and
confusing words
to avoid

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Humor:
Use the other language selector
om my home page above to go
through my whole site using any
native language you speak,
then use the video above to see and
listen to the same teaching topic in
text below.
الذى فى الاعلى
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my home page above to go to the
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My YouTube Channel: Click: :( Mr. / Girgis H. H).
Testing mistakes
and
confusing words
to avoid
Introduction:
To
some extent, good testing procedure, like good
language use, can be achieved through
avoidance of errors. Almost any language-
instruction program requires the preparation and
administration of tests, and it is only to the extent
that certain common testing mistakes have been
avoided that such tests can be said to be
worthwhile selection, diagnostic, or evaluation
instruments.
Categories of mistakes:
The
common mistakes have been grouped into
four categories as follows:
general examination
characteristics, Item characteristics, test validity
concerns, and administrative and scoring issues.
Five specific mistakes
have been identified under
each of these categories.
General Examination Characteristics
1. Tests which are too difficult or too easy
2. An insufficient number of items
3. Redundancy of test type
4. Lack of confidence measures
5. Negative wash-back through
non-occurrence forms
Item Characteristics
6. Trick questions
7. Redundant wording
8. Divergence cues
9. Convergence cues
10. Option number
Test-Validity Concerns
11 . Mixed content
12. Wrong medium
13. Common knowledge
14. Syllabus mismatch
15. Content matching
Administrative and Scoring Issues
16. Lack of cheating controls
17. Inadequate instructions
18. Administrative inequities
19. Lack of piloting
The 3 worst English grammar
mistakes
The most common written grammatical errors that
should be avoided at all costs:
1: Your when you should write - You're
2: Its when you should write - It's
3: Their when you should write - Their or they're
My own attitude:
There are other mistakes which should be
avoided also, like the following:
1-The test is not smart. I mean the test which is not
subjective/ specific, measurable, actual, reliable and
timed is a wrong test.
2-
A test with no care for individual differences.
The test must include items for learners with special
needs like the slow learners and the gifted ones.
3-A test without the 4 skills. The test must deal with
the4 linguistic skills including listening, speaking,
reading and writing.
4- Just a theoretical test. The test mustn't be only
just a theoretical test. It must measure the practical
learning which learners have conducted. To do is
to apply, to apply is to evaluate and to evaluate is
to learn.
5-Test
of attained information. The test must not
deal with how much
information the learner has
learnt by heart without comprehension. It
must
measure the critical thinking of learners.
I mean the learner's
ability to analyze,
compose and evaluate.
Confusing English words
Accept v Except
Accept is a verb. Pronunciation is /əkˈsept/
1) to receive, to agree to take something
The packet was accepted by someone working in the office reception
I accept your apology
2) to say yes to an offer
They gave her a bigger salary, so she accepted the job in London.
Except is a conjunction or preposition. Pronunciation is /ɪkˈsept/
Everyone was at the meeting this morning except Alex.
The library is open every day except for Sunday.
Affect v Effect
AFFECT is a verb: Pronunciation /əˈfekt/
Affect means 'to change or influence something'
Will the new rules affect me?
The medicine affects my grandad's heart rate so
that it doesn't speed up too much.
She was deeply affected by the death of her
mum... they were very close.
EFFECT is a noun: Pronunciation /ɪˈfekt/
Effect means 'a change that is produced in one
thing by another'
Diesel engine pollution has a damaging effect
on the environment
Yoga can reduce the effects of modern-day
stressful lifestyles.
The new tax laws will come into effect on the
1st January.
PLEASE NOTE: effect can also be a verb,
(Example:
'They effected radical change in the
company') but
it is not used very much these days and mainly
just in Business English writing)
EFFECT vs AFFECT SENTENCE
If you can remember this sentence, it might help you
remember that effect is a noun and affect is a verb.
The effect of the alcohol affected him quite strongly.
