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Kenworthy, Roger C. "Lexical signatures in the assessment of L2 writing." Thesis, Swansea University, 2011. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.678566.
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Iwamoto, Noriko. "Effects of L2 Affective Factors on Self-Assessment of Speaking." Diss., Temple University Libraries, 2015. http://cdm16002.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/ref/collection/p245801coll10/id/317188.
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Teaching & LearningPh.D.
This study was an investigation of the validity of students' self-assessment of L2 oral performance, the influences of L2 affective variables on their self-assessment bias, and the degree to which the influences of L2 affective variables differ between high and low proficiency learners. The participants were 389 science majors from two private Japanese universities. A questionnaire was administered using items based on the Attitude/Motivational Test Battery (Gardner, 1985), the Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety Scale (Horwtiz et al., 1986), the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (Rosenberg, 1965), Sick and Nagasaka's (2000) Willingness to Communicate Scale, and items designed to measure motivation adapted from Gardner, Tremblay, and Masgoret (1997), Yashima (2002), Irie (2005), and Matsuoka (2006). A factor analysis identified seven factors in the questionnaire data: Self-Esteem, L2 Speaking Anxiety, L2 Willingness to Communicate, Attitude Toward Learning to Speak English, L2 Speaking Motivational Intensity, Desire to Learn to Speak English, and L2 Speaking Self-Confidence. The scales were further validated using the Rasch rating scale model. Student oral interviews were recorded and rated by five English teachers using an oral assessment scale based on the Kanda English Proficiency Test (Bonk & Ockey, 2003).Immediately after the interviews were completed, the participants were asked to consider how they perceived their own speaking performance and they rated their own performance from their memory using the same oral assessment scale that the teacher raters used. The oral assessment scale included the descriptions of the oral performances that match each level. The participants read the descriptions of each level and chose a level that they thought matched their own performance. The study produced four main findings. First, a multi-faceted Rasch analysis revealed that the participants rated their own L2 speaking more severely than the teacher raters and that the students' self-assessments were neither reliable nor consistent. Second, self-assessment bias measures were calculated and used to test a hypothesized structural model of how affective factors influenced self-assessment bias. The hypothesized model showed poor fit to the data, possibly due to the poor reliability of the self-assessment measures. Multiple regression analyses conducted as a follow-up analysis revealed that participants with greater Desire to Learn to Speak English tended to underestimate and those with greater L2 Speaking Self-Confidence tended to overestimate their own speaking performance. Third, 106 participants whose self-ratings were similar to the teachers' ratings were compared with other students in order to examine their distinctive features. However, no significant differences in L2 oral proficiency or affective variable measures were found between the two. Therefore, those whose self-assessments agreed with teachers could have resulted in some agreements that occurred by chance alone. Finally, 100 higher proficiency students were compared with 100 lower proficiency students and the results showed that the higher proficiency students with greater Desire to Learn to Speak English generally underestimated their L2 speaking proficiency, while those with higher Self-Esteem and greater L2 Speaking Self-Confidence tended to overestimate it. Lower proficiency students with greater L2 Speaking Self-Confidence tended to overestimate their L2 speaking proficiency. The results suggest that the self-assessment of L2 speaking might not be a sufficiently reliable or consistent assessment tool. Therefore, if teachers are considering including self-assessment in a speaking class, self-assessment training should be conducted. Additionally, giving L2 learners more opportunities to speak the L2 can help them notice gaps between their productions and those of proficient speakers, which might lead to more accurate self-assessment. Second, although some studies utilized only one teacher-rater, five teacher raters in this study displayed a great deal of diversity and exhibited unique bias patterns, so multiple raters should be employed and Facets analyses should be employed because the multi-faceted Rasch model provides person ability estimates that are adjusted for rater bias. Finally, the use of multi-faceted Rasch analysis is useful for examining oral data because unlike raw scores, multi-faceted Rasch analysis provides detailed information concerning speaker ability, rater severity, and category difficulty. Moreover, while most researchers have utilized self-assessment raw scores, in this study bias measures of self-assessment were calculated using Facets, which indicated that the bias measures produced different outcomes compared with self-assessment scores.
Temple University--Theses
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Ivarsson, Emma, and Malin Palm. "Listening Strategies in the L2 Classroom." Thesis, Malmö högskola, Fakulteten för lärande och samhälle (LS), 2015. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:mau:diva-33820.
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The purpose of this paper was to investigate how some teachers interpret, teach and assess listening strategies. Our investigation was based on interviews and a questionnaire answered by some year 9 English teachers. Furthermore, the aim was to study whether awareness and teaching of listening strategies are important for teachers in their everyday practice. The results indicate that the teachers interpret listening strategies as purposes for listening, such as listening for detail or the whole. The teachers do not explicitly teach listening strategies, and they do not assess them. For these teachers the main focus is placed on listening comprehension and not on the listening strategies.Key concepts: EFL, secondary school, interpretations, teaching, assessment, listening strategies.
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Theron, Janina. "Pragmatic assessment of schizophrenic bilinguals' L1 and L2 use : a comparison of three assessment tools." Thesis, Stellenbosch : University of Stellenbosch, 2009. http://hdl.handle.net/10019.1/1783.
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Thesis (MPhil (General Linguistics))—University of Stellenbosch, 2009.ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The term "schizophrenia" refers to a psychiatric condition which affects an individual's thought and speech (Eaton and Chen 2006). The verbal expression of schizophrenics can therefore be used as a tool for insight into the nature of schizophrenia as well as the cognitive processes of schizophrenics (Wróbel 1990:1). This thesis reports on a comparative evaluation of three pragmatic assessment tools, namely the Pragmatic Protocol (Prutting and Kirchner 1987), the Profile of Communicative Appropriateness (Penn 1985), and the Framework for Assessing (Children's) Conversational Skills (Rumble 1988), in order to establish which of these tools is most suitable for assessing the first language (L1) and second language (L2) pragmatic abilities of late bilingual schizophrenics. Four late bilingual schizophrenic patients participated in this study. A thirty minute informal interview was conducted with each of the participants in both their L1 and L2 and the speech samples were transcribed and then analysed by means of each of the pragmatic assessment tools. A careful examination of the results yielded by the three assessment tools, showed, firstly, that when presenting the results of a pragmatic assessment of schizophrenic speech, it is crucial that both quantitative and qualitative information be included: if the latter is excluded, a significant amount of information is hidden from the clinicians and/or linguists doing the assessment, as well as the people to whom they report their findings. Secondly, with respect to the characteristics of schizophrenic speech, the three instruments used in this study show that whereas most of the aspects of schizophrenics' linguistic abilities seem intact, their pragmatic skills are definitely impaired. Thirdly, regarding differential symptomatology in bilingual schizophrenics, this study concludes that none of the three assessment tools contributes to a better understanding of this phenomenon, and that, in fact, it is highly unlikely that any pragmatic assessment tool would be able to capture this phenomenon. Finally, it is recommended that clinicians assess bilingual patients in both languages, whenever possible, in order to determine the full range of symptoms experienced by the patient, to gain a better indication of the severity of the illness and to track the progress of the illness.
AFRIKAANS OPSOMMING: Die term "skisofrenie" verwys na 'n psigiatriese toestand wat 'n individu se denkprosesse en spraak beïnvloed (Eaton en Chen 2006). Die verbale uitinge van skisofrene kan dus gebruik word om insig oor die aard van skisofrenie, sowel as die kognitiewe prosesse van skisofrene, te verkry (Wróbel 1990:1). Hierdie tesis lewer verslag oor 'n vergelykende evaluering van drie pragmatiese assesseringsinstrumente, naamlik die "Pragmatic Protocol" (Prutting en Kirchner 1987), die "Profile of Communicative Appropriateness" (Penn 1985), en die "Framework for Assessing (Children's) Conversational Skills" (Rumble 1988), om sodoende vas te stel watter een van hierdie drie die mees gepaste instrument is vir die assessering van tweetalige skisofrene se pragmatiese vaardighede in hul eerstetaal (T1) en tweedetaal (T2), spesifiek in gevalle waar die T2 later (d.w.s. nie binne die eerste sewe lewensjare nie) verwerf is. Vier sulke tweetalige skisofrene het deelgeneem aan die studie. Daar is met elkeen van die deelnemers 'n informele onderhoud gevoer vir 30 minute in hul T1, gevolg deur 30 minute in hul T2. Die onderhoude is getranskribeer en daarna geanaliseer deur middel van elk van die drie assesseringsinstrumente. 'n Noukeurige ondersoek en vergelyking van die resultate van die drie instrumente het eerstens getoon dat dit belangrik is om die resultate van 'n pragmatiese analise van skisofreniese spraak op beide 'n kwantitatiewe en kwalitatiewe wyse aan te bied: wanneer kwalitatiewe inligting weggelaat word, bly 'n betekenisvolle hoeveelheid van die informasie verborge vir die klinici en/of taalwetenskaplikes wat die assessering doen, asook die mense aan wie hulle hulle bevindinge rapporteer. Tweedens, met betrekking tot die eienskappe van skisofreniese spraak, wys die drie instrumente wat in hierdie studie gebruik is dat alhoewel meeste aspekte van skisofrene se taalvaardighede ongeskonde is, hulle pragmatiese vaardighede ooglopend aangetas is. Derdens, rakende differensiële simptomatologie in tweetalige skisofrene kom hierdie studie tot die gevolgtrekking dat geen van die drie instrumente bydra tot 'n beter begrip van hierdie verskynsel nie, en dat dit selfs hoogs onwaarskynlik is dat enige pragmatiese assesseringsinstrument hierdie verskynsel sou kon vaslê. Uiteindelik word daar aanbeveel dat klinici, wanneer dit ookal moontlik is, tweetalige pasiënte in beide tale behoort te assesseer om sodoende die volledige reeks van simptome wat 'n pasiënt ervaar vas te stel, om 'n beter aanduiding te bekom oor die erns van die siekte, en om die progressie van die siekte te volg.
