English Grammar and Composition chapter 13: Guidelines for Question Setters

Guidelines for question setters and markers for English

1. Multiple Choice Questions (MCQ)

MCQ can be set for testing a number of strategies and skills related to reading such as scanning, skimming, reading for gist, inferencing (guessing the meaning from the context) comprehension check etc. Each MCQ item will carry ½ mark. However, depending on the level of difficulty some items may have 1 mark as well.

In preparing MCQ item, question setters will make sure that learners have to apply certain skills or strategies of reading in order to be able to choose the right options. Depending on the level of the learners, items will be set to test learners' lower order thinking skills (knowing and understanding) as well as higher order and more critical thinking (analyzing, synthesizing, and evaluating). Use synonyms in the questions to avoid quoting directly from the original passage. Make the questions a bit round about so that learners think.

For example :

Text : The Great Wall of China, one of the greatest wonders of the world, was first built between 220-206 BC.

Question : When was the Great Wall first built? (Don't make this type of question. Student will just get the answer from the question paper as 'was born' is common in both the text in the question paper and the answer.)

Question : What is the initial construction period of the Great Wall? (This question is Okay as learners has to understand that 'was built' and 'construction period' are same.)

Students will write the question number and then write only a/b/c/d that refers to the correct answer. Whole sentence from the question paper is not required.

The same text can be used for guessing the meaning from the context and Question Answer (open ended and close ended). However, the same text cannot be used for Question-Answer and True/False. Depending on difficulty level and text length, information transfer and True/False questions can be set from the same text or from two different texts. Two different texts are preferable to a single text.

Please note the following points while setting MCQ test items :

• Phrase stems as clearly as possible. Confusing questions can generate wrong answers from students who do understand the material.

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• Avoid redundant words and phrases in the stem. Extraneous details make a question more complex and less reliable.

• Include any language in the stem that you would have to repeat in each answer option.

• Options should be similar in length and structure.

• The number of answer options should not be more than four.

• Distracters must be incorrect, but plausible. Try to include among the distracters options that contain common errors.

• To make distracters more plausible, use words that is familiar to students.

• If a recognizable key word appears in the correct answer, it should appear in some or all of the distracters as well. Don't let a verbal clue decrease the validity of your exam.

• Avoid using extreme or vague words in the answers. Use rarely extreme words like all, always and never or vague words or phrases like usually, typically and may be in the answers.

• Avoid using All of the above or None of the above as an answer choice.

In designing MCQs the following class wise guidelines have to be followed.

MCQ for Class Six and Seven

Altogether 10 MCQs will be set. Each MCQ will have ½ mark (or half mark) for a correct answer. There should be 6 MCQs on vocabulary test (guessing meaning from the context) and 4 MCQs on answering questions (scanning for specific information, search reading, deducing the meaning of unfamiliar words). Thus the marks distribution will be:

Vocabulary $\frac{1}{2} \times 6 = 3$

Questions $\frac{1}{2} \times 4 = 2$

Total $= 5$

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2. True/False

True-false questions are typically used to measure the ability to identify whether statements of fact are correct. The questions are usually a declarative statement that the student must judge as true or false. Follow the general guidelines below while writing True/False items for your students:

• Base the item on a single idea.
• Write items that test an important idea.
• Avoid lifting statements right from the text.
• Make the statements as brief as possible.
• Write clearly true or clearly false statements.
• Try to avoid such words as all, always, never, only, nothing, and alone.
• The use of words like more, less, important, unimportant, large, small, recent, old, tall, great, and so on, can easily lead to ambiguity.
• State items positively. Negative statements may be difficult to interpret. This is especially true of statements using the double negative. If a negative word, such as "not" or "never," is used, be sure to underline or capitalize it.
• Beware of detectable answer patterns.

3. Matching

There is no need of a separate reading text for matching. The question itself will have a context after the texts in part A and part B are properly matched. The numbering of texts in column A can be i. ii. iii, iv ….. and the texts in column B can be a, b, c, d…….. Students only need to match the numbering in the two columns, e.g i, ii, iii, iv etc. (in column A) and a, b. c. d etc. (in column B). You can also use 3 columns with texts to match.

4. Gap filling with or without clues

The text in the gap filling activity is separate and complete. The text for this item will have a meaningful context too. There will be five gaps in the text. The gaps can be used for article, preposition, or any other parts of speech without verb as there is separate test for it. A question setter will choose one particular item mentioned earlier to set a question and use a gap at the particular place. For example, if the question setter wants to test the article, then there will be a gap at the position of a, an, the or before a noun that does not take any article. For a question of 3 marks, there will be six gaps in the text; for 4, there will be 8 gaps; and for 5 marks there will be ten gaps.

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Follow the guidelines while writing gap filling test items:

• Prepare a scoring key that contains all acceptable answers for each item.
• Prefer single word or short phrase answers.
• Beware of open questions that invite unexpected but reasonable answers.
• Make all the blanks of an equal length.
• Avoid grammatical clues such as "an."
• Place the blanks near the end of the statement. Try to present a complete or nearly complete statement before calling for a response.
• Limit the number of blanks to one or two per sentence. Statements with too many blanks waste time as students figure out what is being asked.
• If a numerical answer is called for, indicate the units (e.g. currency) in which it is to be expressed.

5. Cloze test with/without clues

A cloze test is a fill-in-the-blank activity that assesses students' comprehension of vocabulary and reading passages or knowledge of grammatical items. In cloze tests there are recurrent gaps at every 4th, 5th, 6th or 7th word. If the first gap, for example, is used at the 5th place, all through the text the gap will be at the 5th place. Unlike the gap filling activity that tests a particular grammar item (e.g. preposition, article, pronoun, or verb), it is a test for vocabulary (key words) in general. This is why, gap filling activity in the reading section is usually a cloze test. In contrast, gap filling activity is a merely a grammar test item.

A cloze test with 5 marks will have ten gaps (.5 for each gap). Considering the level of difficulty cloze tests without clues at grade 10 can have 5 gaps (1 mark for each gap).

In answering the question, an examinee does not need to reproduce the text in the answer script. Writing the missing word with the corresponding question number is enough. However, the whole text with suitable words in the gaps will neither earn any extra credit or discredit.