25 C. declined very suddenly
D. rapidly plunged under
This item type provides an excellent method of measuring a wide range of problems relating to the effective use of written English.
4 Sentence correction The examinee is required to select the best revision of an underlined
portion of a sentence. 15. Example:
While watching from our window, the great ship slowly entered the harbor, whistle blowing and crew cheering.
A. While watching B. Upon watching
C. As we watched D. Having been watched
c. Testing Ability to Organize Material
Probably the most satisfactory of the test are those of paragraph organization in which the examinee is required to re-order several “scrambled”
sentences into a coherent paragraph, and to indicate the correct order of the sentences.
16. Example:
A. The report from Stratford that he “spent at the rate of a thousand pounds a year” is surely very far from the truth, being based no
doubt on Stratford gossip. B. On this income we may be sure that he lived well and comfortably in
Stratford. C. It is difficult t estimate Shakespeare’s income in his last years.
D. Probably Shakespeare received from all sources less than a quarter of that sum, say two hundred pounds.
Which sentence did you put first? A B C D
Which sentence did you put second? A B C D
26 Which sentence did you put third? A B C D
Which sentence did you put last? A B C D
d. Testing the Mechanic of Writing
Punctuation and capitalization are called the mechanic of writing. It can be tested objectively with simple adaptation of the item completion and correction.
17. Example: Direction: decide what punctuation, if any, should be used in the
numbered space, and indicate the letter that goes with your choice. “N” means “no punctuation.”
Returning to his friend Peter Bill asked whether he still wished to continue with the trip.
1-A ; 2-A ;
3-A ? 1-B ;
2-B ,” 3-B ?”
1-C ; 2-C ;”
3-C . 1-D ;
2-D N 3- D.”
e. Improving the
Effectiveness of Composition Tests
1 Preparation of the test The preparation of the test includes a arranging the sentence to take
several samples rather than just one, b setting writing tasks that are within the reach of all, c making the writing task clear and specific; providing full
directions, d allowing no alternatives, and e pre-testing the writing test assignments.
2 Scoring the test There are several steps in scoring the test, they are a deciding in advance
on the precise basis for scoring, b treating the paper anonymously during scoring, c scanning a sample of papers to decide upon standards before marking
any papers, and d having at least two independent readers for each theme if the
27 compositions are to be used to make critical decisions about a large numbers of
students by beginning with a practice session for all readers in which they agree together on the rating of a papers sample, making the grade for each composition
the sum or the average of the ratings of the two readers.
4. Rintisan Sekolah Bertaraf Internasional RSBI International-Based