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Saito, Yukie. "Effects of Prosody-Based Instruction and Self-Assessment in L2 Speech Development." Diss., Temple University Libraries, 2019. http://cdm16002.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/ref/collection/p245801coll10/id/597863.
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Teaching & LearningPh.D.
The main purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of form-focused instruction (FFI) on prosody with or without self-assessment on the prosodic and global aspects of L2 speech by Japanese EFL learners using a pre-post design. In addition, native English speaking (NS) and non-native English speaking (NNS) raters with high levels of English proficiency were compared to examine the influence of raters’ L1 backgrounds on their comprehensibility ratings. Sixty-one Japanese university students from four intact English presentation classes participated in the study. The comparison group (n = 16) practiced making one-minute speeches in class (45 minutes x 8 times) without explicit instruction on prosody, while the two experimental groups (n = 17 for the FFI-only group; n = 28 for the FFI + SA group) received FFI on word stress, rhythm, and intonation, practiced the target prosodic features in communicative contexts, and received metalinguistic feedback from the instructor. In total, the experimental groups received six-hours of instruction in class, which was comparable to the comparison group. Additionally, the experimental groups completed homework three times; only the FFI + SA group recorded their reading performance and self-assessed it in terms of word stress, rhythm, and intonation. Three oral tasks were employed to elicit the participants’ speech before and after the treatment: reading aloud, one-minute speech, and picture description. The speech samples were rated for comprehensibility by NS and NNS raters and were also analyzed with four prosodic measurements: word stress, rhythm, pitch contour, and pitch range. Instructional effects on prosody were observed clearly. The FFI-only group improved their controlled production of rhythm and pitch contour, while the FFI + SA group significantly improved all of the prosodic features except pitch range. Moreover, the instructional gains for the FFI + SA group were not limited to the controlled task but transferred to the less-controlled tasks. The results showed differential instructional effects on the four prosodic aspects. The FFI in this study did not help the participants widen their pitch range. The FFI on prosody, which was focused on the cross-linguistic differences between Japanese and English, tended to be more effective in terms of improving rhythm and pitch contour, which were categorized as rule-based, than an item-based feature, word stress. The study offered mixed results regarding instructional effects on comprehensibility. The FFI-only group did not significantly improve comprehensibility despite their significant prosodic improvements on the reading aloud task. Their significant comprehensibility growth on the picture description task was not because of the development of prosody, but of other linguistic variables that influence comprehensibility such as speech rate. The FFI + SA group made significant gains for comprehensibility on the three tasks, but the effect sizes were small. This finding indicated that the effects of FFI with self-assessment on comprehensibility were limited due to the multi-faceted nature of comprehensibility. The data elicited from the post-activity questionnaires and students’ interviews revealed that not all the participants in the FFI + SA group reacted positively to the self-assessment practice. Individual differences such as previous learning experience and self-efficacy appeared to influence the learners’ perceptions of the self-assessment practice and possibly their instructional gains. The two groups of raters, L1 English raters (n = 6) and L2 English raters with advanced or native-like English proficiency (n = 6) did not differ in terms of consistency and severity. These findings indicated that NNS raters with high English proficiency could function as reliably as NS raters; however, the qualitative data revealed that the NS raters tended to be more sensitive to pronunciation, especially at the segmental level, across the three tasks compared to the NNS raters. This study provides evidence that FFI, especially when it is reinforced by self-assessment, has pedagogical value; it can improve learners’ production of English prosody in controlled and less-controlled speech, and these gains can in turn contribute to enhanced L2 comprehensibility.
Temple University--Theses
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Carraro, Jessica <1984>. "The L2 Students’ Perception of Assessment in an Academic Context: a Case Study." Master's Degree Thesis, Università Ca' Foscari Venezia, 2014. http://hdl.handle.net/10579/3985.
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Immigration is a phenomenon that has become all the more relevant in our society. Such effects of people moving from one country to another are even present in academic and didactic contexts; this has resulted the need to develop organized Italian language courses for foreign adults that not only teach the endemic language, but also adequately satisfy the different students’ needs. This dissertation thus aims to explore the world of Italian as a Second Language (L2), and will take a look at the particular problem of evaluating these students through the analysis of questionnaires. These questionnaires were given to teachers and students attending CTP Italian L2 courses at the L.Einaudi middle school in Marghera.
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Pan, Xiaofei. "Investigating the development of syntactic complexity in L2 Chinese writing." Diss., University of Iowa, 2018. https://ir.uiowa.edu/etd/6242.
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This present study investigates the development of second language (L2) Chinese learners’ writing by 1) subjective ratings of essay quality, 2) a battery of objective measures representing the general syntactic complexity as well as specific syntactic features, and 3) the sources of verb phrase complexity used by learners of different institutional levels. This study first compares the subjective ratings of the essays written by learners across four institutional levels and then uses Cumulative Linked Model to examine the contribution of the objective measures of linguistic features to the essay ratings. This study further identifies a number of sources used by learners to construct complex verb phrases, which is an important contributor of the essay rating, and compares the amount of usages by learners at different institutional levels. The purpose of the study is to better understand L2 Chinese learners’ syntactic development in writing from multi-dimensional perspectives, and to identify the most crucial elements that determine the quality of writing.
This study recruits 105 L2 Chinese college learners to write a narrative essay and an argumentative essay according to the prompts. Each of the writing sample is rated by two independent raters according to the holistic ACTFL Proficiency Guidelines, as well as the analytic rubric which was adapted from the ESL Composition Profile for this study. The derivation of syntactic complexity measures was based on the rank scales of lexicogrammar in Systemic Functional Linguistics (Halliday & Matthiessen, 2014), involving 12 features at the levels of clause complex, clause, and verb phrase, some of which represent constructions unique to Chinese.
A series of statistical tests, including Kruskal-Wallis tests, Dunn’ tests, Spearman’ correlation tests, and CLM are performed to answer that research questions. The findings show that 1) learners’ overall writing quality measured by holistic and analytic ratings do not show significant differences across the first several academic years; 2) higher-level learners are more heterogeneous in writing ability than lower-level learners; 3) phrasal complexity contributes more to the essay quality than clausal complexity; 4) syntactic complexity features that learners develop fastest hardly overlap with those that contribute most to the essay rating; 5) complex verbal phrases come from 10 different sources and the composition of complex verbal phrases remain stable across the groups; and 6) essay types makes significant differences in terms of holistic and analytic ratings, use of syntactic complexity features, as well as their contribution to the essay ratings.
From the pedagogical view, this study points out that instruction should focus more on complexity at the phrasal level, especially nominalization and complex verb phrases, that play a more important role to determine the writing quality. Some of the current focus in instruction may not necessarily lead to better quality or higher proficiency in Chinese writing.
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Kobylyanskaya, Sofiya. "Towards multimodal assessment of L2 level : speech and eye tracking features in a cross-cultural setting." Electronic Thesis or Diss., université Paris-Saclay, 2024. http://www.theses.fr/2024UPASG111.
