1. The document discusses aspects of making and testing vocabulary, including considerations for vocabulary tests and different techniques. 2. Key aspects that should be tested include a student's breadth and depth of vocabulary knowledge, as well as their understanding of word meanings, pronunciations, grammatical functions, collocations and contexts for use. 3. Different techniques for testing vocabulary are described, such as multiple choice questions, fill-in-the-blank exercises using target words in context, and Cloze tests where students supply missing words.

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CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background
Vocabulary is the words of a language, including single items and phrases or chunks
of several words which covey a particular meaning, the way individual words do. In the
context of ESL 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.
Knowing the importance of vocabulary in language teaching, it would make sense to
be able to assess vocabulary. Such measurement may inform teachers of how much
vocabulary learning has taken place in the class, whether the teaching has been indeed
effective. Thornbury (2002) contends that vocabulary tests may also give two added
advantages to teachers in that it provides beneficial backwash 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.
1.2 The Problem Formulation
1. What are the aspects in making vocabulary test?
2. What aspects are tested in the vocabulary test?
3. How to test vocabulary?
4. What are the techniques to test vocabulary and give the example?
1.3 The Objective
1. To be considered in terms of making the test vocabulary.
2. To explain what should be tested in the test vocabulary.
3. To explain how to test vocabulary.
4. To know every technique to making vocabulary test with the examples.

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CHAPTER 2 DISCUSSION
2.1 ASPECTS OF VOCABULARY TESTING
The basic aspek of vocabulary are to measure the size of a student's vocabulary
(breadth of knowledge) or test how well he knows the individual words (depth of
knowledge). In the classroom, vocabulary achievement tests usually try to measure how
many words students know from the subset of words they studied. Placement and diagnostic
tests have Also commonly measured vocabulary size, but we have pointed out that a person
must know more than just a word's meaning in order to use it fluently. There are eight kinds
of native-speaker word knowledge :
1. Knowledge of a word's meaning. We can be divided into several categories. The
most use are synonyms (pretty-beautiful), antonyms (young-old), and hponyms (lion,
cat, zebra - animals)
2. Spoken form, it means that we have to know the pronunciation and spelling of a
word.
3. Written form.
4. Grammatical patterns (part-of-speech and derivative forms) if it is nacessary, for
example, when teaching irregular verb we should be present the other two form, as
well. Similarly, when teaching a noun with irregular plural form such as woman, we
should be teach the plural from immediately.
5. Collocations (other words the which naturally occur together with the targeted word
in the text), we must to give the information that students have to know in what
context the can use the word, for example, verb do and make can be used with
different situations, we can say do the shopping but not make the shopping.
6. Frequency.
7. Associations (the meaning of words ie relationships. diamond - hard, jewelry,
weddings).
8. Stylistic restrictions (such as levels of formality and regional variation).
2.2 Tested Aspect In Vocabulary Test
One of the most common reasons for testing vocabulary is to find out if the students
have covered the words they have been taught. As Read (2000) states, in the achievement
test, the vocabulary section may be designed to assess how well the students have mastered a
vocabulary skill that they have been taught. Moreover, vocabulary test can be utilized as a

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means of motivating students to study and showing them their progress in learning new
words. Also, vocabulary tests which are part of commercial tests, such as TOEFL, attempt to
provide a measure of learners’ vocabulary size, which is believed to give an indication of
overall language proficiency (Schmitt, 1994).
1. Finding out about progress
This is done through so called progress tests which “look back at what students have
achieved ... and are the most important kinds of tests for teachers” (Heaton 9). The author
also claims that in progress tests student´s results should be very good, most of them should
have about 80% or even 90% of correct answers, otherwise the subject of the test was not
mastered and the teachers should find the mistake which may be in the content of the test or
in the bad method of teaching . The author adds that “the best progress test is one which
students do not recognise as a test but see as simply an enjoyable and meaningful activity”
(Heaton 9).
2. Finding out about learning difficulties
Teachers can learn about students´ problems with the language through tests. Such tests
are called diagnostic tests and are used mainly for finding out student´s difficulties. The test
must be well-prepared so that it could really find out what students do not know. The best
time for such a test is at the beginning of a course or a school year (Heaton 11-12).
3. Finding out about achievement
For this we use so called achievement tests which are tests covering a large amount of
curriculum, for example, they may test whole year or even several years of study. For
teachers at elementary or secondary schools these kinds of tests are very difficult to prepare,
because of the big amount of curriculum covered through whole year or several years and
teachers do not know what to put into the test and what not to as everything seems important
to them. Heaton advises to work with other colleagues on that to be more objective (Heaton
13-14).
2.3 How To Test Vocabulary
Many teachers use a variety of methods to test vocabulary. The methods can apply for
all age groups and levels from third grade to college. Vocabulary testing can also be used in a
wide area of subjects, not only in Language Arts classes. Teacher Edition textbooks often
offer supplemental material for further vocabulary development and testing; however,
teachers can provide vocabulary testing on any type of material. Students learn in different
ways and can show their knowledge through a test that meets their needs.

