The Bilingual Vocabulary Size Test for Vietnamese Learners: Reliability and Use in Placement Testing.

Saved in:

Bibliographic Details
Title:	The Bilingual Vocabulary Size Test for Vietnamese Learners: Reliability and Use in Placement Testing.
Authors:	GEE, Roger W.¹, NGUYEN, Le T. C.²
Source:	Asian Journal of English Language Teaching. 2015, Vol. 25, p63-80. 18p.
Subject Terms:	Vocabulary tests, Placement testing in universities & colleges, Vietnamese students
Abstract:	To be useful, placement tests need to be both reliable and practical. Placement tests must be reliable in order to have confidence in the results. They must be practical in terms of expense, in the time required to administer and mark the test, and in the ease with which the results are interpreted (Nation & Macalister, 2010, p. 120). This article reports on the use of a freely available test, the Bilingual Vocabulary Size Test for Vietnamese Learners (BVSTV), and its use and modification as a reliable and practical placement test. The study involved 147 Vietnamese university graduates of various academic backgrounds. The participants sat the BVSTV as part of placement testing prior to participating in an intensive four-week, 100-hour English program. The results of the study indicate that a shortened version of the BVSTV containing the words from the first eight frequency levels could be used for vocabulary assessment in placement testing. It is reliable and the first eight levels are sufficient for use of partial knowledge at high-frequency word levels while avoiding random guessing at low-frequency word levels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
	Copyright of Asian Journal of English Language Teaching is the property of Chinese University Press and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)
Database:	Education Research Complete

Description
Abstract:	To be useful, placement tests need to be both reliable and practical. Placement tests must be reliable in order to have confidence in the results. They must be practical in terms of expense, in the time required to administer and mark the test, and in the ease with which the results are interpreted (Nation & Macalister, 2010, p. 120). This article reports on the use of a freely available test, the Bilingual Vocabulary Size Test for Vietnamese Learners (BVSTV), and its use and modification as a reliable and practical placement test. The study involved 147 Vietnamese university graduates of various academic backgrounds. The participants sat the BVSTV as part of placement testing prior to participating in an intensive four-week, 100-hour English program. The results of the study indicate that a shortened version of the BVSTV containing the words from the first eight frequency levels could be used for vocabulary assessment in placement testing. It is reliable and the first eight levels are sufficient for use of partial knowledge at high-frequency word levels while avoiding random guessing at low-frequency word levels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
ISSN:	10262652