22. Workshop on Preparation of Model Diagnostic Test

[Kerala University English Teacher Educator’s Forum - KUETEF]


Stage 1 : Briefing of consensus regarding Diagnostic Test arrived at during the previous meeting was done by the Secretary.

Stage 2 : Finalizing the list of areas to be tested:

It was earlier decided to focus on the following areas in preparing Diagnostic Test :

Vocabulary, Spelling, Grammar, Paragraph Writing and Comprehension .The difficulty in scoring an open- ended question in a Diagnostic Test when a Diagnostic Chart is made use of was pointed out by a few members. This related to the evaluation of open ended answers for Paragraph Writing for a Diagnostic test. Hence it was decided to have five questions to test Writing ability, instead of Paragraph Writing. The questions on writing should focus on 1. ability to communicate, 2. Choice of vocabulary and 3. Punctuation.

The members in groups started preparing sample questions- five each for Vocabulary, Spelling, Grammar, Writing, Comprehension .


Stage 3: Finalizing the number of questions and the content for testing

It was decided that each question of the Diagnostic test was to carry one mark and the total number of multiple choice questions was to be limited to 25. The content on which the questions are to be set during the First Spell should be those topics taught to the pupils in schools by teachers prior to the commencement of Practice Teaching. If the pupils have not been taught anything owing to a vacancy in the English teacher’s post in the school, the questions could be set based on the last Unit of the Course Book which the pupils were taught.

The content on which the questions are to be set during the Second Spell should be the topics taught by the trainee in the first ten days of Spell 2 of Practice Teaching.

Given below are a few questions on the five areas prepared by the members based on the first unit of Book 2 of the Standard VIII Course Book.

Vocabulary [Prepared by Ms. Rany & Ms. Chitra]

Choose the correct answer:
1. …………… means ‘to touch lightly’ (detect, brush, stamp)

2. The opposite of symmetry is ……………………..
( asymmetry, unsymmetry, insymmetry)
3. ‘Marvellous’ means ……………
( immediately, wonderful, very big)

4. The thief ……….. over the fence.
(leapt, came, found)

5. Find the odd one from the bracket ……………………
( shriek, howl, murmur)

Spelling [Prepared by Ms. Durga & Ms. Shylaja]

Choose the correct answer to fill in the blanks

1. Harrison Bergeron is a ………………(genius, genesis)

2. The rain ………………….. and the sky became clear. (seized, ceased)

3. When the fight began, there was barking cries of co _ s _ er _ a _ io _
(ntntn, nttnn, nnntt)

4. The dance programme on television was suddenly _ nt _ r _ u _ t _ d
for a news bulletin ( ierpe, irpee, riepe)

5. Rearrange the letters b o a n a d n to given meaning to give up
( abandon, bandnon, andbnon)

Grammar [Prepared by Ms. Anila & Ms. Meenakshy]

For 1 to 3 Choose the correct answer to fill in the blanks

1. Time and tide ………………. for no man. (wait, waits)

2. Write the ‘-er’ form of the word ‘good’ .........

3. They went to school ……….. foot ( by , on, of )

4. Rewrite the sentence beginning ‘A letter……..
She writes a letter.

5. I didn’t notice it any more,………….? Add a suitable Question Tag


Writing [Prepared by Mrs. Annie K. Oommen & Mr. Scaria]

For 1 and 2 Choose the correct answer:

1. Harrison Bergeron was arrested because he………
( genius, was a genius , look genius)

2. When the astronauts were ready, the rocket………………..
( blasted off, exploded off, launched off)

3. Punctuate
Second Astronaut : Stop that kind of talk will you We ll make it and we ll be
heroes

4. Why did the first astronaut take the taped music with him?

5. “Why don’t you rest your handicap bag on the pillows?” What does ‘handicap bag’ refer to?


Comprehension [Prepared by Ms Sangeetha, Ms. Susan George & Ms. Raji V.R]


State whether the following sentences are True/ False:

1. Harrison Bergeron was arrested for his extraordinary genius.

2. In the poem ‘The Bat’ it is stated that the bat’s fingers make a hat about his head.

3. ‘Sugarcane’ is described as the syrup of the earth in the poem ‘Sugarfields’.

4. Like human beings the bat sleeps at night.

5. The story of Harrison Bergeron is set in the year 2018.