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Use a current reading assignment to create a fill in the blank worksheet with passages
from the reading. Allow students to use a word bank to complete the task.
Use the same reading from Step 1 with the vocabulary words already filled in the
blanks. Have students use the context clues from the sentences to write the definition of the
word.
Test students using words connected to a certain theme. For example, give students
multiple-choice terms from the drama/Shakespearean chapter, but do not include words from
Poe/modern short story section. Give students words from the same chapter, especially in the
science-related classes.
Test vocabulary by having students identify prefixes, suffixes, and root words. Allow
students the chance to figure out words through identifying word parts.
Create a worksheet in which the vocabulary words are used incorrectly in sentences.
Have students correct the mistakes and change the wrong words to the correct words.
Create pictures for science-related vocabulary and have students label them. Create a
worksheet that will allow students to categorize words that belong together, which also works
well for science-related vocabulary.
2.4 Vocabulary Testing Techniques.
We can use a lot of types of techniques when testing vocabulary there are :
1) Multiple choice.
This is a question which consists of a so called stem and four options from which only
one is correct. The examinee has to choose the right answer. The form of the multiple choice
can also vary, here are three possible forms:
He accused me of ...... lies.
a. speaking
b. saying
c. telling
d. talking
Everything we wanted was to hand.
a. under control
b. within reach
c. well cared for
d. being prepared (“Multiplechoice”).

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The biggest advantage of this kind of testing is that we do not have to worry about
subjectivity because only one answer should be correct. Secondly, it is very easy and quick
for the examiner to correct this test because he or she just puts ticks or crosses.
The other difficulty with multiple choice is that we have to find three distractors
which are items that would distract or confuse the examinee. Therefore, it is hard to create a
good multiple choice test. This causes problems with more correct answers or even no correct
answer. This all means that it is very difficult and time-demanding to write such a test
(Hughes 61).
Next disadvantage is that these tests also enable cheating because if a potential
cheater looks at someone´s paper which is near, he or she can easily recognize what the
person has answered as there can be seen circles A, B, C, or D (Hughes 62).
2) Cloze test
Cloze test is test based on a text with gaps which are put there regularly after every
seventh, eighth or ninth word. The examinee has to complete the gaps with appropriate
words. Mostly more than one option is possible. The first three or more lines of the text are
without gaps (Scrivener 261). Example of a cloze test :
I was so ......... (1) because it was my first time to visit the place. There are many interesting
places to visit.
First, I ……… (2) Tangkupan Perahu. The place is just wonderful. After that, I went to Dago
Street. I ………………….(3) some t-shirt there. Then, I went to Cibaduyut. I bought many
things like shoes, dolls, ands some souvenirs. I also did not forget to buy “peuyeum” .
Bandung is ……….(4) for its “peuyeum”. Finally, I went to a café nearby to have-lunch. I
…………(5) Three days in Bandung and that was really fun.
Anyway, I will write to you again next time. Write to me as soon as you can. Bye
Sincerely,
Hana
1. Happy
2. Visit
3. Buy
4. Famous

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5. Spend
The advantage of cloze tests is that it is quite easy to create them. The teacher just
needs to find a suitable text and delete words from it. Nevertheless, Hughes does not consider
cloze tests much reliable because we do not know what ability (speaking, writing, reading
etc.) of the examinee it shows. Moreover, the regular interval of every ninth word does not
work very well because some deleted words are very difficult to determine (Hughes 62-67).
This is a kind of cloze test but with initial letters of words that are omitted.
This test is more advantages for the examinee as the texts are shorter and less
difficult. On the other hand, the gaps are so close to one another that the learner can get lost
in the text (Hughes 71).
3) Dictation
The examiner dictates a text and students write it down. Here we examine mainly
spelling or pronunciation and also listening. Dictation is an easy way of testing for the teacher
because the preparation is minimal. However, it is demanding to assess such tests, Hughes
recommends that we should consider the dictation correct as long as there is the right order of
words and that misspelled words should be accepted because phonologically it is correct
(Hughes 71-72).
Another disadvantage is the difficulty of assessment. Generally, teachers themselves
determine which errors are considered serious and which are just mild ones. It is advisable to
set the scale of assessment before we start to correct. There is also the question of objectivity
because every teacher will look the dictations from her own perspective. To prevent this we
can use an alternative to dictation which is called paused dictation which is a text with
missing words, students fill in the missing words while the teacher dictates (Berka, Váňová
36-37).
Example:

