Sore finger items in multiple-choice tests

SORE FlNGER ITEMS IN MULTIPLE-CHOICE HANSSPETER

University hIultiple-choice the purpose

of Cologne.

team has made use of a special is called a “sore

finger”

and show

a high

authentic

texts,

item.

validity

Federal

studying

form

of

finger

several

test-runs

restricted

of Gernmny range of formats,

mc question. items

subtests,

11se of the rules

English

Republic

may be. At the University

Sore

for

making

used in a nation-wide students

BAC:ER

(mc) items come in a highly

and the aim of testing

scheme

TESTS

rarely

the test

used so far,

which

achieve high discrimination especially

of test with

ivhatever

of Cologne

in style

grammar.

pupils

The

aged 14-16

tests.

levels They

use

items

have been

and with

German

aped 18-25.

INTKODUCTION Do niultiplc-choice of subject standard

This

type

word

Ilopkins the

or form

of

item consists

right

(1970:

confronting

three

the student whcrc

Modern which

format

or

with

language supplants

testing

wrong

should

items.

Scntcnccs

or,

that “it

WC do not

drawn

from

difficult,

definite

Conscqucntly (or scntcncc

and posits texts should fragments)

bc avoided

if other

forms

his

The f:or

and the

prcscnts

opinion

patterns;’

a closed

may bc acccptablc for some vocabulary

they should

continually

or cvcn more convincing

cvcn more

a text.

solutions)

share

incorrect

also take note of the insights

and not mcrc scntcnccs but

(the wrong

stating

reinforces

older concepts of scntcncc grammar

out of context

in grammar,

three

from

of simplicity.

statements”.

solutions

scrccn/slidcs).

a word/phrnsc

three di.stru~(ors

arc ncccssarily

in language do so by means of texts. &sting

by dclcting

this type of item,

wrong

easy to find

or conjunctions

I hc smic ? hIost of them do regardless

and pcncil/computcr

has the advantayc

four

the distracters

as prepositions.

(paper

is constructed

p. 221) has criticircd

with

have to look

of a .SIVIM (the scntcncc),

hand it is not always

an item.

always

of prcscntation

question

(k~j_v). Thi\

student

other

(mc) items

matter

that

but on the

distracters

for such

set of options,

such

articles.

offered

by “text

grammar”,

that pcoplc ~ornrilunicatirlg bc the material stripped tssts

of language

of a wider or testing

arc at hand.

context.

compctcncc

SORE At the English success

limitations 19s.;:

to be tested (2)

itcni

p. 42).

The

in a tcstual

GR.L\.Li\I.AR

The

test literature

a few options

than

a truncated

is easy

from

10 understand, and Icsical

Jiscrirnin~l~iol1.

The

format

the problem

a littIc

school indcs’

ItINC;I!R I’l‘l:hlS

of English.

stilled,

kind

of source

and has proved

7 ycarc of f!nglish).

is

The

an nrn;ll~~l~natioII

tcct it achicvc\ a high

mistahcs

with

This

range of vocnbularly.

and avoids

point

no grammatical

at a German

ix beinp taken down and central heating

grammar

in a discrctc

and a tlis~rilliirlaliorl

SORI:

item

as distracters

is that it can present

xs it uses a restricted

although

contains

tc\fcd (\ludcnts

of 0.403

The roof

a school

students,

problcnis;

test

this

to function

\rrb\ is -not in the passive form?

Oh no, it is being repaired.

younger

has discussed

form:

J/II:

comes

considerable

of mc items and avoid some

are available

1~ that hotel Ftill the place it used to be’!

for

hake been used with

the basic requirements

main advantage of the format

ralher

QUESTIONS

finger ” items

“sore

fulfil

\Vhich of the following

suitable

Ihc group

They

IN

Jud:

grammatical

index’

of Cologne

tests when only

te\t in thi\ itcrn

eqwially

ITEkfS

and disadrantases.

use in grammar

(Xladsrn,

The

Seminar

for about 20 years.’

of their for

FINGER

0

adcquatc

obtaining

for

a facility

of 0.504.

IN KI:AI)IN<;

~‘Ohll’Rl:tliiNSION

ANI)

S’I’YI.1: QUt:S’l’lONS I Io\\c\cr, ltlc bc\I u5c thal can Ix made of this altcrnativc tat\,

whcrc

a minimal and

lo the critical

nalivc

The

tcchniquc

txpreskn from

\\ill usually

style. T‘hcsc ol’tcn

comprchcrlsion

any authentic

contest

uwally English

sul’ficicut

form

ot’nic

validity.

but

con~cs~tni

itcnl

is riot iri gr;mnur

in subjects

infornla~ion

of

wading

to bc acccptablc

spcakcr. cmploycd lcxt,

for

of the text.

the construction

appropriate

in the text and subjtitutc

the rest

lack

obtain

The

item

of thcsc items

to the group

a synonymic is prcscrltcd

to bc tcstcd.

is fairly Lklctc

simple: one word

word or phrase which is stylistically a\

l’ollo~vs:

I

dcgrcc of

take or

deviant

The

test

is taken

finger”

item

distracters This

SORE Fl?&tR

ITEMS

a textbook

of English.

from

is that

the candidate

are integrated

item

parts

was adminstered

years participating

does

to different

in the German

The

question

a very

Cologne

turned

out

satisfactory

sufficiently

this

university

the right

students

answer. equally

which

the entrance

(index

seven

problems rose

answering to 0.515,

test team demand.

