16 known language items, should be message-focused, should involve substantial
quantities of input and output and should involve some pressure to perform faster than usual Nation in Nunan, 2003.
b. Vocabulary in the Classroom
1. Focus on the Most Useful Vocabulary First
Teacher needs to check whether the texts being used are suitable with students’ level. To know the level, teacher needs to check the list of the high
frequency words Nation in Nunan, 2003.
2. Focus on the Vocabulary in the Most Appropriate Way
To tell the students about the meaning of the high frequency and low frequency words, teacher needs to have different approaches. To tell the low
frequency words, teacher may translate the words directly. However, to tell the high frequency words, teacher needs to give examples in contexts and ask the
students to guess. As a result, learners will know the meaning by themselves and will be encouraged to learn Nation in Nunan, 2003.
4. Vocabulary Assessment
There are two contrasting perspectives on the role of vocabulary in language assessment. The first point of view sees that it is very rationale to create
tests to measure whether learners know the meaning and usage of a set of words, taken as independent semantic units. On the other hand, the second point of view
believes that vocabulary must always be assessed in the context of language-use
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17 task. Therefore, it always interacts, in natural way, with other components of
language knowledge. These perspectives have different purposes. The first type of test is used by
classroom teachers to assess the progress in vocabulary learning and to diagnosing the area of weakness. Then, researchers in second language acquisition with
special interest in how learners develop their knowledge of, and ability to use, target language words also use the first type of test. In contrary, other researchers
tend to be more concern with the design of tests that assess learners’ achievement or proficiency Read, 2000.
a. Dimensions of Vocabulary Assessment
There are some distinctions between the two perspectives. The distinction is broken down into three dimensions Read, 2000. Those three dimensions are
mentioned below:
1. Discrete – embedded
The first dimension focuses on the construct underlying the assessment instrument. In the case of traditional vocabulary test, construct means vocabulary
knowledge. To measure students’ vocabulary knowledge, there are two types of tests, namely discrete and embedded. Discrete test puts vocabulary knowledge is a
distinct construct, separated from other components of language competence. This type of test is taken because teacher wants to interpret the scores on a vocabulary
test as a measurement of learners’ vocabulary knowledge on, for example, the previous units, deriving forms of base words scientist and scientific from
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18 science, or inferring the meaning of unknown words in a reading passage.
However, the validity of discrete test is still debatable. In contrast, embedded test includes larger components of language
competence such as academic writing and comprehension questions to measure whether or not the students really comprehend the reading passage. It is different
from discrete test for the score is taken together with measuring students’ ability in writing, reading, or other English skills.
Discrete A measure of
vocabulary knowledge or use as an
independent construct Embedded
A measure of vocabulary which
forms part of the assessment of some
other larger construct
Selective A measure in which
specific vocabulary items are the focus of
the assessment Comprehensive
A measure which takes account of the whole
vocabulary content of the input material
reading listening tasks or the test-
taker’s response writing speaking
tasks
Context-independent A vocabulary measure
in which the test-taker can produce the
expected response without referring to
any context Context-dependent
A vocabulary measure which assess the test-
taker’s ability to take account of contextual
information in order to produce the expected
response
Figure 2.1. Dimensions of Vocabulary Assessment
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19
2. Selective – Comprehensive
