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LIMITATIONS OF SIZE AND LEVELS TESTS OF WRITTEN RECEPTIVE VOCABULARY KNOWLEDGE

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 June 2020

Tim Stoeckel Open the ORCID record for Tim Stoeckel [Opens in a new window] ,
Stuart McLean Open the ORCID record for Stuart McLean [Opens in a new window]  and
Paul Nation
Tim Stoeckel*
Affiliation:
University of Niigata Prefecture
Stuart McLean
Affiliation:
Momoyama Gakuin University
Paul Nation
Affiliation:
Victoria University of Wellington
*
*Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Tim Stoeckel, University of Niigata Prefecture, 471 Ebigase, Higashi-ku, Niigata City, Niigata 950-8680, Japan. E-mail: stoeckel@unii.ac.jp
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Abstract

Two commonly used test types to assess vocabulary knowledge for the purpose of reading are size and levels tests. This article first reviews several frequently stated purposes of such tests (e.g., materials selection, tracking vocabulary growth) and provides a reasoned argument for the precision needed to serve such purposes. Then three sources of inaccuracy in existing tests are examined: the overestimation of lexical knowledge from guessing or use of test strategies under meaning-recognition item formats; the overestimation of vocabulary knowledge when receptive understanding of all word family members is assumed from a correct response to an item assessing knowledge of just one family member; and the limited precision that a small, random sample of target words has in representing the population of words from which it is drawn. The article concludes that existing tests lack the accuracy needed for many specified testing purposes and discusses possible improvements going forward.

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Studies in Second Language Acquisition , Volume 43 , Issue 1 , March 2021 , pp. 181 - 203
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© The Author(s), 2020. Published by Cambridge University Press

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Footnotes

We would like to extend special thanks to Phil Bennett, Dale Brown, and Brandon Kramer for their kind and useful suggestions for improving this article.

References

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