1. Testing in a College Language Classroom
Jennifer Sheridan Moss
Wayne State University

2. College vs. High School Latin/Greek Class
Vast majority are grammar-based
Do not teach or test etymology directly
Do not teach or test “culture” directly
Individual instructors usually free to teach/test as they see fit

3. Test Content ELEMENTARY INTERMEDIATE ADVANCED Paradigms ✔ Vocabulary
Identification of forms
Identification of syntax
Translation (unseen)
Comprehension/Summary
Essays on text read
Translation (seen)
Complex essays

4. Paradigms

5. Vocabulary

6. Identification of Forms in Context

7. Identification of Syntax

8. Translation (unseen)
I. Sight-Reading Translate the following Caesarian sentence. If you don’t remember all the vocabulary, indicate whether you know how the word fits into the syntax. If you can’t translate at all, at least chunk the sentence and explain as much grammar as possible. [Helvetii] Postero die castra ex eo loco movent. Idem facit Caesar, equitatumque omnem, ad numerum quattuor milium, quem ex omni provincia et Aeduis atque eorum sociis coactum habebat, praemittit, qui videant quas in partes hostes iter faciant. (BG ) [Aedui, -orum, a Gallic tribe]

9. Translation (seen)
1) Translate 1 (one) of the following passages from Cicero’s In Catilinam I. Be as literal as you can, while approaching good English. When in doubt, make sure I know that you understand the grammar.
A) quae cum ita sint, Catilina, dubitas, si emori aequo animo non potes, abire in aliquas terras
et vitam istam, multis suppliciis iustis debitisque ereptam, fugae solitudinique mandare?
“refer,” inquis, “ad senatum.” id enim postulas et, si hic ordo sibi placere decreverit te ire
in exsilium, obtemperaturum te esse dicis. (VIII ) [51 points]
B) habes, ubi ostentes tuam illam praeclaram patientiam famis, frigoris, inopiae rerum omnium, quibus te brevi tempore confectum esse senties. tantum profeci tum, cum te a consulatu reppuli,
ut exsul potius temptare quam consul vexare rem publicam posses, atque ut id, quod esset a te scelerate susceptum, latrocinium potius quam bellum nominaretur. (X ) [51 points]
C) quamquam non nulli sunt in hoc ordine, qui aut ea quae imminent non videant,
aut ea quae vident dissmulent; qui spem Catilinae mollibus sententiis aluerunt
coniurationemque nascentem non credendo corroboraverunt; quorum auctoritate multi,
non solum improbi, verum etiam imperiti, si in hunc animadvertissem, crudeliter et regie
factum esse dicerent. (XII ) [50 points]

10. Comprehension/Summary
Don’t translate this passage, but restate it’s meaning in your own words:
'Parce metu, Cytherea: manent immota tuorum
fata tibi; cernes urbem et promissa Lavini
moenia, sublimemque feres ad sidera caeli
magnanimum Aenean; neque me sententia vertit

11. Comprehension/Summary
Draw a picture of the wings that Daedalus creates, based on the passage that follows:
nam ponit in ordine pennas
a minima coeptas, longam breviore sequenti,               190
ut clivo crevisse putes: sic rustica quondam
fistula disparibus paulatim surgit avenis;
tum lino medias et ceris alligat imas
atque ita conpositas parvo curvamine flectit,
ut veras imitetur aves.

12. Simple Essays
How do you interpret the episode of the murder of Horatia and the trial of Horatius for treason? Livy obviously skipped over many parts of the oral tradition, so why did he include this story?

13. Complex Essays

14. Questions we generally do not ask
English to Latin translation
Multiple choice
Circle the best translation for the following (Lat-Eng or Eng-Lat):
loquī I speak to speak I spoke
The god fills their sails with winds. cum ventīs ventīs ventōs

15. Bloom’s Taxonomy Complex essays Seen translation? Simple essays
Unseens & Comprehension
Form & Function
Paradigms &Vocab

16. Constructivist Continuum of Expertise
paradigms
vocabulary
Form/function
Unseens
Comprehension
Essays
Novice
Advanced
Expert
Don’t see patterns
Well-organized knowledge

17. Problem:
Learning the patterns of Latin/Greek is as important as memorizing forms.

18. Solution: Test knowledge of patterns on quizzes/tests
Give unfamiliar words and ask for form identification based on patterns:
What person/number is perstringimus? What part of the word tells you that?
Ask students to dissect forms for information:
In the word dicebant, explain how the three parts of the word tell you what conjugation it belongs to, its tense, and it’s person/number: dice/ba/nt
Ask about expectations of syntax:
What word would you expect right after a preposition? Which two cases is that world likely to be in? or: Will a sentence with a verb of motion have a direct object?

19. College classes have virtually no formative assessment
Problem:
College classes have virtually no formative assessment

20. Solution: Add formative assessment to quizzes/tests
Structure quizzes to better reflect mastery of recent chapters and provide actual feedback
Formative assessment via online testing?

21. Thanks!
Tom Kohn, Wayne State University Davina McClain, Northwestern State University Susan Shelmerdine, UNC Greenville