CORPUS ANALYSES OF THE VOCABULARY USED IN ENGLISH TESTING PAPERS DESIGNED FOR JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS

• Main Authors: Yu-Kai Cheng, 鄭玉凱
• Other Authors: Yuang-Shan Chuang
• Format: Others
• Language: en_US
• Published: 2007
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/41361039741202462340

碩士 === 國立高雄師範大學 === 英語學系 === 95 === This paper examines the vocabulary used in the six volumes of three different English testing papers designed for junior high school students in Taiwan. The six volumes of three different English testing papers were published in 2004. They include (1) the “New Challenge Series of English Testing Papers” published by Kang-hsuan, (2) the “Complete English Testing Papers” published by Nan-I, and (3) the “High Standard Testing Papers” published by Han-lin. The research findings are to be regarded as guides for composing as well as selecting testing papers. The study focused on quantitative analyses in terms of six sections. First, the percentages of concept word types in the subtests of each testing paper were compared. Second, the percentages of concept word types among the three testing papers were compared. Third, the overlapping percentages of the high-frequency words in the subtests of each testing paper were examined. Fourth, the overlapping percentages of the high-frequency words among the three testing papers were compared. Fifth, the repetition rate of the new words in the subtests of each testing paper was compared. Finally, the repetition rate of the new words in the subtests among the three testing papers was compared. Six hypotheses are also proposed for the six sections. The findings are listed as follows: 1. There are significant differences in the percentages of concept word types among the subtests of each testing paper, and the percentages of concept word types in the vocabulary tests of each testing paper are all significantly higher than the other subtests. 2. There are significant differences in the percentages of concept word types among the three testing papers. The vocabulary and grammar tests of Han-lin have the significantly highest percentages of concept word types, whereas those of Kang-hsuan have the significantly smallest percentages. On the other hand, the reading comprehension tests of Nan-I contain the significantly largest percentages of concept word types, while those of Kang-hsuan contain the significantly smallest percentages of concept word types. 3. There are significant differences in the overlapping rate of the high-frequency words listed in the comparative corpora among the vocabulary tests, grammar tests, and reading comprehension tests of each testing paper. The vocabulary tests of Kang-hsuan and Han-lin contain significantly larger overlapping percentages of high-frequency words. The grammar tests of Han-lin hold the higher overlapping percentages of high-frequency words. 4. There are significant differences in the overlapping percentages of the high-frequency words listed in the comparative corpora among the vocabulary tests, grammar tests, and reading comprehension tests of the three different testing papers. The vocabulary tests of Nan-I contain significantly higher overlapping percentages of the high-frequency words. In terms of the grammar tests, Han-lin and Nan-I contain significantly larger overlapping percentages of the high-frequency words. In terms of the reading comprehension tests, Han-lin contains the significantly highest overlapping percentages of the high-frequency words. 5. There are significant differences in the repetition rate of the new words among the vocabulary tests, grammar tests, and reading comprehension tests of each testing paper. The reading comprehension tests of each testing paper all contain the significantly highest repetition rate of the new words. 6. There are significant differences in the repetition rate of the new words among vocabulary tests and reading comprehension tests of the three different testing papers. The vocabulary tests of Kang-hsuan contain the significantly highest repetition rate of the new words. In addition, the reading comprehension tests of Nan-I have a significantly higher repetition rate than the other two testing papers. Four pedagogical implications were proposed on the basis of the findings: 1. Students who prefer to use the vocabulary tests to learn the new words that are low-frequent can choose the English testing papers of Kang-hsuan. In addition, the English testing papers of Nan-I are suitable for beginners who prefer to review high-frequency words with the vocabulary tests. Further, students who prefer to use different test contexts to review high-frequency words can choose the English testing papers of Han-lin. 2. English teachers should design different contexts to apply high-frequency words as much as possible when composing the test items to have students practice vocabulary. In addition, the new words that are beyond the students’ level should be repeated frequently. 3. English teachers should compose tests based on student’s needs rather than copying the design of current testing papers. 4. Publishers should conduct corpus-based study to understand and to revise their English testing papers.