Is absence presence or just something left (out)?
There’s not much to read in hotel rooms, and once you’ve again accepted that the Gideon Bible is still what it was the last time you looked at it, your attention inevitably returns to the signs and notices.
Signs and notices are a staple of lower-level language learning and testing materials. They are handy because they are authentic and self-contained. They are often in English because it’s the language of global travel. And they are often therefore translated into English, rather than having been originally composed in English.
Looking at this leaflet cover, and if you take the first line into account, it’s fairly obvious what’s missing from the second line. But without the first line, could you be certain? It might be “there”, or it might be “away”, “off”, “away from it all”, “to heaven” or “rich”.
The translation has an error of omission, an absence that has presence as information about the translator’s current level of knowledge of English. You can learn about Russian from this direct translation. Would it be useful to use this in a gap-fill test?
Once you’ve considered that, what about this conversational exchange overheard yesterday?
A: Have you read [name of a novel]?
B: No, have you read?
What’s missing from B’s statement: the name of the novel, or “it”? And again, would this be useful as a gap-fill test?
Language Testing 123: Blog 