Secondary 3 English vocabulary assessment should tell a teacher, parent or Grade 9 student what kind of vocabulary problem exists—not merely produce a score. Students searching for Secondary 3 vocabulary test, Grade 9 vocabulary assessment, vocabulary diagnostic test, 9th grade vocabulary quiz, vocabulary words with meanings and examples, academic vocabulary test and how to assess vocabulary often encounter worksheets that measure recognition. Recognition matters, but it is only one layer of lexical knowledge.
A useful Secondary 3 vocabulary diagnostic separates breadth, depth, context inference, word families, collocations, retrieval, productive use, register and transfer. One student may recognise many advanced words but retrieve few in writing. Another may have small breadth but excellent precision. A third may know definitions while failing when familiar words appear with new senses. These learners should not receive the same prescription.
This article is the diagnostic-assessment child of eduKateSG’s Secondary 3 English Vocabulary apex. It complements the general Vocabulary Assessment article and the Secondary 3 Vocabulary Practice page. Those own the universal measurement framework and practice library. This page applies assessment specifically to Secondary 3 / Grade 9 English, where vocabulary must transfer into comprehension, writing, oral communication and upper-secondary subject learning.
The 50-Second Route
Do not ask only “How many words did the student get correct?” Ask what kind of knowledge each item required. A strong diagnostic samples several layers, then builds a learner profile. The profile should lead directly to an intervention.
- Breadth: how many high-utility words or senses are recognised?
- Depth: how much is known about each word?
- Context: can meaning be inferred from evidence?
- Morphology: can word families and affixes support decoding?
- Collocation: can the learner combine words naturally?
- Retrieval: can the word be produced without being shown?
- Production: can it be used accurately in writing and speech?
- Register: can the learner choose language appropriate to purpose and audience?
- Transfer: does vocabulary survive a new text, topic or subject?
A vocabulary score becomes educationally useful only when it tells you what to teach next.
Why One Vocabulary Test Is Not Enough
Vocabulary is multidimensional. A multiple-choice test may estimate recognition breadth but cannot show whether the learner can retrieve words independently. A spelling test measures written form but says little about multiple meanings. A writing sample reveals productive language but underestimates words the student understands receptively. A diagnostic should therefore triangulate evidence.
The purpose determines the assessment. If the question is “Can the student understand the current comprehension passage?”, use text-based vocabulary analysis. If the question is “Why is the student’s essay vocabulary repetitive?”, examine productive range, retrieval and collocation. If the question is “Is the student ready for an academic word list?”, sample core vocabulary first.
Secondary 3 assessment should be efficient rather than exhaustive. A carefully selected set of tasks can reveal patterns without testing thousands of items.
Nine Diagnostic Dimensions
Breadth
Measure: Recognition across a representative sample of high-utility Grade 9 words. Task: Select meaning, match word to definition, or mark confidence. Interpretation: Do not infer productive mastery from recognition alone.
Depth
Measure: Multiple senses, associations, family forms and semantic distinctions. Task: Explain two senses, give a near-synonym difference, name a collocation. Interpretation: Use fewer words but inspect them more deeply.
Context inference
Measure: Ability to infer local meaning using sentence and paragraph evidence. Task: Short passage with unfamiliar or polysemous target. Interpretation: Require evidence for the inference.
Morphology
Measure: Ability to use roots, prefixes, suffixes and families. Task: Predict broad meaning or transform grammatical form. Interpretation: Check whether the learner overtrusts morphology.
Collocation
Measure: Knowledge of conventional word partnerships. Task: Complete phrase, correct near-miss, choose natural combination. Interpretation: Naturalness errors often reveal shallow depth.
Retrieval
Measure: Independent recall from meaning or situation. Task: Reverse definition, timed cue, semantic prompt. Interpretation: Hide the answer; recognition is not retrieval.
Production
Measure: Accurate use in sentence, paragraph or oral response. Task: Write or speak using a concept naturally. Interpretation: Do not require arbitrary target insertion.
Register
Measure: Appropriate lexical choice for audience and purpose. Task: Rewrite message for friend, teacher, report and speech. Interpretation: Formal is not automatically better.
Transfer
Measure: Ability to use vocabulary outside original practice context. Task: Apply words to new topic or another subject. Interpretation: Transfer is the strongest evidence of ownership.
A Secondary 3 Vocabulary Diagnostic Battery
1. Core recognition
Suggested sample: 40 sampled high-utility words. Task: Choose or explain the most appropriate meaning. What it tells you: Estimate broad access, not total vocabulary size. This is a diagnostic suggestion rather than an official examination instrument; adjust difficulty to the learner.
2. Academic recognition
Suggested sample: 20 reasoning words. Task: Identify meaning in school context. What it tells you: Check academic-language readiness. This is a diagnostic suggestion rather than an official examination instrument; adjust difficulty to the learner.
3. Sense selection
Suggested sample: 10 polysemous common words. Task: Choose meaning in a sentence. What it tells you: Detect false familiarity. This is a diagnostic suggestion rather than an official examination instrument; adjust difficulty to the learner.
4. Context inference
Suggested sample: 8 unfamiliar or less familiar targets. Task: Infer meaning and cite evidence. What it tells you: Assess independent word-learning strategy. This is a diagnostic suggestion rather than an official examination instrument; adjust difficulty to the learner.
5. Word-family transformation
Suggested sample: 10 families. Task: Change sentence so noun/adjective/verb form is required. What it tells you: Test grammatical lexical flexibility. This is a diagnostic suggestion rather than an official examination instrument; adjust difficulty to the learner.
6. Morphology
Suggested sample: 8 structured words. Task: Use affixes/root to predict broad meaning. What it tells you: Assess decoding without overclaiming. This is a diagnostic suggestion rather than an official examination instrument; adjust difficulty to the learner.
7. Collocation
Suggested sample: 15 combinations. Task: Complete or repair phrase. What it tells you: Test natural production patterns. This is a diagnostic suggestion rather than an official examination instrument; adjust difficulty to the learner.
8. Near-synonym distinction
Suggested sample: 8 pairs. Task: Explain one context where substitution fails. What it tells you: Assess semantic precision. This is a diagnostic suggestion rather than an official examination instrument; adjust difficulty to the learner.
9. Reverse retrieval
Suggested sample: 15 meanings or situations. Task: Produce word without word bank. What it tells you: Measure active access. This is a diagnostic suggestion rather than an official examination instrument; adjust difficulty to the learner.
10. Writing sample
Suggested sample: one 250–350 word response. Task: Analyse lexical range, accuracy and fit. What it tells you: Observe productive system in authentic task. This is a diagnostic suggestion rather than an official examination instrument; adjust difficulty to the learner.
11. Oral sample
Suggested sample: two-minute response. Task: Track range, retrieval speed and repair. What it tells you: Observe real-time activation. This is a diagnostic suggestion rather than an official examination instrument; adjust difficulty to the learner.
12. Cross-subject transfer
Suggested sample: one Science/Humanities paragraph. Task: Explain key academic vocabulary. What it tells you: Check portability. This is a diagnostic suggestion rather than an official examination instrument; adjust difficulty to the learner.
Confidence Ratings: Add Metacognition
Ask students to rate each response: certain, fairly sure, unsure or guessed. Confidence data can expose hidden weaknesses. A wrong answer with high confidence signals a misconception; a correct answer with low confidence signals fragile knowledge; a correct answer with high confidence may be ready for less frequent review.
Confidence also helps students distinguish familiarity from mastery. Seeing a word before can create a strong feeling of knowing even when meaning is vague. Rating confidence before checking the answer makes this illusion visible.
Do not reward overconfidence. Reward calibration—the ability to know what you know and what still needs verification.
40 Diagnostic Profiles
1. High breadth, low retrieval
Observed pattern: Recognises many words, cannot produce them in writing. Likely next move: Activation and reverse recall. Confirm the profile with at least two kinds of evidence before treating it as a stable diagnosis.
2. Low breadth, high depth
Observed pattern: Uses known words accurately but meets many unknown items. Likely next move: Reading volume and targeted expansion. Confirm the profile with at least two kinds of evidence before treating it as a stable diagnosis.
3. High list scores, weak comprehension
Observed pattern: Definitions known, context senses missed. Likely next move: Polysemy and lexical inference. Confirm the profile with at least two kinds of evidence before treating it as a stable diagnosis.
4. Strong reading, repetitive writing
Observed pattern: Receptive vocabulary larger than productive. Likely next move: Writing retrieval and collocations. Confirm the profile with at least two kinds of evidence before treating it as a stable diagnosis.
5. Good writing, weak oral range
Observed pattern: Time pressure blocks access. Likely next move: Timed speaking and chunk retrieval. Confirm the profile with at least two kinds of evidence before treating it as a stable diagnosis.
6. Advanced words, frequent misuse
Observed pattern: Prestige selection without boundaries. Likely next move: Near-synonym contrast and register. Confirm the profile with at least two kinds of evidence before treating it as a stable diagnosis.
7. Good context inference, weak spelling
Observed pattern: Semantic knowledge exceeds orthographic form. Likely next move: Word families and spelling patterns. Confirm the profile with at least two kinds of evidence before treating it as a stable diagnosis.
8. Strong morphology, weak context
Observed pattern: Overdecodes from parts. Likely next move: Hypothesis-then-context verification. Confirm the profile with at least two kinds of evidence before treating it as a stable diagnosis.
9. Good vocabulary, weak summary
Observed pattern: Paraphrase flexibility is limited. Likely next move: Meaning preservation and synonym precision. Confirm the profile with at least two kinds of evidence before treating it as a stable diagnosis.
10. Strong subject vocabulary, weak general academic language
Observed pattern: Technical islands. Likely next move: Cross-curricular Tier 2 vocabulary. Confirm the profile with at least two kinds of evidence before treating it as a stable diagnosis.
11. Good everyday English, weak academic nouns
Observed pattern: Nominalisation gap. Likely next move: Verb–noun family transformations. Confirm the profile with at least two kinds of evidence before treating it as a stable diagnosis.
12. Strong noun vocabulary, weak verbs
Observed pattern: Writing becomes static and vague. Likely next move: Academic verb bank and collocation. Confirm the profile with at least two kinds of evidence before treating it as a stable diagnosis.
13. Many synonyms, poor connotation
Observed pattern: Treats alternatives as clones. Likely next move: Tone and semantic gradient work. Confirm the profile with at least two kinds of evidence before treating it as a stable diagnosis.
14. Good definitions, weak collocation
Observed pattern: Dictionary knowledge is isolated. Likely next move: Phrase-level storage and retrieval. Confirm the profile with at least two kinds of evidence before treating it as a stable diagnosis.
15. Good words, inappropriate formality
Observed pattern: Register mismatch. Likely next move: Audience rewriting tasks. Confirm the profile with at least two kinds of evidence before treating it as a stable diagnosis.
16. Strong grammar, narrow lexical range
Observed pattern: Sentence structure exceeds vocabulary breadth. Likely next move: High-utility expansion. Confirm the profile with at least two kinds of evidence before treating it as a stable diagnosis.
17. Broad vocabulary, weak multiple meanings
Observed pattern: Dominant-sense dependence. Likely next move: Polysemy mapping. Confirm the profile with at least two kinds of evidence before treating it as a stable diagnosis.
18. Good initial learning, rapid forgetting
Observed pattern: Retention problem. Likely next move: Spacing and cumulative retrieval. Confirm the profile with at least two kinds of evidence before treating it as a stable diagnosis.
19. Strong flashcards, weak transfer
Observed pattern: Context-bound memory. Likely next move: Unfamiliar-topic tasks. Confirm the profile with at least two kinds of evidence before treating it as a stable diagnosis.
20. Good recognition, low confidence
Observed pattern: Knowledge is fragile. Likely next move: Low-stakes retrieval and feedback. Confirm the profile with at least two kinds of evidence before treating it as a stable diagnosis.
21. Wrong answers with high confidence
Observed pattern: Entrenched misconceptions. Likely next move: Contrastive correction and explanation. Confirm the profile with at least two kinds of evidence before treating it as a stable diagnosis.
22. Good scores, slow retrieval
Observed pattern: Access is accurate but inefficient. Likely next move: Timed recall and oral practice. Confirm the profile with at least two kinds of evidence before treating it as a stable diagnosis.
23. Fast retrieval, frequent misuse
Observed pattern: Speed exceeds precision. Likely next move: Slow meaning-boundary work. Confirm the profile with at least two kinds of evidence before treating it as a stable diagnosis.
24. Strong essays, weak comprehension vocabulary
Observed pattern: Production stronger in rehearsed topics. Likely next move: Text-based sense and inference work. Confirm the profile with at least two kinds of evidence before treating it as a stable diagnosis.
25. Strong comprehension, weak essays
Observed pattern: Input stronger than output. Likely next move: Semantic-to-word retrieval. Confirm the profile with at least two kinds of evidence before treating it as a stable diagnosis.
26. Good vocabulary in English only
Observed pattern: Transfer limited. Likely next move: Science/Humanities integration. Confirm the profile with at least two kinds of evidence before treating it as a stable diagnosis.
27. Strong words, weak phrase cohesion
Observed pattern: Vocabulary not integrated into discourse. Likely next move: Sentence frames and logical connectors. Confirm the profile with at least two kinds of evidence before treating it as a stable diagnosis.
28. Good academic language, weak narrative vocabulary
Observed pattern: Genre imbalance. Likely next move: Emotion, movement, sensory and tone vocabulary. Confirm the profile with at least two kinds of evidence before treating it as a stable diagnosis.
29. Good narrative vocabulary, weak argument language
Observed pattern: Genre imbalance. Likely next move: Claim/evidence/evaluation vocabulary. Confirm the profile with at least two kinds of evidence before treating it as a stable diagnosis.
30. Good word families, poor pronunciation
Observed pattern: Written representation dominates. Likely next move: Spoken form and oral rehearsal. Confirm the profile with at least two kinds of evidence before treating it as a stable diagnosis.
31. Good pronunciation, poor spelling
Observed pattern: Auditory representation dominates. Likely next move: Orthographic mapping. Confirm the profile with at least two kinds of evidence before treating it as a stable diagnosis.
32. Large notebooks, weak recall
Observed pattern: Storage behaviour masquerades as learning. Likely next move: Cue-based testing. Confirm the profile with at least two kinds of evidence before treating it as a stable diagnosis.
33. Many new words, no old-word maintenance
Observed pattern: Expansion overwhelms retention. Likely next move: Cumulative review. Confirm the profile with at least two kinds of evidence before treating it as a stable diagnosis.
34. Strong easy-text coverage, weak complex-text coverage
Observed pattern: Threshold problem. Likely next move: Progressive text difficulty. Confirm the profile with at least two kinds of evidence before treating it as a stable diagnosis.
35. Good vocabulary, poor question interpretation
Observed pattern: Command-word gap. Likely next move: Analyse/infer/evaluate/justify distinctions. Confirm the profile with at least two kinds of evidence before treating it as a stable diagnosis.
36. Strong formal writing, weak situational writing
Observed pattern: Audience adaptation gap. Likely next move: Register by task. Confirm the profile with at least two kinds of evidence before treating it as a stable diagnosis.
37. Good isolated sentences, weak paragraphs
Observed pattern: Discourse transfer gap. Likely next move: Paragraph-level vocabulary jobs. Confirm the profile with at least two kinds of evidence before treating it as a stable diagnosis.
38. Strong planned speech, weak interaction
Observed pattern: Memorised oral language. Likely next move: Follow-up and spontaneous response. Confirm the profile with at least two kinds of evidence before treating it as a stable diagnosis.
39. Strong school vocabulary, narrow world knowledge
Observed pattern: Concept gap. Likely next move: Thematic reading and general knowledge. Confirm the profile with at least two kinds of evidence before treating it as a stable diagnosis.
40. Mixed profile with no obvious weakness
Observed pattern: Potential ceiling on simple tests. Likely next move: Use harder transfer tasks before prescribing more lists. Confirm the profile with at least two kinds of evidence before treating it as a stable diagnosis.
Eight Diagnostic Case-Study Cycles
Diagnostic Cycle 1
High breadth, low retrieval — Design one five-minute task that would distinguish this profile from a nearby alternative explanation. Start from the observed pattern “Recognises many words, cannot produce them in writing.” and the provisional next move “Activation and reverse recall.”. Diagnosis remains provisional until additional evidence supports it.
Low breadth, high depth — Write one false diagnosis a teacher might make if only a multiple-choice test were used. Explain what extra evidence fixes the error. Start from the observed pattern “Uses known words accurately but meets many unknown items.” and the provisional next move “Reading volume and targeted expansion.”. Diagnosis remains provisional until additional evidence supports it.
High list scores, weak comprehension — Choose one metric to track for four weeks. State what improvement would look like without relying on a raw vocabulary total. Start from the observed pattern “Definitions known, context senses missed.” and the provisional next move “Polysemy and lexical inference.”. Diagnosis remains provisional until additional evidence supports it.
Strong reading, repetitive writing — Create one reading task and one production task for the same target words. Predict how this profile would differ across them. Start from the observed pattern “Receptive vocabulary larger than productive.” and the provisional next move “Writing retrieval and collocations.”. Diagnosis remains provisional until additional evidence supports it.
Good writing, weak oral range — Write a parent-friendly explanation of the profile that avoids labels such as ‘weak vocabulary’ and identifies a concrete next step. Start from the observed pattern “Time pressure blocks access.” and the provisional next move “Timed speaking and chunk retrieval.”. Diagnosis remains provisional until additional evidence supports it.
Advanced words, frequent misuse — Build one error-correction activity tailored to the profile. Explain why generic word-list expansion would be less efficient. Start from the observed pattern “Prestige selection without boundaries.” and the provisional next move “Near-synonym contrast and register.”. Diagnosis remains provisional until additional evidence supports it.
Good context inference, weak spelling — Design a transfer task on an unfamiliar topic. State what result would show that the intervention is working. Start from the observed pattern “Semantic knowledge exceeds orthographic form.” and the provisional next move “Word families and spelling patterns.”. Diagnosis remains provisional until additional evidence supports it.
Strong morphology, weak context — Decide which existing eduKateSG vocabulary route best matches the profile: breadth/depth, context, academic language, collocation, retrieval or morphology. Start from the observed pattern “Overdecodes from parts.” and the provisional next move “Hypothesis-then-context verification.”. Diagnosis remains provisional until additional evidence supports it.
Good vocabulary, weak summary — Design one five-minute task that would distinguish this profile from a nearby alternative explanation. Start from the observed pattern “Paraphrase flexibility is limited.” and the provisional next move “Meaning preservation and synonym precision.”. Diagnosis remains provisional until additional evidence supports it.
Strong subject vocabulary, weak general academic language — Write one false diagnosis a teacher might make if only a multiple-choice test were used. Explain what extra evidence fixes the error. Start from the observed pattern “Technical islands.” and the provisional next move “Cross-curricular Tier 2 vocabulary.”. Diagnosis remains provisional until additional evidence supports it.
Good everyday English, weak academic nouns — Choose one metric to track for four weeks. State what improvement would look like without relying on a raw vocabulary total. Start from the observed pattern “Nominalisation gap.” and the provisional next move “Verb–noun family transformations.”. Diagnosis remains provisional until additional evidence supports it.
Strong noun vocabulary, weak verbs — Create one reading task and one production task for the same target words. Predict how this profile would differ across them. Start from the observed pattern “Writing becomes static and vague.” and the provisional next move “Academic verb bank and collocation.”. Diagnosis remains provisional until additional evidence supports it.
Many synonyms, poor connotation — Write a parent-friendly explanation of the profile that avoids labels such as ‘weak vocabulary’ and identifies a concrete next step. Start from the observed pattern “Treats alternatives as clones.” and the provisional next move “Tone and semantic gradient work.”. Diagnosis remains provisional until additional evidence supports it.
Good definitions, weak collocation — Build one error-correction activity tailored to the profile. Explain why generic word-list expansion would be less efficient. Start from the observed pattern “Dictionary knowledge is isolated.” and the provisional next move “Phrase-level storage and retrieval.”. Diagnosis remains provisional until additional evidence supports it.
Good words, inappropriate formality — Design a transfer task on an unfamiliar topic. State what result would show that the intervention is working. Start from the observed pattern “Register mismatch.” and the provisional next move “Audience rewriting tasks.”. Diagnosis remains provisional until additional evidence supports it.
Strong grammar, narrow lexical range — Decide which existing eduKateSG vocabulary route best matches the profile: breadth/depth, context, academic language, collocation, retrieval or morphology. Start from the observed pattern “Sentence structure exceeds vocabulary breadth.” and the provisional next move “High-utility expansion.”. Diagnosis remains provisional until additional evidence supports it.
Broad vocabulary, weak multiple meanings — Design one five-minute task that would distinguish this profile from a nearby alternative explanation. Start from the observed pattern “Dominant-sense dependence.” and the provisional next move “Polysemy mapping.”. Diagnosis remains provisional until additional evidence supports it.
Good initial learning, rapid forgetting — Write one false diagnosis a teacher might make if only a multiple-choice test were used. Explain what extra evidence fixes the error. Start from the observed pattern “Retention problem.” and the provisional next move “Spacing and cumulative retrieval.”. Diagnosis remains provisional until additional evidence supports it.
Strong flashcards, weak transfer — Choose one metric to track for four weeks. State what improvement would look like without relying on a raw vocabulary total. Start from the observed pattern “Context-bound memory.” and the provisional next move “Unfamiliar-topic tasks.”. Diagnosis remains provisional until additional evidence supports it.
Good recognition, low confidence — Create one reading task and one production task for the same target words. Predict how this profile would differ across them. Start from the observed pattern “Knowledge is fragile.” and the provisional next move “Low-stakes retrieval and feedback.”. Diagnosis remains provisional until additional evidence supports it.
Wrong answers with high confidence — Write a parent-friendly explanation of the profile that avoids labels such as ‘weak vocabulary’ and identifies a concrete next step. Start from the observed pattern “Entrenched misconceptions.” and the provisional next move “Contrastive correction and explanation.”. Diagnosis remains provisional until additional evidence supports it.
Good scores, slow retrieval — Build one error-correction activity tailored to the profile. Explain why generic word-list expansion would be less efficient. Start from the observed pattern “Access is accurate but inefficient.” and the provisional next move “Timed recall and oral practice.”. Diagnosis remains provisional until additional evidence supports it.
Fast retrieval, frequent misuse — Design a transfer task on an unfamiliar topic. State what result would show that the intervention is working. Start from the observed pattern “Speed exceeds precision.” and the provisional next move “Slow meaning-boundary work.”. Diagnosis remains provisional until additional evidence supports it.
Strong essays, weak comprehension vocabulary — Decide which existing eduKateSG vocabulary route best matches the profile: breadth/depth, context, academic language, collocation, retrieval or morphology. Start from the observed pattern “Production stronger in rehearsed topics.” and the provisional next move “Text-based sense and inference work.”. Diagnosis remains provisional until additional evidence supports it.
Strong comprehension, weak essays — Design one five-minute task that would distinguish this profile from a nearby alternative explanation. Start from the observed pattern “Input stronger than output.” and the provisional next move “Semantic-to-word retrieval.”. Diagnosis remains provisional until additional evidence supports it.
Good vocabulary in English only — Write one false diagnosis a teacher might make if only a multiple-choice test were used. Explain what extra evidence fixes the error. Start from the observed pattern “Transfer limited.” and the provisional next move “Science/Humanities integration.”. Diagnosis remains provisional until additional evidence supports it.
Strong words, weak phrase cohesion — Choose one metric to track for four weeks. State what improvement would look like without relying on a raw vocabulary total. Start from the observed pattern “Vocabulary not integrated into discourse.” and the provisional next move “Sentence frames and logical connectors.”. Diagnosis remains provisional until additional evidence supports it.
Good academic language, weak narrative vocabulary — Create one reading task and one production task for the same target words. Predict how this profile would differ across them. Start from the observed pattern “Genre imbalance.” and the provisional next move “Emotion, movement, sensory and tone vocabulary.”. Diagnosis remains provisional until additional evidence supports it.
Good narrative vocabulary, weak argument language — Write a parent-friendly explanation of the profile that avoids labels such as ‘weak vocabulary’ and identifies a concrete next step. Start from the observed pattern “Genre imbalance.” and the provisional next move “Claim/evidence/evaluation vocabulary.”. Diagnosis remains provisional until additional evidence supports it.
Good word families, poor pronunciation — Build one error-correction activity tailored to the profile. Explain why generic word-list expansion would be less efficient. Start from the observed pattern “Written representation dominates.” and the provisional next move “Spoken form and oral rehearsal.”. Diagnosis remains provisional until additional evidence supports it.
Good pronunciation, poor spelling — Design a transfer task on an unfamiliar topic. State what result would show that the intervention is working. Start from the observed pattern “Auditory representation dominates.” and the provisional next move “Orthographic mapping.”. Diagnosis remains provisional until additional evidence supports it.
Large notebooks, weak recall — Decide which existing eduKateSG vocabulary route best matches the profile: breadth/depth, context, academic language, collocation, retrieval or morphology. Start from the observed pattern “Storage behaviour masquerades as learning.” and the provisional next move “Cue-based testing.”. Diagnosis remains provisional until additional evidence supports it.
