Author(s)

Anatoliy V. Kharkhurin

Department of International Studies, American University of Sharjah, Sharjah, UAE.

The study presents a web-based productive vocabulary assessment tool, the internet Picture Naming Test (iPNT). The iPNT is administered online and takes eight minutes to complete. The iPNT assesses vocabulary knowledge by rating participants’ responses to 120 colored drawings of simple objects. Participants type the names of the objects and the names are saved as a computer file that can be uploaded into statistical software for further processing. The test is rated by comparing participants’ responses against a list of correct labels. High test-retest reliability suggests that iPNT can be considered a reliable measure. The study evaluates convergent validity of the iPNT by comparing its scores with paper-based and oral versions of the same test and concurrent validity by comparing its scores with that of receptive Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test, a language aptitude Cloze test, standard admission Test of English as a Foreign Language, and DIALANG diagnostic tool. Highly significant correlations between the scores on these tests and iPNT scores suggest that the latter is a suitable assessment tool for language proficiency. However, the moderate correlation values ranging from .52 to .68 indicate that the use of this test should be limited to psychometric research assessing an individual’s productive vocabulary knowledge.

Online; Language Proficiency; Picture Naming; Test

Kharkhurin, A. (2012). A Preliminary Version of an Internet-Based Picture Naming Test. Open Journal of Modern Linguistics, 2, 34-41. doi: 10.4236/ojml.2012.21005.