Directions: Write in a two-word verb that has the same meaning as the word provided in the brackets

"Jack (arose) later than usual.'"

The following example illustrates free response with a minimum amount of contextual control (Here the conditional is being tested.)

“You would get better sooner if _”

These take longer to correct than other completion types, and they also take more language skill to evaluate properly Consider a few acceptable ways that students could complete example:

"if you dressed warmer," "if you'd see a doctor," "if Mother were here," "if we had some medicine for you."

Obviously, thislast kind of simple-completion question requires the most real productivity of all It also provides flexibility; and it is perhaps the most communicative

Advantages of Sentence Completion

1 These are generally easier to prepare than are multiple-choice items

2 These give the appearance of measuring productive skills because some items permit flexibility and original expression

3 There is no exposure to incorrect grammatical forms

4 These provide a sensitive measure of achievement

Limitations of Sentence Completion

1 These are usually more time consuming to correct than are choice questions Not only can poor penmanship be a problem but also

multiple-"irrelevant" errors beyond those being tested

2 Occasionally students can unexpectedly avoid the structure being tested

Cloze

Cloze tests are prose passages, usually a paragraph or more in length, from which words have been deleted The student relies on the context in order to supply the missing words

At the present time, no single test format is more popular than the cloze procedure It is easy to prepare and rather easy to score Teachers like it too because it is integrative-that is, it requires students to process the components

of language simultaneously, much like what happens when people communicate Moreover, studies have shown that it relates well to various language measures – from listening comprehension to overall performance on

a battery of language tests In brief, it is a good measure of overall proficiency

But as we have seen in the introductory part, proficiency tests such as the cloze do have some limitations For one thing, they usually don't measure

short-term gains very well A good achievement test could show big

improvement on question tags studied over a two-to three-week period But a proficiency test generally would not show much if any improvement Fortunately a simple change in the doze format can overcome this problem

The cloze is simply a story or essay from which a number of words have been deleted We fill in the missing words much as we do while conversing In a noisy restaurant, we guess at the words that we don't hear by relying on the whole conversation So in cloze tests, the overall meaning and surrounding grammar help us replace the missing parts Sentence completion vocabulary and grammar items are similar in a way to cloze tests Cloze passages simply have much larger contexts

Preparing a Cloze Test

The steps in preparing a cloze test are simple: (1) Select an appropriate passage (e.g., from the reading material in your English class); (2) decide on the words and number of words to take out; (3) write the instructions and prepare an example

The first and most important step is to choose a text of the right level Choosing a passage that is rather difficult for your students will simply frustrate them So choose a passage that they can read with little or no difficulty You can even use something that has already been read and discussed in class They will not be able to answer the test from memory The length of the selection depends on the number of blanks you plan to have But most are not longer than 250 – 300 words This means that you will often have

to use only part of an article or story When you do this, be sure your excerpt

makes sense by itself You might have to compose a sentence or two of your own to introduce or end your selection

Also there are a few things to avoid: Usually we ignore a passage that is full of proper nouns, numbers, and technical words When these are left out, it

is often impossible to know what to write in Also, we usually do not pick an article containing a lot of quoted material The quoted might not be at the same level as the rest of the passage But if there are only a few trouble spots

in a good selection, you can edit or rewrite them

With the passage chosen, you are ready to decide which words to take out Leaving the first sentence or two and the last one intact as they are will help students understand the overall meaning

How many words need to be deleted altogether? It depends on your students Get by with 15 to 20 blanks at most Naturally, the more blanks the test has the more stable and reliable it is

Advantages of Cloze

1 It is easy to prepare and quite easy to score

2 It is a good measure of integrative English skills

3 Standard cloze is a good measure of overall ability in English

Limitations of Cloze

1 It is not a sensitive measure of short-term gains

2 It is difficult for teachers who are non-native English speakers to choose acceptable equivalent words

Bài t p/Tasks I- MULTIPLE CHOICE COMPLETION

1 Each of the following item has some defect Indicate what the difficulty is, and then correct it by rewriting the question

a “Eva nearly won that race!” I “Yes, .”

A she ran well, did she?" B she ran well, wasn't she?"

C she ran well, was she?" D she ran well, didn't she?"

b While she _ the house, her children were playing outside

A has been cleaning B cleaned C has cleaned D.was cleaning

c He has lived in this town for only a week and he already has _ friends

A few B a few C not many D your

d "Mr Adams, _ I be excused from class tomorrow?"

