Part V: Step-By-Step Examples of Generating New Questions

Example 1   Compound Words, Difficulty Level 1 Question Template

Which of the following are compound words?        a.   ice cream      b.   sunlight daughter-in-law  post office all of the above Answer: e   Explanation: There are three different types of compound words: separate words (ice cream and post office), hyphenated words (daughter-in-law) and joined words (sunlight).

Observations:

• The explanation is a simple but complete definition of the term ‘compound word’. It should be retained (with the exceptions of the multiple-choice options in brackets).
• If the explanation is retained, the instruction sentence should be retained as well.
• Therefore, the only way to generate new questions from this template is to insert new multiple-choice options.
• As you write your new questions, please check that your new multiple-choice options are words that are appropriate for Level 1; otherwise, you may inadvertently produce a new question template. A preliminary analysis of all the question templates for Compound Words and our OTTER Vocabulary Guidelines will give you a reasonable idea of the progression in vocabulary involved in Levels 1 - 6. Please do not hesitate to ask for assistance if you require further clarification.
• While you are writing new questions, you will almost certainly come up with ideas for new question templates. For example, you may wish the task sentence to read, “Which of the following are not compound words?” or you might wish to ask, “Which of the following option(s) are definitions of compound words” and then use the explanation to formulate the multiple-choice options. That’s great and we encourage this! But before you enter a new question template into OTTER, please check carefully to see that it does not already exist at a higher difficulty level. If you wish to discuss your intended changes further, simple contact our project manager, who is always on hand to assist you.

 

Example 2   Plurals, Difficulty Level 2 Question Template

To form the plural of nouns ending in –z, you need to either _____or _____. double the –z and add –es add –es add –ies add –es Answer:  a & b

Observations:

• The task sentence is much too narrow to be changed with respect to –z endings, but it could be adapted for other endings.
• Check through the question templates at Level 2 to see if other endings have already been covered.
• A new question template at a higher difficulty level could be generated by simply omitting the multiple-choice options and providing answer boxes for users to fill in. If you wish to do this, just write the new question template and send it to the project manager to ascertain the new difficulty level.
• A second new question template could be generated by inverting the task sentence and the multiple-choice options. The task sentence could read, “Which plurals are formed by either doubling the final letter and adding –es or simply adding es?” and the multiple-choice options would consist of classes of word endings. Again, you will need to send this question template to our project manager for assignment to a new difficulty level if the question does not already exist in Plurals.

 

Example 3   Suffixes, Difficulty Level 5 Question Template

Which option correctly completes the sentence? In hindsight, the accident was _________. inavoidable extraavoidable unavoidable enavoidable                                      Answer: c

Observations:

• If the instruction sentence is retained in its original form, both the task sentence and the multiple-choice options must be changed.
• The difficulty level of this question is linked to the word featured in the multiple-choice options. Therefore, a replacement word at Level 5 should be chosen before a new task sentence is formulated. 
• To ascertain that your replacement word is a Level 5 word, please refer to other template questions at Level 5 or to our OTTER Vocabulary Guide. If you require any assistance or clarification, please do not hesitate to get in touch with our project manager.