Abstract
Vocabulary tests are classified into two groups; receptive vocabulary tests and productive vocabulary tests. It is more difficult to measure learners' vocabulary knowledge by productive tests than by receptive tests. The purpose of this study was to verify the validity and reliability of the Vocabulary Levels Dictation Test, compared to the Vocabulary Levels Test, on the basis of the CELT for Japanese EFL learners, given to 99 female college students who answered VLDT-Test forms A to D. Scores of VLDT and VLT were first converted into vocabulary size respectively and then calculated for their ratio of vocabulary size. As a result, the participants with higher scores in CELT obtained significantly higher average scores on the VLDT and VLT, so that VLDT, VLT and CELT indicated statistically significant correlations, and the VLDT score of the CELT higher-score participants indicated 50% of their VLT score, which agreed recent studies, while the VLDT score of the CELT lower-score participants showed only a 40% level. The conclusion was that VLDT could measure higher-level EFL learners' productive vocabulary knowledge properly, but a doubt was still left concerning applying VLDT to measure lower-level EFL learners'.
