Test for 1st Level
Introduction:
For this unit we had to create a test for the 1st level to the students of language curses in UABC. This test covered the basic to introduce the learner to the new language, providing the necessary tools to start to develop the four skills. This test was elaborated by Aldair Garcia and Levid Miranda as a work project. The following document starts with the objectives and the purpose, specify the type of test, the test characteristics, therefore, the specifications; we made a description of the test items, we specify the score for each item and at the end we got some help by to moderator.
Objectives and analysis for testing purposes
What is the purpose of the test?
The purpose was to measure the new developing abilities. The students are in the first level on a long course of 3 years, so this test is the first reference the teachers (us) are going to have to understand the learner´s disposition to the language. This is a type of achievement test, which accurately take into consideration that this could be the first contact with the second language, the test focused on the basic ways of expression, simple past, present and future tenses and pronouns, verbs and some adjectives. This type of test is applied at the end of each unit to measure the correct assimilation of the topics.
The answers are usually limited, so this is a discrete test type, It makes the students follow a path to discover the correct answer and the test evaluate one thing per item. It is very objective because offer one possible answer and it is given in an answer key. In the case of the writing section, it is considered subjective, since the grades depends on a “writing rating sheet” so the students need to be careful at the time of performance.
The students use descriptions of want they should be able to do with the language in order to pass or fail a test, so if they follow the criterion the chance to get good grade is increased which means that this is a criterion-reference test.
The second part of the test is based on the communicative abilities; it measures grammar, vocabulary, intonation and fluency at the time of speaking and includes a coherent way to score the response, supported by the ““speaking rating sheet”, thus, the test has validity. The test is simple, economical and easy, but keeps a good degree of quality; making it a practical test.
The test basically focused on the main four skills (reading, writing, speaking, and listening). The course is developed through a 2 hours class session, so the test is divided in two parts; the first one is conformed by the listening, grammar, vocabulary, reading and writing, which is expected to be completed in 1 hour or less; the second one is focused on speaking, the students will present about an author or actress in front the others students and will be evaluated by the teacher supported by the “speaking rating sheet”
Test Specifications
Reading:
Objective: show reading comprehension by solving correctly the true/false activity.
Format: true/false.
Task: reading a passage. put a “T” or “F” into the parenthesis in the correct way.
Time: 10 minutes
(1 exercise)
Listening:
Objective: To infer the subject, be able to recognize when referring to someone.
Format: A conversation recorded.
Task: (Choose the correct response)/ complete a sentence.
Time: 10 minutes
(1 exercise)
Grammar:
Objective: Identify and use the present, past and future simple.
Format: complete using the correct tense and fill in the blanks
Task: Correct tenses: Choose words from a box and complete correctly the activity.
Fill in the blanks: Write the correct form of the verb
Time: 20
(2 exercises)
Vocabulary:
Objective: infer the answer by reading the sentence. Use the correct verb.
Format: prompts for the sentence.
Task: Use the appropriate verb for each sentence.
Time: 10 minutes
(1 exercise)
Writing:
Objective: To write 10 sentences (5 with “I like” and 5 “I don´t like”) and write a short paragraph about “their weekend” using simple past and some pronouns.
Format: Prompts for a paragraph and short answers.
Task: “likes and dislikes”: Write the 10 sentences.
“Write the paragraph”:
Time: 30
(2 exercises)
Speaking:
Objectives: Give information of an actress/actor in a presentation using “likes and dislikes” adequate grammar, vocabulary and intonation.
Format: Oral presentation.
Task: present information using the basic tenses.
Time: 10 minutes maximum per person.
Description of Test Items
Listening section: we used 10 items to infer main ideas and to look for the correct pronoun. We considered using items where students infer which answer is the correct one by understanding the context of the audio. Each one of the item scores 1.4 with a total of 10 points.
Reading section: we used a short text with 92 words and 4 true/false gaps to measure the correct understanding of the reading. The text is not complex and the students will fell familiar with it since the grammar is similar to what they have been learning. Each correct answer provides with a 2.5 point of a total of 10.
Vocabulary section: the students are required to do some sentences using a verb from a box; they have to create the sentences inferring which verb fits with the description on the right. If the students are able to understanding the meaning of the stated sentences they will write the correct verb as it is indicated. Each item will be scored with 1.4 of a total of 10 points.
Writing section: we decided to use 10 lines where the students can put verbs as a way to remember some of them, because in the next item they are request to write a short story about their weekend. The amount of words was set to be limited by the extension of the lines they are going to write on, since it is a short text, time will be saved. The 10 items from the first part of the writing section will be scored 2.5 point if they have more than 3 correct verbs in the section of “likes” and other 2.5 if they have 3 or more correct verbs in the section “don´t like”, we set the scored in this way because this section will help the students to get a higher grade. The scored to the next section will be supported by a “writing rating sheet” providing 5 points, focusing on grammar and vocabulary, all this together result on 10 points.
