Testing pronunciation

Answer

  1. Correct Answer: d. comprehensibility
    Explanation: The criterion of accuracy for general tests of pronunciation should focus on how comprehensible the speech is to listeners rather than on perfect mastery or discrimination of sounds. Comprehensibility is crucial in communication, especially in a second language context

1

.

  1. Correct Answer: d. how accurate you expect the students to be
    Explanation: When constructing a pronunciation test, the decision about what to test should not depend solely on expectations of accuracy. Instead, it should consider factors like the students' age, their proficiency level, and what has been taught

2

.

  1. Correct Answer: a. validity
    Explanation: Objective paper-and-pencil tests of pronunciation are often questioned regarding their validity, as they may not accurately reflect a student's actual pronunciation abilities in real-life contexts

3

.

  1. Correct Answer: d. stress patterns
    Explanation: Pronunciation tests typically focus on evaluating students' production and identification of sounds, juncture, and intonation, but they do not specifically assess stress patterns as a standalone category

1

.

  1. Correct Answer: a. juncture
    Explanation: A test of pronunciation can check various aspects including juncture, which refers to the way words are connected in speech, making it an essential element for assessing pronunciation

1

.

  1. Correct Answer: a. level of oral proficiency
    Explanation: An oral repetition test primarily indicates the students' level of oral proficiency by assessing their ability to accurately reproduce spoken language

4

.

  1. Correct Answer: d. control vowel reduction
    Explanation: In advanced students, teachers can focus on less critical areas such as vowel reduction, which may not significantly impact overall intelligibility compared to more critical aspects like sound identification or word stress

2

.

  1. Correct Answer: c. stress and intonation
    Explanation: Many past phonology tests concentrated on stress and intonation rather than solely on phoneme discrimination or overall pronunciation, as these elements are vital for effective communication

3

.

  1. Correct Answer: d. No problem of scoring is observed
    Explanation: While oral repetition tests are easy to prepare because they do not require distracters or clever sentence frames, scoring can still present challenges due to subjective interpretations of pronunciation accuracy

1

.

  1. Correct Answer: b. reading aloud
    Explanation: A test of reading aloud is not considered an alternate form of limited response items because it involves full sentences rather than restricted responses like substitution drills or sentence completions

2

.

  1. Correct Answer: d. listening and speaking skills
    Explanation: The advantage of multiple-choice hearing identification tests lies in their ability to assess both listening and speaking skills simultaneously, making them comprehensive tools for evaluating pronunciation

3

.

  1. Correct Answer: b. limited response
    Explanation: "Stress marking" and "sound-symbol" items are alternate forms used in limited response tests for assessing pronunciation, focusing on specific aspects rather than open-ended responses

1

.

  1. Correct Answer: c. contrastive intonation
    Explanation: Using multiple-choice paraphrase items in pronunciation tests effectively evaluates contrastive intonation by allowing students to demonstrate their understanding of different intonational patterns

2

.

  1. Correct Answer: a. pronunciation
    Explanation: Paper and pencil rhyme words item types are specifically designed to test pronunciation by assessing students' ability to recognize and produce rhyming sounds effectively

4

.

  1. Correct Answer: a. comprehensibility
    Explanation: Similar to question 1, the primary focus for accuracy in general pronunciation tests should be on comprehensibility rather than achieving native-like production or phonetic acceptability

1

3

.

  1. Correct Answer: b. Not all sounds or stress patterns should be tapped
    Explanation: It is not true that all sounds or stress patterns need to be included in pronunciation testing; focusing on high-frequency materials is more practical for assessing real-life communication skills

2

.

  1. Correct Answer: d. test all pronunciation features
    Explanation: One limitation of reading aloud items is that they do not test all features of pronunciation comprehensively; they may focus more on specific aspects like segmental sounds rather than suprasegmental features like intonation and stress