LANGUAGE AND LITERACY TESTS 
*49 
finger caliper 
cutter rule 
saw hand planer 
hatchet adze 
Ifl this manner some idea of a toolmaker’s tool vocabulary 
ma y be gained. 
Vocabulary tests have been among the most popular 
°f language tests, especially among laymen. However, 
from the practical and scientific standpoint, such tests 
are very inadequate. In the first place, it is extremely 
difficult to give a vocabulary test. In order to make it 
S1 gnificant there must be a long list of words to define. 
■^°w, if these words are to be defined in writing, the test 
ta kes too much time. If the words are to be defined 
<>«%, the person to whom the definitions are recited has 
to make rapid and arbitrary decisions as to their correct 
ness. There is no objective certainty in such a procedure. 
In any case, the test does not lend itself to scientific render- 
In g and marking. Moreover, even if there were not these 
difficulties, there is a grave question as to the value of such 
a test for practical purposes. A large vocabulary is not 
necessarily a sign of mental ability or reasoning power. It 
be simply the inevitable concomitant of a broad gen 
ial education or course of reading. On the other hand, 
jnen with a very poor vocabulary may have unusual abil- 
Jt y m a great many different directions. If the vocabulary 
tes t is to become at all significant, it, too, will have to be 
specialized to meet special needs. For instance, an elec- 
tri cal engineer requires a very definite vocabulary in 
^ er tain respects. So do the mechanical engineer, the chem- 
j st > the metallurgist, the fuel engineer, etc., etc. Vocabu- 
a ries which are made up of words relevant to a particular 
* ln d of task or ability will be of much greater value for