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Ces dernières années, le monde de l’éducation a subi des changements importants, notamment avec la digitalisation massive du système en 2020 et l’avancement des technologies d’IA générative. Le projet LeCycl "Learning Cyclotron" (Vargo et al., 2023) s’inscrit dans cette tendance scientifique et vise à accélérer la circulation des connaissances; en prenant en compte trois processus principaux d’apprentissage : la perception, la maîtrise et le transfert. Cette thèse, faisant partie du projet LeCycl, exploite des stratégies de lecture orale en langue étrangère (L2) en analysant les difficultés rencontrées par des représentants de différentes cultures et leurs stratégies pour les surmonter. À cette fin, nous utilisons des indices multimodaux (la parole et le mouvement des yeux) ainsi qu’un protocole original introduisant des nudges (représentés par des bandes dessinées) pour l’adaptation culturelle (Hutin et al., 2023), Nous avons développé un protocole impliquant la collecte de données de lecture à voix haute des locuteurs français et japonais de l’anglais L2 et deslocuteurs natifs de l’anglais (Kobylyanskaya, 2022).Nous avons analysé les performances des locuteurs à travers des mesures acoustiques et linguistiques (réalisation acoustique des phonèmes, prosodie et disfluences telles que les pauses, hésitations, troncations), ainsi que des mesures de mouvements oculaires (El Baha et al., 2022; Kobylyanskaya et al., 2023). Ensuite, nous avons utilisé des méthodes d’apprentissage automatique pour définir le niveau de L2 des locuteurs à partir de ces mesures. Enfin, nous avons évalué la contribution des images sur les performances de lecture orale des locuteurs. Les résultats montrent que les représentants de langues maternelles Français et Japonais sont confrontés à des défis spécifiques lorsqu’ils lisent des textes en langue étrangère et adoptent différentes stratégies pour les surmonter, ce qui se traduit à la fois au niveau verbal et oculaire.Nos résultats soulignent la nécessité de développer des outils d’apprentissage adaptés aux cultures ainsi que les défis associés à leur conceptionIn recent years, the world of education has undergone critical changes, especially with the system’s massive digitalization in 2020, as well as the advancement of generative AI technologies. LeCycl "Learning Cyclotron" (Vargo et al., 2023) project is a part of this scientific trend and its aim is to accelerate the knowledge flow. It takes into consideration 3 main processes of learning: perception, mastering and transfer. This thesis, as part of the LeCycl project, focuses on exploring second language (L2) oral reading strategies and analyzing difficulties faced by representatives of different cultures and their techniques of coping with them. For this purpose, we are relying on multimodal cues including speech and eye tracking, as well as an original protocol that introduces nudges (represented by comic books) for the cultural adaptation (Hutin et al., 2023). For this purpose, we developed a protocol involving the collection of readingaloud data from both native and non-native English speakers (French and Japanese speakers) (Kobylyan- skaya, 2022). We analyzed speakers’ performance through acoustic and linguistic measures (phoneme realization, prosody and disfluencies such as pauses, hesitations, truncations), as well as eye movement measures (El Baha et al. 2022; Kobylyanskaya et al., 2023). Then, we used machine learning methods to define the speaker’s L2 level based on the extracted measures. Finally, we evaluate the contribution of comic books images on speakers’ oral reading performance. The results highlight that the representatives of different cultures face different challenges when reading in a foreign language and employ different strategies to overcome them, which are translated both at verbal and ocular levels. Our results underline the need for culturally adapted learning tools and the challenges involved in developing them
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Son, Min Hye. "Examining Rater Bias in Elicited Imitation Scoring: Influence of Rater's L1 and L2 Background to the Ratings." BYU ScholarsArchive, 2010. https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/etd/2263.
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Elicited Imitation (EI), which is a way of assessing language learners' speaking, has been used for years. Furthermore, there have been many studies done showing rater bias (variance in test ratings associated with a specific rater and attributable to the attributes of a test taker) in language assessment. In this project, I evaluated possible rater bias, focusing mostly on bias attributable to raters' and test takers' language backgrounds, as seen in EI ratings. I reviewed literature on test rater bias, participated in a study of language background and rater bias, and produced recommendations for reducing bias in EI administration. Also, based on possible rater bias effects discussed in the literature I reviewed and on results of the research study I participated in, I created a registration tool to collect raters' background information that might be helpful in evaluating and reducing rater bias in future EI testing. My project also involved producing a co-authored research paper. In that paper we found no bias effect based on rater first or second language background.
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Neumann, Heike. "What's in a grade? A mixed methods investigation of teacher assessment of grammatical ability in L2 academic writing." Thesis, McGill University, 2011. http://digitool.Library.McGill.CA:80/R/?func=dbin-jump-full&object_id=103454.
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This study investigates how grammatical ability is assessed in L2 academic writing classrooms. In the assessment literature, grammatical ability is defined to include syntax and morphology (Purpura, 2004; Weigle, 2002) and lexical forms, cohesion, and information management on the subsentential, sentential, and suprasentential levels (Purpura, 2004). Writing teachers would, therefore, need to attend to morphosyntactic and other grammatical aspects in L2 texts that serve to organize information and create cohesion on the sentence, paragraph, and text levels. In a mixed methods triangulation design (Creswell & Plano Clark, 2007) using both quantitative and qualitative methods, this study examines the indicators of grammatical ability that writing teachers (n = 2) attend to when assessing their students' (n = 33) grammatical ability in academic essays in one high-intermediate and one advanced L2 writing course at an English-medium university in Canada. In addition, the study considers to what extent the students' learning is affected by the teachers' assessment criteria. In the first phase of this study, the students' essay exams and the teacher-assigned grammar grade were collected and analyzed quantitatively using accuracy and complexity measures as indicators of morphosyntactic ability. They were also examined qualitatively within a framework of systemic functional linguistics to assess the students' ability to manage information in their texts. In phase two, student questionnaires were administered, and student interviews were conducted to determine the students' knowledge of the teachers' assessment criteria for grammar. In phase three, the teachers were interviewed about their criteria and their priorities in the assessment of grammar. Finally, the results from all three phases and all four data sources were integrated to come to an overall interpretation of the findings. The results indicate that writing teachers focus above all on grammatical accuracy when assessing their students' grammatical ability. Consequently, writing teachers seem to assess a reduced construct of grammatical ability in academic writing, compared to definitions in the L2 assessment literature. This emphasis has an impact on how students learn in these L2 writing classrooms. This dissertation concludes with a discussion of implications and makes recommendations for L2 writing assessment based on the findings of this study.Cette recherche s'intéresse à la façon d'évaluer les compétences grammaticales dans les cours universitaires d'écriture langue seconde (L2). Selon la littérature, les compétences grammaticales comprennent la syntaxe et la morphologie (Purpura, 2004; Weigle, 2002) de même que les formes lexicales, la cohésion et la gestion de l'information au niveau sous-phrastique, phrastique et supra-phrastique (Purpura, 2004). Par conséquent, les professeurs d'écriture devraient, lors de l'étude de textes en L2, miser sur la morphosyntaxe et sur d'autres aspects grammaticaux utiles à l'organisation de l'information et assurant la cohésion au niveau de la phrase, du paragraphe et du texte. En s'appuyant sur une approche méthodologique mixte (Creswell & Plano Clark, 2007), utilisant une triangulation de données qualitatives et quantitatives, cette recherche vise à déterminer quels sont les indicateurs de performance grammaticale sur lesquels s'appuient les professeurs d'écriture (n = 2) lorsqu'ils évaluent les compositions de leurs étudiants (n = 33). Les étudiants de l'échantillon étaient inscrits à une université canadienne anglophone et suivaient un cours d'anglais de niveau intermédiaire ou avancé. D'autre part, cette recherche a pour objectif de déterminer à quel point l'apprentissage des étudiants est influencé par les critères d'évaluation de leur professeur. Dans la première partie de la recherche, les compositions des étudiants et les notes de grammaire données par le professeur ont été collectées et analysées quantitativement, en utilisant des mesures de justesse et de complexité grammaticales comme indicateurs de la compétence morphosyntaxique. Elles ont également été analysées qualitativement dans un cadre linguistique systémique fonctionnel afin de déterminer la compétence des étudiants à gérer l'information dans leurs textes. Dans la seconde partie de la recherche, des questionnaires ont été administrés aux étudiants et certaines entrevues ont été menées afin d'évaluer la connaissance qu'avaient les étudiants des critères d'évaluation de leur professeur en ce qui a trait à la grammaire. Dans la troisième partie, les professeurs ont été interviewés au sujet de leurs critères et priorités dans l'évaluation de la grammaire. Enfin, les résultats des trois parties et des quatre sources d'informations ont été réunis afin d'en arriver à une interprétation globale des conclusions. Les résultats révèlent que les professeurs d'écriture priorisent surtout la justesse grammaticale lorsqu'ils évaluent les compétences grammaticales de leurs étudiants. Par conséquent, les professeurs d'écriture semblent s'appuyer sur une définition plus limitée de la compétence grammaticale dans l'évaluation des textes de leurs étudiants que ce qui est défini par la littérature à ce sujet, ce qui a nécessairement un effet sur la façon d'apprendre des étudiants qui suivent des cours d'écriture. Cette thèse se termine par une discussion qui met en lumière ce qu'impliquent ces résultats et où sont émises certaines recommandations au sujet de l'évaluation en écriture dans un cours de L2.
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Nadjafi, Yagana. "Understanding the Knowledge Requirements for English 6 -Four Teachers’ Interpretations of the Terms "Relatively Varied" and "Well-grounded and Balanced" in Students’ Written Production." Thesis, Örebro universitet, Institutionen för humaniora, utbildnings- och samhällsvetenskap, 2019. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:oru:diva-75548.
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This paper presents a qualitative study with semi-structured interviews investigating 1) How teachers in the course English 6 interpret the terms "relatively varied" and "well-grounded and balanced", and how their interpretations differed, 2) How do the teachers interpret the terms in relations to the National Agency for Education’s commentary material?, and 3) What kind of resources do the teachers use to understand those terms? The reason for conducting this research is to gain a greater understanding of how teachers in the course English 6 in upper secondary school interpret the terms in the requirements. The terms in our requirements leave a lot of room for interpretations, and I want to find out how teachers with experiences of teaching interpret the terms in order to better understand how they can be interpret. My finding revealed that three out of four of the interviewed teachers did not mention the terms in their description of them, they brought in other aspects from the requirements, and did not address neither of the terms clearly. This applied to all the teachers, except for T4. The teacher that did address the terms was the only one who read the National Agency’s commentary material, therefore T4’s interpretations of the term aligned closest to the description in the commentary material. From the answers the teachers provided me with, they seemed to interpret the requirements in their own way and this is a validity and reliability issue when assessing the students’ texts. The teachers answers are also discussed from a norm-referenced perspective.