Many new words, no old-word maintenance — Design one five-minute task that would distinguish this profile from a nearby alternative explanation. Start from the observed pattern “Expansion overwhelms retention.” and the provisional next move “Cumulative review.”. Diagnosis remains provisional until additional evidence supports it.
Strong easy-text coverage, weak complex-text coverage — Write one false diagnosis a teacher might make if only a multiple-choice test were used. Explain what extra evidence fixes the error. Start from the observed pattern “Threshold problem.” and the provisional next move “Progressive text difficulty.”. Diagnosis remains provisional until additional evidence supports it.
Good vocabulary, poor question interpretation — Choose one metric to track for four weeks. State what improvement would look like without relying on a raw vocabulary total. Start from the observed pattern “Command-word gap.” and the provisional next move “Analyse/infer/evaluate/justify distinctions.”. Diagnosis remains provisional until additional evidence supports it.
Strong formal writing, weak situational writing — Create one reading task and one production task for the same target words. Predict how this profile would differ across them. Start from the observed pattern “Audience adaptation gap.” and the provisional next move “Register by task.”. Diagnosis remains provisional until additional evidence supports it.
Good isolated sentences, weak paragraphs — Write a parent-friendly explanation of the profile that avoids labels such as ‘weak vocabulary’ and identifies a concrete next step. Start from the observed pattern “Discourse transfer gap.” and the provisional next move “Paragraph-level vocabulary jobs.”. Diagnosis remains provisional until additional evidence supports it.
Strong planned speech, weak interaction — Build one error-correction activity tailored to the profile. Explain why generic word-list expansion would be less efficient. Start from the observed pattern “Memorised oral language.” and the provisional next move “Follow-up and spontaneous response.”. Diagnosis remains provisional until additional evidence supports it.
Strong school vocabulary, narrow world knowledge — Design a transfer task on an unfamiliar topic. State what result would show that the intervention is working. Start from the observed pattern “Concept gap.” and the provisional next move “Thematic reading and general knowledge.”. Diagnosis remains provisional until additional evidence supports it.
Mixed profile with no obvious weakness — Decide which existing eduKateSG vocabulary route best matches the profile: breadth/depth, context, academic language, collocation, retrieval or morphology. Start from the observed pattern “Potential ceiling on simple tests.” and the provisional next move “Use harder transfer tasks before prescribing more lists.”. Diagnosis remains provisional until additional evidence supports it.
Diagnostic Cycle 2
High breadth, low retrieval — Write one false diagnosis a teacher might make if only a multiple-choice test were used. Explain what extra evidence fixes the error. Start from the observed pattern “Recognises many words, cannot produce them in writing.” and the provisional next move “Activation and reverse recall.”. Diagnosis remains provisional until additional evidence supports it.
Low breadth, high depth — Choose one metric to track for four weeks. State what improvement would look like without relying on a raw vocabulary total. Start from the observed pattern “Uses known words accurately but meets many unknown items.” and the provisional next move “Reading volume and targeted expansion.”. Diagnosis remains provisional until additional evidence supports it.
High list scores, weak comprehension — Create one reading task and one production task for the same target words. Predict how this profile would differ across them. Start from the observed pattern “Definitions known, context senses missed.” and the provisional next move “Polysemy and lexical inference.”. Diagnosis remains provisional until additional evidence supports it.
Strong reading, repetitive writing — Write a parent-friendly explanation of the profile that avoids labels such as ‘weak vocabulary’ and identifies a concrete next step. Start from the observed pattern “Receptive vocabulary larger than productive.” and the provisional next move “Writing retrieval and collocations.”. Diagnosis remains provisional until additional evidence supports it.
Good writing, weak oral range — Build one error-correction activity tailored to the profile. Explain why generic word-list expansion would be less efficient. Start from the observed pattern “Time pressure blocks access.” and the provisional next move “Timed speaking and chunk retrieval.”. Diagnosis remains provisional until additional evidence supports it.
Advanced words, frequent misuse — Design a transfer task on an unfamiliar topic. State what result would show that the intervention is working. Start from the observed pattern “Prestige selection without boundaries.” and the provisional next move “Near-synonym contrast and register.”. Diagnosis remains provisional until additional evidence supports it.
Good context inference, weak spelling — Decide which existing eduKateSG vocabulary route best matches the profile: breadth/depth, context, academic language, collocation, retrieval or morphology. Start from the observed pattern “Semantic knowledge exceeds orthographic form.” and the provisional next move “Word families and spelling patterns.”. Diagnosis remains provisional until additional evidence supports it.
Strong morphology, weak context — Design one five-minute task that would distinguish this profile from a nearby alternative explanation. Start from the observed pattern “Overdecodes from parts.” and the provisional next move “Hypothesis-then-context verification.”. Diagnosis remains provisional until additional evidence supports it.
Good vocabulary, weak summary — Write one false diagnosis a teacher might make if only a multiple-choice test were used. Explain what extra evidence fixes the error. Start from the observed pattern “Paraphrase flexibility is limited.” and the provisional next move “Meaning preservation and synonym precision.”. Diagnosis remains provisional until additional evidence supports it.
Strong subject vocabulary, weak general academic language — Choose one metric to track for four weeks. State what improvement would look like without relying on a raw vocabulary total. Start from the observed pattern “Technical islands.” and the provisional next move “Cross-curricular Tier 2 vocabulary.”. Diagnosis remains provisional until additional evidence supports it.
Good everyday English, weak academic nouns — Create one reading task and one production task for the same target words. Predict how this profile would differ across them. Start from the observed pattern “Nominalisation gap.” and the provisional next move “Verb–noun family transformations.”. Diagnosis remains provisional until additional evidence supports it.
Strong noun vocabulary, weak verbs — Write a parent-friendly explanation of the profile that avoids labels such as ‘weak vocabulary’ and identifies a concrete next step. Start from the observed pattern “Writing becomes static and vague.” and the provisional next move “Academic verb bank and collocation.”. Diagnosis remains provisional until additional evidence supports it.
Many synonyms, poor connotation — Build one error-correction activity tailored to the profile. Explain why generic word-list expansion would be less efficient. Start from the observed pattern “Treats alternatives as clones.” and the provisional next move “Tone and semantic gradient work.”. Diagnosis remains provisional until additional evidence supports it.
Good definitions, weak collocation — Design a transfer task on an unfamiliar topic. State what result would show that the intervention is working. Start from the observed pattern “Dictionary knowledge is isolated.” and the provisional next move “Phrase-level storage and retrieval.”. Diagnosis remains provisional until additional evidence supports it.
Good words, inappropriate formality — Decide which existing eduKateSG vocabulary route best matches the profile: breadth/depth, context, academic language, collocation, retrieval or morphology. Start from the observed pattern “Register mismatch.” and the provisional next move “Audience rewriting tasks.”. Diagnosis remains provisional until additional evidence supports it.
Strong grammar, narrow lexical range — Design one five-minute task that would distinguish this profile from a nearby alternative explanation. Start from the observed pattern “Sentence structure exceeds vocabulary breadth.” and the provisional next move “High-utility expansion.”. Diagnosis remains provisional until additional evidence supports it.
Broad vocabulary, weak multiple meanings — Write one false diagnosis a teacher might make if only a multiple-choice test were used. Explain what extra evidence fixes the error. Start from the observed pattern “Dominant-sense dependence.” and the provisional next move “Polysemy mapping.”. Diagnosis remains provisional until additional evidence supports it.
Good initial learning, rapid forgetting — Choose one metric to track for four weeks. State what improvement would look like without relying on a raw vocabulary total. Start from the observed pattern “Retention problem.” and the provisional next move “Spacing and cumulative retrieval.”. Diagnosis remains provisional until additional evidence supports it.
Strong flashcards, weak transfer — Create one reading task and one production task for the same target words. Predict how this profile would differ across them. Start from the observed pattern “Context-bound memory.” and the provisional next move “Unfamiliar-topic tasks.”. Diagnosis remains provisional until additional evidence supports it.
Good recognition, low confidence — Write a parent-friendly explanation of the profile that avoids labels such as ‘weak vocabulary’ and identifies a concrete next step. Start from the observed pattern “Knowledge is fragile.” and the provisional next move “Low-stakes retrieval and feedback.”. Diagnosis remains provisional until additional evidence supports it.
Wrong answers with high confidence — Build one error-correction activity tailored to the profile. Explain why generic word-list expansion would be less efficient. Start from the observed pattern “Entrenched misconceptions.” and the provisional next move “Contrastive correction and explanation.”. Diagnosis remains provisional until additional evidence supports it.
Good scores, slow retrieval — Design a transfer task on an unfamiliar topic. State what result would show that the intervention is working. Start from the observed pattern “Access is accurate but inefficient.” and the provisional next move “Timed recall and oral practice.”. Diagnosis remains provisional until additional evidence supports it.
Fast retrieval, frequent misuse — Decide which existing eduKateSG vocabulary route best matches the profile: breadth/depth, context, academic language, collocation, retrieval or morphology. Start from the observed pattern “Speed exceeds precision.” and the provisional next move “Slow meaning-boundary work.”. Diagnosis remains provisional until additional evidence supports it.
Strong essays, weak comprehension vocabulary — Design one five-minute task that would distinguish this profile from a nearby alternative explanation. Start from the observed pattern “Production stronger in rehearsed topics.” and the provisional next move “Text-based sense and inference work.”. Diagnosis remains provisional until additional evidence supports it.
Strong comprehension, weak essays — Write one false diagnosis a teacher might make if only a multiple-choice test were used. Explain what extra evidence fixes the error. Start from the observed pattern “Input stronger than output.” and the provisional next move “Semantic-to-word retrieval.”. Diagnosis remains provisional until additional evidence supports it.
Good vocabulary in English only — Choose one metric to track for four weeks. State what improvement would look like without relying on a raw vocabulary total. Start from the observed pattern “Transfer limited.” and the provisional next move “Science/Humanities integration.”. Diagnosis remains provisional until additional evidence supports it.
Strong words, weak phrase cohesion — Create one reading task and one production task for the same target words. Predict how this profile would differ across them. Start from the observed pattern “Vocabulary not integrated into discourse.” and the provisional next move “Sentence frames and logical connectors.”. Diagnosis remains provisional until additional evidence supports it.
Good academic language, weak narrative vocabulary — Write a parent-friendly explanation of the profile that avoids labels such as ‘weak vocabulary’ and identifies a concrete next step. Start from the observed pattern “Genre imbalance.” and the provisional next move “Emotion, movement, sensory and tone vocabulary.”. Diagnosis remains provisional until additional evidence supports it.
Good narrative vocabulary, weak argument language — Build one error-correction activity tailored to the profile. Explain why generic word-list expansion would be less efficient. Start from the observed pattern “Genre imbalance.” and the provisional next move “Claim/evidence/evaluation vocabulary.”. Diagnosis remains provisional until additional evidence supports it.
Good word families, poor pronunciation — Design a transfer task on an unfamiliar topic. State what result would show that the intervention is working. Start from the observed pattern “Written representation dominates.” and the provisional next move “Spoken form and oral rehearsal.”. Diagnosis remains provisional until additional evidence supports it.
Good pronunciation, poor spelling — Decide which existing eduKateSG vocabulary route best matches the profile: breadth/depth, context, academic language, collocation, retrieval or morphology. Start from the observed pattern “Auditory representation dominates.” and the provisional next move “Orthographic mapping.”. Diagnosis remains provisional until additional evidence supports it.
Large notebooks, weak recall — Design one five-minute task that would distinguish this profile from a nearby alternative explanation. Start from the observed pattern “Storage behaviour masquerades as learning.” and the provisional next move “Cue-based testing.”. Diagnosis remains provisional until additional evidence supports it.
Many new words, no old-word maintenance — Write one false diagnosis a teacher might make if only a multiple-choice test were used. Explain what extra evidence fixes the error. Start from the observed pattern “Expansion overwhelms retention.” and the provisional next move “Cumulative review.”. Diagnosis remains provisional until additional evidence supports it.
Strong easy-text coverage, weak complex-text coverage — Choose one metric to track for four weeks. State what improvement would look like without relying on a raw vocabulary total. Start from the observed pattern “Threshold problem.” and the provisional next move “Progressive text difficulty.”. Diagnosis remains provisional until additional evidence supports it.
Good vocabulary, poor question interpretation — Create one reading task and one production task for the same target words. Predict how this profile would differ across them. Start from the observed pattern “Command-word gap.” and the provisional next move “Analyse/infer/evaluate/justify distinctions.”. Diagnosis remains provisional until additional evidence supports it.
Strong formal writing, weak situational writing — Write a parent-friendly explanation of the profile that avoids labels such as ‘weak vocabulary’ and identifies a concrete next step. Start from the observed pattern “Audience adaptation gap.” and the provisional next move “Register by task.”. Diagnosis remains provisional until additional evidence supports it.
Good isolated sentences, weak paragraphs — Build one error-correction activity tailored to the profile. Explain why generic word-list expansion would be less efficient. Start from the observed pattern “Discourse transfer gap.” and the provisional next move “Paragraph-level vocabulary jobs.”. Diagnosis remains provisional until additional evidence supports it.
Strong planned speech, weak interaction — Design a transfer task on an unfamiliar topic. State what result would show that the intervention is working. Start from the observed pattern “Memorised oral language.” and the provisional next move “Follow-up and spontaneous response.”. Diagnosis remains provisional until additional evidence supports it.
Strong school vocabulary, narrow world knowledge — Decide which existing eduKateSG vocabulary route best matches the profile: breadth/depth, context, academic language, collocation, retrieval or morphology. Start from the observed pattern “Concept gap.” and the provisional next move “Thematic reading and general knowledge.”. Diagnosis remains provisional until additional evidence supports it.
Mixed profile with no obvious weakness — Design one five-minute task that would distinguish this profile from a nearby alternative explanation. Start from the observed pattern “Potential ceiling on simple tests.” and the provisional next move “Use harder transfer tasks before prescribing more lists.”. Diagnosis remains provisional until additional evidence supports it.
Diagnostic Cycle 3
High breadth, low retrieval — Choose one metric to track for four weeks. State what improvement would look like without relying on a raw vocabulary total. Start from the observed pattern “Recognises many words, cannot produce them in writing.” and the provisional next move “Activation and reverse recall.”. Diagnosis remains provisional until additional evidence supports it.
Low breadth, high depth — Create one reading task and one production task for the same target words. Predict how this profile would differ across them. Start from the observed pattern “Uses known words accurately but meets many unknown items.” and the provisional next move “Reading volume and targeted expansion.”. Diagnosis remains provisional until additional evidence supports it.
High list scores, weak comprehension — Write a parent-friendly explanation of the profile that avoids labels such as ‘weak vocabulary’ and identifies a concrete next step. Start from the observed pattern “Definitions known, context senses missed.” and the provisional next move “Polysemy and lexical inference.”. Diagnosis remains provisional until additional evidence supports it.
Strong reading, repetitive writing — Build one error-correction activity tailored to the profile. Explain why generic word-list expansion would be less efficient. Start from the observed pattern “Receptive vocabulary larger than productive.” and the provisional next move “Writing retrieval and collocations.”. Diagnosis remains provisional until additional evidence supports it.
Good writing, weak oral range — Design a transfer task on an unfamiliar topic. State what result would show that the intervention is working. Start from the observed pattern “Time pressure blocks access.” and the provisional next move “Timed speaking and chunk retrieval.”. Diagnosis remains provisional until additional evidence supports it.
Advanced words, frequent misuse — Decide which existing eduKateSG vocabulary route best matches the profile: breadth/depth, context, academic language, collocation, retrieval or morphology. Start from the observed pattern “Prestige selection without boundaries.” and the provisional next move “Near-synonym contrast and register.”. Diagnosis remains provisional until additional evidence supports it.
Good context inference, weak spelling — Design one five-minute task that would distinguish this profile from a nearby alternative explanation. Start from the observed pattern “Semantic knowledge exceeds orthographic form.” and the provisional next move “Word families and spelling patterns.”. Diagnosis remains provisional until additional evidence supports it.
Strong morphology, weak context — Write one false diagnosis a teacher might make if only a multiple-choice test were used. Explain what extra evidence fixes the error. Start from the observed pattern “Overdecodes from parts.” and the provisional next move “Hypothesis-then-context verification.”. Diagnosis remains provisional until additional evidence supports it.
Good vocabulary, weak summary — Choose one metric to track for four weeks. State what improvement would look like without relying on a raw vocabulary total. Start from the observed pattern “Paraphrase flexibility is limited.” and the provisional next move “Meaning preservation and synonym precision.”. Diagnosis remains provisional until additional evidence supports it.
Strong subject vocabulary, weak general academic language — Create one reading task and one production task for the same target words. Predict how this profile would differ across them. Start from the observed pattern “Technical islands.” and the provisional next move “Cross-curricular Tier 2 vocabulary.”. Diagnosis remains provisional until additional evidence supports it.
Good everyday English, weak academic nouns — Write a parent-friendly explanation of the profile that avoids labels such as ‘weak vocabulary’ and identifies a concrete next step. Start from the observed pattern “Nominalisation gap.” and the provisional next move “Verb–noun family transformations.”. Diagnosis remains provisional until additional evidence supports it.
Strong noun vocabulary, weak verbs — Build one error-correction activity tailored to the profile. Explain why generic word-list expansion would be less efficient. Start from the observed pattern “Writing becomes static and vague.” and the provisional next move “Academic verb bank and collocation.”. Diagnosis remains provisional until additional evidence supports it.
Many synonyms, poor connotation — Design a transfer task on an unfamiliar topic. State what result would show that the intervention is working. Start from the observed pattern “Treats alternatives as clones.” and the provisional next move “Tone and semantic gradient work.”. Diagnosis remains provisional until additional evidence supports it.
Good definitions, weak collocation — Decide which existing eduKateSG vocabulary route best matches the profile: breadth/depth, context, academic language, collocation, retrieval or morphology. Start from the observed pattern “Dictionary knowledge is isolated.” and the provisional next move “Phrase-level storage and retrieval.”. Diagnosis remains provisional until additional evidence supports it.
Good words, inappropriate formality — Design one five-minute task that would distinguish this profile from a nearby alternative explanation. Start from the observed pattern “Register mismatch.” and the provisional next move “Audience rewriting tasks.”. Diagnosis remains provisional until additional evidence supports it.
Strong grammar, narrow lexical range — Write one false diagnosis a teacher might make if only a multiple-choice test were used. Explain what extra evidence fixes the error. Start from the observed pattern “Sentence structure exceeds vocabulary breadth.” and the provisional next move “High-utility expansion.”. Diagnosis remains provisional until additional evidence supports it.
Broad vocabulary, weak multiple meanings — Choose one metric to track for four weeks. State what improvement would look like without relying on a raw vocabulary total. Start from the observed pattern “Dominant-sense dependence.” and the provisional next move “Polysemy mapping.”. Diagnosis remains provisional until additional evidence supports it.
Good initial learning, rapid forgetting — Create one reading task and one production task for the same target words. Predict how this profile would differ across them. Start from the observed pattern “Retention problem.” and the provisional next move “Spacing and cumulative retrieval.”. Diagnosis remains provisional until additional evidence supports it.
Strong flashcards, weak transfer — Write a parent-friendly explanation of the profile that avoids labels such as ‘weak vocabulary’ and identifies a concrete next step. Start from the observed pattern “Context-bound memory.” and the provisional next move “Unfamiliar-topic tasks.”. Diagnosis remains provisional until additional evidence supports it.
Good recognition, low confidence — Build one error-correction activity tailored to the profile. Explain why generic word-list expansion would be less efficient. Start from the observed pattern “Knowledge is fragile.” and the provisional next move “Low-stakes retrieval and feedback.”. Diagnosis remains provisional until additional evidence supports it.
Wrong answers with high confidence — Design a transfer task on an unfamiliar topic. State what result would show that the intervention is working. Start from the observed pattern “Entrenched misconceptions.” and the provisional next move “Contrastive correction and explanation.”. Diagnosis remains provisional until additional evidence supports it.
Good scores, slow retrieval — Decide which existing eduKateSG vocabulary route best matches the profile: breadth/depth, context, academic language, collocation, retrieval or morphology. Start from the observed pattern “Access is accurate but inefficient.” and the provisional next move “Timed recall and oral practice.”. Diagnosis remains provisional until additional evidence supports it.
Fast retrieval, frequent misuse — Design one five-minute task that would distinguish this profile from a nearby alternative explanation. Start from the observed pattern “Speed exceeds precision.” and the provisional next move “Slow meaning-boundary work.”. Diagnosis remains provisional until additional evidence supports it.
Strong essays, weak comprehension vocabulary — Write one false diagnosis a teacher might make if only a multiple-choice test were used. Explain what extra evidence fixes the error. Start from the observed pattern “Production stronger in rehearsed topics.” and the provisional next move “Text-based sense and inference work.”. Diagnosis remains provisional until additional evidence supports it.
Strong comprehension, weak essays — Choose one metric to track for four weeks. State what improvement would look like without relying on a raw vocabulary total. Start from the observed pattern “Input stronger than output.” and the provisional next move “Semantic-to-word retrieval.”. Diagnosis remains provisional until additional evidence supports it.
Good vocabulary in English only — Create one reading task and one production task for the same target words. Predict how this profile would differ across them. Start from the observed pattern “Transfer limited.” and the provisional next move “Science/Humanities integration.”. Diagnosis remains provisional until additional evidence supports it.
Strong words, weak phrase cohesion — Write a parent-friendly explanation of the profile that avoids labels such as ‘weak vocabulary’ and identifies a concrete next step. Start from the observed pattern “Vocabulary not integrated into discourse.” and the provisional next move “Sentence frames and logical connectors.”. Diagnosis remains provisional until additional evidence supports it.
Good academic language, weak narrative vocabulary — Build one error-correction activity tailored to the profile. Explain why generic word-list expansion would be less efficient. Start from the observed pattern “Genre imbalance.” and the provisional next move “Emotion, movement, sensory and tone vocabulary.”. Diagnosis remains provisional until additional evidence supports it.
Good narrative vocabulary, weak argument language — Design a transfer task on an unfamiliar topic. State what result would show that the intervention is working. Start from the observed pattern “Genre imbalance.” and the provisional next move “Claim/evidence/evaluation vocabulary.”. Diagnosis remains provisional until additional evidence supports it.
Good word families, poor pronunciation — Decide which existing eduKateSG vocabulary route best matches the profile: breadth/depth, context, academic language, collocation, retrieval or morphology. Start from the observed pattern “Written representation dominates.” and the provisional next move “Spoken form and oral rehearsal.”. Diagnosis remains provisional until additional evidence supports it.
Good pronunciation, poor spelling — Design one five-minute task that would distinguish this profile from a nearby alternative explanation. Start from the observed pattern “Auditory representation dominates.” and the provisional next move “Orthographic mapping.”. Diagnosis remains provisional until additional evidence supports it.
Large notebooks, weak recall — Write one false diagnosis a teacher might make if only a multiple-choice test were used. Explain what extra evidence fixes the error. Start from the observed pattern “Storage behaviour masquerades as learning.” and the provisional next move “Cue-based testing.”. Diagnosis remains provisional until additional evidence supports it.
Many new words, no old-word maintenance — Choose one metric to track for four weeks. State what improvement would look like without relying on a raw vocabulary total. Start from the observed pattern “Expansion overwhelms retention.” and the provisional next move “Cumulative review.”. Diagnosis remains provisional until additional evidence supports it.
Strong easy-text coverage, weak complex-text coverage — Create one reading task and one production task for the same target words. Predict how this profile would differ across them. Start from the observed pattern “Threshold problem.” and the provisional next move “Progressive text difficulty.”. Diagnosis remains provisional until additional evidence supports it.
Good vocabulary, poor question interpretation — Write a parent-friendly explanation of the profile that avoids labels such as ‘weak vocabulary’ and identifies a concrete next step. Start from the observed pattern “Command-word gap.” and the provisional next move “Analyse/infer/evaluate/justify distinctions.”. Diagnosis remains provisional until additional evidence supports it.
Strong formal writing, weak situational writing — Build one error-correction activity tailored to the profile. Explain why generic word-list expansion would be less efficient. Start from the observed pattern “Audience adaptation gap.” and the provisional next move “Register by task.”. Diagnosis remains provisional until additional evidence supports it.
Good isolated sentences, weak paragraphs — Design a transfer task on an unfamiliar topic. State what result would show that the intervention is working. Start from the observed pattern “Discourse transfer gap.” and the provisional next move “Paragraph-level vocabulary jobs.”. Diagnosis remains provisional until additional evidence supports it.
Strong planned speech, weak interaction — Decide which existing eduKateSG vocabulary route best matches the profile: breadth/depth, context, academic language, collocation, retrieval or morphology. Start from the observed pattern “Memorised oral language.” and the provisional next move “Follow-up and spontaneous response.”. Diagnosis remains provisional until additional evidence supports it.
Strong school vocabulary, narrow world knowledge — Design one five-minute task that would distinguish this profile from a nearby alternative explanation. Start from the observed pattern “Concept gap.” and the provisional next move “Thematic reading and general knowledge.”. Diagnosis remains provisional until additional evidence supports it.
Mixed profile with no obvious weakness — Write one false diagnosis a teacher might make if only a multiple-choice test were used. Explain what extra evidence fixes the error. Start from the observed pattern “Potential ceiling on simple tests.” and the provisional next move “Use harder transfer tasks before prescribing more lists.”. Diagnosis remains provisional until additional evidence supports it.