4-t/50/37)”

and only

items

is their English

grammar

can bc applied

advantages

of sore

solution.

to find

the

finger

easy, because the deviant

a compctcnt

from

a difl’crcnt

Somctimcs

distracters

had l%ere

themselves

unable

the question: a very

83%

satisfactory

marked

level,

\vell

Once again all three distrnctors

3.5Vo

USC authcnric

the idiom

420);

but still

All

( = I .6%) pupils thought

larlguagcs. As thcsc itcrns

from

of facility=0.655) =0.481).

diffcrcnt

which

(IV=

test at the universities

of the students

failed

to mark

options.

One of the main

Ihcsc items

aged l-t-16

Languages

(,V=97l).

index

the Cologne (iv=

of pupils

Foreign

The

block.’

it out.

discrimination

attractive

any of the four

Only

of the “sore material.

in a separate

consisted for

of discrimination

had even fewer

The

above the 0.3 mark proved

and left

advantage

unnecessary

appearing

the first

the pupils

(index

(i”J= 40/54/44).

than

taking

45.’

evident

Competition

Hamburgh

to be easy for

question

rather

of English

and

most

TtSlS

have to re-read

groups:

Federal

discrimination

attractive

to answer The

Bonn,

The

not

of the text

the second was made up of students of Augsburg.

1% \ILL,TIPLE-(‘HOIC-t

speaker or writer

of the test sylistic

without

the violation

tests;

spcakcrs

will not fail to notice. absurd.

do lscc itcrn

of the text idiom

Thcsc

III rnosl

C‘;IW\

spcakcrs

will

usually

;I clear infraction infraclions

find

of rule\

should

;I syno~~yn~ous

of test

dcviatc

cxprchsion

(5)j.

bc achicvcd

may

to nalivc

the rule\ of English

of English

part of the text rcprcscnrs king

lcvcl will

Native

suitability

by adding

words

to the original

test: (J)

The

“text

stands The

item

facility

form”’

from

all sorts

5Ooio for

index

actually

the deviating

which

of tests, phrase

advert iscmcnt :

precision

the same group

from

range of tests

item is instructive.

to the clarity,

W;IS used with

ranges

discrimination The

used in this

in contradiction

the

improves

can be covered

given that

as a stylistic

of 420

pupils

The

prcmodificr,

and style pupils

to 7OVo for

with

higher

rcgistcr

and 971 students the

university

by this type of item is vast. The

following

has been added, of English.

students,

and

The the

facility.

the style of the text is sufficiently breach.

which

of the rest of the text.

Items

can be produced

homogeneous

item u’as taken

from

to mark

a ncwspapcr

!klanuUacturing

Xlana_rer. Surrey. c. f35,OOO p.a.: This new appointment

the continuing

grouth

(5)

in high

technology

of a company

fancv electronic equipment used A *\ Currently expandins and a leader in its field, the n experienced person to assist with the formulation of 0 and direction of all manufacturing activities.

processing.

the company seeks a thoroughly (’ company policy and the control \lore

7O@i, of the population

than

the items

of this

“Style”

is

important

type,

an esceptionally

difficult

deviant

stucturcs

in a test.

should

be tested

at an early

u-ill

spend

years

advantage

marking

texts

that it probably

in the Colopnc that they

Test

of st utlcnt\- lvho

fail

discrete

of philology

point

tests.

teachers

elements.

what pupils

predictive indcs

The

student\

lacking

the skill

the question

of

nevetheless to notice

faculty,

form

x Most

in the dcsircd

is

mastery

has

have practised

validity.

most

are concerned.

which who

the added

in school;

of the items

ranpc (0.4-0.7).

achicvc very high discrimination

to anbwcr

It

has a sufficient

future

deviant

reach a facility

as with

lcvcl of 0.334.

this is an indispensable

where

to do with

and still.

a satisfactory

of English

and has superior

and they gcncrally

answer,

achieves for

student

containing

help to pick out those

number

the right

especially

has little

I’laccment

efficient

find

indes

a student stage.

manufacturing

subject

a young

For

it is tcstbool;-irldeperlderit arc highly

tested

the discrimination

to find out tvhcther

has arisen from

thus used They

Icvcls, which confirms

rcquircd.

At the same time the

at all is lower

than with

other

kinds

a facility

indcs

of mc itcmx. Eu.YJ* ufrrf cli.vc.rifrrirrntirr!: --

l‘hc nest item offers of 0.85

may

none

a very good csamplc the Its\

In preparing

(0)

Ihi

cntric\

is without

words

item.