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Romeri, Chiara <1995>. "Rethinking placement assessment as a valuable tool in language education programmes. An analysis of current practices in L2 Italian language schools." Master's Degree Thesis, Università Ca' Foscari Venezia, 2019. http://hdl.handle.net/10579/16097.
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Il presente elaborato indaga l’evoluzione e le caratteristiche del processo di valutazione linguistica, intesa come cornice e fil rouge del percorso didattico. Dato un inquadramento generale a partire dalla letteratura scientifica, particolare attenzione viene posta sulla valutazione in entrata e sui test di piazzamento, vista la significatività del momento specifico di somministrazione di tali test. In quanto forma di valutazione a monte dell’inizio effettivo del percorso di educazione linguistica, i test di piazzamento rappresentano il primo contatto tra il discente ed il contesto di istruzione formale da un lato, e tra il discente ed il percorso di apprendimento stesso dall'altro. Abbracciando l’approccio di Bachman e Damböck (2017), che sottolinea la connessione tra valutazione e didattica, si è condotto un progetto di ricerca nel contesto delle scuole di lingua italiana come L2. Il duplice obiettivo è stato comprendere: 1) come i test di piazzamento sono costruiti, attraverso l’analisi critica di due case studies; 2) come essi vengono impiegati in concreto, attraverso la somministrazione di un questionario rivolto a docenti di italiano L2. Quest’ultimo ha consentito di esplorare il coinvolgimento dei docenti nelle pratiche di placement testing, approfondendo parallelamente le informazioni relative ai discenti delle quali un docente ritiene di aver bisogno, in partenza, per meglio pianificare il percorso didattico. La comprensione di come queste informazioni possano essere integrate nella valutazione in entrata, insieme all'analisi delle pratiche attuali di placement testing, ha permesso di riflettere sulle modalità con le quali rendere i test di piazzamento uno strumento glottodidattico ancora più efficace.
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Mawuye, Enock Panganayi. "An analysis of formative assessment challenges facing English language (L2) secondary school teachers in the Makoni District of Zimbabwe : a study of five schools." Thesis, University of Fort Hare, 2017. http://hdl.handle.net/10353/5058.
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The purpose of this study was to analyse formative assessment challenges facing English Language (L2) Secondary school teachers in the Makoni District of Zimbabwe. Data were collected from 25 English Language secondary school teachers pooled from 5 secondary schools in the Makoni District. The study utilised the pragmatic paradigm which allowed the use of the mixed methods approach. The study used the survey research design. Quantitative data were collected through questionnaires while qualitative data were collected through follow-up interviews, documents and non-participant observations. Cross-tabulations were used to present data which were then reported mainly in percentages. While most of the qualitative data were used to buttress findings established through the questionnaires, the other data were categorised into themes and analysed accordingly. Major challenges that were revealed by this study were that teachers used the teacher – centred approach, feedback given to pupils was not detailed, there was less time to assess appropriately and that teachers were not motivated to assess effectively. Remedial activities were not being carried out and that teachers’ training in assessment was not thorough. Shortage of teaching and learning resources and high teacher – pupil ratios were some of the challenges that teachers faced. There was lack of coordination of agencies involved in assessment and that assessment was examinations – oriented. Assessment policy formulation did not involve teachers and that most pupils were not motivated to learn. On the basis of these findings, the study recommended the provision of adequate teaching and learning resources, provision of appropriate pre-service and in – service training programs as well as involving the teachers in the formulation of assessment policies.
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Chabeda, Eva Aleyo. "Immunogenic assessment of plant-produced Human papillomavirus type 16 chimaeric L1:L2 virus-like particles and the production of an encapsidated therapeutic DNA vaccine candidate." Doctoral thesis, University of Cape Town, 2017. http://hdl.handle.net/11427/27239.
Full textAbstract:
Cervical cancer caused by infection with Human papillomavirus (HPV) is the 4th most common cancer in women globally, and results in an estimated 266 000 deaths every year. Current vaccines are based on the immunodominant L1 major capsid protein, which assembles into virus-like particles (VLPs) that are highly effective in type-specific prevention of cervical infection. However, these vaccines are produced in expensive cell culture systems, are type-specific and do not induce the regression of established infections. The cervical cancer burden (~80%) is mainly in developing countries due to limited healthcare resources, therefore there is a need for more broadly protective and affordable vaccines. Plants provide an alternative platform to produce cheaper vaccines, given their scalability, rapid production and low risk of contamination. The L2 minor capsid protein has sequence regions that are highly conserved across several HPV types, and HPV-16 L2 peptides 108-120, 65-81, 56-81 and 17-36 have been shown to elicit cross-neutralising antibodies. To increase the immunogenicity of L2, second-generation L1:L2 chimaeric VLP (cVLP) vaccines have been investigated. In this study, the 4 L2 peptides above were used to generate plant-produced HPV-16-derived L1:L2 chimaeras. The L2 epitopes were substituted into the DE loop of HPV-16 L1 at position 131 (SAC) or between the helix 4 and β-J structural region at position 431 (SAE). All chimaeras were transiently expressed in Nicotiana benthamiana via Agrobacterium-mediated transfer. Optimisation of expression was conducted by comparing protein expression levels over several days using 4 plant expression vectors, with the highest yields obtained by targeting protein to the chloroplast or with the use of a self-replicating vector. The chloroplast targeted SAC chimaeras predominantly assembled into higher order structures (T=1 VLPs and T=7 VLPs), whereas SAE chimaeras assembled into capsomeres or formed aggregates, indicating that the length, sequence and substitution position of L2 epitopes affects VLP assembly. All SAC chimaeras in addition to SAE 65-81 (smaller epitope not previously tested in chimaeras) were used in vaccination studies in mice, and their immunogenic potential analysed in pseudovirion-based neutralisation assays (PBNAs). Of the 7 heterologous HPVs tested, cross-neutralisation was observed with HPV-11, -18 and -58. Only the anti-SAE 65-81 serum showed neutralisation of homologous HPV-16, suggesting that antibodies detected from all candidate vaccines were mostly non-neutralising, and that the position of the L2 epitope display is critical to maintaining L1-specific neutralising epitopes. Lastly, to address the lack of therapeutic efficacy of current vaccines, I aimed to develop a novel E7 DNA vaccine delivered by plant-made pseudovirions (PsVs). A geminivirus-derived self-replicating plasmid encoding a shuffled E7 (E7SH) sequence that has no transformation ability but contains natural cytotoxic T-lymphocyte epitopes, was constructed using Goldenbraid technology and co-expressed in plants with HPV-16 or HPV-35 L1- and L2-encoding expression vectors. The pseudogenome was successfully encapsidated into plant-made PsVs. These PsVs were capable of infecting mammalian cells and encapsidated replicons expressed E7SH showing the promise of this candidate vaccine as a future combination prophylactic and therapeutic vaccine.
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Xia, Menglin. "Text readability and summarisation for non-native reading comprehension." Thesis, University of Cambridge, 2019. https://www.repository.cam.ac.uk/handle/1810/288740.
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This thesis focuses on two important aspects of non-native reading comprehension: text readability assessment, which estimates the reading difficulty of a given text for L2 learners, and learner summarisation assessment, which evaluates the quality of learner summaries to assess their reading comprehension. We approach both tasks as supervised machine learning problems and present automated assessment systems that achieve state-of-the-art performance. We first address the task of text readability assessment for L2 learners. One of the major challenges for a data-driven approach to text readability assessment is the lack of significantly-sized level-annotated data aimed at L2 learners. We present a dataset of CEFR-graded texts tailored for L2 learners and look into a range of linguistic features affecting text readability. We compare the text readability measures for native and L2 learners and explore methods that make use of the more plentiful data aimed at native readers to help improve L2 readability assessment. We then present a summarisation task for evaluating non-native reading comprehension and demonstrate an automated summarisation assessment system aimed at evaluating the quality of learner summaries. We propose three novel machine learning approaches to assessing learner summaries. In the first approach, we examine using several NLP techniques to extract features to measure the content similarity between the reading passage and the summary. In the second approach, we calculate a similarity matrix and apply a convolutional neural network (CNN) model to assess the summary quality using the similarity matrix. In the third approach, we build an end-to-end summarisation assessment model using recurrent neural networks (RNNs). Further, we combine the three approaches to a single system using a parallel ensemble modelling technique. We show that our models outperform traditional approaches that rely on exact word match on the task and that our best model produces quality assessments close to professional examiners.
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Johansson, Jessica. "The understanding of the implications of sarcastic and ironic utterances from Modern Family in English as a foreign language." Thesis, Högskolan i Halmstad, Akademin för lärande, humaniora och samhälle, 2020. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:hh:diva-42403.