Grammar section: we decided to use two sections in this area. 5 items are use in the first part which focuses on the time tenses. Each correct answer will provide with 0.5 of a total of 10 points. Students will have to identify and use the present, past and future simple. In the second section us about filling the gaps with the correct verb in the corresponding tense, each of the items is score with 1.25 of a total of 10. This grammar section will be 20 points. They all have one single possible answer.
Speaking test: we decided to use a presentation that lasts 10 minutes per student. A days before the test, each student would have the instructions of select a favourite actor/actress to talk about. This item would be checked by a “Speaking Rating Sheet”, using a total range of 1-40 points. This section will be presented after they complete the rest of the test; each one of them will stand in front of other students and will present the information.
Answer Key and scoring
Answer key and scores
A Listening
Listen carefully to the record and circle the correct answers.
1. Example B
2. B
3. A
4. B
5. A
6. B
7. A
8. A
Score: 1.4 each item with a total of 10 points
B. Grammar
Write the verb that fits with the next activities, and write it in the asked tense
1) Listen, listen, going to listen.
2) Ride, rides, ridded, going to ride.
3) Sing, sing, sang, going to sing.
4) Bake, bake, baked, going to bake.
5) Go, goes, went, going to go sailing tomorrow.
Score: 0.5 points per item with a total of 10
Fill in the blanks with the past tense of the verb in parenthesis.
1. Example “ had”
2. Made
3. Baked
4. Loved
5. Played
6. Gave
7. Went
8. Swam
9. Went
Score: 1.25 points per item with a total of 10
C. Vocabulary
Complete the following sentences with the words from the table
1. Example “She’s going to give him gloves”
2. She’s going to give her a dog.
3. She’s going to give him a watch.
4. She’s going to give them a CD player.
5. She’s going to give her a sweater.
6. She’s going to give him a novel.
7. She’s going to give him a plant.
8. She’s going to give him a cell phone.
Score: 1.4 points per item with a total of 10
D. Reading
Read the following paragraph and answer the questions.
1) F
2) T
3) F
4) F
Score: 2.5 points per item with a total of 10
E. Speaking
Rubrics for speaking
Grammar Vocabulary Intonation Fluency
Effective use of structure with few or no mistakes. (10 pts.) Effective use of vocabulary. (10 pts.) Excellent intonation when expressing all types of statements.
(10 pts.) Able to keep flow of language with an occasional hesitation. (10 pts.)
Meaning is conveyed, some mistakes. (6-9 pts.) Uses basic and learned vocabulary.
(6-9 pts.) Able to give the correct intonation when presenting info. (6-9 pts.) Some hesitation and short pauses. (6-9)
Many mistakes with basic structures. (3-5 pts.) Limited vocabulary.
(3-5 pts.) Poor intonation skills. (3-5) Speech disconnected and not easy to follow. (3-5)
Lack of use of structures. (0-2 pts.)
Incomprehensible because of insufficient vocabulary. (0-2 pts.) Lack of understanding because of the inadequate intonation. (0-2 pts.) Not connected speech. (0-2 pts.)
Score: Grammar: from 0 to 10/ Vocabulary: from 0-10/ Intonation: from 0-10/ Fluency: from 0-10
Scoring from 0 to 40
F. Writing
Write 5 things you like and other 5 that you don’t like in the lines.
10 correct verbs
Score: 2.5 points per section “like” “don´t like” complete with a total of 5
Rubrics for writing
Grammar Vocabulary
Always uses correct time tenses (2.5 pts.) Always shows appropriate use of vocabulary and pronouns. (2.5 pts.)
Most of the time uses correct time tenses (2 pts.) Frequently shows appropriate use of vocabulary ad pronouns. (2 pts.)
Sometimes uses correct time tenses. (1 pts.) Sometimes shows appropriate use of vocabulary and pronouns. (1 pts.)
Seldom uses correct time tenses (0 pts.)
Seldom shows appropriate use of vocabulary and pronouns. (0 pts.)
Score: Grammar: from 0 to 2.5/ Vocabulary: from 0 to 2.5
Scoring from 0 to 20
Comments by moderators
This test was checked by Carlos Alberto Noriega and Claudia Pamelha Peregrina. They gave us pretty useful comments and helped us with some mistakes we had such as misspellings, wrong word choice, tense correction, etc. they also comment some pretty useful comments about the structure of the test and what they like and they don’t. The followings are they moments about our test:
Pamelha’s comment:
*I believe it is well structured. I liked what you say at the end of every instruction, encouraging them to do their best. Well, as I told you, I liked it but you had some misspelled words and others were confusing. I wrote what I consider was better so the students won’t get confused (in the part of grammar, you wrote: Remember that only goes one verb per each activity). Also, I think that the part of listening must go at the end, not at the beginning, because this part of the test can take more time than the others.
Carlos’ comment:
*I consider you should include the evaluation criteria of writing and speaking, because I can´t see them. I marked some wrong-choice words; you can distinguish them because of the yellow color.
We take in consideration all the comments that they gave us and use them properly. We also correct some of the things that we thought were wrong.
García Rubio Jesús Aldair
Miranda Ruíz Levid Armando