(collcagucs). statistical

A final

(0.50):

with a

Still.

consciousness

as supplied validity

“fill-ill-the-gap”

trcatcd.

following

i\ rhc wulr

do not

question

environment could

distracters

in the sort

skill\

plus

finger

for thcsc admittedly

not

the right

for

the study

in which sonic bc replaced

the right

items,

bulky

find

sort

is rcquircd. finger

by a

solution The

items than

items.

item may csplain

the subject

students

of the social further

contest,

this uorh

one of the ncccssary

and two

a higher

The

15 l/i, of the young

the sentence

confirm

thou& I)

The

broader

show.

for s,

arc not.

A

of

inks

others

results

sot-c finger

csccptiorts

easy.

rc\powbilc

have not yet acquired

whilst

using

the traditional

a function

discrimination

ol’ pcoplc.

language and litcraturc:

arc appropriate

vocabulary

for

doubt

bccausc they still

of English

I Iuvc h;rtl lllc oppof Iunity to meet and correspond

con\orIiuni

of an informal item

work..

I am ultimaIcIy

bib!io~raphic\.

ans\vcr,

a high

ol’ buddies who arc cq11;11ly conccrncd with chc iwws raiwd hcrc. Nearly all -_ _‘\ have been wcn by one or all 01’ 115 rho have conrrihrrrcd bak and srnallcr -I____

number

The

of the fact that an item reaching

show

the reason But

this

for this

is not

item was taken

from

validity:

a ncccssary an article

the style condition, addrcbsing

of a test is often as numerous tccnagcrs.

The

SOHt

topic discussed of them

the right

a hell of Hhat

“Apprehended”,

style

a fubs on this

the eyes of many

side of the Atlantic the

was,

of course, choices

testing

45’

rt\rS

students,

deaths in the L’nited

Royal

up a row in Parliament c

from

the possibilities

suinble

shateboardinp

a skateboard

kickinp

limits

1% ~Il’LrIPLE-(‘tlOl(-E

so that less than half

answer.

NCHS of tuelie

and syntactic

lTf\IS

in the text seems to cloud

find

(7)

FI’.GtR

format

for this

off

;I

most people appr:hcnded ‘B Prckention of Accidsnrs w;l\

for

the

to pet rid of them here. D

OIW distinct

of selection

1975 Iparht’d

and before

Society

is unobjcctionablc only

Sratc\ during

in this

Enplirh. rcfercntial

special cast.

lanpunpe

important

but “the

encoder’s

use of Ic\ical

variety”

(N’erlich,

1976:

Once again,

skill,

the ability

there

p. 270)

is no comprnbl~

to difftxntiate

between

rcgistcrc.

CONCI.USION Llultiplc-clioicc IWW.

other

tests

tcstcrs

but

more

practical

fornis

dcgcncratc bully) proclucc

u\u:Illy

do

into

furni4i higlw

uxd

not.

xid

effcctivc

I’hcy

;I conlcxtually

for

Gniilar

and

forms

test ;I fcclirig quc5lions.

oricntccl

on 3 larg:e scale for

bvith traditional

arc cqwcially

nicrc \ocabiilarly validity

cniploycd

not bc content

arid cfficicritly

di\crirnination otkr

have hccri

should

arc at h3rid. for

approxh

:I bcttcr cli~crilllitl;ltioll

piirpow\.

Sort

the social

cffcctivc Sort

form\

without

itcnis

than

finger

contest

in \tylc finger

niorc

half

;I century

of item prcccntation

tc\ts,

itclnr

of Ia11gu:ig:c which

(though

hccorning

than the st;lndard

achicvc uw

ot hcrwiw

perhaps

\vhcn Iii~hcr wliicli

oflcn

sonicwhat

ii~iii~ati~igcablc.

I‘licy

tnc conlpo‘;ition

itcnls

REFERESCES BONHEISI. H. (IY81) The style test. In Culhxte. T.. LIeIn-Braley. C. and Stcxenwn. Problems m Lunguagr Ttwrng. pp. 1-17. Unkersity of Esser OccaGonal Papers. BRINGS, HOPKINS,

F. (1971)

Englirche

P. G. E. (1979)

Rechtschreibung

in \IC-Forrn.

Xlore than one choice in objective

Pruxs

19 (72). 368-3’6.

testing. English Longuoye

221-223. LIENERT.

G. A. (1’269) Tesrurrjhou und Trsrunul~se. Weinheim:

51,ADSEN.

H. S. (IV831

W’ERLICH,

E.

Trchrrrqurx

in Tesrinp. Oxford:

(1976)A Te.rr Grutnmur of English.

D. K. (ed)). Prucr~e und

Oxford

Heidelberg:

Beltz. Universily

Presr.

Quelle & \lqer.

Teaching

Journul 34,