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In the current study, 34 nine graders in a Swedish school were given a test where they would interpret sarcastic and ironic utterances from the American series Modern Family by explaining the implication in their own words. They were also asked to assess their own knowledge of English by filling out a questionnaire containing both qualitative and quantitative questions. The aims were to investigate whether the students understood the implications and if the total score could be connected to their own perception of their level of proficiency. The results show that although plenty of the students assessed themselves being highly comfortable with English as a foreign language, it did not result in a high understanding of sarcastic and ironic utterances. Out of 646 possible points, the students only reached a score of 156 in total. It was also clear that their self assessments did not comply with their results. While confident students received low scores, insecure students did well on the test.
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Greer, Brittney. "Assisting Novice Raters in Addressing the In-Between Scores When Rating Writing." BYU ScholarsArchive, 2013. https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/etd/4066.
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In the research regarding rating ESL writing assessments, borderline writing samples are mentioned, but a solution has yet to be addressed. Borderline samples are writing samples that do not perfectly fit a set level within the rubric, but instead have characteristics from multiple levels. The aim of this thesis is to provide an improved training module in the setting of an Intensive English Program by exposing new raters to borderline samples and rating rationale from experienced raters. The purpose of this training is to increase the confidence, consistency, and accuracy of novice raters when rating borderline samples of writing. The training consists of a workbook with a rubric and instructions for use, benchmark examples of writing, borderline examples of writing with comments from experienced raters defending the established scores, then a variety of writing samples for practice. The selection of the benchmark and the borderline examples of writing was informed by the fit statistic from existing datasets that had been analyzed with many-facet Rasch measurement. Eight experienced raters participated in providing rationale based upon the rubric explaining why each borderline sample was rated with its established score, and describing why the sample could be considered at a different level. In order to assess the effectiveness of the training workbook, it was piloted by 10 novice raters who rated a series of essays and responded to a survey. Results of the survey demonstrated that rater confidence increased following the training, but that they needed more time with the training materials to use them properly. The statistical analyses showed insignificant changes, which could be due to the limitations of the data collection. Further research regarding the effectiveness of this training workbook is necessary, as well as an increased discussion in the field regarding the prevalent issue of rating borderline samples of writing.
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Karlsson, Therése, and Hanna Lawrence. "English as a Second Language for Kenyan Children in Primary School : A Trial of the Spoken Language Assessment Profile – Revised Edition." Thesis, Linköpings universitet, Institutionen för klinisk och experimentell medicin, 2015. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:liu:diva-119193.
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Sub-Saharan Africa is a multilingual environment and there is a lack of materials available for speech and language assessment in this area (Hartley & Krämer, 2013). The norms for assessment material cannot be used for both monolinguals and bilinguals, since bilinguals may have different levels of knowledge in their languages (Kohnert, 2010). The Spoken Language Assessment Profile – Revised edition (SLAP-R) is an assessment that can be used to evaluate English as a second language (ESL) in Sub-Saharan Africa. The purpose of this instrument is an attempt to fill the gap of suitable speech and language assessment tools that can be used for all those involved in setting up clinics, schools or speech and language assessment tools (Hartley & Krämer, 2013). The aim of the present study was to assess English as a second language for Kenyan children in primary school based on their result on the SLAP-R. The present study consisted of 68 participants with reported typically developed language and hearing that attended first or second grade in a public school in western Kenya. All participants were between six and nine years old, had a Bantu language as their first language and had been exposed to English for less than one year up to eight years. They had also attended preschool at their current school. The independent variables in the present study were grade, age and exposure to English. SLAP-R consists of six subtests that test expressive and receptive phonology, semantics and grammar. These parts constituted the dependent variables. In addition there is a part called ultimate expressive language skill (UELS) that consists of picture sequences where the participant should tell a story of what is happening in the pictures. The result indicated that grade had the largest effect on the participant’s performance in English as a second language. Grade two had significantly higher results regarding receptive phonology as well as expressive and receptive semantics and grammar than the participants in grade one. Most of the incorrect answers were made in the subtest expressive grammar. These answers were mainly incorrect due to other reasons than an answer in Kiswahili.Sub-Sahara Afrika är en flerspråkig miljö och det finns en brist på material för tal- och språkbedömningar inom detta område (Hartley & Krämer, 2013). Normerna för ett bedömningsinstrument kan inte användas för både enspråkiga och tvåspråkiga barn, eftersom tvåspråkiga barn kan ha varierande kunskapsnivåer inom språken (Kohnert, 2010). Spoken Language Assessment Profile – Revised edition (SLAP-R) är ett bedömningsmaterial som är avsett att utvärdera engelska som andraspråk i Sub-Sahara Afrika. Syftet med detta instrument är att försöka fylla tomrummet av lämpliga tal- och språkbedömningsmaterial som kan användas av samtliga inblandade vid att starta upp kliniker, skolor eller logopedmottagningar (Hartley & Krämer, 2013). Syftet med föreliggande studie var att undersöka engelska som andraspråk för Kenyanska barn i grundskolan baserat på deras resultat i SLAP-R. Föreliggande studie bestod av 68 deltagare med rapporterad typisk hörsel och språkutveckling som gick i klass ett eller två i en kommunal skola i västra Kenya. Alla deltagarna var mellan sex och nio år, hade ett bantuspråk som förstaspråk och hade exponerats till engelska i mindre än ett år upp till åtta år. De hade även gått i den förskolan som tillhörde deras nuvarande skola. De oberoende variablerna i föreliggande studie var klass, ålder och exponeringstid till engelska. SLAP-R består av sex deltest som testar expressiv och receptiv fonologi, semantik och grammatik. De här delarna utgör de beroende variablerna. Det finns ytterligare en del som kallas för ultimate expressive language skill (UELS) som består av sekvensbilder där deltagaren ska berätta en historia om vad som händer på bilderna. Resultatet indikerade att klass var variabeln som hade störst inverkan på deltagarnas prestationer i engelska som andraspråk. Klass två hade signifikant högre resultat gällande receptiv fonologi, såväl som expressiv och receptiv semantik och grammatik än deltagarna i klass ett. De flesta felsvaren gjordes i deltestet expressiv grammatik och var i huvudsak på grund av andra skäl än svar på kiswahili.
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Al, Ismaili Anwar A. S. "Ensuring the context validity of English reading tests for academic purposes (EAP) in Oman." Thesis, University of Bradford, 2015. http://hdl.handle.net/10454/15710.
Full textAbstract:
Students entering academic programmes are frequently overwhelmed by the demand for extensive reading and comprehension of information derived from multiple and contrasting sources. This entails both careful and expeditious reading. The latter has been generally neglected in research and has not been the focus of many tests. Both types of reading were investigated in this study through a validation process of the summative English reading test for academic purposes taken at the end of the Foundation Programme in Oman. In particular, context validity was established through focusing on the interaction between the linguistic demands and task setting parameters and also the cognitive processes through which the students engaged with the test tasks. To establish the context validity of the test, this study adopted Khalifa and Weir’s (2009) model which not only embraced the complex and multi-componential nature of reading but also provided a workable validation framework. A multi-strategy approach was adopted. A natural experiment utilising Verbal Protocol Analysis captured the cognitive processes through which students engaged in reading. Automated analysis software and opinions of expert judges were used to compare test passages with text extracts drawn from first year academic courses. Correlation tests and factor analysis revealed these cognitive processes and established the robustness of the Khalifa and Weir (2009) model, which was thus validated in a second language context. Passages in the foundation tests were found to be generally representative of academic texts although certain features such as abstractness were under-represented.
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Anderson, Roger W. "A Multiple Case Study of International Teaching Assistants’ Investment in an ITA Training Class." The Ohio State University, 2020. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1587728379964874.
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Hammad, Mahbuba. "FACTORS INFLUENCING ATTITUDES AND MOTIVATION TOWARD READING ARABIC: THE IMPACT OF LEVELED READING ON THE EXPERIENCES OF LANGUAGE LEARNERS AND TEACHERS." CSUSB ScholarWorks, 2017. https://scholarworks.lib.csusb.edu/etd/607.
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This research study employed a mixed methods design with concurrent procedures. The study sought to determine the underlying constructs of Arabic reading attitudes and motivation among university Arabic language learners in the United States; and how students’ reading experiences differ in courses with an Arabic leveled reading intervention, compared to typical/mainstream Arabic courses where the integration of leveled reading is practically non-existent. The study also sought to understand the experience of instructors teaching both of these types of courses simultaneously. The quantitative and qualitative findings complemented each other, which allowed for data triangulation. Recommendations for practice, policy, and future research were made given the results of this mixed-methods research study.
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Järåsen, Henrik, and Joel Petersson. "Bedömning av utländsk brytning och förståelighet hos personer med svenska som andraspråk före och efter en kurs i svenskt uttal." Thesis, Linköpings universitet, Logopedi, 2013. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:liu:diva-93457.