Diagnostic Cycle 4
High breadth, low retrieval — Create one reading task and one production task for the same target words. Predict how this profile would differ across them. Start from the observed pattern “Recognises many words, cannot produce them in writing.” and the provisional next move “Activation and reverse recall.”. Diagnosis remains provisional until additional evidence supports it.
Low breadth, high depth — Write a parent-friendly explanation of the profile that avoids labels such as ‘weak vocabulary’ and identifies a concrete next step. Start from the observed pattern “Uses known words accurately but meets many unknown items.” and the provisional next move “Reading volume and targeted expansion.”. Diagnosis remains provisional until additional evidence supports it.
High list scores, weak comprehension — Build one error-correction activity tailored to the profile. Explain why generic word-list expansion would be less efficient. Start from the observed pattern “Definitions known, context senses missed.” and the provisional next move “Polysemy and lexical inference.”. Diagnosis remains provisional until additional evidence supports it.
Strong reading, repetitive writing — Design a transfer task on an unfamiliar topic. State what result would show that the intervention is working. Start from the observed pattern “Receptive vocabulary larger than productive.” and the provisional next move “Writing retrieval and collocations.”. Diagnosis remains provisional until additional evidence supports it.
Good writing, weak oral range — Decide which existing eduKateSG vocabulary route best matches the profile: breadth/depth, context, academic language, collocation, retrieval or morphology. Start from the observed pattern “Time pressure blocks access.” and the provisional next move “Timed speaking and chunk retrieval.”. Diagnosis remains provisional until additional evidence supports it.
Advanced words, frequent misuse — Design one five-minute task that would distinguish this profile from a nearby alternative explanation. Start from the observed pattern “Prestige selection without boundaries.” and the provisional next move “Near-synonym contrast and register.”. Diagnosis remains provisional until additional evidence supports it.
Good context inference, weak spelling — Write one false diagnosis a teacher might make if only a multiple-choice test were used. Explain what extra evidence fixes the error. Start from the observed pattern “Semantic knowledge exceeds orthographic form.” and the provisional next move “Word families and spelling patterns.”. Diagnosis remains provisional until additional evidence supports it.
Strong morphology, weak context — Choose one metric to track for four weeks. State what improvement would look like without relying on a raw vocabulary total. Start from the observed pattern “Overdecodes from parts.” and the provisional next move “Hypothesis-then-context verification.”. Diagnosis remains provisional until additional evidence supports it.
Good vocabulary, weak summary — Create one reading task and one production task for the same target words. Predict how this profile would differ across them. Start from the observed pattern “Paraphrase flexibility is limited.” and the provisional next move “Meaning preservation and synonym precision.”. Diagnosis remains provisional until additional evidence supports it.
Strong subject vocabulary, weak general academic language — Write a parent-friendly explanation of the profile that avoids labels such as ‘weak vocabulary’ and identifies a concrete next step. Start from the observed pattern “Technical islands.” and the provisional next move “Cross-curricular Tier 2 vocabulary.”. Diagnosis remains provisional until additional evidence supports it.
Good everyday English, weak academic nouns — Build one error-correction activity tailored to the profile. Explain why generic word-list expansion would be less efficient. Start from the observed pattern “Nominalisation gap.” and the provisional next move “Verb–noun family transformations.”. Diagnosis remains provisional until additional evidence supports it.
Strong noun vocabulary, weak verbs — Design a transfer task on an unfamiliar topic. State what result would show that the intervention is working. Start from the observed pattern “Writing becomes static and vague.” and the provisional next move “Academic verb bank and collocation.”. Diagnosis remains provisional until additional evidence supports it.
Many synonyms, poor connotation — Decide which existing eduKateSG vocabulary route best matches the profile: breadth/depth, context, academic language, collocation, retrieval or morphology. Start from the observed pattern “Treats alternatives as clones.” and the provisional next move “Tone and semantic gradient work.”. Diagnosis remains provisional until additional evidence supports it.
Good definitions, weak collocation — Design one five-minute task that would distinguish this profile from a nearby alternative explanation. Start from the observed pattern “Dictionary knowledge is isolated.” and the provisional next move “Phrase-level storage and retrieval.”. Diagnosis remains provisional until additional evidence supports it.
Good words, inappropriate formality — Write one false diagnosis a teacher might make if only a multiple-choice test were used. Explain what extra evidence fixes the error. Start from the observed pattern “Register mismatch.” and the provisional next move “Audience rewriting tasks.”. Diagnosis remains provisional until additional evidence supports it.
Strong grammar, narrow lexical range — Choose one metric to track for four weeks. State what improvement would look like without relying on a raw vocabulary total. Start from the observed pattern “Sentence structure exceeds vocabulary breadth.” and the provisional next move “High-utility expansion.”. Diagnosis remains provisional until additional evidence supports it.
Broad vocabulary, weak multiple meanings — Create one reading task and one production task for the same target words. Predict how this profile would differ across them. Start from the observed pattern “Dominant-sense dependence.” and the provisional next move “Polysemy mapping.”. Diagnosis remains provisional until additional evidence supports it.
Good initial learning, rapid forgetting — Write a parent-friendly explanation of the profile that avoids labels such as ‘weak vocabulary’ and identifies a concrete next step. Start from the observed pattern “Retention problem.” and the provisional next move “Spacing and cumulative retrieval.”. Diagnosis remains provisional until additional evidence supports it.
Strong flashcards, weak transfer — Build one error-correction activity tailored to the profile. Explain why generic word-list expansion would be less efficient. Start from the observed pattern “Context-bound memory.” and the provisional next move “Unfamiliar-topic tasks.”. Diagnosis remains provisional until additional evidence supports it.
Good recognition, low confidence — Design a transfer task on an unfamiliar topic. State what result would show that the intervention is working. Start from the observed pattern “Knowledge is fragile.” and the provisional next move “Low-stakes retrieval and feedback.”. Diagnosis remains provisional until additional evidence supports it.
Wrong answers with high confidence — Decide which existing eduKateSG vocabulary route best matches the profile: breadth/depth, context, academic language, collocation, retrieval or morphology. Start from the observed pattern “Entrenched misconceptions.” and the provisional next move “Contrastive correction and explanation.”. Diagnosis remains provisional until additional evidence supports it.
Good scores, slow retrieval — Design one five-minute task that would distinguish this profile from a nearby alternative explanation. Start from the observed pattern “Access is accurate but inefficient.” and the provisional next move “Timed recall and oral practice.”. Diagnosis remains provisional until additional evidence supports it.
Fast retrieval, frequent misuse — Write one false diagnosis a teacher might make if only a multiple-choice test were used. Explain what extra evidence fixes the error. Start from the observed pattern “Speed exceeds precision.” and the provisional next move “Slow meaning-boundary work.”. Diagnosis remains provisional until additional evidence supports it.
Strong essays, weak comprehension vocabulary — Choose one metric to track for four weeks. State what improvement would look like without relying on a raw vocabulary total. Start from the observed pattern “Production stronger in rehearsed topics.” and the provisional next move “Text-based sense and inference work.”. Diagnosis remains provisional until additional evidence supports it.
Strong comprehension, weak essays — Create one reading task and one production task for the same target words. Predict how this profile would differ across them. Start from the observed pattern “Input stronger than output.” and the provisional next move “Semantic-to-word retrieval.”. Diagnosis remains provisional until additional evidence supports it.
Good vocabulary in English only — Write a parent-friendly explanation of the profile that avoids labels such as ‘weak vocabulary’ and identifies a concrete next step. Start from the observed pattern “Transfer limited.” and the provisional next move “Science/Humanities integration.”. Diagnosis remains provisional until additional evidence supports it.
Strong words, weak phrase cohesion — Build one error-correction activity tailored to the profile. Explain why generic word-list expansion would be less efficient. Start from the observed pattern “Vocabulary not integrated into discourse.” and the provisional next move “Sentence frames and logical connectors.”. Diagnosis remains provisional until additional evidence supports it.
Good academic language, weak narrative vocabulary — Design a transfer task on an unfamiliar topic. State what result would show that the intervention is working. Start from the observed pattern “Genre imbalance.” and the provisional next move “Emotion, movement, sensory and tone vocabulary.”. Diagnosis remains provisional until additional evidence supports it.
Good narrative vocabulary, weak argument language — Decide which existing eduKateSG vocabulary route best matches the profile: breadth/depth, context, academic language, collocation, retrieval or morphology. Start from the observed pattern “Genre imbalance.” and the provisional next move “Claim/evidence/evaluation vocabulary.”. Diagnosis remains provisional until additional evidence supports it.
Good word families, poor pronunciation — Design one five-minute task that would distinguish this profile from a nearby alternative explanation. Start from the observed pattern “Written representation dominates.” and the provisional next move “Spoken form and oral rehearsal.”. Diagnosis remains provisional until additional evidence supports it.
Good pronunciation, poor spelling — Write one false diagnosis a teacher might make if only a multiple-choice test were used. Explain what extra evidence fixes the error. Start from the observed pattern “Auditory representation dominates.” and the provisional next move “Orthographic mapping.”. Diagnosis remains provisional until additional evidence supports it.
Large notebooks, weak recall — Choose one metric to track for four weeks. State what improvement would look like without relying on a raw vocabulary total. Start from the observed pattern “Storage behaviour masquerades as learning.” and the provisional next move “Cue-based testing.”. Diagnosis remains provisional until additional evidence supports it.
Many new words, no old-word maintenance — Create one reading task and one production task for the same target words. Predict how this profile would differ across them. Start from the observed pattern “Expansion overwhelms retention.” and the provisional next move “Cumulative review.”. Diagnosis remains provisional until additional evidence supports it.
Strong easy-text coverage, weak complex-text coverage — Write a parent-friendly explanation of the profile that avoids labels such as ‘weak vocabulary’ and identifies a concrete next step. Start from the observed pattern “Threshold problem.” and the provisional next move “Progressive text difficulty.”. Diagnosis remains provisional until additional evidence supports it.
Good vocabulary, poor question interpretation — Build one error-correction activity tailored to the profile. Explain why generic word-list expansion would be less efficient. Start from the observed pattern “Command-word gap.” and the provisional next move “Analyse/infer/evaluate/justify distinctions.”. Diagnosis remains provisional until additional evidence supports it.
Strong formal writing, weak situational writing — Design a transfer task on an unfamiliar topic. State what result would show that the intervention is working. Start from the observed pattern “Audience adaptation gap.” and the provisional next move “Register by task.”. Diagnosis remains provisional until additional evidence supports it.
Good isolated sentences, weak paragraphs — Decide which existing eduKateSG vocabulary route best matches the profile: breadth/depth, context, academic language, collocation, retrieval or morphology. Start from the observed pattern “Discourse transfer gap.” and the provisional next move “Paragraph-level vocabulary jobs.”. Diagnosis remains provisional until additional evidence supports it.
Strong planned speech, weak interaction — Design one five-minute task that would distinguish this profile from a nearby alternative explanation. Start from the observed pattern “Memorised oral language.” and the provisional next move “Follow-up and spontaneous response.”. Diagnosis remains provisional until additional evidence supports it.
Strong school vocabulary, narrow world knowledge — Write one false diagnosis a teacher might make if only a multiple-choice test were used. Explain what extra evidence fixes the error. Start from the observed pattern “Concept gap.” and the provisional next move “Thematic reading and general knowledge.”. Diagnosis remains provisional until additional evidence supports it.
Mixed profile with no obvious weakness — Choose one metric to track for four weeks. State what improvement would look like without relying on a raw vocabulary total. Start from the observed pattern “Potential ceiling on simple tests.” and the provisional next move “Use harder transfer tasks before prescribing more lists.”. Diagnosis remains provisional until additional evidence supports it.
Diagnostic Cycle 5
High breadth, low retrieval — Write a parent-friendly explanation of the profile that avoids labels such as ‘weak vocabulary’ and identifies a concrete next step. Start from the observed pattern “Recognises many words, cannot produce them in writing.” and the provisional next move “Activation and reverse recall.”. Diagnosis remains provisional until additional evidence supports it.
Low breadth, high depth — Build one error-correction activity tailored to the profile. Explain why generic word-list expansion would be less efficient. Start from the observed pattern “Uses known words accurately but meets many unknown items.” and the provisional next move “Reading volume and targeted expansion.”. Diagnosis remains provisional until additional evidence supports it.
High list scores, weak comprehension — Design a transfer task on an unfamiliar topic. State what result would show that the intervention is working. Start from the observed pattern “Definitions known, context senses missed.” and the provisional next move “Polysemy and lexical inference.”. Diagnosis remains provisional until additional evidence supports it.
Strong reading, repetitive writing — Decide which existing eduKateSG vocabulary route best matches the profile: breadth/depth, context, academic language, collocation, retrieval or morphology. Start from the observed pattern “Receptive vocabulary larger than productive.” and the provisional next move “Writing retrieval and collocations.”. Diagnosis remains provisional until additional evidence supports it.
Good writing, weak oral range — Design one five-minute task that would distinguish this profile from a nearby alternative explanation. Start from the observed pattern “Time pressure blocks access.” and the provisional next move “Timed speaking and chunk retrieval.”. Diagnosis remains provisional until additional evidence supports it.
Advanced words, frequent misuse — Write one false diagnosis a teacher might make if only a multiple-choice test were used. Explain what extra evidence fixes the error. Start from the observed pattern “Prestige selection without boundaries.” and the provisional next move “Near-synonym contrast and register.”. Diagnosis remains provisional until additional evidence supports it.
Good context inference, weak spelling — Choose one metric to track for four weeks. State what improvement would look like without relying on a raw vocabulary total. Start from the observed pattern “Semantic knowledge exceeds orthographic form.” and the provisional next move “Word families and spelling patterns.”. Diagnosis remains provisional until additional evidence supports it.
Strong morphology, weak context — Create one reading task and one production task for the same target words. Predict how this profile would differ across them. Start from the observed pattern “Overdecodes from parts.” and the provisional next move “Hypothesis-then-context verification.”. Diagnosis remains provisional until additional evidence supports it.
Good vocabulary, weak summary — Write a parent-friendly explanation of the profile that avoids labels such as ‘weak vocabulary’ and identifies a concrete next step. Start from the observed pattern “Paraphrase flexibility is limited.” and the provisional next move “Meaning preservation and synonym precision.”. Diagnosis remains provisional until additional evidence supports it.
Strong subject vocabulary, weak general academic language — Build one error-correction activity tailored to the profile. Explain why generic word-list expansion would be less efficient. Start from the observed pattern “Technical islands.” and the provisional next move “Cross-curricular Tier 2 vocabulary.”. Diagnosis remains provisional until additional evidence supports it.
Good everyday English, weak academic nouns — Design a transfer task on an unfamiliar topic. State what result would show that the intervention is working. Start from the observed pattern “Nominalisation gap.” and the provisional next move “Verb–noun family transformations.”. Diagnosis remains provisional until additional evidence supports it.
Strong noun vocabulary, weak verbs — Decide which existing eduKateSG vocabulary route best matches the profile: breadth/depth, context, academic language, collocation, retrieval or morphology. Start from the observed pattern “Writing becomes static and vague.” and the provisional next move “Academic verb bank and collocation.”. Diagnosis remains provisional until additional evidence supports it.
Many synonyms, poor connotation — Design one five-minute task that would distinguish this profile from a nearby alternative explanation. Start from the observed pattern “Treats alternatives as clones.” and the provisional next move “Tone and semantic gradient work.”. Diagnosis remains provisional until additional evidence supports it.
Good definitions, weak collocation — Write one false diagnosis a teacher might make if only a multiple-choice test were used. Explain what extra evidence fixes the error. Start from the observed pattern “Dictionary knowledge is isolated.” and the provisional next move “Phrase-level storage and retrieval.”. Diagnosis remains provisional until additional evidence supports it.
Good words, inappropriate formality — Choose one metric to track for four weeks. State what improvement would look like without relying on a raw vocabulary total. Start from the observed pattern “Register mismatch.” and the provisional next move “Audience rewriting tasks.”. Diagnosis remains provisional until additional evidence supports it.
Strong grammar, narrow lexical range — Create one reading task and one production task for the same target words. Predict how this profile would differ across them. Start from the observed pattern “Sentence structure exceeds vocabulary breadth.” and the provisional next move “High-utility expansion.”. Diagnosis remains provisional until additional evidence supports it.
Broad vocabulary, weak multiple meanings — Write a parent-friendly explanation of the profile that avoids labels such as ‘weak vocabulary’ and identifies a concrete next step. Start from the observed pattern “Dominant-sense dependence.” and the provisional next move “Polysemy mapping.”. Diagnosis remains provisional until additional evidence supports it.
Good initial learning, rapid forgetting — Build one error-correction activity tailored to the profile. Explain why generic word-list expansion would be less efficient. Start from the observed pattern “Retention problem.” and the provisional next move “Spacing and cumulative retrieval.”. Diagnosis remains provisional until additional evidence supports it.
Strong flashcards, weak transfer — Design a transfer task on an unfamiliar topic. State what result would show that the intervention is working. Start from the observed pattern “Context-bound memory.” and the provisional next move “Unfamiliar-topic tasks.”. Diagnosis remains provisional until additional evidence supports it.
Good recognition, low confidence — Decide which existing eduKateSG vocabulary route best matches the profile: breadth/depth, context, academic language, collocation, retrieval or morphology. Start from the observed pattern “Knowledge is fragile.” and the provisional next move “Low-stakes retrieval and feedback.”. Diagnosis remains provisional until additional evidence supports it.
Wrong answers with high confidence — Design one five-minute task that would distinguish this profile from a nearby alternative explanation. Start from the observed pattern “Entrenched misconceptions.” and the provisional next move “Contrastive correction and explanation.”. Diagnosis remains provisional until additional evidence supports it.
Good scores, slow retrieval — Write one false diagnosis a teacher might make if only a multiple-choice test were used. Explain what extra evidence fixes the error. Start from the observed pattern “Access is accurate but inefficient.” and the provisional next move “Timed recall and oral practice.”. Diagnosis remains provisional until additional evidence supports it.
Fast retrieval, frequent misuse — Choose one metric to track for four weeks. State what improvement would look like without relying on a raw vocabulary total. Start from the observed pattern “Speed exceeds precision.” and the provisional next move “Slow meaning-boundary work.”. Diagnosis remains provisional until additional evidence supports it.
Strong essays, weak comprehension vocabulary — Create one reading task and one production task for the same target words. Predict how this profile would differ across them. Start from the observed pattern “Production stronger in rehearsed topics.” and the provisional next move “Text-based sense and inference work.”. Diagnosis remains provisional until additional evidence supports it.
Strong comprehension, weak essays — Write a parent-friendly explanation of the profile that avoids labels such as ‘weak vocabulary’ and identifies a concrete next step. Start from the observed pattern “Input stronger than output.” and the provisional next move “Semantic-to-word retrieval.”. Diagnosis remains provisional until additional evidence supports it.
Good vocabulary in English only — Build one error-correction activity tailored to the profile. Explain why generic word-list expansion would be less efficient. Start from the observed pattern “Transfer limited.” and the provisional next move “Science/Humanities integration.”. Diagnosis remains provisional until additional evidence supports it.
Strong words, weak phrase cohesion — Design a transfer task on an unfamiliar topic. State what result would show that the intervention is working. Start from the observed pattern “Vocabulary not integrated into discourse.” and the provisional next move “Sentence frames and logical connectors.”. Diagnosis remains provisional until additional evidence supports it.
Good academic language, weak narrative vocabulary — Decide which existing eduKateSG vocabulary route best matches the profile: breadth/depth, context, academic language, collocation, retrieval or morphology. Start from the observed pattern “Genre imbalance.” and the provisional next move “Emotion, movement, sensory and tone vocabulary.”. Diagnosis remains provisional until additional evidence supports it.
Good narrative vocabulary, weak argument language — Design one five-minute task that would distinguish this profile from a nearby alternative explanation. Start from the observed pattern “Genre imbalance.” and the provisional next move “Claim/evidence/evaluation vocabulary.”. Diagnosis remains provisional until additional evidence supports it.
Good word families, poor pronunciation — Write one false diagnosis a teacher might make if only a multiple-choice test were used. Explain what extra evidence fixes the error. Start from the observed pattern “Written representation dominates.” and the provisional next move “Spoken form and oral rehearsal.”. Diagnosis remains provisional until additional evidence supports it.
Good pronunciation, poor spelling — Choose one metric to track for four weeks. State what improvement would look like without relying on a raw vocabulary total. Start from the observed pattern “Auditory representation dominates.” and the provisional next move “Orthographic mapping.”. Diagnosis remains provisional until additional evidence supports it.
Large notebooks, weak recall — Create one reading task and one production task for the same target words. Predict how this profile would differ across them. Start from the observed pattern “Storage behaviour masquerades as learning.” and the provisional next move “Cue-based testing.”. Diagnosis remains provisional until additional evidence supports it.
Many new words, no old-word maintenance — Write a parent-friendly explanation of the profile that avoids labels such as ‘weak vocabulary’ and identifies a concrete next step. Start from the observed pattern “Expansion overwhelms retention.” and the provisional next move “Cumulative review.”. Diagnosis remains provisional until additional evidence supports it.
Strong easy-text coverage, weak complex-text coverage — Build one error-correction activity tailored to the profile. Explain why generic word-list expansion would be less efficient. Start from the observed pattern “Threshold problem.” and the provisional next move “Progressive text difficulty.”. Diagnosis remains provisional until additional evidence supports it.
Good vocabulary, poor question interpretation — Design a transfer task on an unfamiliar topic. State what result would show that the intervention is working. Start from the observed pattern “Command-word gap.” and the provisional next move “Analyse/infer/evaluate/justify distinctions.”. Diagnosis remains provisional until additional evidence supports it.
Strong formal writing, weak situational writing — Decide which existing eduKateSG vocabulary route best matches the profile: breadth/depth, context, academic language, collocation, retrieval or morphology. Start from the observed pattern “Audience adaptation gap.” and the provisional next move “Register by task.”. Diagnosis remains provisional until additional evidence supports it.
Good isolated sentences, weak paragraphs — Design one five-minute task that would distinguish this profile from a nearby alternative explanation. Start from the observed pattern “Discourse transfer gap.” and the provisional next move “Paragraph-level vocabulary jobs.”. Diagnosis remains provisional until additional evidence supports it.
Strong planned speech, weak interaction — Write one false diagnosis a teacher might make if only a multiple-choice test were used. Explain what extra evidence fixes the error. Start from the observed pattern “Memorised oral language.” and the provisional next move “Follow-up and spontaneous response.”. Diagnosis remains provisional until additional evidence supports it.
Strong school vocabulary, narrow world knowledge — Choose one metric to track for four weeks. State what improvement would look like without relying on a raw vocabulary total. Start from the observed pattern “Concept gap.” and the provisional next move “Thematic reading and general knowledge.”. Diagnosis remains provisional until additional evidence supports it.
Mixed profile with no obvious weakness — Create one reading task and one production task for the same target words. Predict how this profile would differ across them. Start from the observed pattern “Potential ceiling on simple tests.” and the provisional next move “Use harder transfer tasks before prescribing more lists.”. Diagnosis remains provisional until additional evidence supports it.
Diagnostic Cycle 6
High breadth, low retrieval — Build one error-correction activity tailored to the profile. Explain why generic word-list expansion would be less efficient. Start from the observed pattern “Recognises many words, cannot produce them in writing.” and the provisional next move “Activation and reverse recall.”. Diagnosis remains provisional until additional evidence supports it.
Low breadth, high depth — Design a transfer task on an unfamiliar topic. State what result would show that the intervention is working. Start from the observed pattern “Uses known words accurately but meets many unknown items.” and the provisional next move “Reading volume and targeted expansion.”. Diagnosis remains provisional until additional evidence supports it.
High list scores, weak comprehension — Decide which existing eduKateSG vocabulary route best matches the profile: breadth/depth, context, academic language, collocation, retrieval or morphology. Start from the observed pattern “Definitions known, context senses missed.” and the provisional next move “Polysemy and lexical inference.”. Diagnosis remains provisional until additional evidence supports it.
Strong reading, repetitive writing — Design one five-minute task that would distinguish this profile from a nearby alternative explanation. Start from the observed pattern “Receptive vocabulary larger than productive.” and the provisional next move “Writing retrieval and collocations.”. Diagnosis remains provisional until additional evidence supports it.
Good writing, weak oral range — Write one false diagnosis a teacher might make if only a multiple-choice test were used. Explain what extra evidence fixes the error. Start from the observed pattern “Time pressure blocks access.” and the provisional next move “Timed speaking and chunk retrieval.”. Diagnosis remains provisional until additional evidence supports it.
Advanced words, frequent misuse — Choose one metric to track for four weeks. State what improvement would look like without relying on a raw vocabulary total. Start from the observed pattern “Prestige selection without boundaries.” and the provisional next move “Near-synonym contrast and register.”. Diagnosis remains provisional until additional evidence supports it.
Good context inference, weak spelling — Create one reading task and one production task for the same target words. Predict how this profile would differ across them. Start from the observed pattern “Semantic knowledge exceeds orthographic form.” and the provisional next move “Word families and spelling patterns.”. Diagnosis remains provisional until additional evidence supports it.