A ought to B can C may D wouldn't

2 Construct a multiple-choice completion question for each of the following grammar points Or choose five grammar points that you have taught to your students Give the instructions and the answers

a The subordinator although (as in "Although he was tired, he walked

to work")

b Subject-verb agreement with some form of the verb be (as in "One of

the boys was here last night")

c Since as an expression of time (as in "They've been here since

10:00")

d A question tag (as in 'She works hard, doesn't she?")

II- SENTENCE COMPLETION

1 Write down as many words as you can (not phrases) that appropriately complete this sentence: "He walked the house."

2 Prepare four two-option form items testing the too/enough contrast (that is, "too big to" versus "big enough to'') Prepare good contexts Include the answers

3 Prepare four verb-inflection items – a different verb and verb tense

for each item Include the uninflected form Supply the answers (Example: She _ [drink] it this morning.)

4 Write four “free-response items Each one should test a different grammar point (One of these can be the conditional as in the example.) Name the grammar points being tested Include two sample correct answers for each of the four items

fearing attacks by the French and _, built Fort Dummer near the present _ of Brattleboro The French forts at _ and Crown Point were used as for attacks (Key:

1666, St Anne, colonists, Indians, site, Chimney Point, bases)

3 K thu t biên so n câu h i c hi u/Reading questions

Question Techniques for Beginners

There are two useful approaches for testing beginning students who can read simple passages One of these is True-false items, and the other is the matching technique True-false items are rather easy to prepare, and for beginning students they are easier than regular multiple-choice items Here is

an example:

Among the American Negroes in the southern states, work songs played an integral part in fashioning a folk music which was later to become jazz These had been part of the West African's musical experience at home And now they were transported to a new environment In America they were found to be of no little importance to the slaves' output of work

50, he might get a score of 75 [50 + 25] that he guessed right But if we subtract the number that he missed [25] from the number he got right [75], the result is 50-the number of items that he actually knew the answer to

A "guessing correction" can also be made for regular multiple-choice tests Normally we use a correction only when the test is timed, and many of the students do not have a chance to finish This encourages guessing The correction is made by dividing the number of items wrong by the number of distractors and subtracting this from the number of correct answers For four-option items this is the number right minus the number wrong divided by 3, or R-w/3 For three-option items, this is R-w/2 (remember that of the three choices, one is the correct answer and two are distractors)

A second useful approach for testing beginning students who can read simple passages is the matching technique This procedure simply has students match material in the passage with material in the question It is like "copy work" in beginning writing classes For example, a question such as the following might be written on the "jazz" passage:

“What played an integral part in fashioning folk music?”

C a new environment D Americans

Notice that the question and the answer are lifted right from the original passage This gives some practice in handling questions, but little comprehension is required A variation on this procedure asks students simple questions on dialogs that they have practiced in class

E.g.: ANN: "Mr Martin never works in the garage."

KEN: "Yes, he does He worked in the garage last Saturday!' When was he working?

A in the garage B Mr Martin *C last Saturday

We can see that short test passages like this often concentrate on grammar or vocabulary

Question Techniques for More Advanced Students

Standard Multiple-choice

There are many ways to test reading One of the best is a reading passage followed by multiple choice questions We have already mentioned the variety of sources available Naturally you can use readings from your own English resource, but be careful to give everyone an equal chance to succeed

The number of passages and the length of each depend on your particular test Let's assume the whole exam is on reading Multiple-choice questions can be asked on very short passages of 35 to 75 words Quite a few

of these can be answered in one period Student level and passage difficulty naturally influence how many can be done

Usually longer passages will run from 100 to 300 words This is sufficient since more than one passage will appear on a single test Selections for less advanced students will run from about 100 to 200 words Those for more advanced students will generally range from 150 to 300 words

Selections with considerable variety, detail, and contrast are easiest to prepare questions on Normally you will only be able to write roughly three questions per hundred words, or four at the most More than this usually results in looking at insignificant details Fewer than this is inefficient Finally,

in order not to give some students a special advantage, use at least three to five passages from different sources Students who read fairly well can answer about a question a minute-including the reading of the passage Slower students and those reading difficult technical material may need almost twice

as much time It is a good idea to try some sample passages in class (of the same length and level of difficulty that you plan to use) This prepares students for the instructions and types of questions on the test, and it helps you decide

on how much time to allow Some students will take all the time you give them, so have the students raise their hand when they have finished the in-class practice test You can allow time for at least 80 percent to finish

Plan to use a variety of types of questions on your reading test One very important type is the paraphrase Look at the following example:

Karate is a science of unarmed self-defense and counterattack It is a sort of "weapon in an empty hand!'

In many U.S cities thousands of young people are developing their minds as well as their bodies by learning karate.'