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There is a lot of research made on second language (L2) learning (Jesney, 2004). However the relationship between foreign accent, intelligibility and acoustics within pronunciation tutoring is quite an unresearched area (Thorén, 2008). The aim of the study was to analyze how a course in Swedish pronunciation affected foreign accent, intelligibility and acoustics among L2-learners of Swedish. A total of 41 people participated in the study: 16 L2-learners, 4 native Swedish speakers consisting a control group and 21 perceptual assessors with Swedish as native language. The L2-learners foreign accent and intelligibility were rated by the listeners before and after a course in Swedish pronunciation on an eight-point Likert-scale. The listeners also answered a questionnaire on factors potentially affecting the ratings. The acoustic measurements were made on ten words that were read aloud consisting of long and short allophones of five Swedish vowels. Formants, vowel duration and fundamental frequency were measured for the three closest and the three furthest from native pronunciation rated L2-learners. The results indicate that a class in Swedish pronunciation significantly decreased the L2-learners foreign accent. A strong correlation between the foreign accent and intelligibility ratings was found. Despite a strong correlation, no significant improvement concerning intelligibility could be established. The only factor that affected the intelligibility ratings were the assessor’s geographic affiliation. People from the western part of Sweden rated the intelligibility as less intelligible than raters from the eastern part of Sweden. The results from some of the acoustic measurements corresponded with the assessors ratings of foreign accent and intelligibility. The L2-learner rated as closest to native pronunciation was also the one with acousticly measured results close to the reference values regarding vowel duration (Elert, 1964; Gårding et al, 1974; Kügler, 2007; Thorén, i.d.) and fundamental frequency (Pegoraro Krook, 1988). The conclusion is that Swedish pronunciation tutoring should be focused on exercises that increase intelligibility because exercises that improve the foreign accent not necessarily increase the intelligibility.Det finns en hel del forskning kring andraspråksinlärning (Jesney, 2004). Dock är förhållandet mellan brytning, förståelighet och akustiska variabler ett område som inte är lika väl beforskat inom uttalsundervisning i svenska (Thorén, 2008). Syftet med föreliggande studie var att undersöka hur en kurs i svenskt uttal påverkade brytning, förståelighet och akustiskt mätbara parametrar hos personer med svenska som andraspråk. Totalt medverkade 41 personer i studien varav 16 stycken var andraspråkstalare, 4 stycken var kontrollpersoner och resterande 21 var modersmålstalare av svenska som agerade lyssnarbedömare. Lyssnarbedömarnas skattningar baserades på två inspelningar av andraspråkstalarnas spontantal före och efter en kurs i svenskt uttal. Bedömningen gjordes på en åttagradig Likert-skala gällande grad av brytning samt förståelighet. Bedömarna fick även fylla i ett frågeformulär gällande vilka faktorer som potentiellt kunde påverka skattningen av brytning och förståelighet. De akustiska mätningarna gjordes på tio upplästa ord innehållande fem av svenskans vokaler. Formanter, vokalduration samt grundtonsfrekvens undersöktes hos sex andraspråkstalare, där de tre närmst respektive tre längst ifrån ett modersmålslikt svenskt uttal analyserades. Resultaten i föreliggande studie visade att kursen i svenskt uttal signifikant minskade andraspråkstalarnas brytning. Det fanns dessutom en tydlig korrelation mellan brytning- och förståelighetsskattningarna. Trots detta kunde ingen signifikant förbättring gällande kursdeltagarnas förståelighet påvisas. Den enda faktor som visade sig påverka förståelighetsskattningarna var bedömarnas geografiska tillhörighet där personer från västra Sverige bedömde förståeligheten som sämre jämfört med personer från östra Sverige. Resultaten från några av de akustiska mätningarna överensstämde med bedömarnas uppfattning av kursdeltagarnas grad av brytning och förståelighet. Det betydde att den som skattats närmast ett modersmålslikt svenskt uttal av lyssnarbedömarna också låg närmast referensvärdena vid den akustiska analysen gällande vokalduration (Elert, 1964; Gårding et al, 1974; Kügler, 2007; Thorén, i.d.) och grundtonsfrekvens (Pegoraro Krook, 1988). Slutsatsen i denna studie är att uttalsundervisning i svenska bör fokuseras på övningar som förbättrar förståelighet då övningar som förbättrar brytning inte nödvändigtvis gynnar förståeligheten.
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Goodwin, Sarah J. "Locus of Control in L2 English Listening Assessment." 2017. http://scholarworks.gsu.edu/alesl_diss/37.
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In second language (L2) listening assessment, various factors have the potential to impact the validity of listening test items (Brindley & Slatyer, 2002; Buck & Tatsuoka, 1998; Freedle & Kostin, 1999; Nissan, DeVincenzi, & Tang, 1996; Read, 2002; Shohamy & Inbar, 1991). One relatively unexplored area to date is who controls the aural input. In traditional standardized listening tests, an administrator controlled recording is played once or twice. In real world or classroom listening, however, listeners can sometimes request repetition or clarification. Allowing listeners to control the aural input thus has the potential to add test authenticity but requires careful design of the input and expected response as well as an appropriate computer interface. However, if candidates feel less anxious, allowing control of listening input may enhance examinees' experience and still reflect their listening proficiency. Comparing traditional and self paced (i.e., examinees having the opportunity to start, stop, and move the audio position) delivery of multiple choice comprehension items, my research inquiry is whether self paced listening can be a sufficiently reliable and valid measure of examinees' listening ability.
Data were gathered from 100 prospective and current university ESL students. They were administered computer based multiple choice listening tests: 10 identical once played items, followed by 33 items in three different conditions: 1) administrator paced input with no audio player visible, 2) self paced with a short time limit, and 3) self paced with a longer time limit. Many facet Rasch (1960/1980) modeling was used to compare the difficulty and discrimination of the items across conditions. Results indicated items on average were similar difficulty overall but discriminated best in self paced conditions. Furthermore, the vast majority of examinees reported they preferred self paced listening. The quantitative results were complemented by follow up stimulated recall interviews with eight participants who took 22 additional test items using screen capture software to explore whether and when they paused and/or repeated the input. Frequency of and reasons for self pacing did not follow any particular pattern by proficiency level. Examinees tended to play more than once but not two full times through, even without limited time. Implications for listening instruction and classroom assessment, as well as standardized testing, are discussed.
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Yang, Weiwei. "Mapping the Relationships among the Cognitive Complexity of Independent Writing Tasks, L2 Writing Quality, and Complexity, Accuracy and Fluency of L2 Writing." 2014. http://scholarworks.gsu.edu/alesl_diss/29.
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Drawing upon the writing literature and the task-based language teaching literature, the study examined two cognitive complexity dimensions of L2 writing tasks: rhetorical task varying in reasoning demand and topic familiarity varying in the amount of direct knowledge of topics. Four rhetorical tasks were studied: narrative, expository, expo-argumentative, and argumentative tasks. Three topic familiarity tasks were investigated: personal-familiar, impersonal-familiar, and impersonal-less familiar tasks. Specifically, the study looked into the effects of these two cognitive complexity dimensions on L2 writing quality scores, their effects on complexity, accuracy, and fluency (CAF) of L2 production, and the predictive power of the CAF features on L2 writing scores for each task. Three hundred and seventy five Chinese university EFL students participated in the study, and each student wrote on one of the six writing tasks used to study the cognitive complexity dimensions. The essays were rated by trained raters using a holistic scale. Thirteen CAF measures were used, and the measures were all automated through computer tools. One-way ANOVA tests revealed that neither rhetorical task nor topic familiarity had an effect on the L2 writing scores. One-way MANOVA tests showed that neither rhetorical task nor topic familiarity had an effect on accuracy and fluency of the L2 writing, but that the argumentative essays were significantly more complex in global syntactic complexity features than the essays on the other rhetorical tasks, and the essays on the less familiar topic were significantly less complex in lexical features than the essays on the more familiar topics. All-possible subsets regression analyses revealed that the CAF features explained approximately half of the variance in the writing scores across the tasks and that writing fluency was the most important CAF predictor for five tasks. Lexical sophistication was however the most important CAF predictor for the argumentative task. The regression analyses further showed that the best regression models for the narrative task were distinct from the ones for the expository and argumentative types of tasks, and the best models for the personal-familiar task were distinct from the ones for the impersonal tasks.
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(6634307), Mayu Miyamoto. "Capturing L2 Oral Proficiency with CAF Measures as Predictors of the ACTFL OPI Rating." Thesis, 2019.
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Despite an emphasis on oral communication in most foreign language classrooms, the resource-intensive nature (i.e. time and manpower) of speaking tests hinder regular oral assessments. A possible solution is the development of a (semi-) automated scoring system. When it is used in conjunction with human raters, the consistency of computers can complement human raters’ comprehensive judgments and increase efficiency in scoring (e.g., Enright & Quinlan, 2010). In search of objective and quantifiable variables that are strongly correlated with overall oral proficiency, a number of studies have reported that some utterance fluency variables (e.g., speech rate and mean length of run) might be strong predictors for L2 learners’ speaking ability (e.g., Ginther et al., 2010; Hirotani et al., 2017). However, these findings are difficult to generalize due to small sample sizes, narrow ranges of proficiency levels, and/or a lack of data from languages other than English. The current study analyzed spontaneous speech samples collected from 170 Japanese learners at a wide range of proficiency levels determined by a well-established speaking test, the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages’ (ACTFL) Oral Proficiency Interview (OPI). Prior to analysis, 48 Complexity, Accuracy, Fluency (CAF) measures (with a focus on fluency variables) were calculated from the speech samples. First, the study examined the relationships among the CAF measures and learner oral proficiency assessed by the ACTFL OPI. Then, using an empirically-based approach, a feasibility of using a composite measure to predict L2 oral proficiency was investigated. The results revealed that Speech Speed and Complexity variables demonstrated strong correlation to the OPI levels, and moderately strong correlations were found for the variables in the following categories: Speech Quantity, Pause, Pause Location (i.e., Silent pause ratio within AS-unit), Dysfluency (i.e., Repeat ratio), and Accuracy. Then, a series of multiple regression analyses revealed that a combination of five CAF measures (i.e., Effective articulation rate, Silent pause ratio, Repeat ratio, Syntactic complexity, and Error-free AS-unit ratio) can predict 72.3% of the variance of the OPI levels. This regression model includes variables that correspond to Skehan’s (2009) proposed three categories of fluency (speed, breakdown, and repair) and variables that represent CAF, supporting the literature (e.g., Larsen-Freeman, 1978, Skehan, 1996).