Strong morphology, weak context — Write a parent-friendly explanation of the profile that avoids labels such as ‘weak vocabulary’ and identifies a concrete next step. Start from the observed pattern “Overdecodes from parts.” and the provisional next move “Hypothesis-then-context verification.”. Diagnosis remains provisional until additional evidence supports it.
Good vocabulary, weak summary — Build one error-correction activity tailored to the profile. Explain why generic word-list expansion would be less efficient. Start from the observed pattern “Paraphrase flexibility is limited.” and the provisional next move “Meaning preservation and synonym precision.”. Diagnosis remains provisional until additional evidence supports it.
Strong subject vocabulary, weak general academic language — Design a transfer task on an unfamiliar topic. State what result would show that the intervention is working. Start from the observed pattern “Technical islands.” and the provisional next move “Cross-curricular Tier 2 vocabulary.”. Diagnosis remains provisional until additional evidence supports it.
Good everyday English, weak academic nouns — Decide which existing eduKateSG vocabulary route best matches the profile: breadth/depth, context, academic language, collocation, retrieval or morphology. Start from the observed pattern “Nominalisation gap.” and the provisional next move “Verb–noun family transformations.”. Diagnosis remains provisional until additional evidence supports it.
Strong noun vocabulary, weak verbs — Design one five-minute task that would distinguish this profile from a nearby alternative explanation. Start from the observed pattern “Writing becomes static and vague.” and the provisional next move “Academic verb bank and collocation.”. Diagnosis remains provisional until additional evidence supports it.
Many synonyms, poor connotation — Write one false diagnosis a teacher might make if only a multiple-choice test were used. Explain what extra evidence fixes the error. Start from the observed pattern “Treats alternatives as clones.” and the provisional next move “Tone and semantic gradient work.”. Diagnosis remains provisional until additional evidence supports it.
Good definitions, weak collocation — Choose one metric to track for four weeks. State what improvement would look like without relying on a raw vocabulary total. Start from the observed pattern “Dictionary knowledge is isolated.” and the provisional next move “Phrase-level storage and retrieval.”. Diagnosis remains provisional until additional evidence supports it.
Good words, inappropriate formality — Create one reading task and one production task for the same target words. Predict how this profile would differ across them. Start from the observed pattern “Register mismatch.” and the provisional next move “Audience rewriting tasks.”. Diagnosis remains provisional until additional evidence supports it.
Strong grammar, narrow lexical range — Write a parent-friendly explanation of the profile that avoids labels such as ‘weak vocabulary’ and identifies a concrete next step. Start from the observed pattern “Sentence structure exceeds vocabulary breadth.” and the provisional next move “High-utility expansion.”. Diagnosis remains provisional until additional evidence supports it.
Broad vocabulary, weak multiple meanings — Build one error-correction activity tailored to the profile. Explain why generic word-list expansion would be less efficient. Start from the observed pattern “Dominant-sense dependence.” and the provisional next move “Polysemy mapping.”. Diagnosis remains provisional until additional evidence supports it.
Good initial learning, rapid forgetting — Design a transfer task on an unfamiliar topic. State what result would show that the intervention is working. Start from the observed pattern “Retention problem.” and the provisional next move “Spacing and cumulative retrieval.”. Diagnosis remains provisional until additional evidence supports it.
Strong flashcards, weak transfer — Decide which existing eduKateSG vocabulary route best matches the profile: breadth/depth, context, academic language, collocation, retrieval or morphology. Start from the observed pattern “Context-bound memory.” and the provisional next move “Unfamiliar-topic tasks.”. Diagnosis remains provisional until additional evidence supports it.
Good recognition, low confidence — Design one five-minute task that would distinguish this profile from a nearby alternative explanation. Start from the observed pattern “Knowledge is fragile.” and the provisional next move “Low-stakes retrieval and feedback.”. Diagnosis remains provisional until additional evidence supports it.
Wrong answers with high confidence — Write one false diagnosis a teacher might make if only a multiple-choice test were used. Explain what extra evidence fixes the error. Start from the observed pattern “Entrenched misconceptions.” and the provisional next move “Contrastive correction and explanation.”. Diagnosis remains provisional until additional evidence supports it.
Good scores, slow retrieval — Choose one metric to track for four weeks. State what improvement would look like without relying on a raw vocabulary total. Start from the observed pattern “Access is accurate but inefficient.” and the provisional next move “Timed recall and oral practice.”. Diagnosis remains provisional until additional evidence supports it.
Fast retrieval, frequent misuse — Create one reading task and one production task for the same target words. Predict how this profile would differ across them. Start from the observed pattern “Speed exceeds precision.” and the provisional next move “Slow meaning-boundary work.”. Diagnosis remains provisional until additional evidence supports it.
Strong essays, weak comprehension vocabulary — Write a parent-friendly explanation of the profile that avoids labels such as ‘weak vocabulary’ and identifies a concrete next step. Start from the observed pattern “Production stronger in rehearsed topics.” and the provisional next move “Text-based sense and inference work.”. Diagnosis remains provisional until additional evidence supports it.
Strong comprehension, weak essays — Build one error-correction activity tailored to the profile. Explain why generic word-list expansion would be less efficient. Start from the observed pattern “Input stronger than output.” and the provisional next move “Semantic-to-word retrieval.”. Diagnosis remains provisional until additional evidence supports it.
Good vocabulary in English only — Design a transfer task on an unfamiliar topic. State what result would show that the intervention is working. Start from the observed pattern “Transfer limited.” and the provisional next move “Science/Humanities integration.”. Diagnosis remains provisional until additional evidence supports it.
Strong words, weak phrase cohesion — Decide which existing eduKateSG vocabulary route best matches the profile: breadth/depth, context, academic language, collocation, retrieval or morphology. Start from the observed pattern “Vocabulary not integrated into discourse.” and the provisional next move “Sentence frames and logical connectors.”. Diagnosis remains provisional until additional evidence supports it.
Good academic language, weak narrative vocabulary — Design one five-minute task that would distinguish this profile from a nearby alternative explanation. Start from the observed pattern “Genre imbalance.” and the provisional next move “Emotion, movement, sensory and tone vocabulary.”. Diagnosis remains provisional until additional evidence supports it.
Good narrative vocabulary, weak argument language — Write one false diagnosis a teacher might make if only a multiple-choice test were used. Explain what extra evidence fixes the error. Start from the observed pattern “Genre imbalance.” and the provisional next move “Claim/evidence/evaluation vocabulary.”. Diagnosis remains provisional until additional evidence supports it.
Good word families, poor pronunciation — Choose one metric to track for four weeks. State what improvement would look like without relying on a raw vocabulary total. Start from the observed pattern “Written representation dominates.” and the provisional next move “Spoken form and oral rehearsal.”. Diagnosis remains provisional until additional evidence supports it.
Good pronunciation, poor spelling — Create one reading task and one production task for the same target words. Predict how this profile would differ across them. Start from the observed pattern “Auditory representation dominates.” and the provisional next move “Orthographic mapping.”. Diagnosis remains provisional until additional evidence supports it.
Large notebooks, weak recall — Write a parent-friendly explanation of the profile that avoids labels such as ‘weak vocabulary’ and identifies a concrete next step. Start from the observed pattern “Storage behaviour masquerades as learning.” and the provisional next move “Cue-based testing.”. Diagnosis remains provisional until additional evidence supports it.
Many new words, no old-word maintenance — Build one error-correction activity tailored to the profile. Explain why generic word-list expansion would be less efficient. Start from the observed pattern “Expansion overwhelms retention.” and the provisional next move “Cumulative review.”. Diagnosis remains provisional until additional evidence supports it.
Strong easy-text coverage, weak complex-text coverage — Design a transfer task on an unfamiliar topic. State what result would show that the intervention is working. Start from the observed pattern “Threshold problem.” and the provisional next move “Progressive text difficulty.”. Diagnosis remains provisional until additional evidence supports it.
Good vocabulary, poor question interpretation — Decide which existing eduKateSG vocabulary route best matches the profile: breadth/depth, context, academic language, collocation, retrieval or morphology. Start from the observed pattern “Command-word gap.” and the provisional next move “Analyse/infer/evaluate/justify distinctions.”. Diagnosis remains provisional until additional evidence supports it.
Strong formal writing, weak situational writing — Design one five-minute task that would distinguish this profile from a nearby alternative explanation. Start from the observed pattern “Audience adaptation gap.” and the provisional next move “Register by task.”. Diagnosis remains provisional until additional evidence supports it.
Good isolated sentences, weak paragraphs — Write one false diagnosis a teacher might make if only a multiple-choice test were used. Explain what extra evidence fixes the error. Start from the observed pattern “Discourse transfer gap.” and the provisional next move “Paragraph-level vocabulary jobs.”. Diagnosis remains provisional until additional evidence supports it.
Strong planned speech, weak interaction — Choose one metric to track for four weeks. State what improvement would look like without relying on a raw vocabulary total. Start from the observed pattern “Memorised oral language.” and the provisional next move “Follow-up and spontaneous response.”. Diagnosis remains provisional until additional evidence supports it.
Strong school vocabulary, narrow world knowledge — Create one reading task and one production task for the same target words. Predict how this profile would differ across them. Start from the observed pattern “Concept gap.” and the provisional next move “Thematic reading and general knowledge.”. Diagnosis remains provisional until additional evidence supports it.
Mixed profile with no obvious weakness — Write a parent-friendly explanation of the profile that avoids labels such as ‘weak vocabulary’ and identifies a concrete next step. Start from the observed pattern “Potential ceiling on simple tests.” and the provisional next move “Use harder transfer tasks before prescribing more lists.”. Diagnosis remains provisional until additional evidence supports it.
Diagnostic Cycle 7
High breadth, low retrieval — Design a transfer task on an unfamiliar topic. State what result would show that the intervention is working. Start from the observed pattern “Recognises many words, cannot produce them in writing.” and the provisional next move “Activation and reverse recall.”. Diagnosis remains provisional until additional evidence supports it.
Low breadth, high depth — Decide which existing eduKateSG vocabulary route best matches the profile: breadth/depth, context, academic language, collocation, retrieval or morphology. Start from the observed pattern “Uses known words accurately but meets many unknown items.” and the provisional next move “Reading volume and targeted expansion.”. Diagnosis remains provisional until additional evidence supports it.
High list scores, weak comprehension — Design one five-minute task that would distinguish this profile from a nearby alternative explanation. Start from the observed pattern “Definitions known, context senses missed.” and the provisional next move “Polysemy and lexical inference.”. Diagnosis remains provisional until additional evidence supports it.
Strong reading, repetitive writing — Write one false diagnosis a teacher might make if only a multiple-choice test were used. Explain what extra evidence fixes the error. Start from the observed pattern “Receptive vocabulary larger than productive.” and the provisional next move “Writing retrieval and collocations.”. Diagnosis remains provisional until additional evidence supports it.
Good writing, weak oral range — Choose one metric to track for four weeks. State what improvement would look like without relying on a raw vocabulary total. Start from the observed pattern “Time pressure blocks access.” and the provisional next move “Timed speaking and chunk retrieval.”. Diagnosis remains provisional until additional evidence supports it.
Advanced words, frequent misuse — Create one reading task and one production task for the same target words. Predict how this profile would differ across them. Start from the observed pattern “Prestige selection without boundaries.” and the provisional next move “Near-synonym contrast and register.”. Diagnosis remains provisional until additional evidence supports it.
Good context inference, weak spelling — Write a parent-friendly explanation of the profile that avoids labels such as ‘weak vocabulary’ and identifies a concrete next step. Start from the observed pattern “Semantic knowledge exceeds orthographic form.” and the provisional next move “Word families and spelling patterns.”. Diagnosis remains provisional until additional evidence supports it.
Strong morphology, weak context — Build one error-correction activity tailored to the profile. Explain why generic word-list expansion would be less efficient. Start from the observed pattern “Overdecodes from parts.” and the provisional next move “Hypothesis-then-context verification.”. Diagnosis remains provisional until additional evidence supports it.
Good vocabulary, weak summary — Design a transfer task on an unfamiliar topic. State what result would show that the intervention is working. Start from the observed pattern “Paraphrase flexibility is limited.” and the provisional next move “Meaning preservation and synonym precision.”. Diagnosis remains provisional until additional evidence supports it.
Strong subject vocabulary, weak general academic language — Decide which existing eduKateSG vocabulary route best matches the profile: breadth/depth, context, academic language, collocation, retrieval or morphology. Start from the observed pattern “Technical islands.” and the provisional next move “Cross-curricular Tier 2 vocabulary.”. Diagnosis remains provisional until additional evidence supports it.
Good everyday English, weak academic nouns — Design one five-minute task that would distinguish this profile from a nearby alternative explanation. Start from the observed pattern “Nominalisation gap.” and the provisional next move “Verb–noun family transformations.”. Diagnosis remains provisional until additional evidence supports it.
Strong noun vocabulary, weak verbs — Write one false diagnosis a teacher might make if only a multiple-choice test were used. Explain what extra evidence fixes the error. Start from the observed pattern “Writing becomes static and vague.” and the provisional next move “Academic verb bank and collocation.”. Diagnosis remains provisional until additional evidence supports it.
Many synonyms, poor connotation — Choose one metric to track for four weeks. State what improvement would look like without relying on a raw vocabulary total. Start from the observed pattern “Treats alternatives as clones.” and the provisional next move “Tone and semantic gradient work.”. Diagnosis remains provisional until additional evidence supports it.
Good definitions, weak collocation — Create one reading task and one production task for the same target words. Predict how this profile would differ across them. Start from the observed pattern “Dictionary knowledge is isolated.” and the provisional next move “Phrase-level storage and retrieval.”. Diagnosis remains provisional until additional evidence supports it.
Good words, inappropriate formality — Write a parent-friendly explanation of the profile that avoids labels such as ‘weak vocabulary’ and identifies a concrete next step. Start from the observed pattern “Register mismatch.” and the provisional next move “Audience rewriting tasks.”. Diagnosis remains provisional until additional evidence supports it.
Strong grammar, narrow lexical range — Build one error-correction activity tailored to the profile. Explain why generic word-list expansion would be less efficient. Start from the observed pattern “Sentence structure exceeds vocabulary breadth.” and the provisional next move “High-utility expansion.”. Diagnosis remains provisional until additional evidence supports it.
Broad vocabulary, weak multiple meanings — Design a transfer task on an unfamiliar topic. State what result would show that the intervention is working. Start from the observed pattern “Dominant-sense dependence.” and the provisional next move “Polysemy mapping.”. Diagnosis remains provisional until additional evidence supports it.
Good initial learning, rapid forgetting — Decide which existing eduKateSG vocabulary route best matches the profile: breadth/depth, context, academic language, collocation, retrieval or morphology. Start from the observed pattern “Retention problem.” and the provisional next move “Spacing and cumulative retrieval.”. Diagnosis remains provisional until additional evidence supports it.
Strong flashcards, weak transfer — Design one five-minute task that would distinguish this profile from a nearby alternative explanation. Start from the observed pattern “Context-bound memory.” and the provisional next move “Unfamiliar-topic tasks.”. Diagnosis remains provisional until additional evidence supports it.
Good recognition, low confidence — Write one false diagnosis a teacher might make if only a multiple-choice test were used. Explain what extra evidence fixes the error. Start from the observed pattern “Knowledge is fragile.” and the provisional next move “Low-stakes retrieval and feedback.”. Diagnosis remains provisional until additional evidence supports it.
Wrong answers with high confidence — Choose one metric to track for four weeks. State what improvement would look like without relying on a raw vocabulary total. Start from the observed pattern “Entrenched misconceptions.” and the provisional next move “Contrastive correction and explanation.”. Diagnosis remains provisional until additional evidence supports it.
Good scores, slow retrieval — Create one reading task and one production task for the same target words. Predict how this profile would differ across them. Start from the observed pattern “Access is accurate but inefficient.” and the provisional next move “Timed recall and oral practice.”. Diagnosis remains provisional until additional evidence supports it.
Fast retrieval, frequent misuse — Write a parent-friendly explanation of the profile that avoids labels such as ‘weak vocabulary’ and identifies a concrete next step. Start from the observed pattern “Speed exceeds precision.” and the provisional next move “Slow meaning-boundary work.”. Diagnosis remains provisional until additional evidence supports it.
Strong essays, weak comprehension vocabulary — Build one error-correction activity tailored to the profile. Explain why generic word-list expansion would be less efficient. Start from the observed pattern “Production stronger in rehearsed topics.” and the provisional next move “Text-based sense and inference work.”. Diagnosis remains provisional until additional evidence supports it.
Strong comprehension, weak essays — Design a transfer task on an unfamiliar topic. State what result would show that the intervention is working. Start from the observed pattern “Input stronger than output.” and the provisional next move “Semantic-to-word retrieval.”. Diagnosis remains provisional until additional evidence supports it.
Good vocabulary in English only — Decide which existing eduKateSG vocabulary route best matches the profile: breadth/depth, context, academic language, collocation, retrieval or morphology. Start from the observed pattern “Transfer limited.” and the provisional next move “Science/Humanities integration.”. Diagnosis remains provisional until additional evidence supports it.
Strong words, weak phrase cohesion — Design one five-minute task that would distinguish this profile from a nearby alternative explanation. Start from the observed pattern “Vocabulary not integrated into discourse.” and the provisional next move “Sentence frames and logical connectors.”. Diagnosis remains provisional until additional evidence supports it.
Good academic language, weak narrative vocabulary — Write one false diagnosis a teacher might make if only a multiple-choice test were used. Explain what extra evidence fixes the error. Start from the observed pattern “Genre imbalance.” and the provisional next move “Emotion, movement, sensory and tone vocabulary.”. Diagnosis remains provisional until additional evidence supports it.
Good narrative vocabulary, weak argument language — Choose one metric to track for four weeks. State what improvement would look like without relying on a raw vocabulary total. Start from the observed pattern “Genre imbalance.” and the provisional next move “Claim/evidence/evaluation vocabulary.”. Diagnosis remains provisional until additional evidence supports it.
Good word families, poor pronunciation — Create one reading task and one production task for the same target words. Predict how this profile would differ across them. Start from the observed pattern “Written representation dominates.” and the provisional next move “Spoken form and oral rehearsal.”. Diagnosis remains provisional until additional evidence supports it.
Good pronunciation, poor spelling — Write a parent-friendly explanation of the profile that avoids labels such as ‘weak vocabulary’ and identifies a concrete next step. Start from the observed pattern “Auditory representation dominates.” and the provisional next move “Orthographic mapping.”. Diagnosis remains provisional until additional evidence supports it.
Large notebooks, weak recall — Build one error-correction activity tailored to the profile. Explain why generic word-list expansion would be less efficient. Start from the observed pattern “Storage behaviour masquerades as learning.” and the provisional next move “Cue-based testing.”. Diagnosis remains provisional until additional evidence supports it.
Many new words, no old-word maintenance — Design a transfer task on an unfamiliar topic. State what result would show that the intervention is working. Start from the observed pattern “Expansion overwhelms retention.” and the provisional next move “Cumulative review.”. Diagnosis remains provisional until additional evidence supports it.
Strong easy-text coverage, weak complex-text coverage — Decide which existing eduKateSG vocabulary route best matches the profile: breadth/depth, context, academic language, collocation, retrieval or morphology. Start from the observed pattern “Threshold problem.” and the provisional next move “Progressive text difficulty.”. Diagnosis remains provisional until additional evidence supports it.
Good vocabulary, poor question interpretation — Design one five-minute task that would distinguish this profile from a nearby alternative explanation. Start from the observed pattern “Command-word gap.” and the provisional next move “Analyse/infer/evaluate/justify distinctions.”. Diagnosis remains provisional until additional evidence supports it.
Strong formal writing, weak situational writing — Write one false diagnosis a teacher might make if only a multiple-choice test were used. Explain what extra evidence fixes the error. Start from the observed pattern “Audience adaptation gap.” and the provisional next move “Register by task.”. Diagnosis remains provisional until additional evidence supports it.
Good isolated sentences, weak paragraphs — Choose one metric to track for four weeks. State what improvement would look like without relying on a raw vocabulary total. Start from the observed pattern “Discourse transfer gap.” and the provisional next move “Paragraph-level vocabulary jobs.”. Diagnosis remains provisional until additional evidence supports it.
Strong planned speech, weak interaction — Create one reading task and one production task for the same target words. Predict how this profile would differ across them. Start from the observed pattern “Memorised oral language.” and the provisional next move “Follow-up and spontaneous response.”. Diagnosis remains provisional until additional evidence supports it.
Strong school vocabulary, narrow world knowledge — Write a parent-friendly explanation of the profile that avoids labels such as ‘weak vocabulary’ and identifies a concrete next step. Start from the observed pattern “Concept gap.” and the provisional next move “Thematic reading and general knowledge.”. Diagnosis remains provisional until additional evidence supports it.
Mixed profile with no obvious weakness — Build one error-correction activity tailored to the profile. Explain why generic word-list expansion would be less efficient. Start from the observed pattern “Potential ceiling on simple tests.” and the provisional next move “Use harder transfer tasks before prescribing more lists.”. Diagnosis remains provisional until additional evidence supports it.
Diagnostic Cycle 8
High breadth, low retrieval — Decide which existing eduKateSG vocabulary route best matches the profile: breadth/depth, context, academic language, collocation, retrieval or morphology. Start from the observed pattern “Recognises many words, cannot produce them in writing.” and the provisional next move “Activation and reverse recall.”. Diagnosis remains provisional until additional evidence supports it.
Low breadth, high depth — Design one five-minute task that would distinguish this profile from a nearby alternative explanation. Start from the observed pattern “Uses known words accurately but meets many unknown items.” and the provisional next move “Reading volume and targeted expansion.”. Diagnosis remains provisional until additional evidence supports it.
High list scores, weak comprehension — Write one false diagnosis a teacher might make if only a multiple-choice test were used. Explain what extra evidence fixes the error. Start from the observed pattern “Definitions known, context senses missed.” and the provisional next move “Polysemy and lexical inference.”. Diagnosis remains provisional until additional evidence supports it.
Strong reading, repetitive writing — Choose one metric to track for four weeks. State what improvement would look like without relying on a raw vocabulary total. Start from the observed pattern “Receptive vocabulary larger than productive.” and the provisional next move “Writing retrieval and collocations.”. Diagnosis remains provisional until additional evidence supports it.
Good writing, weak oral range — Create one reading task and one production task for the same target words. Predict how this profile would differ across them. Start from the observed pattern “Time pressure blocks access.” and the provisional next move “Timed speaking and chunk retrieval.”. Diagnosis remains provisional until additional evidence supports it.
Advanced words, frequent misuse — Write a parent-friendly explanation of the profile that avoids labels such as ‘weak vocabulary’ and identifies a concrete next step. Start from the observed pattern “Prestige selection without boundaries.” and the provisional next move “Near-synonym contrast and register.”. Diagnosis remains provisional until additional evidence supports it.
Good context inference, weak spelling — Build one error-correction activity tailored to the profile. Explain why generic word-list expansion would be less efficient. Start from the observed pattern “Semantic knowledge exceeds orthographic form.” and the provisional next move “Word families and spelling patterns.”. Diagnosis remains provisional until additional evidence supports it.
Strong morphology, weak context — Design a transfer task on an unfamiliar topic. State what result would show that the intervention is working. Start from the observed pattern “Overdecodes from parts.” and the provisional next move “Hypothesis-then-context verification.”. Diagnosis remains provisional until additional evidence supports it.
Good vocabulary, weak summary — Decide which existing eduKateSG vocabulary route best matches the profile: breadth/depth, context, academic language, collocation, retrieval or morphology. Start from the observed pattern “Paraphrase flexibility is limited.” and the provisional next move “Meaning preservation and synonym precision.”. Diagnosis remains provisional until additional evidence supports it.
Strong subject vocabulary, weak general academic language — Design one five-minute task that would distinguish this profile from a nearby alternative explanation. Start from the observed pattern “Technical islands.” and the provisional next move “Cross-curricular Tier 2 vocabulary.”. Diagnosis remains provisional until additional evidence supports it.
Good everyday English, weak academic nouns — Write one false diagnosis a teacher might make if only a multiple-choice test were used. Explain what extra evidence fixes the error. Start from the observed pattern “Nominalisation gap.” and the provisional next move “Verb–noun family transformations.”. Diagnosis remains provisional until additional evidence supports it.
Strong noun vocabulary, weak verbs — Choose one metric to track for four weeks. State what improvement would look like without relying on a raw vocabulary total. Start from the observed pattern “Writing becomes static and vague.” and the provisional next move “Academic verb bank and collocation.”. Diagnosis remains provisional until additional evidence supports it.
Many synonyms, poor connotation — Create one reading task and one production task for the same target words. Predict how this profile would differ across them. Start from the observed pattern “Treats alternatives as clones.” and the provisional next move “Tone and semantic gradient work.”. Diagnosis remains provisional until additional evidence supports it.
Good definitions, weak collocation — Write a parent-friendly explanation of the profile that avoids labels such as ‘weak vocabulary’ and identifies a concrete next step. Start from the observed pattern “Dictionary knowledge is isolated.” and the provisional next move “Phrase-level storage and retrieval.”. Diagnosis remains provisional until additional evidence supports it.
Good words, inappropriate formality — Build one error-correction activity tailored to the profile. Explain why generic word-list expansion would be less efficient. Start from the observed pattern “Register mismatch.” and the provisional next move “Audience rewriting tasks.”. Diagnosis remains provisional until additional evidence supports it.
