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Written by Buket Koçikođlu

TESTING  RESEARCH PAPER ON THE SUBJECT OF EVALUATION OF THE TESTING ITEMS IN THE COURSEBOOK

"MATTERS PRE - INTERMEDIATE”

 INTRODUCTION 

    Testing and teaching are closely interrelated that it is virtually impossible to work in either field without being constantly concerned with the other. Tests are constructed primarily as devices to reinforce learning and to motivate the student or primarily as a means of assessing the student’s performance in yhe language.A well constructed classroom test will provide the students with an opportunity to their ability to perform certain tasks in the language and also the teacher has chance to diagnose the student’s weaknesses,difficulties and give them remedial work and additional practice.

                         In this research paper, testing items that are practiced in classroom are examined in terms of ‘reading, writing, speaking and listening’ skills in Matters Pre-Intermediate Students’ book and Workbook. The students’ book contains twenty chapters, each divided into six sections: In Use your English section, the aim is to develop students’ confidence in being able to to communicate. In Skills section, students will meet natural written and spoken English and develop techniques. In Grammar section, There is oral and written controlled practice in each chapter. In vocabulary section, the vocabulary is mainly linked to the topic of the chapter. In Use and Review section, There are communicative activities which revise the grammar and vocabulary presented in the preceding chapters. The exceptions to this pattern are chapters 10 and 20 which revise the first and second half of the book respectively. In Language Reference section, There is a concise summary of the language covered in each chapter.

                         This research paper is composed of three sections.In the first section, all testing items in the students’ and workbook are examined under the headings of skills ; in the second section, the number of items are displayed as isolated and integrated skills in the tables, persentage of skills in the pay-charts and also the results are interpreted ; in the last section, some general comments on the coursebook are presented.

This study is also a compile of my teaching experience with Matters Pre-Intermediate for adult learners at a private course for four months.

 Contents.

Introduction

 PART   A

SKILLS  AND  TESTING  ITEMS.

 PART   B

TABLE  I

TABLE  II

PAY – CHARTS

INTERPRETING THE RESULTS

 PART   C

GENERAL COMMENTS ON THE ‘Matters Pre-Intermediate’.

 References                                                                                                                         

 PART A

SKILLS AND TESTING ITEMS

 CHAPTER   1  :   Do You Remember Me?

 Starting a conversation

  1. Look at the pictures from old films.The people are meeting for the first time.What do you think they are saying?

      Speaking

      Short Talk

      Aims: 1. This question is asked to warm-up the students to the new chapter.

                2. The intention is to see how much of the language students can use.

             3. To go from the known to the unknown by asking about their own situations.

The same type of question is also seen in  “use your English” parts as introduction to the topic;chapter 1 question 3 in page 6; chapter 2 question 1 in page 12; chapter 3 question 1a,b in page 18; chapter 4 question 1a,b in page 24; chapter 5 question 1a in page 30; chapter 6 question 1a,b,c in page 36; chapter 7 question 1b in page 42; chapter 9 questions 1b,2c,d in page 54; chapter 11 questions 1,2 in page 66; chapter 12 questions 1,2,3 in page 74; chapter 13 question 1a in page 78; chapter 15 question 1 in page 90; chapter 16 questions 1a,b in page 96; chapter 17 question 1 in page 102; chapter 18 question 1a,e in page 108; chapter 19 questions

1a,d,2,3 in page 114. 

  1. Listen and match the pictures with the conversations.

Listening  & Speaking

Listening Comprehension and Matching (pictures and conversations)

Aims: 1. to check how much students will understand the conversations.

          2. To enable students to connect pictures and what they heard.

The same type of question is also seen in chapter 2 question 1a in page 12; chapter  5 question 1b in page 30 ; chapter 9 question 1a in page 54 ; chapter 12 question 1a in page 74 ; chapter 17 question 2a,b in page 102 ; chapter 18 question 1b in page 108; chapter 19 question 1b in page 114; chapter  3 question 2b in page 18; chapter 4 question 2b in page 24; chapter 10 question 3a in page 61.  

  1. Complete these sentences. Listen again and check your answers.

  

1.A._________,is________free? 

B.No,I am sorry_______.

2.A._________somewhere before?    

B.No,I am afraid________.

3.A.Would you like_________?        

B. Yes,I’d like________.

     

Writing & Listening

Completion,Listen and Check  

Aims: 1. To make students complete the conversation accordingly.

