Assessing Foreign Language Students Spoken Proficiency

Author : Martin East
Publisher : Springer
Page : 227 pages
File Size : 45,9 Mb
Release : 2016-02-02
Category : Education
ISBN : 9789811003035

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Assessing Foreign Language Students’ Spoken Proficiency by Martin East Pdf

This book presents an in‐depth study of assessment innovation and its impact on teaching and learning. The context is New Zealand, and the focus is additional languages other than English and the recent introduction of a radical new assessment of students’ spoken proficiency, called interact. The book crosses the traditional theoretical and methodological boundaries associated with language testing research, which focuses on assessment performance, and presents an alternative approach where stakeholders become the centre of interest. It advances our understanding of how assessment innovation impacts on two key groups - teachers and students in schools - based on data collected from a substantial two‐year research project. It presents an account of these stakeholders’ perceptions of the validity and usefulness of the new assessment in comparison with the more traditional test that it has replaced.Assessing Foreign Language Students' Spoken Proficiency makes an outstanding and original contribution to the field of second and foreign language teaching, providing a theory and research-based account of the development of a learner-centred approach to oral proficiency assessment. It is an important resource for teachers and teacher educators as well as assessment and curriculum specialists worldwide. It deserves to be widely read.

Author : National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine,Division of Behavioral and Social Sciences and Education,Committee on Foreign Language Assessment for the U.S. Foreign Service Institute
Publisher : National Academies Press
Page : 113 pages
File Size : 47,7 Mb
Release : 2020-09-19
Category : Education
ISBN : 9780309675482

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A Principled Approach to Language Assessment by National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine,Division of Behavioral and Social Sciences and Education,Committee on Foreign Language Assessment for the U.S. Foreign Service Institute Pdf

The United States is formally represented around the world by approximately 14,000 Foreign Service officers and other personnel in the U.S. Department of State. Roughly one-third of them are required to be proficient in the local languages of the countries to which they are posted. To achieve this language proficiency for its staff, the State Department's Foreign Service Institute (FSI) provides intensive language instruction and assesses the proficiency of personnel before they are posted to a foreign country. The requirement for language proficiency is established in law and is incorporated in personnel decisions related to job placement, promotion, retention, and pay. A Principled Approach to Language Assessment: Considerations for the U.S. Foreign Service Institute evaluates the different approaches that exist to assess foreign language proficiency that FSI could potentially use. This report considers the key assessment approaches in the research literature that are appropriate for language testing, including, but not limited to, assessments that use task-based or performance-based approaches, adaptive online test administration, and portfolios.

Author : J. Charles Alderson
Publisher : A&C Black
Page : 286 pages
File Size : 42,9 Mb
Release : 2005-08-22
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN : 9781441147592

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Diagnosing Foreign Language Proficiency by J. Charles Alderson Pdf

This book addresses the need for tests that can diagnose the strengths and weaknesses in learners' developing foreign language proficiency. It presents the rationale for, and research surrounding, the development of DIALANG, a suite of internet-delivered diagnostic foreign language tests funded by the European Commission. The word 'diagnosis' is common in discussions in language education and applied linguistics, but very few truly diagnostic tests exist. However, the diagnosis of foreign language proficiency is central to helping learners make progress. This volume explores the nature of diagnostic testing, emphasizing the need for a better understanding of the nature of appropriate diagnosis. The book starts with a debate about how diagnostic testing might most appropriately be developed. Charles Alderson argues that the field has neglected to construct diagnostic tests, partly because other forms of testing have dominated the field. Alderson examines how proficiency has been diagnosed in the key areas of language: reading, listening, writing, grammar and vocabulary. The value of self-assessment is discussed and exemplified as a key component in developing learners', and teachers', awareness of the complexity of language learning. The book ends with a consideration of and recommendations for future developments in the diagnosis of foreign language proficiency.