Strong grammar, narrow lexical range — Design a transfer task on an unfamiliar topic. State what result would show that the intervention is working. Start from the observed pattern “Sentence structure exceeds vocabulary breadth.” and the provisional next move “High-utility expansion.”. Diagnosis remains provisional until additional evidence supports it.
Broad vocabulary, weak multiple meanings — Decide which existing eduKateSG vocabulary route best matches the profile: breadth/depth, context, academic language, collocation, retrieval or morphology. Start from the observed pattern “Dominant-sense dependence.” and the provisional next move “Polysemy mapping.”. Diagnosis remains provisional until additional evidence supports it.
Good initial learning, rapid forgetting — Design one five-minute task that would distinguish this profile from a nearby alternative explanation. Start from the observed pattern “Retention problem.” and the provisional next move “Spacing and cumulative retrieval.”. Diagnosis remains provisional until additional evidence supports it.
Strong flashcards, weak transfer — Write one false diagnosis a teacher might make if only a multiple-choice test were used. Explain what extra evidence fixes the error. Start from the observed pattern “Context-bound memory.” and the provisional next move “Unfamiliar-topic tasks.”. Diagnosis remains provisional until additional evidence supports it.
Good recognition, low confidence — Choose one metric to track for four weeks. State what improvement would look like without relying on a raw vocabulary total. Start from the observed pattern “Knowledge is fragile.” and the provisional next move “Low-stakes retrieval and feedback.”. Diagnosis remains provisional until additional evidence supports it.
Wrong answers with high confidence — Create one reading task and one production task for the same target words. Predict how this profile would differ across them. Start from the observed pattern “Entrenched misconceptions.” and the provisional next move “Contrastive correction and explanation.”. Diagnosis remains provisional until additional evidence supports it.
Good scores, slow retrieval — Write a parent-friendly explanation of the profile that avoids labels such as ‘weak vocabulary’ and identifies a concrete next step. Start from the observed pattern “Access is accurate but inefficient.” and the provisional next move “Timed recall and oral practice.”. Diagnosis remains provisional until additional evidence supports it.
Fast retrieval, frequent misuse — Build one error-correction activity tailored to the profile. Explain why generic word-list expansion would be less efficient. Start from the observed pattern “Speed exceeds precision.” and the provisional next move “Slow meaning-boundary work.”. Diagnosis remains provisional until additional evidence supports it.
Strong essays, weak comprehension vocabulary — Design a transfer task on an unfamiliar topic. State what result would show that the intervention is working. Start from the observed pattern “Production stronger in rehearsed topics.” and the provisional next move “Text-based sense and inference work.”. Diagnosis remains provisional until additional evidence supports it.
Strong comprehension, weak essays — Decide which existing eduKateSG vocabulary route best matches the profile: breadth/depth, context, academic language, collocation, retrieval or morphology. Start from the observed pattern “Input stronger than output.” and the provisional next move “Semantic-to-word retrieval.”. Diagnosis remains provisional until additional evidence supports it.
Good vocabulary in English only — Design one five-minute task that would distinguish this profile from a nearby alternative explanation. Start from the observed pattern “Transfer limited.” and the provisional next move “Science/Humanities integration.”. Diagnosis remains provisional until additional evidence supports it.
Strong words, weak phrase cohesion — Write one false diagnosis a teacher might make if only a multiple-choice test were used. Explain what extra evidence fixes the error. Start from the observed pattern “Vocabulary not integrated into discourse.” and the provisional next move “Sentence frames and logical connectors.”. Diagnosis remains provisional until additional evidence supports it.
Good academic language, weak narrative vocabulary — Choose one metric to track for four weeks. State what improvement would look like without relying on a raw vocabulary total. Start from the observed pattern “Genre imbalance.” and the provisional next move “Emotion, movement, sensory and tone vocabulary.”. Diagnosis remains provisional until additional evidence supports it.
Good narrative vocabulary, weak argument language — Create one reading task and one production task for the same target words. Predict how this profile would differ across them. Start from the observed pattern “Genre imbalance.” and the provisional next move “Claim/evidence/evaluation vocabulary.”. Diagnosis remains provisional until additional evidence supports it.
Good word families, poor pronunciation — Write a parent-friendly explanation of the profile that avoids labels such as ‘weak vocabulary’ and identifies a concrete next step. Start from the observed pattern “Written representation dominates.” and the provisional next move “Spoken form and oral rehearsal.”. Diagnosis remains provisional until additional evidence supports it.
Good pronunciation, poor spelling — Build one error-correction activity tailored to the profile. Explain why generic word-list expansion would be less efficient. Start from the observed pattern “Auditory representation dominates.” and the provisional next move “Orthographic mapping.”. Diagnosis remains provisional until additional evidence supports it.
Large notebooks, weak recall — Design a transfer task on an unfamiliar topic. State what result would show that the intervention is working. Start from the observed pattern “Storage behaviour masquerades as learning.” and the provisional next move “Cue-based testing.”. Diagnosis remains provisional until additional evidence supports it.
Many new words, no old-word maintenance — Decide which existing eduKateSG vocabulary route best matches the profile: breadth/depth, context, academic language, collocation, retrieval or morphology. Start from the observed pattern “Expansion overwhelms retention.” and the provisional next move “Cumulative review.”. Diagnosis remains provisional until additional evidence supports it.
Strong easy-text coverage, weak complex-text coverage — Design one five-minute task that would distinguish this profile from a nearby alternative explanation. Start from the observed pattern “Threshold problem.” and the provisional next move “Progressive text difficulty.”. Diagnosis remains provisional until additional evidence supports it.
Good vocabulary, poor question interpretation — Write one false diagnosis a teacher might make if only a multiple-choice test were used. Explain what extra evidence fixes the error. Start from the observed pattern “Command-word gap.” and the provisional next move “Analyse/infer/evaluate/justify distinctions.”. Diagnosis remains provisional until additional evidence supports it.
Strong formal writing, weak situational writing — Choose one metric to track for four weeks. State what improvement would look like without relying on a raw vocabulary total. Start from the observed pattern “Audience adaptation gap.” and the provisional next move “Register by task.”. Diagnosis remains provisional until additional evidence supports it.
Good isolated sentences, weak paragraphs — Create one reading task and one production task for the same target words. Predict how this profile would differ across them. Start from the observed pattern “Discourse transfer gap.” and the provisional next move “Paragraph-level vocabulary jobs.”. Diagnosis remains provisional until additional evidence supports it.
Strong planned speech, weak interaction — Write a parent-friendly explanation of the profile that avoids labels such as ‘weak vocabulary’ and identifies a concrete next step. Start from the observed pattern “Memorised oral language.” and the provisional next move “Follow-up and spontaneous response.”. Diagnosis remains provisional until additional evidence supports it.
Strong school vocabulary, narrow world knowledge — Build one error-correction activity tailored to the profile. Explain why generic word-list expansion would be less efficient. Start from the observed pattern “Concept gap.” and the provisional next move “Thematic reading and general knowledge.”. Diagnosis remains provisional until additional evidence supports it.
Mixed profile with no obvious weakness — Design a transfer task on an unfamiliar topic. State what result would show that the intervention is working. Start from the observed pattern “Potential ceiling on simple tests.” and the provisional next move “Use harder transfer tasks before prescribing more lists.”. Diagnosis remains provisional until additional evidence supports it.
Scoring Without Hiding the Profile
If a school or family needs scores, report sub-scores rather than one total: breadth, context, depth, retrieval and production. A radar-style profile can be useful, but the narrative explanation matters more than the graphic. State which tasks produced the evidence and what the next teaching step is.
Avoid false precision. A score of 73/100 can look scientific while combining unrelated skills. If the student lost points because of spelling, collocation and context inference, the teaching response should reflect those differences.
Assessment is a map for action, not a verdict on intelligence or language potential.
A 6-Week Diagnostic-to-Intervention Cycle
Week 1: baseline and confidence sampling
Use a short evidence set around baseline and confidence sampling. Keep target vocabulary manageable. At the end of the week, record what changed, what remained unstable and whether the original diagnosis still fits. Do not wait until the final week to discover that the wrong skill was being trained.
Week 2: targeted repair of the largest bottleneck
Use a short evidence set around targeted repair of the largest bottleneck. Keep target vocabulary manageable. At the end of the week, record what changed, what remained unstable and whether the original diagnosis still fits. Do not wait until the final week to discover that the wrong skill was being trained.
Week 3: second-dimension support
Use a short evidence set around second-dimension support. Keep target vocabulary manageable. At the end of the week, record what changed, what remained unstable and whether the original diagnosis still fits. Do not wait until the final week to discover that the wrong skill was being trained.
Week 4: mixed practice and retrieval
Use a short evidence set around mixed practice and retrieval. Keep target vocabulary manageable. At the end of the week, record what changed, what remained unstable and whether the original diagnosis still fits. Do not wait until the final week to discover that the wrong skill was being trained.
Week 5: unfamiliar-topic transfer
Use a short evidence set around unfamiliar-topic transfer. Keep target vocabulary manageable. At the end of the week, record what changed, what remained unstable and whether the original diagnosis still fits. Do not wait until the final week to discover that the wrong skill was being trained.
Week 6: retest and new profile
Use a short evidence set around retest and new profile. Keep target vocabulary manageable. At the end of the week, record what changed, what remained unstable and whether the original diagnosis still fits. Do not wait until the final week to discover that the wrong skill was being trained.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is a vocabulary diagnostic test?
An assessment designed to identify the type of vocabulary knowledge a learner has and where the bottlenecks are.
Is a multiple-choice vocabulary test enough?
No. It can estimate recognition but misses productive retrieval, collocation, register and transfer.
How often should Secondary 3 vocabulary be assessed?
Use short formative checks frequently and broader profile reviews periodically, especially after an intervention cycle.
Should spelling count?
Yes when written form matters, but report it separately from semantic knowledge if the goal is diagnosis.
How do I assess active vocabulary?
Use reverse retrieval, writing and oral tasks without a visible word bank.
How do I assess depth?
Ask for multiple meanings, word-family forms, collocations, synonym distinctions and contextual use.
What does a low score mean?
Only what the test actually sampled. Interpret it alongside task type, confidence and authentic performance.
Can vocabulary assessment be informal?
Yes. Well-designed teacher observations, short text audits and writing samples can provide valuable evidence.
Should parents compare children by vocabulary totals?
No. Profiles, reading history, language background and task demands differ. Track the learner’s own functional progress.
What is the best outcome of assessment?
A specific next teaching action that can be retested.
Routes Into eduKateSG
- Secondary 3 English Vocabulary apex.
- Vocabulary Assessment — universal assessment mechanics.
- Secondary 3 Vocabulary Practice.
- Breadth, Depth and Word Knowledge.
- Retrieval and Active Word Use.
- Vocabulary Learning Hub.
References
The What Works Clearinghouse adolescent literacy guide supports explicit vocabulary teaching and independent word-learning strategies. For current Singapore Secondary English assessment context, consult the 2027 SEC G3 English Language syllabus. Oxford Learner’s Dictionaries provides frequency- and learner-relevance-based core word lists useful for sampling high-utility vocabulary.
Final Principle
A good Secondary 3 vocabulary assessment does not ask whether the student is “good” or “bad” at vocabulary. It asks where the system breaks: access, meaning, context, form, combination, retrieval, register or transfer. Diagnose the first bottleneck, train it deliberately, and retest with a task that can show whether the improvement travels.
Extended Diagnostic Task Bank
Extended Diagnostic Cycle 1
High breadth, low retrieval — Create a context-inference item using a familiar word in a less familiar sense. State the evidence a strong response should cite. Use the observed pattern “Recognises many words, cannot produce them in writing.” as your evidence base. Keep “Activation and reverse recall.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Low breadth, high depth — Write one collocation-repair item and one register-repair item linked to the profile. Use the observed pattern “Uses known words accurately but meets many unknown items.” as your evidence base. Keep “Reading volume and targeted expansion.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
High list scores, weak comprehension — Design a timed retrieval cue with no first-letter hint. Decide what response time would count as fluent enough for the learner’s current goal. Use the observed pattern “Definitions known, context senses missed.” as your evidence base. Keep “Polysemy and lexical inference.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Strong reading, repetitive writing — Create a word-family transformation that forces a change in grammatical class. Use the observed pattern “Receptive vocabulary larger than productive.” as your evidence base. Keep “Writing retrieval and collocations.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Good writing, weak oral range — Write a transfer question using a topic the learner has not practised. Explain what successful transfer would look like. Use the observed pattern “Time pressure blocks access.” as your evidence base. Keep “Timed speaking and chunk retrieval.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Advanced words, frequent misuse — Ask the learner for a confidence rating before revealing the answer. Predict how confidence would change your interpretation. Use the observed pattern “Prestige selection without boundaries.” as your evidence base. Keep “Near-synonym contrast and register.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Good context inference, weak spelling — Create a mini writing sample rubric with three lexical criteria only: precision, natural combination and fit to purpose. Use the observed pattern “Semantic knowledge exceeds orthographic form.” as your evidence base. Keep “Word families and spelling patterns.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Strong morphology, weak context — Write one oral follow-up question that makes memorised vocabulary insufficient and requires flexible response. Use the observed pattern “Overdecodes from parts.” as your evidence base. Keep “Hypothesis-then-context verification.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Good vocabulary, weak summary — State one conclusion you would refuse to make from this profile without more evidence. Use the observed pattern “Paraphrase flexibility is limited.” as your evidence base. Keep “Meaning preservation and synonym precision.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Strong subject vocabulary, weak general academic language — Turn this profile into one recognition item and one production item. Explain why the pair gives more information than either alone. Use the observed pattern “Technical islands.” as your evidence base. Keep “Cross-curricular Tier 2 vocabulary.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Good everyday English, weak academic nouns — Create a context-inference item using a familiar word in a less familiar sense. State the evidence a strong response should cite. Use the observed pattern “Nominalisation gap.” as your evidence base. Keep “Verb–noun family transformations.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Strong noun vocabulary, weak verbs — Write one collocation-repair item and one register-repair item linked to the profile. Use the observed pattern “Writing becomes static and vague.” as your evidence base. Keep “Academic verb bank and collocation.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Many synonyms, poor connotation — Design a timed retrieval cue with no first-letter hint. Decide what response time would count as fluent enough for the learner’s current goal. Use the observed pattern “Treats alternatives as clones.” as your evidence base. Keep “Tone and semantic gradient work.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Good definitions, weak collocation — Create a word-family transformation that forces a change in grammatical class. Use the observed pattern “Dictionary knowledge is isolated.” as your evidence base. Keep “Phrase-level storage and retrieval.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Good words, inappropriate formality — Write a transfer question using a topic the learner has not practised. Explain what successful transfer would look like. Use the observed pattern “Register mismatch.” as your evidence base. Keep “Audience rewriting tasks.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Strong grammar, narrow lexical range — Ask the learner for a confidence rating before revealing the answer. Predict how confidence would change your interpretation. Use the observed pattern “Sentence structure exceeds vocabulary breadth.” as your evidence base. Keep “High-utility expansion.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Broad vocabulary, weak multiple meanings — Create a mini writing sample rubric with three lexical criteria only: precision, natural combination and fit to purpose. Use the observed pattern “Dominant-sense dependence.” as your evidence base. Keep “Polysemy mapping.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Good initial learning, rapid forgetting — Write one oral follow-up question that makes memorised vocabulary insufficient and requires flexible response. Use the observed pattern “Retention problem.” as your evidence base. Keep “Spacing and cumulative retrieval.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Strong flashcards, weak transfer — State one conclusion you would refuse to make from this profile without more evidence. Use the observed pattern “Context-bound memory.” as your evidence base. Keep “Unfamiliar-topic tasks.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Good recognition, low confidence — Turn this profile into one recognition item and one production item. Explain why the pair gives more information than either alone. Use the observed pattern “Knowledge is fragile.” as your evidence base. Keep “Low-stakes retrieval and feedback.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Wrong answers with high confidence — Create a context-inference item using a familiar word in a less familiar sense. State the evidence a strong response should cite. Use the observed pattern “Entrenched misconceptions.” as your evidence base. Keep “Contrastive correction and explanation.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Good scores, slow retrieval — Write one collocation-repair item and one register-repair item linked to the profile. Use the observed pattern “Access is accurate but inefficient.” as your evidence base. Keep “Timed recall and oral practice.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Fast retrieval, frequent misuse — Design a timed retrieval cue with no first-letter hint. Decide what response time would count as fluent enough for the learner’s current goal. Use the observed pattern “Speed exceeds precision.” as your evidence base. Keep “Slow meaning-boundary work.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Strong essays, weak comprehension vocabulary — Create a word-family transformation that forces a change in grammatical class. Use the observed pattern “Production stronger in rehearsed topics.” as your evidence base. Keep “Text-based sense and inference work.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Strong comprehension, weak essays — Write a transfer question using a topic the learner has not practised. Explain what successful transfer would look like. Use the observed pattern “Input stronger than output.” as your evidence base. Keep “Semantic-to-word retrieval.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Good vocabulary in English only — Ask the learner for a confidence rating before revealing the answer. Predict how confidence would change your interpretation. Use the observed pattern “Transfer limited.” as your evidence base. Keep “Science/Humanities integration.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Strong words, weak phrase cohesion — Create a mini writing sample rubric with three lexical criteria only: precision, natural combination and fit to purpose. Use the observed pattern “Vocabulary not integrated into discourse.” as your evidence base. Keep “Sentence frames and logical connectors.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Good academic language, weak narrative vocabulary — Write one oral follow-up question that makes memorised vocabulary insufficient and requires flexible response. Use the observed pattern “Genre imbalance.” as your evidence base. Keep “Emotion, movement, sensory and tone vocabulary.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Good narrative vocabulary, weak argument language — State one conclusion you would refuse to make from this profile without more evidence. Use the observed pattern “Genre imbalance.” as your evidence base. Keep “Claim/evidence/evaluation vocabulary.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Good word families, poor pronunciation — Turn this profile into one recognition item and one production item. Explain why the pair gives more information than either alone. Use the observed pattern “Written representation dominates.” as your evidence base. Keep “Spoken form and oral rehearsal.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Good pronunciation, poor spelling — Create a context-inference item using a familiar word in a less familiar sense. State the evidence a strong response should cite. Use the observed pattern “Auditory representation dominates.” as your evidence base. Keep “Orthographic mapping.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Large notebooks, weak recall — Write one collocation-repair item and one register-repair item linked to the profile. Use the observed pattern “Storage behaviour masquerades as learning.” as your evidence base. Keep “Cue-based testing.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Many new words, no old-word maintenance — Design a timed retrieval cue with no first-letter hint. Decide what response time would count as fluent enough for the learner’s current goal. Use the observed pattern “Expansion overwhelms retention.” as your evidence base. Keep “Cumulative review.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Strong easy-text coverage, weak complex-text coverage — Create a word-family transformation that forces a change in grammatical class. Use the observed pattern “Threshold problem.” as your evidence base. Keep “Progressive text difficulty.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Good vocabulary, poor question interpretation — Write a transfer question using a topic the learner has not practised. Explain what successful transfer would look like. Use the observed pattern “Command-word gap.” as your evidence base. Keep “Analyse/infer/evaluate/justify distinctions.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Strong formal writing, weak situational writing — Ask the learner for a confidence rating before revealing the answer. Predict how confidence would change your interpretation. Use the observed pattern “Audience adaptation gap.” as your evidence base. Keep “Register by task.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Good isolated sentences, weak paragraphs — Create a mini writing sample rubric with three lexical criteria only: precision, natural combination and fit to purpose. Use the observed pattern “Discourse transfer gap.” as your evidence base. Keep “Paragraph-level vocabulary jobs.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Strong planned speech, weak interaction — Write one oral follow-up question that makes memorised vocabulary insufficient and requires flexible response. Use the observed pattern “Memorised oral language.” as your evidence base. Keep “Follow-up and spontaneous response.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Strong school vocabulary, narrow world knowledge — State one conclusion you would refuse to make from this profile without more evidence. Use the observed pattern “Concept gap.” as your evidence base. Keep “Thematic reading and general knowledge.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Mixed profile with no obvious weakness — Turn this profile into one recognition item and one production item. Explain why the pair gives more information than either alone. Use the observed pattern “Potential ceiling on simple tests.” as your evidence base. Keep “Use harder transfer tasks before prescribing more lists.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Extended Diagnostic Cycle 2
High breadth, low retrieval — Write one collocation-repair item and one register-repair item linked to the profile. Use the observed pattern “Recognises many words, cannot produce them in writing.” as your evidence base. Keep “Activation and reverse recall.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Low breadth, high depth — Design a timed retrieval cue with no first-letter hint. Decide what response time would count as fluent enough for the learner’s current goal. Use the observed pattern “Uses known words accurately but meets many unknown items.” as your evidence base. Keep “Reading volume and targeted expansion.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
High list scores, weak comprehension — Create a word-family transformation that forces a change in grammatical class. Use the observed pattern “Definitions known, context senses missed.” as your evidence base. Keep “Polysemy and lexical inference.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Strong reading, repetitive writing — Write a transfer question using a topic the learner has not practised. Explain what successful transfer would look like. Use the observed pattern “Receptive vocabulary larger than productive.” as your evidence base. Keep “Writing retrieval and collocations.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Good writing, weak oral range — Ask the learner for a confidence rating before revealing the answer. Predict how confidence would change your interpretation. Use the observed pattern “Time pressure blocks access.” as your evidence base. Keep “Timed speaking and chunk retrieval.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Advanced words, frequent misuse — Create a mini writing sample rubric with three lexical criteria only: precision, natural combination and fit to purpose. Use the observed pattern “Prestige selection without boundaries.” as your evidence base. Keep “Near-synonym contrast and register.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Good context inference, weak spelling — Write one oral follow-up question that makes memorised vocabulary insufficient and requires flexible response. Use the observed pattern “Semantic knowledge exceeds orthographic form.” as your evidence base. Keep “Word families and spelling patterns.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Strong morphology, weak context — State one conclusion you would refuse to make from this profile without more evidence. Use the observed pattern “Overdecodes from parts.” as your evidence base. Keep “Hypothesis-then-context verification.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Good vocabulary, weak summary — Turn this profile into one recognition item and one production item. Explain why the pair gives more information than either alone. Use the observed pattern “Paraphrase flexibility is limited.” as your evidence base. Keep “Meaning preservation and synonym precision.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Strong subject vocabulary, weak general academic language — Create a context-inference item using a familiar word in a less familiar sense. State the evidence a strong response should cite. Use the observed pattern “Technical islands.” as your evidence base. Keep “Cross-curricular Tier 2 vocabulary.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Good everyday English, weak academic nouns — Write one collocation-repair item and one register-repair item linked to the profile. Use the observed pattern “Nominalisation gap.” as your evidence base. Keep “Verb–noun family transformations.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Strong noun vocabulary, weak verbs — Design a timed retrieval cue with no first-letter hint. Decide what response time would count as fluent enough for the learner’s current goal. Use the observed pattern “Writing becomes static and vague.” as your evidence base. Keep “Academic verb bank and collocation.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Many synonyms, poor connotation — Create a word-family transformation that forces a change in grammatical class. Use the observed pattern “Treats alternatives as clones.” as your evidence base. Keep “Tone and semantic gradient work.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Good definitions, weak collocation — Write a transfer question using a topic the learner has not practised. Explain what successful transfer would look like. Use the observed pattern “Dictionary knowledge is isolated.” as your evidence base. Keep “Phrase-level storage and retrieval.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Good words, inappropriate formality — Ask the learner for a confidence rating before revealing the answer. Predict how confidence would change your interpretation. Use the observed pattern “Register mismatch.” as your evidence base. Keep “Audience rewriting tasks.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Strong grammar, narrow lexical range — Create a mini writing sample rubric with three lexical criteria only: precision, natural combination and fit to purpose. Use the observed pattern “Sentence structure exceeds vocabulary breadth.” as your evidence base. Keep “High-utility expansion.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Broad vocabulary, weak multiple meanings — Write one oral follow-up question that makes memorised vocabulary insufficient and requires flexible response. Use the observed pattern “Dominant-sense dependence.” as your evidence base. Keep “Polysemy mapping.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Good initial learning, rapid forgetting — State one conclusion you would refuse to make from this profile without more evidence. Use the observed pattern “Retention problem.” as your evidence base. Keep “Spacing and cumulative retrieval.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Strong flashcards, weak transfer — Turn this profile into one recognition item and one production item. Explain why the pair gives more information than either alone. Use the observed pattern “Context-bound memory.” as your evidence base. Keep “Unfamiliar-topic tasks.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Good recognition, low confidence — Create a context-inference item using a familiar word in a less familiar sense. State the evidence a strong response should cite. Use the observed pattern “Knowledge is fragile.” as your evidence base. Keep “Low-stakes retrieval and feedback.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Wrong answers with high confidence — Write one collocation-repair item and one register-repair item linked to the profile. Use the observed pattern “Entrenched misconceptions.” as your evidence base. Keep “Contrastive correction and explanation.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Good scores, slow retrieval — Design a timed retrieval cue with no first-letter hint. Decide what response time would count as fluent enough for the learner’s current goal. Use the observed pattern “Access is accurate but inefficient.” as your evidence base. Keep “Timed recall and oral practice.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Fast retrieval, frequent misuse — Create a word-family transformation that forces a change in grammatical class. Use the observed pattern “Speed exceeds precision.” as your evidence base. Keep “Slow meaning-boundary work.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Strong essays, weak comprehension vocabulary — Write a transfer question using a topic the learner has not practised. Explain what successful transfer would look like. Use the observed pattern “Production stronger in rehearsed topics.” as your evidence base. Keep “Text-based sense and inference work.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Strong comprehension, weak essays — Ask the learner for a confidence rating before revealing the answer. Predict how confidence would change your interpretation. Use the observed pattern “Input stronger than output.” as your evidence base. Keep “Semantic-to-word retrieval.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Good vocabulary in English only — Create a mini writing sample rubric with three lexical criteria only: precision, natural combination and fit to purpose. Use the observed pattern “Transfer limited.” as your evidence base. Keep “Science/Humanities integration.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Strong words, weak phrase cohesion — Write one oral follow-up question that makes memorised vocabulary insufficient and requires flexible response. Use the observed pattern “Vocabulary not integrated into discourse.” as your evidence base. Keep “Sentence frames and logical connectors.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Good academic language, weak narrative vocabulary — State one conclusion you would refuse to make from this profile without more evidence. Use the observed pattern “Genre imbalance.” as your evidence base. Keep “Emotion, movement, sensory and tone vocabulary.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Good narrative vocabulary, weak argument language — Turn this profile into one recognition item and one production item. Explain why the pair gives more information than either alone. Use the observed pattern “Genre imbalance.” as your evidence base. Keep “Claim/evidence/evaluation vocabulary.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Good word families, poor pronunciation — Create a context-inference item using a familiar word in a less familiar sense. State the evidence a strong response should cite. Use the observed pattern “Written representation dominates.” as your evidence base. Keep “Spoken form and oral rehearsal.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Good pronunciation, poor spelling — Write one collocation-repair item and one register-repair item linked to the profile. Use the observed pattern “Auditory representation dominates.” as your evidence base. Keep “Orthographic mapping.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Large notebooks, weak recall — Design a timed retrieval cue with no first-letter hint. Decide what response time would count as fluent enough for the learner’s current goal. Use the observed pattern “Storage behaviour masquerades as learning.” as your evidence base. Keep “Cue-based testing.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Many new words, no old-word maintenance — Create a word-family transformation that forces a change in grammatical class. Use the observed pattern “Expansion overwhelms retention.” as your evidence base. Keep “Cumulative review.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Strong easy-text coverage, weak complex-text coverage — Write a transfer question using a topic the learner has not practised. Explain what successful transfer would look like. Use the observed pattern “Threshold problem.” as your evidence base. Keep “Progressive text difficulty.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Good vocabulary, poor question interpretation — Ask the learner for a confidence rating before revealing the answer. Predict how confidence would change your interpretation. Use the observed pattern “Command-word gap.” as your evidence base. Keep “Analyse/infer/evaluate/justify distinctions.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Strong formal writing, weak situational writing — Create a mini writing sample rubric with three lexical criteria only: precision, natural combination and fit to purpose. Use the observed pattern “Audience adaptation gap.” as your evidence base. Keep “Register by task.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Good isolated sentences, weak paragraphs — Write one oral follow-up question that makes memorised vocabulary insufficient and requires flexible response. Use the observed pattern “Discourse transfer gap.” as your evidence base. Keep “Paragraph-level vocabulary jobs.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Strong planned speech, weak interaction — State one conclusion you would refuse to make from this profile without more evidence. Use the observed pattern “Memorised oral language.” as your evidence base. Keep “Follow-up and spontaneous response.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Strong school vocabulary, narrow world knowledge — Turn this profile into one recognition item and one production item. Explain why the pair gives more information than either alone. Use the observed pattern “Concept gap.” as your evidence base. Keep “Thematic reading and general knowledge.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Mixed profile with no obvious weakness — Create a context-inference item using a familiar word in a less familiar sense. State the evidence a strong response should cite. Use the observed pattern “Potential ceiling on simple tests.” as your evidence base. Keep “Use harder transfer tasks before prescribing more lists.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Extended Diagnostic Cycle 3
