3.

Assessing vocabulary
Vocabulary is an essential part of learning a language, without which communication would sustain.
A message could still be conveyed somewhat without a correct usage of grammatical structure, but
without vocabulary nothing is conveyed. Thus, one may expect a communication breakdown when
the exact word or vocabulary itself is missing albeit the correct syntax or grammar is there such as
in “Would it perhaps be possible that you could lend me your ___”. On the contrary, without much
grammar, but a sufficient knowledge of vocabulary, it would serve to say “Correction pen?”
(Thornburry, 2002).

In the context of EFL teaching, it would make sense that the teaching of vocabulary
should take priority over the teaching of grammar, especially in today’s growing use
of communicative approach where limited vocabulary is the primary cause of
students’ inability to express what they intend to say in communicative activities.
Since vocabulary is the basic building blocks of language, most second language
learners undertake their ambitious venture in memorizing lists of words. Vocabulary
is also closely tied to comprehension; it is generally believed that vocabulary
assessment may be used to predict reading comprehension performance ( Thornbury,
2002).
This implies that to be able to comprehend text fully, vocabulary is much needed (Nemati, 2010).
Vocabulary is thus important both for communication and comprehension, especially in reading.
Knowing the importance of vocabulary in language teaching, it would make sense to be able to
assess vocabulary. Such measurement may inform teachers how much vocabulary learning has
taken place in the class, whether the teaching has been indeed effective.

Thornbury (2002) stated that vocabulary tests may also give two added advantages to teachers in
that it provides beneficial back wash and an opportunity for recycling vocabulary. Provided that
students are informed in advance that vocabulary is part of the assessment, students may review and
learn vocabulary in earnest, thus creating a beneficial backwash effect. The test also gives students a
chance to recycle, and use their previously learned vocabulary in a new way (Coombe, 2011).
However, despite the many benefits it has on language teaching, vocabulary assessment does not
receive the attention it deserves. Pearson et al(2007) argue that vocabulary assessment is “grossly
undernourished” and instead of living up to a good standard of measurement, much more effort has
been exerted in favor of a practical standpoint in which tests are designed for economical and
convenient reasons.

3.1 The classification in vocabulary assessment

Before going into the details of the common types of vocabulary assessment, it would be use full
here to present the many facets of vocabulary assessment. The first thing that test-designers need to
do is to decide on which aspects of vocabulary that they want to test. This is especially true in
vocabulary assessment since vocabulary is multi-faceted, in which words can be examined in many
different ways, not just its meanings (Samad, 2010).

Thus, vocabulary can either be assessed informally or formally, whether it is part of a larger test or a
vocabulary test on its own, or whether the assessment is on learners’ passive vocabulary or its active
counterpart. Some of the many aspects of vocabulary assessment are discussed as follows:

3.1.1 Informal Versus Formal Vocabulary Assessment

3.1.1.1 Formal Assessment

Formal vocabulary assessment refers to the tests that are standardized, and have been designed in
such a way that reliability and validity are ensured (DeVries, 2012).Test of vocabulary can
sometimes be a part of placement test and proficiency test to measure the extent of vocabulary
knowledge a learner has. In proficiency tests such as TOEFL (Test Of English as Foreign
Languages), vocabulary is usually tested as a part of a larger construct such as reading, where
candidates are tested on their vocabulary knowledge based on a context on a reading passage.
Formal assessment also includes achievement test that is typically administered at the end of the
course, and is designed to measure whether words taught within the duration of a specific course
have been successfully learned.

Task: Among comprehension questions, insert vocabulary...

...Two reasons are usually advanced to account for this tardy development; namely the mental
difficulties... The word tardy in line 1 is closest in meaning to
a. Historical
b. Basic
c. Unusual
d. Late
Task: Multiple-choice (Choose the correct answer)
The principal was irate when she heard what the students had done.
a. surprised
b. interested
c. proud
d. angry
3.1.1.2 Informal Assessments

Informal assessments, on the other hand, are not usually standardized, and are typically done as a
formative test, or a progress check to see if students have made a progress in learning specific
words that we want them to learn. Learning words is not something that can be done overnight.
Especially, in second language learning where there is less exposure to the words, learners need to
recycle the vocabulary from time to time by doing some kind of revision vocabulary activities. Such
activities are an informal vocabulary assessment, intended primarily to check whether they have
learned and progressed with their vocabulary learning (Thornburry, 2002).
From this we can understand that teacher’s observation of students is one of the most useful
informal vocabulary assessments during on-going classroom activities. Observations may provide
teachers the first indication of whether or not words have been grasped by learners, from which
follow-up activities may ensue.