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Gui, Min. "Investigating the construct validity of the reading comprehension section of the College English Test in China : a structural equation modeling approach." Thesis, 2011. http://hdl.handle.net/2152/ETD-UT-2011-08-3880.
Full textAbstract:
The College English Test (CET) in China is the largest language test in the world. The number of CET test-takers has steadily increased from 100,000 for its first administration in 1987 to 13 million in 2006. CET scores are used to draw inferences about the test-takers’ English as a foreign language proficiency as well as their specific skills in listening, speaking, reading, and writing. To justify the inferences drawn from test scores, evidence from a variety of sources should be constantly collected (Cronbach & Meehl, 1955; Messick, 1992; Chapelle, 1998; Bachman, 2000; Weir, 2005).
Despite the large-scale and high-stakes nature of the CET and the importance of test validation, studies on the quality of the CET are scarce. This study aims to examine the construct validity of the reading comprehension section of the CET by modeling the internal relationships between test-takers’ scores on the CET reading section and their underlying reading abilities. Six components have been chosen as observed variables of the latent variable of reading ability, namely, word recognition efficiency, working memory, semantic knowledge, syntactic knowledge, discourse knowledge, and metacognitive reading skills. A pseudowords identification task programmed by the DMDX computer software, a revised version of Daneman & Carpenter’s (1980) sentence reading span working memory test, Meara & Milton’s (2002) Yes/No vocabulary tests, the syntactic test used in Shiotsu & Weir’s (2007) study, Abeywickrama’s (2007) discourse knowledge test, and a revised version of Phakiti’s (2008) strategy use questionnaire were utilized to measure these six observed variables.
A total of 181 Chinese undergraduates participated in the study. With a baseline confirmatory factor model of reading ability and the CET scores, a structural model was analyzed. The results indicated that the path from reading ability to test performance was .75 and the squared regression coefficient of test performance was .56, which implied that participants’ test performance was strongly underlined by their actual reading ability. Therefore, the scores on the CET reading section are largely justifiable for use in drawing inferences about participants’ reading ability. Implications for validation research and reading instruction were also explored.text
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Lathy, Heidi Lisa Ireland. "An assessment of reading in first language (L1) and second language (L2) learners who experience barriers to learning." Thesis, 2008. http://hdl.handle.net/10539/4890.
Full textAbstract:
Not many studies exist in the literature on reading in South Africa which examine
the differences between the reading performance of first (L1) and second (L2)
language English speaking learners, particularly those who experience barriers to
learning. Using archival material from the Education Clinic of the University of
the Witwatersrand, this study compared the results on the Stanford Diagnostic
Reading Test (Brown Level) for a group of 43 high school L1 (20) and L2 (23)
learners identified as experiencing barriers to learning. In line with international
research on reading difficulties skills (Ben-Zeev, 1984; Baker, 1988; Drucker,
2003; Cummins, 1989,1991; Miller, 1984; Droop and Verhoeven, 1998), it was
found that the L2 students performed significantly below the level of their L1
counterparts in Auditory Vocabulary and Reading Comprehension. The results
on the Phonetic Analysis were found to be similar for both groups.
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Kyle, Kristopher. "Measuring Syntactic Development in L2 Writing: Fine Grained Indices of Syntactic Complexity and Usage-Based Indices of Syntactic Sophistication." 2016. http://scholarworks.gsu.edu/alesl_diss/35.
Full textAbstract:
Syntactic complexity has been an area of significant interest in L2 writing development studies over the past 45 years. Despite the regularity in which syntactic complexity measures have been employed, the construct is still relatively under-developed, and, as a result, the cumulative results of syntactic complexity studies can appear opaque. At least three reasons exist for the current state of affairs, namely the lack of consistency and clarity by which indices of syntactic complexity have been described, the overly broad nature of the indices that have been regularly employed, and the omission of indices that focus on usage-based perspectives. This study seeks to address these three gaps through the development and validation of the Tool for the Automatic Assessment of Syntactic Sophistication and Complexity (TAASSC). TAASSC measures large and fined grained clausal and phrasal indices of syntactic complexity and usage-based frequency/contingency indices of syntactic sophistication. Using TAASSC, this study will address L2 writing development in two main ways: through the examination of syntactic development longitudinally and through the examination of human judgments of writing proficiency (e.g., expert ratings of TOEFL essays). This study will have important implications for second language acquisition, second language writing, and language assessment.
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Dilrajh, Kamla Moonsamy. "Fasiliteringsvaardighede vir T2-Afrikaansonderrig." Thesis, 2002. http://hdl.handle.net/10500/2450.
Full textAbstract:
Text in AfrikaansSummaries in Afrikaans and English
This study aims to investigate and explain how the L2 -facilitator can effectively employ the various facilitation skills of language teaching in Afrikaans Second Language within the Outcomes Based Education framework in the learner-centred classroom. The facilitator is critical in providing an opportunity for multicultural learners to develop the necessary language learning skills to enjoy Afrikaans Second Language/Additional Language learning as an interesting learning experience within a positive learning milieu. In the learner-centred U -classroom, learners too must accept responsibility for their own and their peers' learning within the co-operative learning group. This study reveals how the L2 -facilitator can develop the necessary knowledge and skills concerning groupwork, such as the strategies enhancing L 2 -learning, effective group facilitation skills, learner attitudes towards the facilitator, problem-solving skills, co-operative learning as a control technique, communication, learners' behaviour and the advantages of groupwork. Furthermore, elements of classroom negotiation and the facilitator's methods of working in this negotiated partnership are also discussed. Since language learning is integral to lifelong learning, multicultural learners must be motivated to learn Afrikaans Second/ Additional language with greater enthusiasm. This necessitates the L2 -facilitator creating an interesting, challenging and authentic language learning environment where mutual respect and trust are emphasised. This study reveals how the L2 -facilitator could develop his/her knowledge of task-based L2 -teaching and use it with the effective techniques of facilitation and negotiation skills in the taskorientated second language classroom to lead learners to effective Afrikaans L2 -learning. The new National Language Standardisation Policy 200112002 necessitates the facilitator of Afrikaans L 2 -teaching/learning within the Outcomes Based Education framework and the revised Curriculum 2005 to be aufait with assessment and his/her role in assessment. Being knowledgeable on the various criteria and strategies regarding assessment is therefore imperative. Finally, chapter five illustrates practically how the facilitator could plan, organise, base, integrate and present authentic Afrikaans L 2 -lessons/work based on the theoretical knowledge and aspects of facilitation skills, group-work, task-based learning and assessment discussed in chapters two to four.
Daar word in die studie gepoog om te ondersoek en te verduidelik hoe die T2-fasiliteerder die verskillende fasiliteringsvaardighede ten opsigte van T2 -Afrikaansonderrig binne die UGO -raamwerk in die leerdergesentreerde T2-klaskamer effektief kan gebruik. Die fasiliteerder behoort sy multikulturele leerders die geleentheid te gun om die nodige taalleervaardighede te ontwikkel sodat hulle Afrikaans Tweedetaalleer/ Addisionele Taalleer as 'n interessante leerervaring binne 'n positiewe leerklimaat kan geniet. In die leerdergesentreerde T2 -klaskamer moet die leerders ook die verantwoordelikheid vir bulle eie leer, en vir die leer van ander leerders binne kooperatiewe leergroepe kan aanvaar. Die wyse waarop die fasiliteerder van T2-leer die nodige kennis en vaardighede ten opsigte van groepwerk kan ontwikkel, word deur die studie aan die lig gebring. Die verskillende strategiee wat die aanleer van die tweedetaal binne groepwerk bevorder, effektiewe groepsfasiliteringsvaardighede, leerders se gesindhede teenoor die fasiliteerder, die probleemoplossingsvaardighede, kooperatiewe leer as beheertegniek, kommunikasie, leerdergedragswyses en die voordele van groepwerk kom aan bod. Elemente van klaskameronderhandeling en die fasiliteerder se werkswyse in die onderhandelingsvennootskap word ook bespreek. Aangesien taalleer 'n integrale faset van lewenslange leer vorm, moet multikulturele leerders gemotiveer word om Afrikaans Tweedetaal/ Addisionele Taal op 'n meer entoesiastiese wyse te kan leer. Die T2 -fasiliteerder moet 'n interessante, uitdagende, outentieke taalleeromgewing skep waarin wedersydse respek en vertroue beklemtoon word. Die studie toon die wyse aan waarop die T2 -fasiliteerder sylhaar kennis in verband met taakgerigte T2 -onderrig kan ontwikkel en dit met die effektiewe fasiliteringstegnieke en onderhandelingsvaardighede in die taakgeorienteerde T2-klaskamer kan kombineer en gebruik om leerders tot effektiewe T2 -Afrikaansleer/ Addisionele Taalleer te kan lei. Die nuwe Nasionale Taalstandaardiseringsbeleid 2001/2002 vereis dat die fasiliteerder van T2-Afrikaansonderrig/-leer binne die UGO -raamwerk en die hersiene Kurrikulum 2005 deeglike kennis moet dra van assessering en sylhaar rol in assessering. Deeglike kennis ten opsigte van die verskillende assesseringskriteria en assesseringstegnieke is dus noodsaaklik. Daar word in hoofstuk vyf aangetoon op watter wyse die fasiliteerder outentieke praktiese T2-Afrikaanslesse/-werk, kan beplan, organiseer en dit op die teoretiese kennis en aspekte ten opsigte van fasiliteringsvaardighede, groepwerk, taakgerigte leer en assessering wat in hoofstukke twee tot vier bespreek word, kan toepas en geintegreerd kan aanbied.