Breath v Breathe
'a breath' is a noun, 'to breathe' is a verb
Different pronunciation: breath /breθ/ vs to
breathe /briːð/
BREATH (noun): Take a deep breath! / After my run
this morning
I was really out of breath.
BREATHE (VERB): I've just eaten some garlic,
so I'm sorry if I'm breathing all over you. / Breathe
deeply and try to relax
Borrow v Lend
to BORROW: someone TAKES something (for a
temporary period, not permanently) from somebody
else to LEND: someone GIVES something
(temporarily, not for ever) to somebody.
Could I just borrow your pen for a minute?
I will lend you the money but I need it back by Friday,
OK?
Desert v Dessert
Note that these two words have 3 different
meanings and 2 different sounds
DESERT (WITH ONE 'S')
desert (noun): /ˈdezət/ - a large hot place with sand
and no rain
The Sahara is the largest hot desert in the world.
to desert (verb): /dɪˈzɜːt/ - to leave someone
behind/ without help or to run away from the army
DESSERT (WITH TWO 'S')
/dɪˈzɜːt/ - The sweet sugary food that you eat
at the end of a meal
Its v It's
It's (with an apostrophe): the short way of writing
it is It's so nice to meet you. / You won't need
your jacket it's really warm outside.
Its (no apostrophe): belonging to 'it', like his/her
shows belonging to he/she
My dog plays with its favourite toy every night.
Lose v Loose
'to lose' is a verb - /luːz/ (rhyming with SNOOZE) -
the opposite of 'to win'
We can't lose any more games this season
if we want to win the league.
'loose' is an adjective - /luːs/ (rhyming with MOOSE) -
the opposite of 'tight', or not constricted or contained
Last year I lost a lot 10 kilos and now my jeans are really
loose around my waist.
Of v Off
OFF - is the opposite of 'on'. Pronunciation is /ɒf/
Examples:
Please turn off the lights when you leave.
(Here, off is a preposition and forms a phrasal verb)
SGI is just off Oxford Street... only 5 mins walk
from Oxford Circus. (Here, off is a preposition)
After the accident the car just drove off!
(Here, off is an adverb)
Ooh God, this milk is off - it smells awful!
(Here, off is an adjective)
OF - has lots and lots of meanings and uses.
Pronunciation is /əv/
Examples:
She always takes up more than her side of the bed.
The colour of that house is really interesting.
I don't really know him. He's just a friend of a friend.
Of course!
Practice v Practise
In British English, there is a different spelling -
practice (with a 'c') is a noun and to practise
(with an 's') is a verb.
Both spelling variations have exactly the same
pronunciation: /ˈpræktɪs/
NOUN: John broke his leg in football practice last
night / Practice makes perfect!
VERB: She practises the violin for 4 hours a day /
As a parent it's hard to practise what you preach.
Stationary v Stationery
Stationary (with an 'a') means 'not moving'
Stationery (with an 'e') is paper, pens, pencils,
envelopes that are used for writing
Both words are pronounced /ˈsteɪʃnriː/ or
/ˈsteɪʃənriː/
Both ways of saying the words are correct and
depends on where the speaker grew up, not on
which version/meaning of the word they are saying.
Their v There v They're
THEIR (determiner): /ðeə/ Meaning: belonging to
'they', a group of people - Is that their car?
THERE (function word): /ðeə/ Can be used as a
pronoun, adverb, or as an interjection.
Pronoun (to introduce the subject of the sentence):
There's a strange man knocking on the window
downstairs.
Adverb: Have a seat there and I'll be back in a
minute
Interjection: There, that wasn't too bad, was it?
THEY'RE (contraction - short form way of writing
'they are'):
The thing I don't like about The Rolling Stones
is that they're too old!
To v Too v Two
TO (preposition) meaning 'in the direction of'
TOO (adverb) meaning also / more than enough /
extremely. TWO is a number.
English Teaching Forum 2004,
Volume 42, Issue 1