by Wen-shuenn Wu (吳文舜)

Chung Hua University (CHU)

wswu@chu.edu.tw
http://www.chu.edu.tw/~wswu
 The status quo of General
English at CHU
• Online English linear placement test was
first used in September, 2001.
• Advantages: NT$150~180/
– fast one person
– technical support one time
• Disadvantages: 1,500 students
– expensive x NT$150 x 3 =
– no control on questions NT$ 810,000
2019/3/19 2
 Original ideas (1)
• CAT (computer adaptive test)
• “Thus, in a CAT, each examinee’s first
item is usually of a projective medium-
difficulty level for the test population. If
the examinee responds correctly, the
next item received is more difficult. If,
however, the examinee misses the item,
an easier question is presented in turn.”
(Patricia A. Dunkel, 1999)
2019/3/19 3
 Original ideas (2)
15 minutes
+3 items
15 minutes in a row
+3 items Level 5
15 minutes in a row
Level 4
Level 3

-3 items Level 2
in a row
Level 1
15 minutes -3 items
in a row
15 minutes

2019/3/19 4
 Online Adaptive Vocabulary
Test (OAVT)
• the first stage of a web-based adaptive
English placement test system
• vocabulary  grammar / sentence
structure  listening  reading
comprehension

2019/3/19 5
Classification of word list
• Collins COBUILD English Dictionary for
Advanced Learners (2001): frequency
bands (◆◆◆◆◆  ◆)
• Macmillan English Dictionary for
Advanced Learners of American English
(2002): the most frequent words in
English (★★★ ★)
• Longman Dictionary of Contemporary
English (red entry)
2019/3/19 6
 Levels of Word List (1)
• Level 0:
basic and the most frequently used
words (e.g. and, I, my, the, etc.)
• Level 1:
Collin COBUILD English Dictionary
frequency band 5 ◆◆◆◆◆ and
frequency band 4 ◆◆◆◆

2019/3/19 7
 Levels of Word List (2)
• Level 2:
Longman Dictionary W1, S1, W2, S2, W3,
S3 (-- Collin COBUILD English
Dictionary◆◆◆◆◆ and ◆◆◆◆)
• Level 3:
(A) Collin COBUILD English Dictionary
frequency band 3 ◆◆◆ (-- Longman
Dictionary S1, S2, S3, W1, W2, W3)
(B) Macmillan English Dictionary ★★
(and ★★★ if not in Level 1 and 2)
2019/3/19 8
 Levels of Word List (3)
• Level 4:
(A) Macmillan English Dictionary ★
(B) Collin COBUILD English Dictionary
frequency band 2 ◆◆

• Level 5:
• Collin COBUILD English Dictionary
frequency band 1 ◆
2019/3/19 9
 Numbers of Word List
level 0 1 2 3 4 5
stem 141 1,567 1,548 1,179 2,670 6,198
words words words words words words

derivatives 3,864 3,435 2,583 6,038 13,066

(word family) words words words words words

2019/3/19 10
 Definition of item code
Code 6~7:
5:
8: Specification
9: part
N Category
of
Code
speech 1: Type
2~4: Level
1:
Code
recognition
general
10~15: serial
V:
-3 vocabulary
<=
1:number
verb b <= +3
2: collocation
business
G:
b: grammar
difficulty
V1262022N000001 000001~999999
2: science
noun clue
3: context
parameter
L: listening
3: medicine
adjective
4: synonymous
code clue
2: 1(+); 0(-)
R:
4: law reading
adverb
5: ESP
5: spelling
6: phrase
6: unclassified
7: idiom
2019/3/19 11
 Test-stopping rules
• An adaptive test terminates when one or
more of the following stopping rules is
met: (Wainer, 1990)
(A) when a target measurement precision
level has been attained
(B) when a pre-selected number of items
has been given
(C) when a predetermined amount of time
has elapsed
2019/3/19 12
Interdisciplinary study of IRT-based Online
Adaptive English Test
Validity Question Items Reliability

English
Dept

Computer Math
Science Dept
Dept IRT logistical
Programming
models
User Interface
Statistical Analysis
Server
Test Security
Maintenance

2019/3/19 13
2019/3/19 14
2019/3/19 15
2019/3/19 16
2019/3/19 17
2019/3/19 18
2019/3/19 19
2019/3/19 20
2019/3/19 21
2019/3/19 22
2019/3/19 23
2019/3/19 24
2019/3/19 25
2019/3/19 26
2019/3/19 27
2019/3/19 28
2019/3/19 29
2019/3/19 30
2019/3/19 31
2019/3/19 32