Task: How has your understanding of these words changed? Place a ✓ in the appropriate column
for each term.

Student Key Term I Know the Word I Think I Know the I Do Not Know the
name Word Word

S1. Bloom

S2. accustomed

S3. Honest
Vocabulary size can be assessed through this task.

Task: To assess students’ morphological knowledge, particularly their ability to generate words
from prefixes and suffixes
1. Re- (return) ---–------
Re- means: again

In sum, informal and formal assessment is very much related to the nature of the test itself,
particularly on the demands of the testing and the standard of the test itself.

According to Read (2000), there are main distinctions to which he calls dimensions of vocabulary
assessment. They are:

3.1.2 Discrete versus embedded

The distinction in Read’s (2000) first dimension of vocabulary assessment is the construct of the
test itself, whether it is independent or dependent of other constructs. Where vocabulary is
measured as a test on its own right, it is called discrete. However, when a test of vocabulary forms a
larger part of a construct, it is called embedded.

From this, we can say that progress check tests that are available at the end of a unit in most course
books fall into the formal assessment category, whereas the TOEFL test mentioned previously
clearly falls into the informal assessment category.

3.1.3 Selective versus comprehensive

The second dimension deals with the specification of vocabulary that is included in the test.
Vocabulary test is said to be selective when certain words are selected as the basis of vocabulary
measurement. Its comprehensive counterpart, on the other hand, examines all the words that are
spoken or written by the candidate. A selective vocabulary measure can be found typically in most
conventional vocabulary tests where the test-designer selects the words to be tested in the
assessment, such as those found in TOEFL reading comprehension questions. Comprehensive
vocabulary measure is typically found on a speaking or writing test where raters judge the overall
quality of the words rather than looking specifically at some words.

3.1.4 Context-independent versus context-dependent

The last dimension of vocabulary entails the use of context in a vocabulary test. If words in the test
are presented in isolation, without a context, the test is called context-independent but when it
makes use of the context in order for the test-takers to give the appropriate answer it is called
context-dependent. In the former case, learners are typically asked to respond whether they know
specific words or not. For example, the yes/no vocabulary check list ask whether learners know the
words from the list by marking a tick on it. For the latter, learners must engage in the context in
order to come up with the right response in the test. For example, in TOEFL reading passage, in
order to know which options is the closest synonym to the word, learners must refer to the text and
use the available context there.

Task: context dependent

Their success came about as a result of your assistance.

a. according to
b. before
c. because of
d. during
Note that context does allow students to assess abstract words.
Task: Paragraph
Humans have an innate ability to recognise the taste of salt because it provides us with sodium, an
element which is essential to life. Although too much salt in our diet may be unhealthy, we must
consume a certain amount of it to maintain our wellbeing. What is the meaning of consume in this
text?
a. use up completely
b. eat or drink
c. spend wastefully
d. destroy
3.1.5 Receptive versus productive

Another distinction to make in vocabulary assessment is to decide whether we want to test learners’
receptive vocabulary (passive) or the productive (active) one. Receptive vocabulary is the
vocabulary needed to comprehend listening or reading text while active vocabulary is the
vocabulary used when learners use it in writing or speaking. It is understood that learners have more
receptive vocabulary than productive vocabulary at their disposal. Knowing this distinction is
crucial because we certainly do not need to tests learners to demonstrate how they can use all
words; there are words which we simply want the learners to be able to comprehend.

.4. Designing Vocabulary Assessment Tasks for Grade 10 students

Some commonly used vocabulary formats in vocabulary assessment follows a chronological order
of how they appeared in the testing of vocabulary. The first four formats listed below were the
earliest measures of vocabulary which primarily ask the learners to demonstrate their vocabulary
knowledge by labeling, giving definition, and translating. Traditionally, such assessment was done
orally via an individual interview (Pearson et al, 2007).

However, due to the mass testing, a more reliable, practical scoring is needed. This gave birth to the
next two test techniques in the list: Yes/No list and Multiple Choice Questions (MCQs). Research
on Second Language Acquisition (SLA) and Reading soon changed the view on how words are
learned. It becomes a widespread belief that words are learned best when they are presented in
context (Thornbury, 2002). Such view motivates more contextualized vocabulary assessments such
as the cloze-test. Next in the list is, the four skills assessment (writing, speaking, listening, and
reading), where vocabulary is sometimes a part of the construct, which makes use of the context to
demonstrate learners’ ability in using the words (active vocabulary). The following are mostly used
techniques in vocabulary assessment. They are:

4. 1 Labeling

One of the most commonly used test technique in vocabulary assessment is labeling, where learners
are typically asked to respond by writing down what the word is for a given picture as illustrated
below. Alternatively, one picture can be used in which the learners are asked to label parts of it.
Although it may be relatively easy to come up with a picture especially with the growing mass of
picture content available on the net, it is somehow limited to pictures showing, and thereby testing
concrete nouns (Hughes, 2003).