Author : Harry Grover Tuttle,Alan Tuttle
Publisher : Routledge
Page : 140 pages
File Size : 40,5 Mb
Release : 2013-10-02
Category : Education
ISBN : 9781317925934

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Improving Foreign Language Speaking through Formative Assessment by Harry Grover Tuttle,Alan Tuttle Pdf

Want a quick way to get your students happily conversing more in the target language? This practical book shows you how to use formative assessments to gain immediate and lasting improvement in your students’ fluency. You’ll learn how to: Imbed the 3-minute formative assessment into every lesson with ease Engage students in peer formative assessment successfully Teach students to give each other formative feedback Help struggling students make significant gains Create and coach small groups for differentiated speaking practice Assist students in incorporating current grammar lesson into meaningful conversations Analyze your own use of language in the classroom to avoid vague feedback that can stifle student conversations Grade oral improvement positively The authors provide formative assessments for 17 language functions with step-by-step lesson plans, aligned to ACTFL guidelines. Each plan includes a wealth of conversation and extension activities. There are ready-to-use checklists including the "I Can" log that helps students plot their own progress. Research has confirmed that when teachers use formative assessment, students can learn in six to seven months what would normally take a school year to learn. You’ll find yourself using this book every day because of the gains your students will achieve in foreign language fluency.

Author : Richard Young,Agnes Weiyun He
Publisher : John Benjamins Publishing
Page : 368 pages
File Size : 53,8 Mb
Release : 1998-01-01
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN : 9789027241207

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Talking and Testing by Richard Young,Agnes Weiyun He Pdf

A collection of papers that document various dimensions of the ways in which the language learner and the language proficiency interviewer use language to accomplish oral language assessment tasks.

Author : Mats Oskarsson
Publisher : Unknown
Page : 56 pages
File Size : 52,7 Mb
Release : 1984
Category : Adult education
ISBN : UVA:X002440397

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Self-assessment of Foreign Language Skills by Mats Oskarsson Pdf

A review of research in self-assessment techniques for foreign language skills is based on a survey of the literature and the results of a survey of teachers, researchers, and administrators in adult education centers in many areas of the world. Two late 1970s surveys of self-assessment research and pilot experiments concerning the general validity and usefulness of learners' estimates are described, and more recent research is reviewed. A growing body of research on the use of self-assessment procedures for continuous evaluation purposes is also examined, and the survey results are reported. The pattern emerging is of consistent overall agreement of self-estimates and external criteria, but the need for practice in autonomous learning and self-directed evaluation is emphasized in some of the sources, and it is suggested that teacher training in these areas is a further prerequisite for effective development of self-evaluation techniques. A variety of self-assessment aids are described and illustrated, and it is noted that the kind of instrument seeming to yield the most accurate information consists of descriptions of concrete linguistic situations that the learner can interpret and evaluate in behavioral terms. Implications of the findings and areas needing further study are discussed. (Author/MSE)

Author : Mikyung Kim Wolf,Yuko Goto Butler
Publisher : Taylor & Francis
Page : 278 pages
File Size : 51,6 Mb
Release : 2017-05-25
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN : 9781317379041

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English Language Proficiency Assessments for Young Learners by Mikyung Kim Wolf,Yuko Goto Butler Pdf

English Language Proficiency Assessments for Young Learners provides both theoretical and empirical information about assessing the English language proficiency of young learners. Using large-scale standardized English language proficiency assessments developed for international or U.S. contexts as concrete examples, this volume illustrates rigorous processes of developing and validating assessments with considerations of young learners’ unique characteristics. In this volume, young learners are defined as school-age children from approximately 5 to 13 years old, learning English as a foreign language (EFL) or a second language (ESL). This volume also discusses innovative ways to assess young learners’ English language abilities based on empirical studies, with each chapter offering stimulating ideas for future research and development work to improve English language assessment practices with young learners. English Language Proficiency Assessments for Young Learners is a useful resource for students, test developers, educators, and researchers in the area of language testing and assessment.

