Using BERT for Solving TOEIC Problems: A Comprehensive Guide

Nov 9, 2020 | Educational

Welcome to our guide on solving TOEIC (Test of English for International Communication) problems using the powerful pre-trained BERT model from Hugging Face! This article will walk you through the process of leveraging BERT for selecting the correct grammar and vocabulary types in multiple-choice questions. Get ready to enhance your language comprehension skills!

Understanding the TOEIC Problem

In TOEIC tests, you often encounter blank problems where you need to fill in the gaps with grammatically and contextually correct options. Here’s a closer look at two types of blank issues:

  • Selecting Correct Grammar Type

    Example: The music teacher had me _ scales several times.

    • 1. play (Answer)
    • 2. to play
    • 3. played
    • 4. playing
  • Selecting Correct Vocabulary Type

    Example: The wet weather _ her from going playing tennis.

    • 1. interrupted
    • 2. obstructed
    • 3. impeded
    • 4. discouraged (Answer)

Leveraging BERT for TOEIC Testing

The core advantage of using the pretrained BERT model is its ability to understand context, which is critical for identifying the likely answers in blank problems.

inputjson = {
    1: {
        "question": "Business experts predict that the upward trend is _ to continue until the end of next year.", 
        "answer": "likely", 
        1: "potential", 
        2: "likely", 
        3: "safety", 
        4: "seemed"
    }
}

Think of BERT as a seasoned language detective. Just as a detective collects clues from different parts of the scene and analyzes them thoroughly to deduce what happened, BERT reads sentences from both directions to fully grasp the context. This bidirectional approach allows it to learn two representations for each word and aids in making accurate predictions.

Evaluation of BERT Model

By using only the pretrained BERT model (without fine-tuning), the evaluation revealed impressive results. The various models achieved the following correct rates with 7,067 datasets:

Model            Correct Num   Percent
bert-base-uncased 5192         73.46%
bert-base-cased   5398         76.38%
bert-large-uncased 5321        75.29%
bert-large-cased  5148         72.84%

Quick Start with Python Pip Package

Ready to dive in? Here’s how you can easily set up and run the BERT-based TOEIC model:

  1. First, install the necessary pip package:
    $ pip install toeicbert
  2. Run the evaluation with the command below:
    $ python -m toeicbert --model bert-base-uncased --file test.json

    In this command, you customize the model (such as bert-base-uncased) and specify a JSON file, formatted to include keys for “question” and optional answers.

JSON Format Example

Here’s an example of the JSON structure you need to provide:

{
    1: {
        "question": "The music teacher had me _ scales several times.",
        "answer": "play",
        1: "play",
        2: "to play",
        3: "played",
        4: "playing"
    }
}

Troubleshooting

If you encounter any issues while using the BERT model, here are some troubleshooting tips:

  • Ensure that your JSON file is correctly formatted according to the specifications.
  • If the model fails to output a prediction, check the candidate tokens in your input – they need to be relevant to the question.
  • For more insights, updates, or to collaborate on AI development projects, stay connected with fxis.ai.

Conclusion

This guide has equipped you with the essential knowledge to utilize a pretrained BERT model for solving TOEIC problems effectively! By tapping into BERT’s contextual capabilities, you can enhance your understanding of English grammar and vocabulary usage.

At fxis.ai, we believe that such advancements are crucial for the future of AI, as they enable more comprehensive and effective solutions. Our team is continually exploring new methodologies to push the envelope in artificial intelligence, ensuring that our clients benefit from the latest technological innovations.

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