Developing a Word Associates Test to Assess L2 Chinese Learners’ Vocabulary Depth

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Abstract

This chapter reports on our development and initial validation of a Word Associates Test (WAT) for assessing the depth of vocabulary knowledge of Chinese as Second/Foreign Language learners. The validation study revealed the Chinese WAT (WAT-C) to be a reliable and valid test. Specifically, the WAT-C’s medium-sized correlations with a vocabulary size measure and its unique predictive effect on reading comprehension suggested that the test, as intended, assessed a distinct aspect of vocabulary knowledge (i.e., depth). Learners’ performance on the WAT-C was significantly better when they were informed on the number of associates (informed condition) than when they were not (uninformed condition). The scores of the WAT-C produced by three different scoring methods consistently predicted reading comprehension significantly in the informed condition as opposed to the uninformed condition. Taken together, these findings suggest that the informed condition may be preferred for administering the WAT-C. Finally, in both conditions, the All-or-Nothing scoring method, which awards a point only if all associates but no distractors are selected, consistently predicted reading comprehension significantly and uniquely, and it also tended to explain more variance in reading comprehension than the One-Point method (i.e., one point awarded for each associate without considering distractor selection) and the Correct-Wrong (i.e., one point awarded for selecting an associate as well as non-selection of a distractor). With consideration of both the strength of predictive validity and the complexity of scoring, the All-or-Nothing method was evaluated to be the best for scoring the WAT-C. Some remaining issues for the future and the implications of the reported work for instruction and classroom assessment of Chinese L2 learners are discussed.

Keywords

Chinese as a second/foreign language Vocabulary depth Word associates test Vocabulary size Reading comprehension 
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Copyright information

© Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2017

Authors and Affiliations

  • Dongbo Zhang
    • 1
  • Xuexue Yang
    • 1
  • Chin-Hsi Lin
    • 1
  • Zheng Gu
    • 1
  1. 1.Michigan State UniversityEast LansingUSA

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