Author : Paul Hellgren
Publisher : Unknown
Page : 196 pages
File Size : 40,5 Mb
Release : 1982
Category : Communicative competence
ISBN : IND:39000000766647

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Communicative Proficiency in a Foreign Language, and Its Evaluation by Paul Hellgren Pdf

A study is presented which attempts to clarify the notion of communicative proficiency in a foreign language and which outlines an instructional model that incorporates the insights of the study. Communicative proficiency is defined as fluent mastery of the foreign language in different contexts. The definition was operationalized into discourse processing by means of an instructional model to guide teaching, choice of contents, and evaluation. An account is given of how the instructional model was used to develop a model for evaluating communicative proficiency in a foreign language. Discourse processing as a bidirectional interpreting skill is seen in terms of oral proficiency as a function of speaking and listening, and written proficiency as a function of writing and reading. A simulation of the instructional model is employed in a form in which oral proficiency is rated by written products and written proficiency by oral products. In other words, a hypothesis is made of a unitary structure of English proficiency. This hypothesis was tested by a communicative test given to third-form students in 10 senior secondary schools in Finland. The test required oral and written responses to questions about the contents of an interview heard on tape. Analysis of results showed the test to be a reliable instrument with the asset of simplicity and ease of administration. (Author/AMH)

Author : Richard Young,Agnes Weiyun He
Publisher : John Benjamins Publishing
Page : 395 pages
File Size : 51,5 Mb
Release : 1998-07-15
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN : 9789027285546

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Talking and Testing by Richard Young,Agnes Weiyun He Pdf

This book brings together a collection of current research on the assessment of oral proficiency in a second language. Fourteen chapters focus on the use of the language proficiency interview or LPI to assess oral proficiency. The volume addresses the central issue of validity in proficiency assessment: the ways in which the language proficiency interview is accomplished through discourse.Contributors draw on a variety of discourse perspectives, including the ethnography of speaking, conversation analysis, language socialization theory, sociolinguistic variation theory, human interaction research, and systemic functional linguistics. And for the first time, LPIs conducted in German, Korean, and Spanish are examined as well as interviews in English. This book sheds light on such important issues as how speaking ability can be defined independently of an LPI that is designed to assess it and the extent to which an LPI is an authentic representation of ordinary conversation in the target language. It will be of considerable interest to language testers, discourse analysts, second language acquisition researchers, foreign language specialists, and anyone concerned with proficiency issues in language teaching and testing.

Author : Richard V. Teschner
Publisher : Heinle & Heinle Publishers
Page : 260 pages
File Size : 47,9 Mb
Release : 1991
Category : Foreign Language Study
ISBN : UVA:X002074992

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Assessing Foreign Language Proficiency of Undergraduates by Richard V. Teschner Pdf

Author : John McE. Davis,John M. Norris,Margaret E. Malone,Todd H. McKay,Young-A Son
Publisher : Georgetown University Press
Page : 276 pages
File Size : 43,7 Mb
Release : 2018-03-01
Category : Foreign Language Study
ISBN : 9781626165410

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Useful Assessment and Evaluation in Language Education by John McE. Davis,John M. Norris,Margaret E. Malone,Todd H. McKay,Young-A Son Pdf

The specific—and varied—ways in which assessment and evaluation can impact learning and teaching have become an important language education research concern, particularly as educators are increasingly called on to implement these processes for improvement, accountability, or curricular development purposes. Useful Assessment and Evaluation in Language Education showcases contemporary research that explores innovative uses of assessment and evaluation in a variety of educational contexts. Divided into three parts, this volume first examines theoretical considerations and practical implementations of assessment conducted for the purpose of enhancing and developing language learning. Part 2 addresses novel assessment development and implementation projects, such as the formative use of task-based assessments, technology-mediated language performance assessment, validation of educational placement tests for immigrant learners, and the use of assessment to help identify neurolinguistic correlates of proficiency. The final section of the book highlights examples of argument-based approaches to assessment and evaluation validation, extending this critical framework to quality assurance efforts in new domains. Adding to research on traditional and conventional uses of testing and evaluation in language education, this volume captures innovative trends in assessment and evaluation practice that explicitly aim to better inform and enhance language teaching and learning.