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4) Transformation
In this type students are given sentences which they have to put into another form, for
example, to put sentences in past simple tense into past perfect tense. They are not difficult
either to create or to correct. Example of transformation :
Put the following sentences into past simple tense :
She likes her job.
Jane wears jeans.
They clean the windows.
5) Matching
There are two groups of words mostly in two columns, the student has to make pairs
from these words which make sense somehow. They are especially good for practising
vocabulary such as adjectives of opposite meaning. Berka and Váňová add that matching is
especially good for testing definitions, events and relations. The items are demanding to
create, but often they emerge from the context.

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Colomn A Colomn B
1. Elderly (C)
2. Shame (A)
3. Employer (D)
4. Paycheck (B)
5. Personal (J)
6. Shocked (G)
7. Wisely (F)
8. Workmanship (H)
9. Carpenter (I)
10. Hammer (E)
A. Pathetic
B. Salary
C. Old
D. Worker
E. Tool to hit nail
F. Wisdomly
G. Suprised
H. Good working
I. House builder
J. private
6) Translation
This is a damned as well as praised method. Students receive sentences or a text in
their mother tongue and their task is to translate them into English. Although, the method is
easy for the teacher, students hate it because it is very difficult for them. It also prevents
students thinking directly in English and they tend to translate things in their minds which is
not good. It is a quick way how to find out about students´s knowledge but marking may be
quite difficult as there may be tens of variations.
7) Synonyms and Antonyms
Students have to write down words of the same meaning:
a. Clever _______ (bright)
b. Important _______ (significant)
Students have to write down words of the opposite meaning:
a. Beautiful _______ (ugly)
b. Happy _______ (sad)
8) Definitions
The teacher gives her students a list of definitions of words she needs to test (Hughes
150). However, not every word can be easily defined and sometimes there can be more than
one possible answer. Moreover, the definitions should be clear so that students understand
the definition and can come to the right answer. I would recommend to give the pilot
definitions to a teacher´s colleague to try them first. I think that definitions are good to use

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because students have to be active and not just translate words. Simple example of a
definition:
a. It is an animal which likes bananas. (monkey)
9) Rearranging
Students have to rearrange given words so that the sentence makes sense and is
grammatically correct. Simple example :
a. Class – In – You – Strongest – The – Are – Our. (You are the strongest in our class)
b. Is – He – My – The – In – Youngest – Family. (He is the youngest in my family)
10) Odd One Out
Students have to determine which item does not belong among the others. The amount
of items can be various. This kind of exercise is easy to prepare, however, the teacher must
know which words her students know so that they could find the odd one. It also test only
the meaning of words, but it can be both useful and interesting for the students. Example :
1. a) Coat b) Scarf c) Glove d) Short
2. a) Bedroom b) Classroom c) Kitchen d) Living room
3. a) Windows b) Table c) Wall d) Floor
4. a) Cow b) Horse c) Chicken d) Frog
5. a) Paper b) Chair c) Desk d) Table

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CHAPTER 3 CLOSING
3.1 Conclusion
Vocabulary is the words of a language, including single items and phrases or chunks
of several words which covey a particular meaning, the way individual words do. The basic
aspek of vocabulary are to measure the size of a student's vocabulary (breadth of knowledge)
or test how well he knows the individual words (depth of knowledge). And also, there are
many techniques to give vocabulary test that is multiple-choice, cloze test, ditection,
transformation, matching, translation, synonymn and antonym, definition, rearranging, and
odd one out.
Through a well-crafted test, a teacher can find out. If the student has understood the
course that has been taught or not. The students’ strengths and weaknesses. And also, tests
and examinations are the main motivation for students to study.

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REFERENCE
o Ivan Pavlu, Testing Vocabulary, Masaryk University Brno, 2009.
o Jack C. Richards, Curriculum Development In Languange Teaching, Cambrige
University, 2001.