Testing
Grammar
Dr. Muhammad Shahbaz
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?
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Linguistic or communicative competence?
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Structures or functions?
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Usage or use?
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Prescriptive or descriptive?
How should we test grammar?
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Separated from skills?
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Discrete point or integrative items?
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Focus on grammar or meaning?
What are the most common test formats for
testing grammar?
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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?
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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
new situation.
 You have a clear idea of the aspects
and concepts that should be tested.
True/False
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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
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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
Gap-Filling
John usually ______(work) from Monday to Friday
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They must be part of a broader context
More than one option may be possible
First gap may be offered as a sample
Difficult to test attitudes towards learning
Knowledge is limited to options provided
Limitations result in negative backwash
Focus should be on the aspect assessed.
Cloze/C-test
John ______ works ______Monday ______Friday
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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
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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)
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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
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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
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
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…
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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
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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 combing
sentences
Grammar knowledge to all forms of
the sentences
Examples
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If you eat that
If you touch the
dog
If you steal my
boyfriend
If you go out now
If you don’t leave
If you don’t book
a ticket
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you’ll be sick
it’ll bite you
I’ll never speak
to you again
you’ll get
soaked
I’ll call the police
you’ll be lucky
to get a seat