چکیده:
The validity and reliability of a schema-based cloze multiple choice item test
(MCIT) as an indirect measure of translation ability was concurrently explored
by administering it with a Persian to English MCIT, and an English to Persian
open ended translation examination (OETE). The results obtained on the
performance of 110 non-native undergraduate university students showed that the
schema-based cloze MCIT had the highest reliability (a = 0.91). The Persian to
English MCIT enjoyed an acceptable degree of reliability (a = 0.84) whereas
English to Persian OETE defied reliability estimates due to its subjective
nature. Although the three tests correlated significantly with each other, they
presented three significantly different measures of translation ability. Since
the schema-based cloze MCIT provided the most reliable measure and correlated
more significantly with its traditional counterpart and since it took less time
to be scored, it is suggested that schema-based cloze MCITs be employed as
indirect measures of translation ability to save time and remove subjectivity in
translation.
خلاصه ماشینی:
Abstract The validity and reliability of a schema-based cloze multiple choice item test (MCIT) as an indirect measure of translation ability was concurrently explored by administering it with a Persian to English MCIT, and an English to Persian open ended translation examination (OETE).
Key words: Schema theory, multiple choice item tests, open ended questions, reliability, validity and practicality __________________________________ * _(تاریخ وصول27/5/81 تایید نهایی13/12/81 ) ** _English Department, Kurdistan University, Sanandaj.
Khodadady (1997) and Khodadady and Herriman (2000), for example, showed that schema-based cloze MCITs correlate significantly with the TOEFL as a measure of English language proficiency.
The schema-based cloze multiple choice item test (MCIT) and the Persian to English MCIT were administered two and one week before the final examination, respectively.
Data Analysis The internal consistency reliability coefficient of schema-based cloze multiple choice item test (MCT) and Persian to English MCIT were estimated by Cronbach Alpha (α).
0001 Conclusion The performance of relatively large number of undergraduate students on schema-based cloze multiple choice item tests (MCITs), traditional MCITs and English to Persian open-ended translation examinations (OETEs) revealed the fact that developing these testing methods on the same seen texts yield significantly different results.
Appendix 1 The schema-based cloze multiple choice item test From its earliest stage, Arabic poetry was the true …(1) of the joy and sorrow, pleasure and pain, love and hatred, …(2) and glory, of those who had lived …(3) centuries in the vastness of the …(4).