Author Topic: How criterion-referenced tests can help improve your English  (Read 16308 times)

Joe Carillo

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How criterion-referenced tests can help improve your English
« on: November 29, 2009, 11:11:47 PM »
Two weeks ago, I posted on the Forum sample G-TELP Level 2 tests for grammar and for reading comprehension and vocabulary. Level 2, categorized as “Authentic and Modified English in Normal Communication,” is the second highest level among the five G-TELP English proficiency levels. This week, I am posting sample G-TELP Level 3 tests also for grammar and for reading comprehension and vocabulary. It’s one level lower than Level 2 and is categorized as “Modified English in Simple Communication.”

The makers of the G-TELP tests, the International Testing Services Center (ITSC), compares these two levels as follows: “Level Two requires a higher order of skill than Level Three since many of the tasks are authentic. They reflect real-world tasks rather than textbook and classroom-based tasks. In other words, the skills that are required of a person to successfully complete the tasks at Level Two reflect the nature and complexity of those tasks. The successful application of those skills indicates that the person is a relatively independent, autonomous user of the language.”

For a clearer picture of the entire G-TELP test hierarchy, here (in descending order of difficulty) are the five levels of English proficiency in G-TELP:

Level One - Authentic English in Complex Communication
Level Two - Authentic and Modified English in Normal Communication
Level Three - Modified English in Simple Communication
Level Four - Basic English in Simple Communication
Level Five - Basic Classroom English

These title descriptions reflect the criterion-referenced nature of the G-TELP tests; criterion-referenced means that the primary purpose of the test is to give information about the examinee’s functional language abilities through performance on specific tasks. This is where G-TELP differs from TOEIC and TOEFL, which are both single-level, norm-referenced tests. Norm-referenced tests compare the performance of examinees to all others who take the test—the kind of test that can be used to, say, select or recommend a person for admission to a university in the United States. In contrast, the G-TELP provides a specific indication of the skills and language tasks that the examinee is able to perform; as such, it can be useful for determining if the examinee is qualified for a job or level of academic study that requires a specific level of English competence. 

You can look over and take the practice G-TELP Level 3 tests now to get a feel of their difficulty level compared to Level 2. Your level of comfort in answering the Level 3 test questions can give you a rough idea of what your actual English proficiency level is at this time. (It will be very instructive comparing the differences in the grammar elements and semantics used in each test—verb tenses and answers by direct inspection, inference, similarity of meaning, etc.) Of course, it’s possible that both Level 2 and Level 3 would be too easy for you, in which case you probably are already Level 1, capable of handling “Authentic English in Complex Communication.” Conversely, however, you may find that even Level 3 is too difficult for you—an indication that you haven’t progressed much beyond Level 4 or “Basic English in Simple Communication.”

If the latter is the case, you know what to do—start improving your English in earnest and work your way up through the G-TELP proficiency ladder until you get to Level 1 or at least to Level 2. This is how a criterion-referenced, multilevel test might prove to be more helpful in your English self-improvement program than a norm-referenced, single-level test.

This Week’s Practice Tests:
1. G-TELP Level 3 Grammar Test No. 1       Click to take it now!
2. G-TELP Level 3 Reading and Vocabulary Test No. 1       Click to take it now!   

Previous Practice Tests:
1. TOIEC Incomplete Sentences Test No. 1   Click to take it now!
2. TOEIC Error Recognition Test No. 1          Click to take it now!
3. TOEIC Reading Comprehension Test (Part VII) No. 1         Click to take it now!
4. TOEFL English Structure and Written Expression Test No. 1  Click to take it now!
5. TOEFL Reading Comprehension Test No. 1    Click to take it now!
6. G-TELP Level 2 Grammar Test No. 1        Click to take it now!
7. G-TELP Level 2 Reading Comprehension and Vocabulary Test No. 1     Click to take it now!
« Last Edit: November 30, 2009, 09:11:24 AM by Joe Carillo »

innocentmalik3

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Re: How criterion-referenced tests can help improve your English
« Reply #1 on: June 04, 2011, 01:26:38 AM »
thanks for information

AngelaElmer

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Re: How criterion-referenced tests can help improve your English
« Reply #2 on: June 28, 2011, 04:40:14 PM »
Nice post... the links provided are really useful and I got a lot of new information about English. Good work..

jonathanfvaldez

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Re: How criterion-referenced tests can help improve your English
« Reply #3 on: July 05, 2011, 05:51:33 AM »
I have some comments on the G-TELP LEVEL 2 SAMPLE TEST #1
GRAMMAR SECTION, as follows:

1.   In question no. 1, shouldn’t it be “a French woman” instead of “an French woman”?
2.   Also in question no. 1, I think an “of” was omitted (between “story” and “a” in the last sentence);
3.   In question no. 5, shouldn’t it be the disease (rather than the person) that is “diagnosed”?

Thanks.

Jonathan

Joe Carillo

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Re: How criterion-referenced tests can help improve your English
« Reply #4 on: July 05, 2011, 11:31:43 AM »
Thanks for pointing out the typographical and proofreading errors in Test #1 of the G-TELP Level 2 sample test. Those errors have been there unnoticed for a long time now so I’m so glad you spotted them. I’ll make the corrections on the test right after this.

As to the use of the verb “diagnosed” in Question #5 of that test, the usage is grammatically correct. The verb “diagnose” can have as object either the receiver of the diagnosis or the disease itself, as can be seen in the following definitions in Merriam-Webster’s 11th Collegiate Dictionary:   

Quote
diagnose
Function: verb
Inflected Form: -nosed ; -nosing
Etymology: back-formation from diagnosis
Date: circa 1859

transitive verb 
1 a : to recognize (as a disease) by signs and symptoms  b : to diagnose a disease or condition in  <diagnosed the patient>
2 : to analyze the cause or nature of  <diagnose the problem>
intransitive verb   : to make a diagnosis
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Both grammatically and in practice then, a doctor can diagnose either the patient or that patient’s disease.

fang01271027

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Re: How criterion-referenced tests can help improve your English
« Reply #5 on: December 07, 2011, 09:39:40 AM »
Thanks for your post!                                                           r4ps3 jb2r4r4 3ds
« Last Edit: December 29, 2011, 11:56:19 AM by fang01271027 »

addybhefron

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Re: How criterion-referenced tests can help improve your English
« Reply #6 on: June 09, 2013, 05:07:46 PM »
I will try this one. Thanks for the info.
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