Abstract
D.Litt.et Phil. (African Languages)
1. The aim of the study
The primary aim of this study was to ascertain whether or not a multiple-choice test
can effectively assess English mother-tongue competence. Because the testing of
language is at issue, the study was approached from an applied linguistic perspective.
2. The method of investigation
2.1. Uterature study. A review of the literature relating to the following topics
was performed: (i) mother-tongue competence; (ii) language skills and in
particular, the skills inherent in reading; (iii) the communicative approach to
language teaching and testing; (iv) multiple-choice testing; and (v) test validity.
2.2. Empirical research work. Each of the four South African provincial
education departments within the Department of Education and Culture: House
of Assembly was called upon to compile three traditional English First Language
papers for the trial matriculation examinations. A single item bank test of one
hundred and fifty pretested multiple-choice questions was compiled for the
same examination period. Pupils from the four provinces wrote the traditional
papers which were set for their provinces. In other words, the pupils from each
province wrote a separate set of traditional papers. In contrast, the same item
bank test was written by all 9456 matriculants involved in the project. .
3. Findings
The study revealed that the skills inherent in the four language modes of reading,
writing, speaking and listening overlap each other to such an extent that it is virtually
impossible to separate them for testing purposes.
The validity coefficients of the combined scores of the three traditional papers and the
total scores of the item bank test were consistently satisfactory for all four education