Task : Here are some examples. Write down the names of the object:
a b

This method of assessing vocabulary is obviously restricted to concrete nouns which can be
unambiguously drawn.
4.2 Definitions
For EFL learners, learning a language is essentially a matter of learning new words (Read, 2000). In
definitions, learners are asked to write the word that corresponds to the given definition, as
illustrated below.
Task : A ____________ is a person who teaches in your class.
______________ is a loud noise that you hear after lighting, in a storm.
______________ is the first day of the week.
Definition provides a wider range of vocabulary to test, unlike the labeling format which is
restricted to concrete nouns. However, Hughes (2003) pinpoints one issue in this kind of test in that
not all words can be uniquely defined. To address this limitation, dictionary definitions may provide
shortcuts and save our headaches in finding the best, clear-cut, unambiguous definition.
4.3 Translation
There are many different ways in which vocabulary is measured using translation. Learners can
choose the correct translation in a MCQ, or simply be asked to provide the translation for each word
given in a list as follows:
Task : Teacher __________ Taxi driver __________ Student __________ Librarian __________
Actor __________ Shop keeper __________ President __________ Professor __________
Note the above tasks may also be reversed, asking learners to provide the English words from the
L2. One difficulty in using translation is that one word may consist of more than one meaning, and
therefore there may be more than one correct answer which is an issue of reliability.
However, a recent study done by Hayati and Mohammadi (2009) suggests that translation provides
longer memory retention of words than another vocabulary learning technique called ‘task-based’
approach whereby learners are asked to remember the definition, parts of speech, collocation, and
other aspects of a word (or to which is referred earlier to as vocabulary depth). Their findings imply
that translation may still have its place in vocabulary assessment.
4.4 Matching
Another common vocabulary test is where learners are presented with two columns of information,
and are asked to respond by matching a word in one column to another one. Items on the left-hand
column are referred to as premises, and items on the other end are called options. The word can be
matched based on its related meaning, a synonym, an antonym, or a collocation.
Task : Match useful expressions with context of use. Write the letter in the space provided.
_____ 1. when you are introduced to someone new A. I’m sorry.
_____ 2. to apologize to someone B. Stop it.
_____ 3. you don’t know the answer to a question C. Nice to meet you.
_____ 4. when you are joking with someone D. I’ve got it.
E. I’m just kidding.
F. I give up
4.5 Yes or No list
The Yes/No format is particularly useful when we wish to assess a large sample of items in a
relatively short time. This is achievable because in such format the learners are only asked to give a
mark if they know what the word means. For this practical reason, the yes/no format is typically
used to measure learner’s vocabulary size as a large sample of items is particularly needed in
measuring size.
Task 1: Give a tick (√) if you know what the word means. __ Mayonnaise __ Disaster __
Aggressive __ Distinctive
4.6 Multiple choice question (MCQs)
MCQs are among the most common test techniques in vocabulary assessment, especially in formal
tests (Combee, 2011). MCQs consist of a stem and response options. What the learners do is simply
to find one correct answer in the options. In vocabulary test, MCQ can be used to demonstrate
learners’ word knowledge of synonyms, antonyms, meanings in context, or a range of English
expressions.
Although MCQs are often criticized for its absolute difficulty in designing good construct, limited
number of distractors to use, and existence of guessing element, MCQs nevertheless remain one of
the most popular vocabulary test simply because of their virtue of practicability, versatility,
familiarity, and high reliability.
The MCQ format can be used to assess vocabulary knowledge in a variety of ways. These include:
synonym recognition, definition, meaning in context, and odd man out. Synonym recognition (word
in isolation or with context).
Task : The teacher was furious when she heard the students talking during the test.
A. angry C. happy
B. calm D. delighted
Definition recognition (word level, minimal sentence context).
She is someone I absolutely adore.
A. give a round of applause to C. am revolted by
B. feel affection for D. disapprove of
If something is vague it means it is _____________.
A. unclear C. precise
B. abnormal D. specific
Meaning in context (sentence and paragraph level)
The town’s people were ___________ by the typhoon that hit their coastline. Everyone Had to
move to a new area.
A. minimized C. displaced
B. violated D. rewarded

