Hindko and Gujari. c - SIL International

Appendix A.3
Sentence Repetition Testing
209
A sentence repetition test is based on the premise that people’s ability to
repeat sentences in a second language is limited by the level of their mastery of
the morphology and syntax of that second language. The greater proficiency
they have in that language, the better able they are to repeat sentences of
increasing length and complexity. A sentence repetition test is developed
separately for each language to be tested. Detailed procedures for developing
and calibrating a sentence repetition test are presented in Radloff (1991). 1 The
sentences selected are calibrated against an evaluative instrument called the
Reported Proficiency Evaluation (RPE), where mother tongue raters are
provided a detailed framework of proficiency descriptions against which to
evaluate the proficiency of their second language speaking acquaintances. 2 The
half-levels of the RPE describe increasing levels of proficiency in a second
language, as elaborated in (2).
(2) RPE proficiency level Brief description
0+ Very minimal proficiency
1 Minimal, limited proficiency
1+ Limited, basic proficiency
2 Adequate, basic proficiency
2+ Good, basic proficiency
3 Good, general proficiency
3+ Very good, general proficiency
4 Excellent proficiency
4+ Approaching native speaker proficiency
A sentence repetition test provides a rapid assessment of a person’s
second language proficiency, suited to the purposes of a bilingualism survey. It
is often the goal of a bilingualism survey to obtain a profile of the second
language proficiencies in the community under investigation, that is, a picture
of what percentage of the population can be projected to be at each of the
different levels of proficiency. In order to obtain this, a large and representative
sample of the population must be tested. This speaks to the need for an
assessment instrument that is quick and easy to administer.
A short administration time, however, is offset by careful attention to the
development and calibration of a sentence repetition test. The SRT provides a
general assessment, thus, the researcher must be able to place full confidence in
1 Radloff, Carla F. 1991. Sentence repetition testing for studies of
community bilingualism. Dallas: Summer Institute of Linguistics and University
of Texas at Arlington.
2 RPE levels as assigned by mother tongue raters show an internal
consistency, but have not yet been correlated with any other, more widely
recognized, scale of second language proficiency. The rationale and
methodology for the Reported Proficiency Evaluation is also included in
Radloff (1991).