Current listening vocabulary tests
Two tests of aural vocabulary knowledge can be found in the second language vocabulary
research literature. The first is Fountain and Nation’s (2000) lexically graded dictation
test, which was designed as the vocabulary component of a placement examination using
five word-frequency levels based on Thorndike and Lorge’s (1944) frequency list.
Although displaying high internal reliability (> .95), it is unclear to what extent the test
measures aural vocabulary knowledge, as it has not been thoroughly analysed and the
test format potentially includes confounding variables such as orthographic knowledge.
The second is the AuralLex (A-Lex) test, which was designed to measure aural vocabulary
size (Milton & Hopkins, 2006). This digitally administered test uses a yes/no format
in which test-takers listen to words selected from the first 5000 lemmatized words from
dated corpora along with pseudowords. Although this test can be administered quickly, it
can be used with learners at any proficiency level, and it correlates with IELTS listening
and speaking subscores at .67 and .71, respectively (Milton et al., 2010), the Lex tests are
‘ideally suited for use in low-stakes environments, where speed and ease of administration
is more important than accuracy’ (Meara, 2005, p. 4). The A-Lex has two potential weaknesses.
First, the target words can be listened to an unlimited number of times, an approach
that is unrepresentative of the on-line processing required in most authentic contexts
(Buck, 2001). Second, it is unclear to what degree examinees know the meaning of each
target word, as distinct from the knowledge of each word’s existence (Read, 2000).