4.7 Completion items or blank filling

Completion items or blank filling items consist of a sentence from which the target word has been
deleted and replaced by a blank. The function of sentence here is to provide a context for the word
and perhaps to cue a particular use of it. Here are some sample items:
Task: Write one suitable word in each blank. Make sure that you write the correct from of the word.
When meat and fish are not available, a ............sources of protein must be found
Many gold mines are b..........in Incubator. In the tropics there is not much c.......in temperature from
one season to the next.
Modern jetliners fly at an d.........of 35,0000 feats.
a. Whether they understand the meaning of the target word;
b. Whether they know how the word functions grammatically within a sentence and what its correct
from is;
c. Whether they know how the word collocates appropriately with other words; and
d. More generally, whether they can use the word productively in their writing.
This items can explore the several aspect of their vocabulary ability, they are:
The first letter serves as a clue as to what the answer should be. Another extreme version of this is
called C-test, where instead of giving the first letter for each deleted word, the first half of the word
is revealed. One main advantage of cloze-test is its ease in writing one, however Read (2000) casts
doubt on the use of cloze-test as a true vocabulary measure. Since there are quite many aspects to
look at in answering a cloze-test item, the score may not reflect only the learners’ lexical knowledge
but it may be seen as joking learner’s overall proficiency in the language, including reading ability.
4.8 Embedded Vocabulary Assessment
This assessment for testing vocabulary looks at the students’ use or quality vocabulary as it pertains
to a text that the student has written, read, listened to or spoken.
5. Assessing Vocabulary in Reading Comprehension
One of the most common questions that teachers include on reading comprehension test is assessing
vocabulary in context: There are some common questions types: Multiple choice vocabulary, by far
the most popular method of testing a reading knowledge of vocabulary is the multiple choice
format, multiple-choice cloze vocabulary, contextualized multiple-choice vocabulary,vocabulary
matching task. Here is task in multiple choice cloze vocabulary:
Task(1): I’ve lived in Bahir Dar(1).......three years. I (2) .....live in Debere Markos. I(3)......speak
Amharic. I Used to (4)......homesick, but now I enjoy (5)....here. I have never (6).... back
Home(7).....I come to the Debere Markos, but I might (8)...to visit my family soon.
1. a. Since b. For c. during 2. a. Used to b. Use to c. Was 3. a. Couldn’t b. Could c. Can
4. a. Been b. Be c. Being 5. a. Live b. To live c. Living 6. a. Be b. Been c. Was 7. a. When b. While
c. Since 8. a. Go b. Will go c. going
Task(2): Find a word(s) in the text that describes the way the author was feeling.
What does the word they in paragraph 2 refer to?
What does the phrase “talking nonsense” (line 10) probably mean?
A. discussing feelings about something C. saying something that doesn’t make sense
B. speaking in a crazy way D. stating an obvious fact
The fact that there are many aspects of word a learner must know such as its
pronunciation, spelling, morphological forms, part of speech, and collocation mean
that there are quite a lot of things to measure, and there is little agreement on which
ones should constitute learner’s depth of vocabulary (Read, 2007).
6. Assessing Vocabulary in speaking
The teacher in the classroom can assess the quality and range of a students’ vocabulary during
speaking exams. Vocabulary as one of four categories upon 9which a student is assessed, they are
looking for range, the correct and appropriate selection of words in speech and their impact on
meaning.
7. Evaluation Method
The teacher grades students across these various tasks, and prepares an evaluation checklist. The
teacher has to decide exactly what will evaluate. How about objective (if they achieved it), accuracy
(if they made grammar/usage mistakes) and vocabulary (including expressions and set phrases)? As
follows:
For example; In Objective ___/10
Reporting tasks: Accuracy ___/10
Vocabulary ___/10
Average ___
For example; In Objective ___/10
Interview tasks: Accuracy ___/10
Vocabulary ___/10
Average ___
For example; Objective ___/10
Role Play tasks: Accuracy ___/10
Vocabulary ___/10
Average ___
Final Grade ___

Teacher gives 10-9 points to students who communicate clearly and effectively and make
practically no mistakes; 8-7 to those who make few mistakes; 6-5 to those who make enough
mistakes so that they are not clear some of the time; 4-3 to those who were very hard to understand;
and 2-1 who did not come even close to completing the task. But these are just suggestions.

8. Giving Feedback

Finally, just as essential as the assessment itself, and more important than the grade/score, is the
feedback you’ll give your students on how they performed. Did they meet the objective for the task,
i.e. did they find out the information they were supposed to find out? Did they repeat the same
words or expressions? Did they make mistakes related to grammar and usage? Did they speak too
little/too much? Don’t forget to first tell them what they did great, and then tell them what they need
to improve. For example: Ayele, you used great vocabulary and remembered all the right
expressions. You need to focus on comprehension.