          2. To let students check and correct what they did.

       The same type of question is also seen in the same chapter  grammer part question 1b                                    

       Page 9; chapter 2 question 1d in page 12,1c in page 14,3 in page 15; chapter 3 skills                    part question 1c,grammer part 3c in page 19; chapter 4 grammer part 3 in page 27; chapter 5    question 3b in page 30, grammar part question 2a,b,3b in page 33; chapter 6 question 2a,b in page 36, grammar part question 3,4,5, 7a,b in page 39; chapter 7 skills part question 5c in page 43, grammar part question 1b,3a in page 45; chapter 8 question 1a in page 48,grammar part 3,4 in page 51; chapter 9 grammar part 1,2a in page 57; chapter 11 grammar part 9 in page 69;chapter 13 skills part question 1b in page 79,grammar part 2 in page 80; chapter 14 question 2a in page 84, grammar part 2a,b in page 87; chapter 15 question 2b in page 90, grammar part 1b,3b,7b in pages 92-93;chapter 16 grammar part 3,5,6,7 inpages 98,99; chapter 17 grammar part 3b in page 105; chapter 18 2a in page 111;chapter 19 grammar part 1a,e,2 in page 116; chapter 20 question 1c in page 120,skills part 2 in page 121.

Workbook, chapter 1 question 6b,7b in page 5; chapter 2 question 11b in page 10; chapter 2b,3b in page 18; chapter 6 question 4b; chapter 7 question 8b in page 28; chapter 9 question 1b,4b in page 35; chapter 11 questions 7b,11b in pages 42,44;chapter 12 questions 3b,8b in pages 46,47; chapter 13 question 3b in page 49; chapter 15 question 4b in page 57; chapter 18 question 2c,4c in pages 66,67; chapter 19 question 6b in page 71; chapter 20 questions 2b,3b,8b in pages 73,74,76. 

  1. Match the expressions in A with the answers in B. 

 

                        A

B

      1.How are you?

a) Thanks.

      2.I’s a lovely day, isn’t it?

b) Fine thanks.

      3.Sorry I am late.

c) How do you do?

      4.Excuse me.

d) It doesn’t matter.

      5.Have a seat.

e) Yes.Can I help you?

      6.Peter this is Jack Smith

f) Yes, beautiful.

Writing

Matching Sentences (expressions and responses)

Aim: To see how students get the information in the lesson ties together.

The same type of question is also seen in chapter 2 question 2a in page 12, vocabulary part 1b in page 22;chapter 5 question 2b in page 30; chapter 6 1a in page 36;chapter 11 skills part question 4 in page 67;chapter 13 question 1b in page 78; chapter 17 question 3 in page 102.

Workbook, chapter 5 question 2 in page 18; chapter 8 question 2 in page 40; chapter 9 question 2 in page 34; chapter 10 question 3 in page 38; chapter 11 question 3 in page 52;

Chapter 14 question 3 in page 52;chapter 15 question 5a in page 56; chapter 18 question 4 in page 66; chapter 19 question 4 in page 70.  

  1. Read the newspaper article.Are these sentences True(T) or False(F)?

            1. Old people often lose their memories because they don’t take exercise

            2. When you meet a person , always imagine him in goal on a football field

            3.  It is easier to remember the shape of some countries than others

            4. It is important to connect yhe name of the person you are meeting with someone you know

            5. The Russian could never forget anything

Reading & Writing

Reading Comprehension and alternate-response (True/False)

Aims: 1. To test students’ ability to read in detail and understanding the material they’ve seen for the first time.

          2. To evaluate students’ ability to recognize correct or incorrect statement of fact

 The same type of question is also seen in chapter 3 skills part question 3b,grammar part 2a in page 19; chapter 4 skills part 2b in page 25; chapter 5 grammar part question 2 in page 33; chapter 9 skills part question 3 inpage 55; chapter 12 skills part question 4 in page 73;chapter 13 grammar part 3 in page 81; chapter 16 skills part question 2 in page 97.

Workbook, chapter 2 question 8 in page 10; chapter 7 question 7 in page 28. 

  1. Look at the grammar boxes and Make Yes/No questions for thee sentences.

Example: He lives in New York

                Does he live in NewYork?

