Vocabulary

What is the purpose of this section?

The Vocabulary Section is designed to determine a learner's understanding of the meaning of words and his/her ability to explain or define the words.

What to look for?

Watch for the learner who appears to know the meaning of the word but is not able to give a definition. Ask the individual to use the word in a sentence or give an example of the concept. This will help determine if the person understands the meaning but has difficulty expressing it. Mark "S" if the learner can use the word in a sentence but is not able to define it. If the learner is able to give an example of the concept associated with the word, make a note of it.

Special considerations :

When administering the Vocabulary Section, the practitioner makes an educated guess, based on the information gathered so far, about which level of words to ask the person being screened. The Cooper Screening Tool divides the vocabulary section into three levels of difficulty. Although the screening summary is designed for assessing only one of the three levels, more than one level can be administered to a person for various reasons. The most common reason for doing this would be when assessing a person with an unexpectedly weak vocabulary (for example, a college student who is unable to define many of the words in Level III). To understand his problem with vocabulary, the administrator might also ask the learner about the definitions in Level II and maybe Level I as well. If the person had difficulty with words in the other levels, the practitioner would place a mark in the right hand column on the Screening Summary.

Vocabulary - Responses for Brian are bold