High breadth, low retrieval — Design a timed retrieval cue with no first-letter hint. Decide what response time would count as fluent enough for the learner’s current goal. Use the observed pattern “Recognises many words, cannot produce them in writing.” as your evidence base. Keep “Activation and reverse recall.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Low breadth, high depth — Create a word-family transformation that forces a change in grammatical class. Use the observed pattern “Uses known words accurately but meets many unknown items.” as your evidence base. Keep “Reading volume and targeted expansion.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
High list scores, weak comprehension — Write a transfer question using a topic the learner has not practised. Explain what successful transfer would look like. Use the observed pattern “Definitions known, context senses missed.” as your evidence base. Keep “Polysemy and lexical inference.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Strong reading, repetitive writing — Ask the learner for a confidence rating before revealing the answer. Predict how confidence would change your interpretation. Use the observed pattern “Receptive vocabulary larger than productive.” as your evidence base. Keep “Writing retrieval and collocations.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Good writing, weak oral range — Create a mini writing sample rubric with three lexical criteria only: precision, natural combination and fit to purpose. Use the observed pattern “Time pressure blocks access.” as your evidence base. Keep “Timed speaking and chunk retrieval.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Advanced words, frequent misuse — Write one oral follow-up question that makes memorised vocabulary insufficient and requires flexible response. Use the observed pattern “Prestige selection without boundaries.” as your evidence base. Keep “Near-synonym contrast and register.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Good context inference, weak spelling — State one conclusion you would refuse to make from this profile without more evidence. Use the observed pattern “Semantic knowledge exceeds orthographic form.” as your evidence base. Keep “Word families and spelling patterns.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Strong morphology, weak context — Turn this profile into one recognition item and one production item. Explain why the pair gives more information than either alone. Use the observed pattern “Overdecodes from parts.” as your evidence base. Keep “Hypothesis-then-context verification.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Good vocabulary, weak summary — Create a context-inference item using a familiar word in a less familiar sense. State the evidence a strong response should cite. Use the observed pattern “Paraphrase flexibility is limited.” as your evidence base. Keep “Meaning preservation and synonym precision.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Strong subject vocabulary, weak general academic language — Write one collocation-repair item and one register-repair item linked to the profile. Use the observed pattern “Technical islands.” as your evidence base. Keep “Cross-curricular Tier 2 vocabulary.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Good everyday English, weak academic nouns — Design a timed retrieval cue with no first-letter hint. Decide what response time would count as fluent enough for the learner’s current goal. Use the observed pattern “Nominalisation gap.” as your evidence base. Keep “Verb–noun family transformations.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Strong noun vocabulary, weak verbs — Create a word-family transformation that forces a change in grammatical class. Use the observed pattern “Writing becomes static and vague.” as your evidence base. Keep “Academic verb bank and collocation.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Many synonyms, poor connotation — Write a transfer question using a topic the learner has not practised. Explain what successful transfer would look like. Use the observed pattern “Treats alternatives as clones.” as your evidence base. Keep “Tone and semantic gradient work.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Good definitions, weak collocation — Ask the learner for a confidence rating before revealing the answer. Predict how confidence would change your interpretation. Use the observed pattern “Dictionary knowledge is isolated.” as your evidence base. Keep “Phrase-level storage and retrieval.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Good words, inappropriate formality — Create a mini writing sample rubric with three lexical criteria only: precision, natural combination and fit to purpose. Use the observed pattern “Register mismatch.” as your evidence base. Keep “Audience rewriting tasks.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Strong grammar, narrow lexical range — Write one oral follow-up question that makes memorised vocabulary insufficient and requires flexible response. Use the observed pattern “Sentence structure exceeds vocabulary breadth.” as your evidence base. Keep “High-utility expansion.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Broad vocabulary, weak multiple meanings — State one conclusion you would refuse to make from this profile without more evidence. Use the observed pattern “Dominant-sense dependence.” as your evidence base. Keep “Polysemy mapping.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Good initial learning, rapid forgetting — Turn this profile into one recognition item and one production item. Explain why the pair gives more information than either alone. Use the observed pattern “Retention problem.” as your evidence base. Keep “Spacing and cumulative retrieval.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Strong flashcards, weak transfer — Create a context-inference item using a familiar word in a less familiar sense. State the evidence a strong response should cite. Use the observed pattern “Context-bound memory.” as your evidence base. Keep “Unfamiliar-topic tasks.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Good recognition, low confidence — Write one collocation-repair item and one register-repair item linked to the profile. Use the observed pattern “Knowledge is fragile.” as your evidence base. Keep “Low-stakes retrieval and feedback.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Wrong answers with high confidence — Design a timed retrieval cue with no first-letter hint. Decide what response time would count as fluent enough for the learner’s current goal. Use the observed pattern “Entrenched misconceptions.” as your evidence base. Keep “Contrastive correction and explanation.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Good scores, slow retrieval — Create a word-family transformation that forces a change in grammatical class. Use the observed pattern “Access is accurate but inefficient.” as your evidence base. Keep “Timed recall and oral practice.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Fast retrieval, frequent misuse — Write a transfer question using a topic the learner has not practised. Explain what successful transfer would look like. Use the observed pattern “Speed exceeds precision.” as your evidence base. Keep “Slow meaning-boundary work.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Strong essays, weak comprehension vocabulary — Ask the learner for a confidence rating before revealing the answer. Predict how confidence would change your interpretation. Use the observed pattern “Production stronger in rehearsed topics.” as your evidence base. Keep “Text-based sense and inference work.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Strong comprehension, weak essays — Create a mini writing sample rubric with three lexical criteria only: precision, natural combination and fit to purpose. Use the observed pattern “Input stronger than output.” as your evidence base. Keep “Semantic-to-word retrieval.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Good vocabulary in English only — Write one oral follow-up question that makes memorised vocabulary insufficient and requires flexible response. Use the observed pattern “Transfer limited.” as your evidence base. Keep “Science/Humanities integration.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Strong words, weak phrase cohesion — State one conclusion you would refuse to make from this profile without more evidence. Use the observed pattern “Vocabulary not integrated into discourse.” as your evidence base. Keep “Sentence frames and logical connectors.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Good academic language, weak narrative vocabulary — Turn this profile into one recognition item and one production item. Explain why the pair gives more information than either alone. Use the observed pattern “Genre imbalance.” as your evidence base. Keep “Emotion, movement, sensory and tone vocabulary.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Good narrative vocabulary, weak argument language — Create a context-inference item using a familiar word in a less familiar sense. State the evidence a strong response should cite. Use the observed pattern “Genre imbalance.” as your evidence base. Keep “Claim/evidence/evaluation vocabulary.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Good word families, poor pronunciation — Write one collocation-repair item and one register-repair item linked to the profile. Use the observed pattern “Written representation dominates.” as your evidence base. Keep “Spoken form and oral rehearsal.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Good pronunciation, poor spelling — Design a timed retrieval cue with no first-letter hint. Decide what response time would count as fluent enough for the learner’s current goal. Use the observed pattern “Auditory representation dominates.” as your evidence base. Keep “Orthographic mapping.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Large notebooks, weak recall — Create a word-family transformation that forces a change in grammatical class. Use the observed pattern “Storage behaviour masquerades as learning.” as your evidence base. Keep “Cue-based testing.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Many new words, no old-word maintenance — Write a transfer question using a topic the learner has not practised. Explain what successful transfer would look like. Use the observed pattern “Expansion overwhelms retention.” as your evidence base. Keep “Cumulative review.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Strong easy-text coverage, weak complex-text coverage — Ask the learner for a confidence rating before revealing the answer. Predict how confidence would change your interpretation. Use the observed pattern “Threshold problem.” as your evidence base. Keep “Progressive text difficulty.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Good vocabulary, poor question interpretation — Create a mini writing sample rubric with three lexical criteria only: precision, natural combination and fit to purpose. Use the observed pattern “Command-word gap.” as your evidence base. Keep “Analyse/infer/evaluate/justify distinctions.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Strong formal writing, weak situational writing — Write one oral follow-up question that makes memorised vocabulary insufficient and requires flexible response. Use the observed pattern “Audience adaptation gap.” as your evidence base. Keep “Register by task.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Good isolated sentences, weak paragraphs — State one conclusion you would refuse to make from this profile without more evidence. Use the observed pattern “Discourse transfer gap.” as your evidence base. Keep “Paragraph-level vocabulary jobs.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Strong planned speech, weak interaction — Turn this profile into one recognition item and one production item. Explain why the pair gives more information than either alone. Use the observed pattern “Memorised oral language.” as your evidence base. Keep “Follow-up and spontaneous response.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Strong school vocabulary, narrow world knowledge — Create a context-inference item using a familiar word in a less familiar sense. State the evidence a strong response should cite. Use the observed pattern “Concept gap.” as your evidence base. Keep “Thematic reading and general knowledge.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Mixed profile with no obvious weakness — Write one collocation-repair item and one register-repair item linked to the profile. Use the observed pattern “Potential ceiling on simple tests.” as your evidence base. Keep “Use harder transfer tasks before prescribing more lists.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Extended Diagnostic Cycle 4
High breadth, low retrieval — Create a word-family transformation that forces a change in grammatical class. Use the observed pattern “Recognises many words, cannot produce them in writing.” as your evidence base. Keep “Activation and reverse recall.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Low breadth, high depth — Write a transfer question using a topic the learner has not practised. Explain what successful transfer would look like. Use the observed pattern “Uses known words accurately but meets many unknown items.” as your evidence base. Keep “Reading volume and targeted expansion.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
High list scores, weak comprehension — Ask the learner for a confidence rating before revealing the answer. Predict how confidence would change your interpretation. Use the observed pattern “Definitions known, context senses missed.” as your evidence base. Keep “Polysemy and lexical inference.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Strong reading, repetitive writing — Create a mini writing sample rubric with three lexical criteria only: precision, natural combination and fit to purpose. Use the observed pattern “Receptive vocabulary larger than productive.” as your evidence base. Keep “Writing retrieval and collocations.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Good writing, weak oral range — Write one oral follow-up question that makes memorised vocabulary insufficient and requires flexible response. Use the observed pattern “Time pressure blocks access.” as your evidence base. Keep “Timed speaking and chunk retrieval.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Advanced words, frequent misuse — State one conclusion you would refuse to make from this profile without more evidence. Use the observed pattern “Prestige selection without boundaries.” as your evidence base. Keep “Near-synonym contrast and register.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Good context inference, weak spelling — Turn this profile into one recognition item and one production item. Explain why the pair gives more information than either alone. Use the observed pattern “Semantic knowledge exceeds orthographic form.” as your evidence base. Keep “Word families and spelling patterns.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Strong morphology, weak context — Create a context-inference item using a familiar word in a less familiar sense. State the evidence a strong response should cite. Use the observed pattern “Overdecodes from parts.” as your evidence base. Keep “Hypothesis-then-context verification.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Good vocabulary, weak summary — Write one collocation-repair item and one register-repair item linked to the profile. Use the observed pattern “Paraphrase flexibility is limited.” as your evidence base. Keep “Meaning preservation and synonym precision.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Strong subject vocabulary, weak general academic language — Design a timed retrieval cue with no first-letter hint. Decide what response time would count as fluent enough for the learner’s current goal. Use the observed pattern “Technical islands.” as your evidence base. Keep “Cross-curricular Tier 2 vocabulary.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Good everyday English, weak academic nouns — Create a word-family transformation that forces a change in grammatical class. Use the observed pattern “Nominalisation gap.” as your evidence base. Keep “Verb–noun family transformations.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Strong noun vocabulary, weak verbs — Write a transfer question using a topic the learner has not practised. Explain what successful transfer would look like. Use the observed pattern “Writing becomes static and vague.” as your evidence base. Keep “Academic verb bank and collocation.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Many synonyms, poor connotation — Ask the learner for a confidence rating before revealing the answer. Predict how confidence would change your interpretation. Use the observed pattern “Treats alternatives as clones.” as your evidence base. Keep “Tone and semantic gradient work.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Good definitions, weak collocation — Create a mini writing sample rubric with three lexical criteria only: precision, natural combination and fit to purpose. Use the observed pattern “Dictionary knowledge is isolated.” as your evidence base. Keep “Phrase-level storage and retrieval.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Good words, inappropriate formality — Write one oral follow-up question that makes memorised vocabulary insufficient and requires flexible response. Use the observed pattern “Register mismatch.” as your evidence base. Keep “Audience rewriting tasks.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Strong grammar, narrow lexical range — State one conclusion you would refuse to make from this profile without more evidence. Use the observed pattern “Sentence structure exceeds vocabulary breadth.” as your evidence base. Keep “High-utility expansion.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Broad vocabulary, weak multiple meanings — Turn this profile into one recognition item and one production item. Explain why the pair gives more information than either alone. Use the observed pattern “Dominant-sense dependence.” as your evidence base. Keep “Polysemy mapping.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Good initial learning, rapid forgetting — Create a context-inference item using a familiar word in a less familiar sense. State the evidence a strong response should cite. Use the observed pattern “Retention problem.” as your evidence base. Keep “Spacing and cumulative retrieval.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Strong flashcards, weak transfer — Write one collocation-repair item and one register-repair item linked to the profile. Use the observed pattern “Context-bound memory.” as your evidence base. Keep “Unfamiliar-topic tasks.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Good recognition, low confidence — Design a timed retrieval cue with no first-letter hint. Decide what response time would count as fluent enough for the learner’s current goal. Use the observed pattern “Knowledge is fragile.” as your evidence base. Keep “Low-stakes retrieval and feedback.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Wrong answers with high confidence — Create a word-family transformation that forces a change in grammatical class. Use the observed pattern “Entrenched misconceptions.” as your evidence base. Keep “Contrastive correction and explanation.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Good scores, slow retrieval — Write a transfer question using a topic the learner has not practised. Explain what successful transfer would look like. Use the observed pattern “Access is accurate but inefficient.” as your evidence base. Keep “Timed recall and oral practice.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Fast retrieval, frequent misuse — Ask the learner for a confidence rating before revealing the answer. Predict how confidence would change your interpretation. Use the observed pattern “Speed exceeds precision.” as your evidence base. Keep “Slow meaning-boundary work.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Strong essays, weak comprehension vocabulary — Create a mini writing sample rubric with three lexical criteria only: precision, natural combination and fit to purpose. Use the observed pattern “Production stronger in rehearsed topics.” as your evidence base. Keep “Text-based sense and inference work.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Strong comprehension, weak essays — Write one oral follow-up question that makes memorised vocabulary insufficient and requires flexible response. Use the observed pattern “Input stronger than output.” as your evidence base. Keep “Semantic-to-word retrieval.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Good vocabulary in English only — State one conclusion you would refuse to make from this profile without more evidence. Use the observed pattern “Transfer limited.” as your evidence base. Keep “Science/Humanities integration.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Strong words, weak phrase cohesion — Turn this profile into one recognition item and one production item. Explain why the pair gives more information than either alone. Use the observed pattern “Vocabulary not integrated into discourse.” as your evidence base. Keep “Sentence frames and logical connectors.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Good academic language, weak narrative vocabulary — Create a context-inference item using a familiar word in a less familiar sense. State the evidence a strong response should cite. Use the observed pattern “Genre imbalance.” as your evidence base. Keep “Emotion, movement, sensory and tone vocabulary.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Good narrative vocabulary, weak argument language — Write one collocation-repair item and one register-repair item linked to the profile. Use the observed pattern “Genre imbalance.” as your evidence base. Keep “Claim/evidence/evaluation vocabulary.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Good word families, poor pronunciation — Design a timed retrieval cue with no first-letter hint. Decide what response time would count as fluent enough for the learner’s current goal. Use the observed pattern “Written representation dominates.” as your evidence base. Keep “Spoken form and oral rehearsal.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Good pronunciation, poor spelling — Create a word-family transformation that forces a change in grammatical class. Use the observed pattern “Auditory representation dominates.” as your evidence base. Keep “Orthographic mapping.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Large notebooks, weak recall — Write a transfer question using a topic the learner has not practised. Explain what successful transfer would look like. Use the observed pattern “Storage behaviour masquerades as learning.” as your evidence base. Keep “Cue-based testing.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Many new words, no old-word maintenance — Ask the learner for a confidence rating before revealing the answer. Predict how confidence would change your interpretation. Use the observed pattern “Expansion overwhelms retention.” as your evidence base. Keep “Cumulative review.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Strong easy-text coverage, weak complex-text coverage — Create a mini writing sample rubric with three lexical criteria only: precision, natural combination and fit to purpose. Use the observed pattern “Threshold problem.” as your evidence base. Keep “Progressive text difficulty.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Good vocabulary, poor question interpretation — Write one oral follow-up question that makes memorised vocabulary insufficient and requires flexible response. Use the observed pattern “Command-word gap.” as your evidence base. Keep “Analyse/infer/evaluate/justify distinctions.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Strong formal writing, weak situational writing — State one conclusion you would refuse to make from this profile without more evidence. Use the observed pattern “Audience adaptation gap.” as your evidence base. Keep “Register by task.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Good isolated sentences, weak paragraphs — Turn this profile into one recognition item and one production item. Explain why the pair gives more information than either alone. Use the observed pattern “Discourse transfer gap.” as your evidence base. Keep “Paragraph-level vocabulary jobs.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Strong planned speech, weak interaction — Create a context-inference item using a familiar word in a less familiar sense. State the evidence a strong response should cite. Use the observed pattern “Memorised oral language.” as your evidence base. Keep “Follow-up and spontaneous response.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Strong school vocabulary, narrow world knowledge — Write one collocation-repair item and one register-repair item linked to the profile. Use the observed pattern “Concept gap.” as your evidence base. Keep “Thematic reading and general knowledge.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Mixed profile with no obvious weakness — Design a timed retrieval cue with no first-letter hint. Decide what response time would count as fluent enough for the learner’s current goal. Use the observed pattern “Potential ceiling on simple tests.” as your evidence base. Keep “Use harder transfer tasks before prescribing more lists.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Extended Diagnostic Cycle 5
High breadth, low retrieval — Write a transfer question using a topic the learner has not practised. Explain what successful transfer would look like. Use the observed pattern “Recognises many words, cannot produce them in writing.” as your evidence base. Keep “Activation and reverse recall.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Low breadth, high depth — Ask the learner for a confidence rating before revealing the answer. Predict how confidence would change your interpretation. Use the observed pattern “Uses known words accurately but meets many unknown items.” as your evidence base. Keep “Reading volume and targeted expansion.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
