Wolter, B. (2002). Assessing proficiency through word association: Is there still hope? System, 30, 315-329. Institute of Language and Culture Studies, Sapporo, Japan: Hokkaido University Press.

Population: Two classes of undergraduate students at Hakkaido University.

Size: 41. However, only 30 were counted due to one inconsistency and 10 students not finishing the C-test. The size of the native-speaking control group was 42.

Duration: One week. During session one, students were given four paragraph-style C-tests. During the second session, all were given word-association tests. 30 minutes were allotted to both. Lemmatization was amply accounted for.

Details: Since the TOEFL test was not an option, Wolter needed to use “a testing format which (1) had the ability to assess overall proficiency, (2) has been shown to be reliable and valid, and (3) can be completed in a relatively short time.” It is for this reason that Wolter decided to use a C-test (Klein-Braley and Raatz, 1989). According to Babaii and Ansary (2001), the C-test that Wolter constructed had an internal reliability of a=0.93 and a validity ratio to the TOEFL of 0.88 . . . both very high, indeed. To assure that the chosen four short tests were of average difficulty, they were first screened using the Flesch readability index. At conclusion, a KR-21 test of internal consistency revealed a reliability figure (for the set) of 0.86. Finally, both C-test and WAT scores were tabulated for each participant and submitted to a Pearson-r correlation test. Upon comparing the various weighted and non-weighted scores with the simple “one point for every response that appeared in the normative data,” it was concluded that the word-association test was not nearly as reliable as the C-test. As expected, the native-speaking group “performed significantly better on both the weighted and non-weighted stereotypy scores. The remainder of Wolter’s paper dealt with “whether it was worth [further] pursuing a word association/proficiency test.”

Conclusions: Presently, the Word-Association Test (WAT) is not a reliable means of measuring proficiency in a foreign language. Wolter’s hope is that we learn to modify the WAT so it can serve as a viable substitute for the costly TOEFL-style tests. In the interim, he plans to continue using the C-test.

Comments: Since my sentiment paralleled that of Wolter’s, I proceeded to create a software program that will facilitate the complexities of further research on this topic. In brief, it allows a teacher to tailor any text into a desirable C-test format. It is now accessible through http://clozeonline.us.