The ways vocabulary are tested
Usually vocabulary can be tested through the following ways: multiple-choice items, associated words,
matching items, word formation test items, items involving synonyms, rearrangement items, and completion items
and so on. Each form of testing has its own advantages and disadvantages. In the most public testing,
multiple-choice items are preferred, for the convenience of scoring and its objectivity. No matter what way is
adopted; vocabulary-testing items can be divided into context-independent items and context-independent items,
when context is concerned. A context-independent vocabulary test presents words to the test-takers in isolation and
requires them to select meanings for the words without reference to any linguistic context. While context-dependent
vocabulary test is designed to assess the test-taker’s ability to take account of contextual information in order to
produce the expected response. In the context-dependent vocabulary tests, context can be sentences or passages.