The design of discrete

vocabulary tests
by
John Read

Introduction
Review various considerations that influence the
design of discrete vocabulary tests
These are tests that measure vocabulary as a
construct separate from other aspect of language
ability
Discrete tests focus on vocabulary knowledge:
whether the test-takers know the meaning or use
of a selected set of content words in the target
language

Test purpose
a test is valid to the extent that we are justified in
drawing conclusions from its results
Three uses of language tests: for research, making
decisions about learners and making decisions about
language programmes
Second language vocabulary researchers have needed
assessment instruments for studies on:
How broad and deep learners vocabulary knowledge is
How effective different methods of systematic
vocabulary learning are
How incidental learning occurs through reading and
listening activities

Test purpose
Whether and how learners can infer the meanings of
unknown words encountered in context
How learners deal with gaps in their vocabulary knowledge
Assessing proficiency:
Placement Test Battery to estimate how many highfrequency words the learners already know
A progress test: assesses how well students have learned
the words presented in the units they have recently
studied in the coursebook
Achievement test: how well the learners have mastered a
vocabulary skill that they have been taught

Construct definition
Another important foundation for test validity is
the defining of the construct we are intending to
measure
Syllabus-based: when vocabulary assessment
takes place within a course of study
Theory-based: for research purposes and in
proficiency testing

Receptive and productive vocabulary

The number of words we can recognise and
understand is rather larger than the number we use
in our own speech and writing (passive active)
The difficulty at the conceptual level is to find
criteria for distinguishing words that have receptive
status from those which are part of a persons
productive vocabulary
It is generally assumed that words are known
receptively first and only later become available for
productive use
The problem is to locate the threshold at which the
word passes from receptive to productive status

Receptive and productive vocabulary

Recognition and recall
Recognition: test-takers are presented with the
target word and are asked to show that they
understand its meaning
Recall: they are provided with some stimulus
designed to elicit the target word from their
memory

Receptive and productive vocabulary

Comprehension and use
Comprehension: learners can understand a word when
they encounter it in context while listening or reading
Use: the word occurs in their own speech or writing
the terms reception and production are too broad and,
in undertaking a vocabulary assessment project which
involves making the distinction, we first need to define
what specific learner ability each one refers to.

Characteristics of the test input

Selection of target words
Design a selective vocabulary test: how to choose
the target words?
First, it is necessary to make a general point
about the frequency distribution of words in
English
High-frequency category (2000 word families)
foundation of the vocabulary knowledge
Low-frequency vocabulary as a whole is of much
less value to learners

Characteristics of the test input

Selection of target words
Specialised vocabulary: comprises of technical terms
that occur relatively frequently in particular registers
of the language
Subtechnical vocabulary: words which occur quite
frequently across a range of registers or topic areas
in academic and technical language
These four categories represent different ways of
specifying the vocabulary to be learned and to be
assessed

Presentation of words
Present in isolation or in context?
Words in isolation
in systematic vocabulary learning, students apply
memorising techniques to sets of target words and
their meanings this is effective in providing a
foundation for further development of vocabulary
knowledge in the second language
Vocabulary Levels Test: words are often presented in
isolation
Whether the learners can show an understanding of
the words when they occur without contextual support

Presentation of words
Present in isolation or in context?
Words in context
How context dependent particular vocabulary items
are?
It is pointless to present words in a context unless
the test-takers are required to engage with the
contextual information in some meaningful way in
making their response to the test task
One function of a sentence context in traditional
discrete-point items is to signal the particular
meaning or use of a high-frequency target word

Presentation of words
Present in isolation or in context?
Words in context
On the other hand: the target word is a lowfrequency word and the learners infer its meaning
on the basis of contextual clues
In recall-type tests of productive vocabulary
knowledge, a sentence context is one means of
eliciting the word (fill in the blanks)

Characteristics of the expected response

Self-report vs. verifiable response
For most testing purposes we need verifiable evidence
that the test-takers have the knowledge and skills that
are the focus of the assessment
Monolingual vs. bilingual testing
Translation from L2 to L1 assesses receptive knowledge
and L1 to L2 translation is the corresponding productive
measure
In English-speaking countries teachers of English are
typically working with learners from a variety of language
backgrounds, which makes it impractical for them to use
bilingual test items.

Characteristics of the expected response

L1 is likely to play a greater role in assessing the
vocabulary knowledge of lower proficiency
learners than those who are more advanced
Testing of very high-frequency words
monolingually is quite a challenge. For objects
and actions that can be clearly depicted, a picture
identification or labelling format can be used
It is unwise to encourage in learners a belief that
any word in L2 has directly synonymous word of
phrase in L1.

Practical examples
Matching items
Comprehension items
Sentence-writing items
Generic test items

Testing depth of vocabulary knowledge

The word-associates test
presenting subjects with a set of stimulus words
one by one and asking them to say the first
related word that comes into their head
3 types of relationship between target word and
associate:
Paradigmatic
Syntagmatic
Analytic

Testing depth of vocabulary knowledge

While the word-associates tests were good
measures of learners overall knowledge of the
University Word List, the individual item scores
were not very satisfactory measures of depth of
knowledge of each target word, because of the
guessing factor.

Conclusion
Different variables need to be weighed up in
order to reach the most suitable design for a
discrete vocabulary test.