High list scores, weak comprehension — Create a mini writing sample rubric with three lexical criteria only: precision, natural combination and fit to purpose. Use the observed pattern “Definitions known, context senses missed.” as your evidence base. Keep “Polysemy and lexical inference.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Strong reading, repetitive writing — Write one oral follow-up question that makes memorised vocabulary insufficient and requires flexible response. Use the observed pattern “Receptive vocabulary larger than productive.” as your evidence base. Keep “Writing retrieval and collocations.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Good writing, weak oral range — State one conclusion you would refuse to make from this profile without more evidence. Use the observed pattern “Time pressure blocks access.” as your evidence base. Keep “Timed speaking and chunk retrieval.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Advanced words, frequent misuse — Turn this profile into one recognition item and one production item. Explain why the pair gives more information than either alone. Use the observed pattern “Prestige selection without boundaries.” as your evidence base. Keep “Near-synonym contrast and register.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Good context inference, weak spelling — Create a context-inference item using a familiar word in a less familiar sense. State the evidence a strong response should cite. Use the observed pattern “Semantic knowledge exceeds orthographic form.” as your evidence base. Keep “Word families and spelling patterns.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Strong morphology, weak context — Write one collocation-repair item and one register-repair item linked to the profile. Use the observed pattern “Overdecodes from parts.” as your evidence base. Keep “Hypothesis-then-context verification.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Good vocabulary, weak summary — Design a timed retrieval cue with no first-letter hint. Decide what response time would count as fluent enough for the learner’s current goal. Use the observed pattern “Paraphrase flexibility is limited.” as your evidence base. Keep “Meaning preservation and synonym precision.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Strong subject vocabulary, weak general academic language — Create a word-family transformation that forces a change in grammatical class. Use the observed pattern “Technical islands.” as your evidence base. Keep “Cross-curricular Tier 2 vocabulary.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Good everyday English, weak academic nouns — Write a transfer question using a topic the learner has not practised. Explain what successful transfer would look like. Use the observed pattern “Nominalisation gap.” as your evidence base. Keep “Verb–noun family transformations.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Strong noun vocabulary, weak verbs — Ask the learner for a confidence rating before revealing the answer. Predict how confidence would change your interpretation. Use the observed pattern “Writing becomes static and vague.” as your evidence base. Keep “Academic verb bank and collocation.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Many synonyms, poor connotation — Create a mini writing sample rubric with three lexical criteria only: precision, natural combination and fit to purpose. Use the observed pattern “Treats alternatives as clones.” as your evidence base. Keep “Tone and semantic gradient work.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Good definitions, weak collocation — Write one oral follow-up question that makes memorised vocabulary insufficient and requires flexible response. Use the observed pattern “Dictionary knowledge is isolated.” as your evidence base. Keep “Phrase-level storage and retrieval.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Good words, inappropriate formality — State one conclusion you would refuse to make from this profile without more evidence. Use the observed pattern “Register mismatch.” as your evidence base. Keep “Audience rewriting tasks.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Strong grammar, narrow lexical range — Turn this profile into one recognition item and one production item. Explain why the pair gives more information than either alone. Use the observed pattern “Sentence structure exceeds vocabulary breadth.” as your evidence base. Keep “High-utility expansion.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Broad vocabulary, weak multiple meanings — Create a context-inference item using a familiar word in a less familiar sense. State the evidence a strong response should cite. Use the observed pattern “Dominant-sense dependence.” as your evidence base. Keep “Polysemy mapping.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Good initial learning, rapid forgetting — Write one collocation-repair item and one register-repair item linked to the profile. Use the observed pattern “Retention problem.” as your evidence base. Keep “Spacing and cumulative retrieval.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Strong flashcards, weak transfer — Design a timed retrieval cue with no first-letter hint. Decide what response time would count as fluent enough for the learner’s current goal. Use the observed pattern “Context-bound memory.” as your evidence base. Keep “Unfamiliar-topic tasks.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Good recognition, low confidence — Create a word-family transformation that forces a change in grammatical class. Use the observed pattern “Knowledge is fragile.” as your evidence base. Keep “Low-stakes retrieval and feedback.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Wrong answers with high confidence — Write a transfer question using a topic the learner has not practised. Explain what successful transfer would look like. Use the observed pattern “Entrenched misconceptions.” as your evidence base. Keep “Contrastive correction and explanation.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Good scores, slow retrieval — Ask the learner for a confidence rating before revealing the answer. Predict how confidence would change your interpretation. Use the observed pattern “Access is accurate but inefficient.” as your evidence base. Keep “Timed recall and oral practice.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Fast retrieval, frequent misuse — Create a mini writing sample rubric with three lexical criteria only: precision, natural combination and fit to purpose. Use the observed pattern “Speed exceeds precision.” as your evidence base. Keep “Slow meaning-boundary work.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Strong essays, weak comprehension vocabulary — Write one oral follow-up question that makes memorised vocabulary insufficient and requires flexible response. Use the observed pattern “Production stronger in rehearsed topics.” as your evidence base. Keep “Text-based sense and inference work.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Strong comprehension, weak essays — State one conclusion you would refuse to make from this profile without more evidence. Use the observed pattern “Input stronger than output.” as your evidence base. Keep “Semantic-to-word retrieval.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Good vocabulary in English only — Turn this profile into one recognition item and one production item. Explain why the pair gives more information than either alone. Use the observed pattern “Transfer limited.” as your evidence base. Keep “Science/Humanities integration.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Strong words, weak phrase cohesion — Create a context-inference item using a familiar word in a less familiar sense. State the evidence a strong response should cite. Use the observed pattern “Vocabulary not integrated into discourse.” as your evidence base. Keep “Sentence frames and logical connectors.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Good academic language, weak narrative vocabulary — Write one collocation-repair item and one register-repair item linked to the profile. Use the observed pattern “Genre imbalance.” as your evidence base. Keep “Emotion, movement, sensory and tone vocabulary.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Good narrative vocabulary, weak argument language — Design a timed retrieval cue with no first-letter hint. Decide what response time would count as fluent enough for the learner’s current goal. Use the observed pattern “Genre imbalance.” as your evidence base. Keep “Claim/evidence/evaluation vocabulary.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Good word families, poor pronunciation — Create a word-family transformation that forces a change in grammatical class. Use the observed pattern “Written representation dominates.” as your evidence base. Keep “Spoken form and oral rehearsal.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Good pronunciation, poor spelling — Write a transfer question using a topic the learner has not practised. Explain what successful transfer would look like. Use the observed pattern “Auditory representation dominates.” as your evidence base. Keep “Orthographic mapping.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Large notebooks, weak recall — Ask the learner for a confidence rating before revealing the answer. Predict how confidence would change your interpretation. Use the observed pattern “Storage behaviour masquerades as learning.” as your evidence base. Keep “Cue-based testing.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Many new words, no old-word maintenance — Create a mini writing sample rubric with three lexical criteria only: precision, natural combination and fit to purpose. Use the observed pattern “Expansion overwhelms retention.” as your evidence base. Keep “Cumulative review.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Strong easy-text coverage, weak complex-text coverage — Write one oral follow-up question that makes memorised vocabulary insufficient and requires flexible response. Use the observed pattern “Threshold problem.” as your evidence base. Keep “Progressive text difficulty.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Good vocabulary, poor question interpretation — State one conclusion you would refuse to make from this profile without more evidence. Use the observed pattern “Command-word gap.” as your evidence base. Keep “Analyse/infer/evaluate/justify distinctions.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Strong formal writing, weak situational writing — Turn this profile into one recognition item and one production item. Explain why the pair gives more information than either alone. Use the observed pattern “Audience adaptation gap.” as your evidence base. Keep “Register by task.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Good isolated sentences, weak paragraphs — Create a context-inference item using a familiar word in a less familiar sense. State the evidence a strong response should cite. Use the observed pattern “Discourse transfer gap.” as your evidence base. Keep “Paragraph-level vocabulary jobs.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Strong planned speech, weak interaction — Write one collocation-repair item and one register-repair item linked to the profile. Use the observed pattern “Memorised oral language.” as your evidence base. Keep “Follow-up and spontaneous response.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Strong school vocabulary, narrow world knowledge — Design a timed retrieval cue with no first-letter hint. Decide what response time would count as fluent enough for the learner’s current goal. Use the observed pattern “Concept gap.” as your evidence base. Keep “Thematic reading and general knowledge.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Mixed profile with no obvious weakness — Create a word-family transformation that forces a change in grammatical class. Use the observed pattern “Potential ceiling on simple tests.” as your evidence base. Keep “Use harder transfer tasks before prescribing more lists.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Extended Diagnostic Cycle 6
High breadth, low retrieval — Ask the learner for a confidence rating before revealing the answer. Predict how confidence would change your interpretation. Use the observed pattern “Recognises many words, cannot produce them in writing.” as your evidence base. Keep “Activation and reverse recall.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Low breadth, high depth — Create a mini writing sample rubric with three lexical criteria only: precision, natural combination and fit to purpose. Use the observed pattern “Uses known words accurately but meets many unknown items.” as your evidence base. Keep “Reading volume and targeted expansion.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
High list scores, weak comprehension — Write one oral follow-up question that makes memorised vocabulary insufficient and requires flexible response. Use the observed pattern “Definitions known, context senses missed.” as your evidence base. Keep “Polysemy and lexical inference.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Strong reading, repetitive writing — State one conclusion you would refuse to make from this profile without more evidence. Use the observed pattern “Receptive vocabulary larger than productive.” as your evidence base. Keep “Writing retrieval and collocations.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Good writing, weak oral range — Turn this profile into one recognition item and one production item. Explain why the pair gives more information than either alone. Use the observed pattern “Time pressure blocks access.” as your evidence base. Keep “Timed speaking and chunk retrieval.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Advanced words, frequent misuse — Create a context-inference item using a familiar word in a less familiar sense. State the evidence a strong response should cite. Use the observed pattern “Prestige selection without boundaries.” as your evidence base. Keep “Near-synonym contrast and register.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Good context inference, weak spelling — Write one collocation-repair item and one register-repair item linked to the profile. Use the observed pattern “Semantic knowledge exceeds orthographic form.” as your evidence base. Keep “Word families and spelling patterns.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Strong morphology, weak context — Design a timed retrieval cue with no first-letter hint. Decide what response time would count as fluent enough for the learner’s current goal. Use the observed pattern “Overdecodes from parts.” as your evidence base. Keep “Hypothesis-then-context verification.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Good vocabulary, weak summary — Create a word-family transformation that forces a change in grammatical class. Use the observed pattern “Paraphrase flexibility is limited.” as your evidence base. Keep “Meaning preservation and synonym precision.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Strong subject vocabulary, weak general academic language — Write a transfer question using a topic the learner has not practised. Explain what successful transfer would look like. Use the observed pattern “Technical islands.” as your evidence base. Keep “Cross-curricular Tier 2 vocabulary.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Good everyday English, weak academic nouns — Ask the learner for a confidence rating before revealing the answer. Predict how confidence would change your interpretation. Use the observed pattern “Nominalisation gap.” as your evidence base. Keep “Verb–noun family transformations.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Strong noun vocabulary, weak verbs — Create a mini writing sample rubric with three lexical criteria only: precision, natural combination and fit to purpose. Use the observed pattern “Writing becomes static and vague.” as your evidence base. Keep “Academic verb bank and collocation.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Many synonyms, poor connotation — Write one oral follow-up question that makes memorised vocabulary insufficient and requires flexible response. Use the observed pattern “Treats alternatives as clones.” as your evidence base. Keep “Tone and semantic gradient work.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Good definitions, weak collocation — State one conclusion you would refuse to make from this profile without more evidence. Use the observed pattern “Dictionary knowledge is isolated.” as your evidence base. Keep “Phrase-level storage and retrieval.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Good words, inappropriate formality — Turn this profile into one recognition item and one production item. Explain why the pair gives more information than either alone. Use the observed pattern “Register mismatch.” as your evidence base. Keep “Audience rewriting tasks.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Strong grammar, narrow lexical range — Create a context-inference item using a familiar word in a less familiar sense. State the evidence a strong response should cite. Use the observed pattern “Sentence structure exceeds vocabulary breadth.” as your evidence base. Keep “High-utility expansion.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Broad vocabulary, weak multiple meanings — Write one collocation-repair item and one register-repair item linked to the profile. Use the observed pattern “Dominant-sense dependence.” as your evidence base. Keep “Polysemy mapping.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Good initial learning, rapid forgetting — Design a timed retrieval cue with no first-letter hint. Decide what response time would count as fluent enough for the learner’s current goal. Use the observed pattern “Retention problem.” as your evidence base. Keep “Spacing and cumulative retrieval.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Strong flashcards, weak transfer — Create a word-family transformation that forces a change in grammatical class. Use the observed pattern “Context-bound memory.” as your evidence base. Keep “Unfamiliar-topic tasks.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Good recognition, low confidence — Write a transfer question using a topic the learner has not practised. Explain what successful transfer would look like. Use the observed pattern “Knowledge is fragile.” as your evidence base. Keep “Low-stakes retrieval and feedback.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Wrong answers with high confidence — Ask the learner for a confidence rating before revealing the answer. Predict how confidence would change your interpretation. Use the observed pattern “Entrenched misconceptions.” as your evidence base. Keep “Contrastive correction and explanation.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Good scores, slow retrieval — Create a mini writing sample rubric with three lexical criteria only: precision, natural combination and fit to purpose. Use the observed pattern “Access is accurate but inefficient.” as your evidence base. Keep “Timed recall and oral practice.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Fast retrieval, frequent misuse — Write one oral follow-up question that makes memorised vocabulary insufficient and requires flexible response. Use the observed pattern “Speed exceeds precision.” as your evidence base. Keep “Slow meaning-boundary work.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Strong essays, weak comprehension vocabulary — State one conclusion you would refuse to make from this profile without more evidence. Use the observed pattern “Production stronger in rehearsed topics.” as your evidence base. Keep “Text-based sense and inference work.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Strong comprehension, weak essays — Turn this profile into one recognition item and one production item. Explain why the pair gives more information than either alone. Use the observed pattern “Input stronger than output.” as your evidence base. Keep “Semantic-to-word retrieval.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Good vocabulary in English only — Create a context-inference item using a familiar word in a less familiar sense. State the evidence a strong response should cite. Use the observed pattern “Transfer limited.” as your evidence base. Keep “Science/Humanities integration.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Strong words, weak phrase cohesion — Write one collocation-repair item and one register-repair item linked to the profile. Use the observed pattern “Vocabulary not integrated into discourse.” as your evidence base. Keep “Sentence frames and logical connectors.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Good academic language, weak narrative vocabulary — Design a timed retrieval cue with no first-letter hint. Decide what response time would count as fluent enough for the learner’s current goal. Use the observed pattern “Genre imbalance.” as your evidence base. Keep “Emotion, movement, sensory and tone vocabulary.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Good narrative vocabulary, weak argument language — Create a word-family transformation that forces a change in grammatical class. Use the observed pattern “Genre imbalance.” as your evidence base. Keep “Claim/evidence/evaluation vocabulary.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Good word families, poor pronunciation — Write a transfer question using a topic the learner has not practised. Explain what successful transfer would look like. Use the observed pattern “Written representation dominates.” as your evidence base. Keep “Spoken form and oral rehearsal.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Good pronunciation, poor spelling — Ask the learner for a confidence rating before revealing the answer. Predict how confidence would change your interpretation. Use the observed pattern “Auditory representation dominates.” as your evidence base. Keep “Orthographic mapping.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Large notebooks, weak recall — Create a mini writing sample rubric with three lexical criteria only: precision, natural combination and fit to purpose. Use the observed pattern “Storage behaviour masquerades as learning.” as your evidence base. Keep “Cue-based testing.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Many new words, no old-word maintenance — Write one oral follow-up question that makes memorised vocabulary insufficient and requires flexible response. Use the observed pattern “Expansion overwhelms retention.” as your evidence base. Keep “Cumulative review.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Strong easy-text coverage, weak complex-text coverage — State one conclusion you would refuse to make from this profile without more evidence. Use the observed pattern “Threshold problem.” as your evidence base. Keep “Progressive text difficulty.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Good vocabulary, poor question interpretation — Turn this profile into one recognition item and one production item. Explain why the pair gives more information than either alone. Use the observed pattern “Command-word gap.” as your evidence base. Keep “Analyse/infer/evaluate/justify distinctions.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Strong formal writing, weak situational writing — Create a context-inference item using a familiar word in a less familiar sense. State the evidence a strong response should cite. Use the observed pattern “Audience adaptation gap.” as your evidence base. Keep “Register by task.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Good isolated sentences, weak paragraphs — Write one collocation-repair item and one register-repair item linked to the profile. Use the observed pattern “Discourse transfer gap.” as your evidence base. Keep “Paragraph-level vocabulary jobs.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Strong planned speech, weak interaction — Design a timed retrieval cue with no first-letter hint. Decide what response time would count as fluent enough for the learner’s current goal. Use the observed pattern “Memorised oral language.” as your evidence base. Keep “Follow-up and spontaneous response.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Strong school vocabulary, narrow world knowledge — Create a word-family transformation that forces a change in grammatical class. Use the observed pattern “Concept gap.” as your evidence base. Keep “Thematic reading and general knowledge.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Mixed profile with no obvious weakness — Write a transfer question using a topic the learner has not practised. Explain what successful transfer would look like. Use the observed pattern “Potential ceiling on simple tests.” as your evidence base. Keep “Use harder transfer tasks before prescribing more lists.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Extended Diagnostic Cycle 7
High breadth, low retrieval — Create a mini writing sample rubric with three lexical criteria only: precision, natural combination and fit to purpose. Use the observed pattern “Recognises many words, cannot produce them in writing.” as your evidence base. Keep “Activation and reverse recall.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Low breadth, high depth — Write one oral follow-up question that makes memorised vocabulary insufficient and requires flexible response. Use the observed pattern “Uses known words accurately but meets many unknown items.” as your evidence base. Keep “Reading volume and targeted expansion.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
High list scores, weak comprehension — State one conclusion you would refuse to make from this profile without more evidence. Use the observed pattern “Definitions known, context senses missed.” as your evidence base. Keep “Polysemy and lexical inference.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Strong reading, repetitive writing — Turn this profile into one recognition item and one production item. Explain why the pair gives more information than either alone. Use the observed pattern “Receptive vocabulary larger than productive.” as your evidence base. Keep “Writing retrieval and collocations.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Good writing, weak oral range — Create a context-inference item using a familiar word in a less familiar sense. State the evidence a strong response should cite. Use the observed pattern “Time pressure blocks access.” as your evidence base. Keep “Timed speaking and chunk retrieval.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Advanced words, frequent misuse — Write one collocation-repair item and one register-repair item linked to the profile. Use the observed pattern “Prestige selection without boundaries.” as your evidence base. Keep “Near-synonym contrast and register.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Good context inference, weak spelling — Design a timed retrieval cue with no first-letter hint. Decide what response time would count as fluent enough for the learner’s current goal. Use the observed pattern “Semantic knowledge exceeds orthographic form.” as your evidence base. Keep “Word families and spelling patterns.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Strong morphology, weak context — Create a word-family transformation that forces a change in grammatical class. Use the observed pattern “Overdecodes from parts.” as your evidence base. Keep “Hypothesis-then-context verification.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Good vocabulary, weak summary — Write a transfer question using a topic the learner has not practised. Explain what successful transfer would look like. Use the observed pattern “Paraphrase flexibility is limited.” as your evidence base. Keep “Meaning preservation and synonym precision.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Strong subject vocabulary, weak general academic language — Ask the learner for a confidence rating before revealing the answer. Predict how confidence would change your interpretation. Use the observed pattern “Technical islands.” as your evidence base. Keep “Cross-curricular Tier 2 vocabulary.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Good everyday English, weak academic nouns — Create a mini writing sample rubric with three lexical criteria only: precision, natural combination and fit to purpose. Use the observed pattern “Nominalisation gap.” as your evidence base. Keep “Verb–noun family transformations.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Strong noun vocabulary, weak verbs — Write one oral follow-up question that makes memorised vocabulary insufficient and requires flexible response. Use the observed pattern “Writing becomes static and vague.” as your evidence base. Keep “Academic verb bank and collocation.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Many synonyms, poor connotation — State one conclusion you would refuse to make from this profile without more evidence. Use the observed pattern “Treats alternatives as clones.” as your evidence base. Keep “Tone and semantic gradient work.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Good definitions, weak collocation — Turn this profile into one recognition item and one production item. Explain why the pair gives more information than either alone. Use the observed pattern “Dictionary knowledge is isolated.” as your evidence base. Keep “Phrase-level storage and retrieval.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Good words, inappropriate formality — Create a context-inference item using a familiar word in a less familiar sense. State the evidence a strong response should cite. Use the observed pattern “Register mismatch.” as your evidence base. Keep “Audience rewriting tasks.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Strong grammar, narrow lexical range — Write one collocation-repair item and one register-repair item linked to the profile. Use the observed pattern “Sentence structure exceeds vocabulary breadth.” as your evidence base. Keep “High-utility expansion.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Broad vocabulary, weak multiple meanings — Design a timed retrieval cue with no first-letter hint. Decide what response time would count as fluent enough for the learner’s current goal. Use the observed pattern “Dominant-sense dependence.” as your evidence base. Keep “Polysemy mapping.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Good initial learning, rapid forgetting — Create a word-family transformation that forces a change in grammatical class. Use the observed pattern “Retention problem.” as your evidence base. Keep “Spacing and cumulative retrieval.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Strong flashcards, weak transfer — Write a transfer question using a topic the learner has not practised. Explain what successful transfer would look like. Use the observed pattern “Context-bound memory.” as your evidence base. Keep “Unfamiliar-topic tasks.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Good recognition, low confidence — Ask the learner for a confidence rating before revealing the answer. Predict how confidence would change your interpretation. Use the observed pattern “Knowledge is fragile.” as your evidence base. Keep “Low-stakes retrieval and feedback.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Wrong answers with high confidence — Create a mini writing sample rubric with three lexical criteria only: precision, natural combination and fit to purpose. Use the observed pattern “Entrenched misconceptions.” as your evidence base. Keep “Contrastive correction and explanation.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Good scores, slow retrieval — Write one oral follow-up question that makes memorised vocabulary insufficient and requires flexible response. Use the observed pattern “Access is accurate but inefficient.” as your evidence base. Keep “Timed recall and oral practice.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Fast retrieval, frequent misuse — State one conclusion you would refuse to make from this profile without more evidence. Use the observed pattern “Speed exceeds precision.” as your evidence base. Keep “Slow meaning-boundary work.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Strong essays, weak comprehension vocabulary — Turn this profile into one recognition item and one production item. Explain why the pair gives more information than either alone. Use the observed pattern “Production stronger in rehearsed topics.” as your evidence base. Keep “Text-based sense and inference work.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Strong comprehension, weak essays — Create a context-inference item using a familiar word in a less familiar sense. State the evidence a strong response should cite. Use the observed pattern “Input stronger than output.” as your evidence base. Keep “Semantic-to-word retrieval.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Good vocabulary in English only — Write one collocation-repair item and one register-repair item linked to the profile. Use the observed pattern “Transfer limited.” as your evidence base. Keep “Science/Humanities integration.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Strong words, weak phrase cohesion — Design a timed retrieval cue with no first-letter hint. Decide what response time would count as fluent enough for the learner’s current goal. Use the observed pattern “Vocabulary not integrated into discourse.” as your evidence base. Keep “Sentence frames and logical connectors.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Good academic language, weak narrative vocabulary — Create a word-family transformation that forces a change in grammatical class. Use the observed pattern “Genre imbalance.” as your evidence base. Keep “Emotion, movement, sensory and tone vocabulary.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Good narrative vocabulary, weak argument language — Write a transfer question using a topic the learner has not practised. Explain what successful transfer would look like. Use the observed pattern “Genre imbalance.” as your evidence base. Keep “Claim/evidence/evaluation vocabulary.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Good word families, poor pronunciation — Ask the learner for a confidence rating before revealing the answer. Predict how confidence would change your interpretation. Use the observed pattern “Written representation dominates.” as your evidence base. Keep “Spoken form and oral rehearsal.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Good pronunciation, poor spelling — Create a mini writing sample rubric with three lexical criteria only: precision, natural combination and fit to purpose. Use the observed pattern “Auditory representation dominates.” as your evidence base. Keep “Orthographic mapping.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Large notebooks, weak recall — Write one oral follow-up question that makes memorised vocabulary insufficient and requires flexible response. Use the observed pattern “Storage behaviour masquerades as learning.” as your evidence base. Keep “Cue-based testing.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Many new words, no old-word maintenance — State one conclusion you would refuse to make from this profile without more evidence. Use the observed pattern “Expansion overwhelms retention.” as your evidence base. Keep “Cumulative review.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Strong easy-text coverage, weak complex-text coverage — Turn this profile into one recognition item and one production item. Explain why the pair gives more information than either alone. Use the observed pattern “Threshold problem.” as your evidence base. Keep “Progressive text difficulty.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Good vocabulary, poor question interpretation — Create a context-inference item using a familiar word in a less familiar sense. State the evidence a strong response should cite. Use the observed pattern “Command-word gap.” as your evidence base. Keep “Analyse/infer/evaluate/justify distinctions.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Strong formal writing, weak situational writing — Write one collocation-repair item and one register-repair item linked to the profile. Use the observed pattern “Audience adaptation gap.” as your evidence base. Keep “Register by task.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Good isolated sentences, weak paragraphs — Design a timed retrieval cue with no first-letter hint. Decide what response time would count as fluent enough for the learner’s current goal. Use the observed pattern “Discourse transfer gap.” as your evidence base. Keep “Paragraph-level vocabulary jobs.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Strong planned speech, weak interaction — Create a word-family transformation that forces a change in grammatical class. Use the observed pattern “Memorised oral language.” as your evidence base. Keep “Follow-up and spontaneous response.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Strong school vocabulary, narrow world knowledge — Write a transfer question using a topic the learner has not practised. Explain what successful transfer would look like. Use the observed pattern “Concept gap.” as your evidence base. Keep “Thematic reading and general knowledge.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Mixed profile with no obvious weakness — Ask the learner for a confidence rating before revealing the answer. Predict how confidence would change your interpretation. Use the observed pattern “Potential ceiling on simple tests.” as your evidence base. Keep “Use harder transfer tasks before prescribing more lists.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Extended Diagnostic Cycle 8
High breadth, low retrieval — Write one oral follow-up question that makes memorised vocabulary insufficient and requires flexible response. Use the observed pattern “Recognises many words, cannot produce them in writing.” as your evidence base. Keep “Activation and reverse recall.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Low breadth, high depth — State one conclusion you would refuse to make from this profile without more evidence. Use the observed pattern “Uses known words accurately but meets many unknown items.” as your evidence base. Keep “Reading volume and targeted expansion.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
