1. Developing a prototype of Online Adaptive Vocabulary Test:
A preliminary report
by Wen-shuenn Wu (吳文舜)
Chung Hua University (CHU)

2. The status quo of General English at CHU
Online English linear placement test was first used in September, 2001.
Advantages:
fast
technical support
Disadvantages:
expensive
no control on questions
NT$150~180/
one person
one time
1,500 students
x NT$150 x 3 =
NT$ 810,000
2018/11/18

3. Original ideas (1) CAT (computer adaptive test)
“Thus, in a CAT, each examinee’s first item is usually of a projective medium-difficulty level for the test population. If the examinee responds correctly, the next item received is more difficult. If, however, the examinee misses the item, an easier question is presented in turn.” (Patricia A. Dunkel, 1999)
2018/11/18

4. Original ideas (2) Level 5 Level 4 Level 3 Level 2 Level 1 15 minutes
+3 items
in a row
15 minutes
Level 5
+3 items
in a row
15 minutes
Level 4
Level 3
Level 2
-3 items
in a row
Level 1
15 minutes
-3 items
in a row
15 minutes
2018/11/18

5. Online Adaptive Vocabulary Test (OAVT)
the first stage of a web-based adaptive English placement test system
vocabulary  grammar / sentence structure  listening  reading comprehension
2018/11/18

6. Classification of word list
Collins COBUILD English Dictionary for Advanced Learners (2001): frequency bands (◆◆◆◆◆  ◆)
Macmillan English Dictionary for Advanced Learners of American English (2002): the most frequent words in English (★★★ ★)
Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English (red entry)
2018/11/18

7. Levels of Word List (1) Level 0:
basic and the most frequently used words (e.g. and, I, my, the, etc.)
Level 1:
Collin COBUILD English Dictionary frequency band 5 ◆◆◆◆◆ and frequency band 4 ◆◆◆◆
2018/11/18

8. Levels of Word List (2) Level 2:
Longman Dictionary W1, S1, W2, S2, W3, S3 (-- Collin COBUILD English Dictionary◆◆◆◆◆ and ◆◆◆◆)
Level 3:
(A) Collin COBUILD English Dictionary frequency band 3 ◆◆◆ (-- Longman Dictionary S1, S2, S3, W1, W2, W3)
(B) Macmillan English Dictionary ★★ (and ★★★ if not in Level 1 and 2)
2018/11/18

9. Levels of Word List (3) Level 4: (A) Macmillan English Dictionary ★
(B) Collin COBUILD English Dictionary frequency band 2 ◆◆
Level 5:
Collin COBUILD English Dictionary frequency band 1 ◆
2018/11/18

10. Numbers of Word List level 1 2 3 4 5 stem derivatives (word family)1 2 3 4 5
stem
141
words
1,567
1,548
1,179
2,670
6,198
derivatives
(word family)
3,864
3,435
2,583
6,038
13,066
2018/11/18

11. Definition of item code
Code 5: Specification
1: recognition
2: collocation
3: context clue
4: synonymous clue
5: ESP
6: spelling
7: unclassified
Code 6~7: Category
1: general
2: business
3: science
4: medicine
5: law
Code 8: part of speech
1: verb
2: noun
3: adjective
4: adverb
5: phrase
6: idiom
Code 9: N
Code 10~15: serial number
000001~999999
V N000001
Code 2~4: Level
-3 <= b <= +3
b: difficulty parameter
code 2: 1(+); 0(-)
Code 1: Type
V: vocabulary
G: grammar
L: listening
R: reading
2018/11/18

12. Test-stopping rules
An adaptive test terminates when one or more of the following stopping rules is met: (Wainer, 1990)
(A) when a target measurement precision level has been attained
(B) when a pre-selected number of items has been given
(C) when a predetermined amount of time has elapsed
2018/11/18

13. Interdisciplinary study of IRT-based Online Adaptive English Test
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14. Demo
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