1.We’re going

2.They drink a lot of coffee

3.They’re over there

4.This seat is free

5.They’ve got the tickets

      Writing

      Grammar (subskill)

      Constructing Transformation

      Aim: To test and improve students’grammar usage

The same type of question is also seen in grammar parts in chapter 3 question 1a;chapter 4 questions 2,4 in page 27; chapter 7 question 1a; chapter 12 questions 1,2 in page 75; chapter 15 question 8 in page 93; chapter 16 question 5 in page 98; chapter 17 questions 4b,c in page 105; chapter18 question 3 in page 111; chapter 19 questions 2b,c,d in page 117.  

Also in Revision (units 1- 9) Part questions 1,2 in page 63, Revision (units 11-19)part 2 question 3 in page 123.

Workbook, chapter 2questions 3,4 in page 4; chapter 2 questions 2,3,4 in page 7; chapter 4 question 1a,b in page 14;chapter 4 question 4 in page 19; chapter 7 questions 2,4 in page 27; chapter 9 question 3 in page 34; chapter 10 question 2 in page 39; chapter 11 question 4 in page 42; chapter 12 questions 1,2,3,5 in pages 45,46; chapter 13 questions 1,3 in page 48; chapter 16 questions 3,4 in page 59.

  1. Listen to the interview with Jay Shepherd.Make notes to answer your questions.

Listening & Writing

Listening comprehension – dialogues and note taking.

Aims: 1. To test how much the students will understand the dialogue

          2. To enable students to write not the whole sentence while taking notes

The same type of question is also seen in chapter 2 skills part question 3 in page 13.

 

  1. These are the capital cities of which countries?

1.Brussels        2.Madrid        3.Lisbon   4. Amsterdam           5.Warsaw

6.Edinburg       7.Ankara        8.Tokyo

      Speaking

      Vocabulary (subskill)

      Rising Cultural Awareness

      Aim: To test students general cultural awareness

      The same type of question is also seen chapter 1 questions 1b,c,d,e in page 10; in chapter 5 vocabulary part 1a; chapter 9 voc.part 1a; chapter 19 voc.part 1a in page 118; chapter 11 voc. part  2c in page 70; chapter 16 voc. part question 1a in page 100.    

  1. Make three lists of words fromExercise 1: 1Countries,2Languages,3Nationalities.

 Writing

Vocabulary (subskill)

Listing

Aim: To enable students to recognize different categories of words.

The same type of question is also seen in chapter 2 vocabular part 1a,2 in page 16;chapter 5 question 1c in page 30; chapter 6 voabulary part 1a in page 40;chapter 7 question 1a page 42;chapter 9 vocabulary part 2;chapter 13 vocabulary part 2 in page 82;chapter 14 voc.part 2 inpage 88;chapter 15 voc.part 1b in page 94; chapter 19 question 4 in page 114.

Workbook, chapter 4 question 7 in page 16; chapter 11 question 5 in page 42.

  1. Mark the stressed syllable in each word.(in the list students did)

Writing

Vocabulary (subskill)-

Word stress

Aim: To enable students to pronounce the words correctly

The same type of question is also seen in chapter 2 voc.part 1d in page 16; chapter 8 voc.part 1c in page 52; chapter 11 voc.part 3 in page 70; chapter 12 voc part 2 in page 76.

Workbook, chapter 1 questions 6,7 in page 5; chapter 9 question 6 in page 36; chapter 15 question 9 in page 58; chapter 19 question 8b in page 72.

11. Pronouns and possessive adjectives.How much do you remember?

Writing

Grammar  (subskill)

Puzzle

Aim: To test and improve students’ grammar usage

The same type of question is also seen in chapters 4,6,7,15 Use and Review parts in pages 29,41,47,95.

Workbook, chapter3 question 5 in page 12; chapter 13 question 5 in page 49; chapter 20 question 6 in page 75. 

  1. Put the paragraph in the correct punctuation below. The paragraph should have three sentences.

       dominic o’brien the memory man lives near cambridge when he is not

           trying to remember things he spends his time playing the piano

           gardening and cycling he eats a lot of bananas apples and oranges

           which help his brain

Writing

Punctuation

Aim: 1.  To check students have understood the explanations about punctuation.

2.       To enable students to punctuate the sentences.

      The same type of question is also seen in chapter 11 writing part in page 67; chapter 19 writing part question 2 in page 116.

Workbook, chapter 1 question 10 in page 6; chapter 12 question 7 in page 46; chapter 16 question 8 in page 61; chapter 19 question 7 in page 72.

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