Testing Grammar


The testing of grammar is one of the mainstays of language testing. While such tests test the ability to either recognize or produce correct grammar and usage, they do not test the ability to use the language to express meaning.
However, it can be argued that a basic knowledge of grammar underlies the ability to use language to express meaning, and so grammar tests do have an important part to play in language programs.
Types of Tests
Multiple Choice Tests
Probably the most common way of testing grammatical knowledge is the multiple choice test. These tests have the advantage of being easy to grade and being able to cover a lot of grammatical points quickly.
The most common type of multiple choice grammatical item is one in which the test maker gives the testee a sentence with a blank and four or five choices of a word or phrase which completes the sentence correctly. For example,
Because my mother was sick, I _____ to go home last week. a) had b) have c) has d) hadn`t
To give slightly more context, this type of question sometimes makes use of a short dialogue, with one person saying something and the other person responding.
A way of testing short answers and responses is to give the testees an utterance, and have them decide which of four or five utterances is an appropriate response. This can be either a test of comprehension or a test of grammar. For example,
"I think that tuition is much too high here." a) I do so. b) Do I so. c) I so do. d) So do I.
Another way to test grammatical knowledge using multiple choice items is to give testees a sentence and ask them to choose which of four or five alternatives has the same meaning.
"The school should have expelled him." a) The school didn`t expel him, which was wrong. b) The school expelled him, because it was necessary. c) The school might have expelled him, if it had known. d) The school will probably expel him in the near future.
Again this is a test of reading comprehension as well as grammar, but in order to understand the meaning of the sentence, the reader does have to understand the grammar.
The test maker must find a balance between giving enough context and giving too much. One way to give more context and make the language more natural is to give the items in the form of a short reading passage rather than individual sentences. This gives the testees more context and, if the passage is chosen carefully, is also much more interesting than reading individual, uncontextualized sentences. However, it may be more difficult to test a range of grammatical points, since the grammatical points are restricted by the content of the passage.
A variation on this idea is to use a piece of prose written by a non-native English speaker. This is particularly useful for making a grammar test for testees who are all of the same language group, since the errors made by the writer can be used as distracters.
Error Correction
Error correction items are also useful for testing grammar. An error correction item is one in which the testee is given a sentence with an error. Four words or phrases in the sentence marked with letters, and the testee needs to decide which of the words or phrases has the error. For example,
(a) Most of students (b) believe that they (c) should be getting better grades (d) than they are.
The teacher may also mix in some sentences that have no errors, and students are required to indicate that there is no error. In addition, the students might be required to correct the error. Errors from students` actual writing are a good source of ideas for this type of exercise.
Items to Test Knowledge of Word/Sentence Order
Other types of items can be used to test testees` knowledge of word order. The traditional way is to present the testee with four alternative word orders. For example,
I wonder how she knows _____. a) how it costs much. b) how much it costs. c) it costs how much. d) it how much costs.
Another possibility is to give testees the four words and ask them to put the words in order. For example,
I wonder how she knows __________ A. how B. it C. much D. costs /__/__/__/__/
This can also be done in a way that actually requires the writer to do some writing. For example,
I wonder how she knows ___________________. how / it /much / costs
Understanding of appropriate sentence order can also be tested in a similar way by giving testees several sentences and asking them to put them in order. This type of test tests knowledge of references, cohesive devices, etc.
Completion Items
Completion items are items in which the testees are asked to fill in blanks in sentences.
For example,
Give the book to ______ woman in the blue dress.
For the