High list scores, weak comprehension — Turn this profile into one recognition item and one production item. Explain why the pair gives more information than either alone. Use the observed pattern “Definitions known, context senses missed.” as your evidence base. Keep “Polysemy and lexical inference.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Strong reading, repetitive writing — Create a context-inference item using a familiar word in a less familiar sense. State the evidence a strong response should cite. Use the observed pattern “Receptive vocabulary larger than productive.” as your evidence base. Keep “Writing retrieval and collocations.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Good writing, weak oral range — Write one collocation-repair item and one register-repair item linked to the profile. Use the observed pattern “Time pressure blocks access.” as your evidence base. Keep “Timed speaking and chunk retrieval.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Advanced words, frequent misuse — Design a timed retrieval cue with no first-letter hint. Decide what response time would count as fluent enough for the learner’s current goal. Use the observed pattern “Prestige selection without boundaries.” as your evidence base. Keep “Near-synonym contrast and register.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Good context inference, weak spelling — Create a word-family transformation that forces a change in grammatical class. Use the observed pattern “Semantic knowledge exceeds orthographic form.” as your evidence base. Keep “Word families and spelling patterns.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Strong morphology, weak context — Write a transfer question using a topic the learner has not practised. Explain what successful transfer would look like. Use the observed pattern “Overdecodes from parts.” as your evidence base. Keep “Hypothesis-then-context verification.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Good vocabulary, weak summary — Ask the learner for a confidence rating before revealing the answer. Predict how confidence would change your interpretation. Use the observed pattern “Paraphrase flexibility is limited.” as your evidence base. Keep “Meaning preservation and synonym precision.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Strong subject vocabulary, weak general academic language — Create a mini writing sample rubric with three lexical criteria only: precision, natural combination and fit to purpose. Use the observed pattern “Technical islands.” as your evidence base. Keep “Cross-curricular Tier 2 vocabulary.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Good everyday English, weak academic nouns — Write one oral follow-up question that makes memorised vocabulary insufficient and requires flexible response. Use the observed pattern “Nominalisation gap.” as your evidence base. Keep “Verb–noun family transformations.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Strong noun vocabulary, weak verbs — State one conclusion you would refuse to make from this profile without more evidence. Use the observed pattern “Writing becomes static and vague.” as your evidence base. Keep “Academic verb bank and collocation.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Many synonyms, poor connotation — Turn this profile into one recognition item and one production item. Explain why the pair gives more information than either alone. Use the observed pattern “Treats alternatives as clones.” as your evidence base. Keep “Tone and semantic gradient work.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Good definitions, weak collocation — Create a context-inference item using a familiar word in a less familiar sense. State the evidence a strong response should cite. Use the observed pattern “Dictionary knowledge is isolated.” as your evidence base. Keep “Phrase-level storage and retrieval.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Good words, inappropriate formality — Write one collocation-repair item and one register-repair item linked to the profile. Use the observed pattern “Register mismatch.” as your evidence base. Keep “Audience rewriting tasks.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Strong grammar, narrow lexical range — Design a timed retrieval cue with no first-letter hint. Decide what response time would count as fluent enough for the learner’s current goal. Use the observed pattern “Sentence structure exceeds vocabulary breadth.” as your evidence base. Keep “High-utility expansion.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Broad vocabulary, weak multiple meanings — Create a word-family transformation that forces a change in grammatical class. Use the observed pattern “Dominant-sense dependence.” as your evidence base. Keep “Polysemy mapping.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Good initial learning, rapid forgetting — Write a transfer question using a topic the learner has not practised. Explain what successful transfer would look like. Use the observed pattern “Retention problem.” as your evidence base. Keep “Spacing and cumulative retrieval.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Strong flashcards, weak transfer — Ask the learner for a confidence rating before revealing the answer. Predict how confidence would change your interpretation. Use the observed pattern “Context-bound memory.” as your evidence base. Keep “Unfamiliar-topic tasks.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Good recognition, low confidence — Create a mini writing sample rubric with three lexical criteria only: precision, natural combination and fit to purpose. Use the observed pattern “Knowledge is fragile.” as your evidence base. Keep “Low-stakes retrieval and feedback.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Wrong answers with high confidence — Write one oral follow-up question that makes memorised vocabulary insufficient and requires flexible response. Use the observed pattern “Entrenched misconceptions.” as your evidence base. Keep “Contrastive correction and explanation.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Good scores, slow retrieval — State one conclusion you would refuse to make from this profile without more evidence. Use the observed pattern “Access is accurate but inefficient.” as your evidence base. Keep “Timed recall and oral practice.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Fast retrieval, frequent misuse — Turn this profile into one recognition item and one production item. Explain why the pair gives more information than either alone. Use the observed pattern “Speed exceeds precision.” as your evidence base. Keep “Slow meaning-boundary work.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Strong essays, weak comprehension vocabulary — Create a context-inference item using a familiar word in a less familiar sense. State the evidence a strong response should cite. Use the observed pattern “Production stronger in rehearsed topics.” as your evidence base. Keep “Text-based sense and inference work.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Strong comprehension, weak essays — Write one collocation-repair item and one register-repair item linked to the profile. Use the observed pattern “Input stronger than output.” as your evidence base. Keep “Semantic-to-word retrieval.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Good vocabulary in English only — Design a timed retrieval cue with no first-letter hint. Decide what response time would count as fluent enough for the learner’s current goal. Use the observed pattern “Transfer limited.” as your evidence base. Keep “Science/Humanities integration.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Strong words, weak phrase cohesion — Create a word-family transformation that forces a change in grammatical class. Use the observed pattern “Vocabulary not integrated into discourse.” as your evidence base. Keep “Sentence frames and logical connectors.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Good academic language, weak narrative vocabulary — Write a transfer question using a topic the learner has not practised. Explain what successful transfer would look like. Use the observed pattern “Genre imbalance.” as your evidence base. Keep “Emotion, movement, sensory and tone vocabulary.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Good narrative vocabulary, weak argument language — Ask the learner for a confidence rating before revealing the answer. Predict how confidence would change your interpretation. Use the observed pattern “Genre imbalance.” as your evidence base. Keep “Claim/evidence/evaluation vocabulary.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Good word families, poor pronunciation — Create a mini writing sample rubric with three lexical criteria only: precision, natural combination and fit to purpose. Use the observed pattern “Written representation dominates.” as your evidence base. Keep “Spoken form and oral rehearsal.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Good pronunciation, poor spelling — Write one oral follow-up question that makes memorised vocabulary insufficient and requires flexible response. Use the observed pattern “Auditory representation dominates.” as your evidence base. Keep “Orthographic mapping.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Large notebooks, weak recall — State one conclusion you would refuse to make from this profile without more evidence. Use the observed pattern “Storage behaviour masquerades as learning.” as your evidence base. Keep “Cue-based testing.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Many new words, no old-word maintenance — Turn this profile into one recognition item and one production item. Explain why the pair gives more information than either alone. Use the observed pattern “Expansion overwhelms retention.” as your evidence base. Keep “Cumulative review.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Strong easy-text coverage, weak complex-text coverage — Create a context-inference item using a familiar word in a less familiar sense. State the evidence a strong response should cite. Use the observed pattern “Threshold problem.” as your evidence base. Keep “Progressive text difficulty.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Good vocabulary, poor question interpretation — Write one collocation-repair item and one register-repair item linked to the profile. Use the observed pattern “Command-word gap.” as your evidence base. Keep “Analyse/infer/evaluate/justify distinctions.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Strong formal writing, weak situational writing — Design a timed retrieval cue with no first-letter hint. Decide what response time would count as fluent enough for the learner’s current goal. Use the observed pattern “Audience adaptation gap.” as your evidence base. Keep “Register by task.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Good isolated sentences, weak paragraphs — Create a word-family transformation that forces a change in grammatical class. Use the observed pattern “Discourse transfer gap.” as your evidence base. Keep “Paragraph-level vocabulary jobs.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Strong planned speech, weak interaction — Write a transfer question using a topic the learner has not practised. Explain what successful transfer would look like. Use the observed pattern “Memorised oral language.” as your evidence base. Keep “Follow-up and spontaneous response.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Strong school vocabulary, narrow world knowledge — Ask the learner for a confidence rating before revealing the answer. Predict how confidence would change your interpretation. Use the observed pattern “Concept gap.” as your evidence base. Keep “Thematic reading and general knowledge.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Mixed profile with no obvious weakness — Create a mini writing sample rubric with three lexical criteria only: precision, natural combination and fit to purpose. Use the observed pattern “Potential ceiling on simple tests.” as your evidence base. Keep “Use harder transfer tasks before prescribing more lists.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Extended Diagnostic Cycle 9
High breadth, low retrieval — State one conclusion you would refuse to make from this profile without more evidence. Use the observed pattern “Recognises many words, cannot produce them in writing.” as your evidence base. Keep “Activation and reverse recall.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Low breadth, high depth — Turn this profile into one recognition item and one production item. Explain why the pair gives more information than either alone. Use the observed pattern “Uses known words accurately but meets many unknown items.” as your evidence base. Keep “Reading volume and targeted expansion.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
High list scores, weak comprehension — Create a context-inference item using a familiar word in a less familiar sense. State the evidence a strong response should cite. Use the observed pattern “Definitions known, context senses missed.” as your evidence base. Keep “Polysemy and lexical inference.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Strong reading, repetitive writing — Write one collocation-repair item and one register-repair item linked to the profile. Use the observed pattern “Receptive vocabulary larger than productive.” as your evidence base. Keep “Writing retrieval and collocations.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Good writing, weak oral range — Design a timed retrieval cue with no first-letter hint. Decide what response time would count as fluent enough for the learner’s current goal. Use the observed pattern “Time pressure blocks access.” as your evidence base. Keep “Timed speaking and chunk retrieval.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Advanced words, frequent misuse — Create a word-family transformation that forces a change in grammatical class. Use the observed pattern “Prestige selection without boundaries.” as your evidence base. Keep “Near-synonym contrast and register.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Good context inference, weak spelling — Write a transfer question using a topic the learner has not practised. Explain what successful transfer would look like. Use the observed pattern “Semantic knowledge exceeds orthographic form.” as your evidence base. Keep “Word families and spelling patterns.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Strong morphology, weak context — Ask the learner for a confidence rating before revealing the answer. Predict how confidence would change your interpretation. Use the observed pattern “Overdecodes from parts.” as your evidence base. Keep “Hypothesis-then-context verification.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Good vocabulary, weak summary — Create a mini writing sample rubric with three lexical criteria only: precision, natural combination and fit to purpose. Use the observed pattern “Paraphrase flexibility is limited.” as your evidence base. Keep “Meaning preservation and synonym precision.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Strong subject vocabulary, weak general academic language — Write one oral follow-up question that makes memorised vocabulary insufficient and requires flexible response. Use the observed pattern “Technical islands.” as your evidence base. Keep “Cross-curricular Tier 2 vocabulary.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Good everyday English, weak academic nouns — State one conclusion you would refuse to make from this profile without more evidence. Use the observed pattern “Nominalisation gap.” as your evidence base. Keep “Verb–noun family transformations.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Strong noun vocabulary, weak verbs — Turn this profile into one recognition item and one production item. Explain why the pair gives more information than either alone. Use the observed pattern “Writing becomes static and vague.” as your evidence base. Keep “Academic verb bank and collocation.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Many synonyms, poor connotation — Create a context-inference item using a familiar word in a less familiar sense. State the evidence a strong response should cite. Use the observed pattern “Treats alternatives as clones.” as your evidence base. Keep “Tone and semantic gradient work.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Good definitions, weak collocation — Write one collocation-repair item and one register-repair item linked to the profile. Use the observed pattern “Dictionary knowledge is isolated.” as your evidence base. Keep “Phrase-level storage and retrieval.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Good words, inappropriate formality — Design a timed retrieval cue with no first-letter hint. Decide what response time would count as fluent enough for the learner’s current goal. Use the observed pattern “Register mismatch.” as your evidence base. Keep “Audience rewriting tasks.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Strong grammar, narrow lexical range — Create a word-family transformation that forces a change in grammatical class. Use the observed pattern “Sentence structure exceeds vocabulary breadth.” as your evidence base. Keep “High-utility expansion.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Broad vocabulary, weak multiple meanings — Write a transfer question using a topic the learner has not practised. Explain what successful transfer would look like. Use the observed pattern “Dominant-sense dependence.” as your evidence base. Keep “Polysemy mapping.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Good initial learning, rapid forgetting — Ask the learner for a confidence rating before revealing the answer. Predict how confidence would change your interpretation. Use the observed pattern “Retention problem.” as your evidence base. Keep “Spacing and cumulative retrieval.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Strong flashcards, weak transfer — Create a mini writing sample rubric with three lexical criteria only: precision, natural combination and fit to purpose. Use the observed pattern “Context-bound memory.” as your evidence base. Keep “Unfamiliar-topic tasks.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Good recognition, low confidence — Write one oral follow-up question that makes memorised vocabulary insufficient and requires flexible response. Use the observed pattern “Knowledge is fragile.” as your evidence base. Keep “Low-stakes retrieval and feedback.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Wrong answers with high confidence — State one conclusion you would refuse to make from this profile without more evidence. Use the observed pattern “Entrenched misconceptions.” as your evidence base. Keep “Contrastive correction and explanation.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Good scores, slow retrieval — Turn this profile into one recognition item and one production item. Explain why the pair gives more information than either alone. Use the observed pattern “Access is accurate but inefficient.” as your evidence base. Keep “Timed recall and oral practice.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Fast retrieval, frequent misuse — Create a context-inference item using a familiar word in a less familiar sense. State the evidence a strong response should cite. Use the observed pattern “Speed exceeds precision.” as your evidence base. Keep “Slow meaning-boundary work.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Strong essays, weak comprehension vocabulary — Write one collocation-repair item and one register-repair item linked to the profile. Use the observed pattern “Production stronger in rehearsed topics.” as your evidence base. Keep “Text-based sense and inference work.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Strong comprehension, weak essays — Design a timed retrieval cue with no first-letter hint. Decide what response time would count as fluent enough for the learner’s current goal. Use the observed pattern “Input stronger than output.” as your evidence base. Keep “Semantic-to-word retrieval.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Good vocabulary in English only — Create a word-family transformation that forces a change in grammatical class. Use the observed pattern “Transfer limited.” as your evidence base. Keep “Science/Humanities integration.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Strong words, weak phrase cohesion — Write a transfer question using a topic the learner has not practised. Explain what successful transfer would look like. Use the observed pattern “Vocabulary not integrated into discourse.” as your evidence base. Keep “Sentence frames and logical connectors.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Good academic language, weak narrative vocabulary — Ask the learner for a confidence rating before revealing the answer. Predict how confidence would change your interpretation. Use the observed pattern “Genre imbalance.” as your evidence base. Keep “Emotion, movement, sensory and tone vocabulary.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Good narrative vocabulary, weak argument language — Create a mini writing sample rubric with three lexical criteria only: precision, natural combination and fit to purpose. Use the observed pattern “Genre imbalance.” as your evidence base. Keep “Claim/evidence/evaluation vocabulary.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Good word families, poor pronunciation — Write one oral follow-up question that makes memorised vocabulary insufficient and requires flexible response. Use the observed pattern “Written representation dominates.” as your evidence base. Keep “Spoken form and oral rehearsal.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Good pronunciation, poor spelling — State one conclusion you would refuse to make from this profile without more evidence. Use the observed pattern “Auditory representation dominates.” as your evidence base. Keep “Orthographic mapping.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Large notebooks, weak recall — Turn this profile into one recognition item and one production item. Explain why the pair gives more information than either alone. Use the observed pattern “Storage behaviour masquerades as learning.” as your evidence base. Keep “Cue-based testing.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Many new words, no old-word maintenance — Create a context-inference item using a familiar word in a less familiar sense. State the evidence a strong response should cite. Use the observed pattern “Expansion overwhelms retention.” as your evidence base. Keep “Cumulative review.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Strong easy-text coverage, weak complex-text coverage — Write one collocation-repair item and one register-repair item linked to the profile. Use the observed pattern “Threshold problem.” as your evidence base. Keep “Progressive text difficulty.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Good vocabulary, poor question interpretation — Design a timed retrieval cue with no first-letter hint. Decide what response time would count as fluent enough for the learner’s current goal. Use the observed pattern “Command-word gap.” as your evidence base. Keep “Analyse/infer/evaluate/justify distinctions.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Strong formal writing, weak situational writing — Create a word-family transformation that forces a change in grammatical class. Use the observed pattern “Audience adaptation gap.” as your evidence base. Keep “Register by task.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Good isolated sentences, weak paragraphs — Write a transfer question using a topic the learner has not practised. Explain what successful transfer would look like. Use the observed pattern “Discourse transfer gap.” as your evidence base. Keep “Paragraph-level vocabulary jobs.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Strong planned speech, weak interaction — Ask the learner for a confidence rating before revealing the answer. Predict how confidence would change your interpretation. Use the observed pattern “Memorised oral language.” as your evidence base. Keep “Follow-up and spontaneous response.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Strong school vocabulary, narrow world knowledge — Create a mini writing sample rubric with three lexical criteria only: precision, natural combination and fit to purpose. Use the observed pattern “Concept gap.” as your evidence base. Keep “Thematic reading and general knowledge.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Mixed profile with no obvious weakness — Write one oral follow-up question that makes memorised vocabulary insufficient and requires flexible response. Use the observed pattern “Potential ceiling on simple tests.” as your evidence base. Keep “Use harder transfer tasks before prescribing more lists.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Extended Diagnostic Cycle 10
High breadth, low retrieval — Turn this profile into one recognition item and one production item. Explain why the pair gives more information than either alone. Use the observed pattern “Recognises many words, cannot produce them in writing.” as your evidence base. Keep “Activation and reverse recall.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Low breadth, high depth — Create a context-inference item using a familiar word in a less familiar sense. State the evidence a strong response should cite. Use the observed pattern “Uses known words accurately but meets many unknown items.” as your evidence base. Keep “Reading volume and targeted expansion.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
High list scores, weak comprehension — Write one collocation-repair item and one register-repair item linked to the profile. Use the observed pattern “Definitions known, context senses missed.” as your evidence base. Keep “Polysemy and lexical inference.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Strong reading, repetitive writing — Design a timed retrieval cue with no first-letter hint. Decide what response time would count as fluent enough for the learner’s current goal. Use the observed pattern “Receptive vocabulary larger than productive.” as your evidence base. Keep “Writing retrieval and collocations.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Good writing, weak oral range — Create a word-family transformation that forces a change in grammatical class. Use the observed pattern “Time pressure blocks access.” as your evidence base. Keep “Timed speaking and chunk retrieval.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Advanced words, frequent misuse — Write a transfer question using a topic the learner has not practised. Explain what successful transfer would look like. Use the observed pattern “Prestige selection without boundaries.” as your evidence base. Keep “Near-synonym contrast and register.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Good context inference, weak spelling — Ask the learner for a confidence rating before revealing the answer. Predict how confidence would change your interpretation. Use the observed pattern “Semantic knowledge exceeds orthographic form.” as your evidence base. Keep “Word families and spelling patterns.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Strong morphology, weak context — Create a mini writing sample rubric with three lexical criteria only: precision, natural combination and fit to purpose. Use the observed pattern “Overdecodes from parts.” as your evidence base. Keep “Hypothesis-then-context verification.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Good vocabulary, weak summary — Write one oral follow-up question that makes memorised vocabulary insufficient and requires flexible response. Use the observed pattern “Paraphrase flexibility is limited.” as your evidence base. Keep “Meaning preservation and synonym precision.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Strong subject vocabulary, weak general academic language — State one conclusion you would refuse to make from this profile without more evidence. Use the observed pattern “Technical islands.” as your evidence base. Keep “Cross-curricular Tier 2 vocabulary.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Good everyday English, weak academic nouns — Turn this profile into one recognition item and one production item. Explain why the pair gives more information than either alone. Use the observed pattern “Nominalisation gap.” as your evidence base. Keep “Verb–noun family transformations.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Strong noun vocabulary, weak verbs — Create a context-inference item using a familiar word in a less familiar sense. State the evidence a strong response should cite. Use the observed pattern “Writing becomes static and vague.” as your evidence base. Keep “Academic verb bank and collocation.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Many synonyms, poor connotation — Write one collocation-repair item and one register-repair item linked to the profile. Use the observed pattern “Treats alternatives as clones.” as your evidence base. Keep “Tone and semantic gradient work.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Good definitions, weak collocation — Design a timed retrieval cue with no first-letter hint. Decide what response time would count as fluent enough for the learner’s current goal. Use the observed pattern “Dictionary knowledge is isolated.” as your evidence base. Keep “Phrase-level storage and retrieval.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Good words, inappropriate formality — Create a word-family transformation that forces a change in grammatical class. Use the observed pattern “Register mismatch.” as your evidence base. Keep “Audience rewriting tasks.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Strong grammar, narrow lexical range — Write a transfer question using a topic the learner has not practised. Explain what successful transfer would look like. Use the observed pattern “Sentence structure exceeds vocabulary breadth.” as your evidence base. Keep “High-utility expansion.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Broad vocabulary, weak multiple meanings — Ask the learner for a confidence rating before revealing the answer. Predict how confidence would change your interpretation. Use the observed pattern “Dominant-sense dependence.” as your evidence base. Keep “Polysemy mapping.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Good initial learning, rapid forgetting — Create a mini writing sample rubric with three lexical criteria only: precision, natural combination and fit to purpose. Use the observed pattern “Retention problem.” as your evidence base. Keep “Spacing and cumulative retrieval.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Strong flashcards, weak transfer — Write one oral follow-up question that makes memorised vocabulary insufficient and requires flexible response. Use the observed pattern “Context-bound memory.” as your evidence base. Keep “Unfamiliar-topic tasks.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Good recognition, low confidence — State one conclusion you would refuse to make from this profile without more evidence. Use the observed pattern “Knowledge is fragile.” as your evidence base. Keep “Low-stakes retrieval and feedback.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Wrong answers with high confidence — Turn this profile into one recognition item and one production item. Explain why the pair gives more information than either alone. Use the observed pattern “Entrenched misconceptions.” as your evidence base. Keep “Contrastive correction and explanation.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Good scores, slow retrieval — Create a context-inference item using a familiar word in a less familiar sense. State the evidence a strong response should cite. Use the observed pattern “Access is accurate but inefficient.” as your evidence base. Keep “Timed recall and oral practice.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Fast retrieval, frequent misuse — Write one collocation-repair item and one register-repair item linked to the profile. Use the observed pattern “Speed exceeds precision.” as your evidence base. Keep “Slow meaning-boundary work.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Strong essays, weak comprehension vocabulary — Design a timed retrieval cue with no first-letter hint. Decide what response time would count as fluent enough for the learner’s current goal. Use the observed pattern “Production stronger in rehearsed topics.” as your evidence base. Keep “Text-based sense and inference work.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Strong comprehension, weak essays — Create a word-family transformation that forces a change in grammatical class. Use the observed pattern “Input stronger than output.” as your evidence base. Keep “Semantic-to-word retrieval.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Good vocabulary in English only — Write a transfer question using a topic the learner has not practised. Explain what successful transfer would look like. Use the observed pattern “Transfer limited.” as your evidence base. Keep “Science/Humanities integration.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Strong words, weak phrase cohesion — Ask the learner for a confidence rating before revealing the answer. Predict how confidence would change your interpretation. Use the observed pattern “Vocabulary not integrated into discourse.” as your evidence base. Keep “Sentence frames and logical connectors.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Good academic language, weak narrative vocabulary — Create a mini writing sample rubric with three lexical criteria only: precision, natural combination and fit to purpose. Use the observed pattern “Genre imbalance.” as your evidence base. Keep “Emotion, movement, sensory and tone vocabulary.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Good narrative vocabulary, weak argument language — Write one oral follow-up question that makes memorised vocabulary insufficient and requires flexible response. Use the observed pattern “Genre imbalance.” as your evidence base. Keep “Claim/evidence/evaluation vocabulary.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Good word families, poor pronunciation — State one conclusion you would refuse to make from this profile without more evidence. Use the observed pattern “Written representation dominates.” as your evidence base. Keep “Spoken form and oral rehearsal.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Good pronunciation, poor spelling — Turn this profile into one recognition item and one production item. Explain why the pair gives more information than either alone. Use the observed pattern “Auditory representation dominates.” as your evidence base. Keep “Orthographic mapping.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Large notebooks, weak recall — Create a context-inference item using a familiar word in a less familiar sense. State the evidence a strong response should cite. Use the observed pattern “Storage behaviour masquerades as learning.” as your evidence base. Keep “Cue-based testing.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Many new words, no old-word maintenance — Write one collocation-repair item and one register-repair item linked to the profile. Use the observed pattern “Expansion overwhelms retention.” as your evidence base. Keep “Cumulative review.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Strong easy-text coverage, weak complex-text coverage — Design a timed retrieval cue with no first-letter hint. Decide what response time would count as fluent enough for the learner’s current goal. Use the observed pattern “Threshold problem.” as your evidence base. Keep “Progressive text difficulty.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Good vocabulary, poor question interpretation — Create a word-family transformation that forces a change in grammatical class. Use the observed pattern “Command-word gap.” as your evidence base. Keep “Analyse/infer/evaluate/justify distinctions.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Strong formal writing, weak situational writing — Write a transfer question using a topic the learner has not practised. Explain what successful transfer would look like. Use the observed pattern “Audience adaptation gap.” as your evidence base. Keep “Register by task.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Good isolated sentences, weak paragraphs — Ask the learner for a confidence rating before revealing the answer. Predict how confidence would change your interpretation. Use the observed pattern “Discourse transfer gap.” as your evidence base. Keep “Paragraph-level vocabulary jobs.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Strong planned speech, weak interaction — Create a mini writing sample rubric with three lexical criteria only: precision, natural combination and fit to purpose. Use the observed pattern “Memorised oral language.” as your evidence base. Keep “Follow-up and spontaneous response.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Strong school vocabulary, narrow world knowledge — Write one oral follow-up question that makes memorised vocabulary insufficient and requires flexible response. Use the observed pattern “Concept gap.” as your evidence base. Keep “Thematic reading and general knowledge.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Mixed profile with no obvious weakness — State one conclusion you would refuse to make from this profile without more evidence. Use the observed pattern “Potential ceiling on simple tests.” as your evidence base. Keep “Use harder transfer tasks before prescribing more lists.” provisional until the new task confirms it.
Continue the Secondary 3 Vocabulary System
Return to the Secondary 3 conceptual apex. Use assessment and learning profiles with vocabulary size and coverage, retrieval and active use, and practice and quiz work.