The key portion that we will use for our paraphrase question is "In many U.S cities, thousands of young people are learning karate." The paraphrase

of this is "Karate is being taught to many young Americans." Every word but

"karate" is different

Here is the resulting question:

In this passage we learn that karate _

A is being taught to many young Americans

B and training for the mind are both being taught

C can remove a weapon from someone's hand

D is used to start a fight

A second type of question, the synthesis item, requires integration of ideas from more than one sentence-sometimes from the entire selection For example, in one simple story used to test reading comprehension, a lady stops

at a restaurant to eat But she looks confused when it is time to pay her bid

Then she says, "I can't pay the bill My purse is gone." At this elementary level, students simply have to complete "The lady couldn't pay for her lunch because ." by choosing this option: "her purse was lost." In short, they just need to pull together the information found in the two sentences

For a more advanced example of the synthesis question, we will look at the full version of the "karate" passage:

Karate is a science of unarmed self-defense and counterattack It is a sort of "weapon in an empty hand."

In many U.S cities thousands of young people are developing their minds as well as their bodies by learning karate "I've been taking karate lessons for five years now," says sixteen-year-old Bobby Hamilton of Columbus, Ohio, "and it's great! I find myself doing things that I thought I could never do!' Paula Jones has just begun taking karate lessons at her high school in Philadelphia She feels that she has more self-confidence because of the lessons "I am more aware of myself," she says "I already have learned so much about self-control

I know everything in life is not going to be easy Karate helps prepare me for the times when I'll have to meet my problems face to face."'

1) A good title for this selection would be _

A Americans Import a Japanese Sport

B Karate-Weaponless Protection for People of All Ages

C School Children Enjoy a New Kind of Physical Education Class

D Self-Perfection through Self-Protection

A third kind of question is the inference item It requires students to see implications in what they read Here is another example from an English test:

[Two men, Gerard and Denys, were traveling in a forest They had just been forced to kill a large baby bear in self-defense.] Then Gerard heard a sound behind them It was a strange sound, too, like something heavy, but not hard, rushing over dry leaves

It was a large bear, as big as a horse, running after them a short

distance away As soon as he saw it, Gerard cried out in fear,

"The baby bear's mother!' The mother bear was probably running because it

A was afraid of Gerard and Denys and wanted to escape

B wanted to hurt those who had killed its baby

C was chasing a horse, a short distance away

D enjoyed running, like horses and other animals do

Various kinds of problems need to be avoided when preparing reading tests like these for intermediate and advanced students:

(1) Tests at these levels should not ask for words or phrases exactly as they appear in the passage (2) In addition, they should avoid illogical distractors like those in the following item:

E.g.: In this study, the high divorce rate was caused by

A the great kindness of husbands and wives to each other

B heavy drinking by the mate who was working

C positive relationships of parents and children

D having lots of money to pay bills with

(3) They shouldn't be written in such a way that they can be answered from general knowledge:

E.g.: In the article, we learn that Adolf Hitler was

A a Russian spy B a French ballet dancer

C an American baseball player D a German dictator

After you prepare an important reading test, you could try it out in the following way: Copy down only the questions and multiple-choice options Then have another teacher's class or a group of your friends volunteer to "take" the test-without the reading passage Those items that nearly 50 percent or more get right are probably poorly written: Examinees may be depending mostly on logic or general knowledge (See discussions of multiple- choice questions in parts 2 and 3 for additional cautions in writing multiple-choice questions.)

Advantages of Passage Comprehension

1 This is the most integrative type of reading test

2 It is objective and easy to score

3 It can evaluate students at every level of reading development

Limitations of Passage Comprehension

1 Passage comprehension is more time consuming to take than other kinds of tests

2 One pitfall in preparing this kind of test is utilizing questions that deal with trivial details

3 Passage comprehension tests which use questions on trivial details encourage word-by-word reading

Bài t p/tasks

PASSAGE COMPREHENSION

1 Read this sample paragraph Then write multiple-choice distractors for the question below The question involves implication or inference

Every line in a drawing is significant Each one contributes to the work

of the artist Straight lines dominate drawings of urban streets with tall buildings What is the reason? Can you guess? City buildings are often austere, cold, and functional Space in a city is not at all plentiful Every foot of space

is important Architects plan urban buildings efficiently and economically?

We see in this paragraph that straight lines reflect _>

*A the rigidity and economy of city buildings

2 Find a passage (preferably from an ESL reader used by your students); it should be approximately 200 to 300 words long Prepare eight to ten multiple-choice questions on the passage At least four should be paraphrase items, plus two or three items requiring synthesis, and two or three items involving inference Prepare instructions (Examples: paraphrase , synthesis, inference.)