Author : Paula Winke,Susan M. Gass
Publisher : Springer
Page : 318 pages
File Size : 52,8 Mb
Release : 2019-02-04
Category : Education
ISBN : 3030010058

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Foreign Language Proficiency in Higher Education by Paula Winke,Susan M. Gass Pdf

This volume comprises of chapters that deal with language proficiency relating to a wide range of language program issues including curriculum, assessment, learners and instructors, and skill development. The chapters cover various aspects of a broad-based proficiency initiative, focusing on numerous aspects of foreign language learning, including how skills develop, how assessments can inform curriculum, how learners and instructors view proficiency and proficiency assessment, and how individual use of technology furthers language learning. The concluding chapter points the way forward for issues and questions that need to be addressed.

Author : Kaarina Yli-Renko
Publisher : Unknown
Page : 104 pages
File Size : 54,6 Mb
Release : 1988
Category : Adult education
ISBN : STANFORD:36105003594764

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Assessing Foreign Language Training Needs of Adults by Kaarina Yli-Renko Pdf

A study investigated the foreign language needs of employees in Finland's Ministry of the Interior as a basis for developing a language training policy. Both individual employees and department heads were surveyed about perceived language training needs. Results suggest that foreign language proficiency is very important to the ministry's functioning, with the need for language skills increasing in the future. The most important languages were found to be Swedish, English, and German, with French, Russian, Norwegian, and Danish also mentioned as needed. The language proficiency of personnel was found to be insufficient, with the greatest amount of training needed in Swedish and English oral proficiency. The employees felt they needed a higher level of language proficiency for the performance of their work than the department heads felt was required. The findings suggest that self-assessment may give more realistic information about language training needs than official assessments. (Author/MSE)

Author : Glenn Fulcher
Publisher : Routledge
Page : 357 pages
File Size : 44,5 Mb
Release : 2014-10-13
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN : 9781317873679

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Testing Second Language Speaking by Glenn Fulcher Pdf

The testing and assessment of second language learners is an essential part of the language learning process. Glenn Fulcher's Testing Second Language Speaking is a state-of-the-art volume that considers the assessment of speaking from historical, theoretical and practical perspectives. The book offers the first systematic, comprehensive and up-to-date treatment of the testing of second language speaking. Written in a clear and accessible manner, it covers: Explanations of the process of test design Costing test design projects How to put the test into practice Evaluation of speaking tests Task types for testing speaking Testing learners with disabilities It also contains a wealth of examples, including task types that are commonly used in speaking tests, approaches to researching speaking tests and specific methodologies that teachers, students and test developers may use in their own projects. Successfully integrating practice and theory, this book demystifies the process of testing speaking and provides a thorough treatment of the key ethical and technical issues in speaking evaluation.

Author : Paula Winke,Tineke Brunfaut
Publisher : Routledge
Page : 543 pages
File Size : 45,9 Mb
Release : 2020-12-27
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN : 9781351034777

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The Routledge Handbook of Second Language Acquisition and Language Testing by Paula Winke,Tineke Brunfaut Pdf

This Handbook, with 45 chapters written by the world’s leading scholars in second language acquisition (SLA) and language testing, dives into the important interface between SLA and language testing: shared ground where researchers seek to measure second language performance to better understand how people learn their second languages. The Handbook also reviews how to best measure and evaluate the second language (L2) learners’ personal characteristics, backgrounds, and learning contexts to better understand their L2 learning trajectories. Taking a transdisciplinary approach to research, the book builds upon recent theorizing and measurement principles from the fields of applied linguistics, cognitive science, psychology, psycholinguistics, psychometrics, educational measurement, and social psychology. The Handbook is divided into six key sections: (1) Assessment concepts for SLA researchers, (2) Building instruments for SLA research, (3) Measuring individual differences, (4) Measuring language development, (5) Testing specific populations, and (6) Measurement principles for SLA researchers.