Afrikaans and Theory of Literature
D.Litt. et Phil. (Afrikaans)
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(5930621), Nagi Fujie. "The Impact of Participation in a Service-learning Program on University Students' Motivation for Learning Japanese." Thesis, 2019.
Find full textAbstract:
Service-learning is an organized volunteer activity in which learners serve the community while utilizing and enhancing their own skills, thus benefiting both the learners and the community. Studies have shown that students gain various benefits from participating in a service-learning activity, especially in their academic skills and civic growth through continued reflections (Eyler, Giles, & Braxton, 1997; Eyler & Giles, 1999; Billig, 2000; Grassi et al., 2004; Steinberg, Bringle, & Williams, 2010), often increasing their motivation to learn the related subject (Steinberg et al., 2010). Service-learning has been implemented in foreign language courses in the United States, especially Spanish (Barreneche & Ramos-Flores, 2013). However, service-learning literature on Japanese as a foreign language is limited.
The researcher founded a service-learning program in the Japanese language. In the program, the university students enrolled in intermediate- or higher-level Japanese courses help Japanese children with their schoolwork as volunteer tutors. The researcher conducted a qualitative case study on four of the student-tutors to examine the program's potential benefits to maintain and enhance the student-tutors' various motivations toward learning Japanese. The Volunteer Functions Inventory (VFI) (Clary, Snyder, & Ridge, 1998) was used as an analysis scheme, which reports six most commonly found functions, or varying motivations, for participating in a volunteer activity. The student-tutors indicated five out of the six VFI functions, showing a connection between their service-learning experience and their personal growth. They built strong connections with the Japanese community and kept their motivation to improve their Japanese skills to better help the children. It is hoped that the present research will contribute to providing an example of Japanese service-learning in the U.S.
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Su, Yi-Wen. "The impact of rater characteristics on oral assessments of second language proficiency." Thesis, 2014. http://hdl.handle.net/2152/26479.
Full textAbstract:
This literature review sets out to revisit the studies exploring impact of rater characteristics on language oral assessments. Three categories of raters' backgrounds: occupation, accent familiarity, and native language are identified and will be addressed respectively in the following sections. The results showed that no consensus regarding raters' occupational background, linguistic background and native-speaker status on examiners' rating has been found so far. However, this review will highlight the current testing situations, bring up limitations from previous studies, provide implications for both teachers and raters, and hopefully shed light on future research.text
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KOSOBUD, Ondřej. "Testování žáků v německém jazyce na základní škole." Master's thesis, 2013. http://www.nusl.cz/ntk/nusl-155669.
Full textAbstract:
The main aim of this diploma thesis is to find out, if the level of knowledge of German language at pupils at basic schools in the Czech Republic is increasing, stagnating or decreasing and what factors influence their results. In the theoretic part I am going to deal with testing of pupils in Europe and in the Czech Republic. After that there is introduced a list of all standard assessment tests of German language on level A1 and A2. Then there are compared standard assessment tests ?Fit in Deutsch? and ?Start Deutsch? with the tests of Czech School Inspection from 2012/2013. In the research part I focus on the development of pupils? knowledge of German language at basic schools. The research is based on the assigned tests from 2007, 2010 and 2013. On the basis of these tests and filled questionnaires I am trying to find answers on the set research questions and to check correctness of the set hypotheses or alternatively to find other factors that influence pupils? knowledge of German language.
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Sithole, Zamani Lawrance. "Exploring challenges of everyday English language words in learning physical sciences in Gauteng-East townships secondary schools." Diss., 2019. http://hdl.handle.net/10500/26243.
Full textAbstract:
This study, which explores the challenges of everyday English language words in learning physical sciences in Gauteng-East townships secondary schools highlights the difficulties that learners encounter in learning and developing scientific concepts and vocabulary. The study was conducted in four township secondary schools. A questionnaire consisting of 25 multiple choice items, as well as a semi-structured interview were used to collect data for this study. Descriptive statistics was used to analyse quantitative data while qualitative protocol was used to analyse qualitative data. The overall percentage mean scores of correct responses in the questionnaire for schools W, X, Y and Z were 47.2%, 56.9%, 55.2% and 57.2% respectively, which indicated that participants in the study have limited knowledge of everyday English words, when used in a science context. There was no significant gender discrepancy in terms of performance. In-depth analysis of the results revealed that the underlying difficulties were as a result of participants’ relative levels of proficiency in the English language, lack of precision in the use of this language, misreading, and confusion in terms of the use of words. Furthermore, the results were consistent with earlier findings from other countries as reported by various authors. The findings will contribute to knowledge about effective classroom instruction and teacher education from the perspective of language in science.Kulolu cwaningo, kuhlolwa izinselelo zokusebenzisa amagama asetshenziswa nsuku zonke welimi lwesiNgisi ekufundeni iSayensi ezikoleni zezinga lesibili, emalokishini wabantu abaNsundu empumalanga neGauteng. Kuvezwa ubunzima obuhlangabezana nezingane zesikole ekufundeni nokuthuthukisa umqondo weSayensi nesilulumagama. Uphenyo lwenziwe ezikoleni ezine zasemalokishini. Imibuzo yayiquketwe izinhla ezingamashumi amabili nanhlanu lapho obuzwayo ezikhethela impendulo ekuyiyo, kanye nesinga nhlolokhono yasetshenziwa ukuthola ulwazi oluningi mayelana nalolu phenyo. Izibalo ezichazayo zisetshenziswe ukuhlola ubuningi, kanye nobuqotho kulandelwa umgudu wocwaningo wolwazi olutholakele. Kuvelile emva kophenyo ukuthi izimpendulo ezishaye emhlolweni ngokwamaphesenti kuzikole W,X.Y kanye no Z ngu 47%, 56,9%, 55.2%, kanye 57.2% ngokulandelana kwazo. Lokhu kubonisa ukuthi, abantwana banolwazi oluncane kakhulu ekusebenziseni amagama wesiNgisi asentsheziswa nsukuzonke ukufunda iSayensi. Kubuye kwatholakala futhi nokuthi awukho umehluko ohlukanisa ngobulili babafundi ophawulekayo ngokusebenza kwamagama esiNgisi. Kuphinde kuvele futhi ngokuhlaziya okunzulu, ukuthi kukhona ukwentuleka kwekhono elimini lesiNgisi, nokuthi abafundi abakwazi ukusebenzisa amagama ngendlela eqondile, babuye bafunde ekungeyikho, kanye nokudideka uma besebenzisa amagama. Okunye futhi okuvelayo, yikuthi lemiphumela ihambisana ncamashi neminye imiphumela evela kwamanye amazwe njengoba kubikwe abalobi abahlukene. Lokhu okuvelayo kuzosiza ukulungisa ukufunda kanye nokuqeqesha othisha, mayelana nukufundisa iSayensi ngolwimi lwesiNgisi.
Hierdie studie, wat die uitdagings van alledaagse Engelstalige woorde in die leer van Fisiese Wetenskappe in sekondêre skole in informele woonbuurte in Gauteng-Oos verken, beklemtoon die uitdagings wat leerders teëkom in die leer en ontwikkeling van wetenskaplike begrippe en taalgebruik. Die studie is uitgevoer in vier sekondêre skole in informele woonbuurte. ‘n Vraelys bestaande uit 25 veelvuldige-keuse items, tesame met ‘n gedeeltelike-gestruktueerde onderhoudskedule, is gebruik om data in te versamel vir hierdie studie. Beskrywende statistiek is gebruik om kwantitatiewe data te ontleed, terwyl kwalitatiewe protokol aangewend is om kwalitatiewe data te ontleed. Die algehele persentasie gemiddeldes van korrekte response op die vraelys vir skole W, X, Y en Z was 47.2%, 56.9%, 55.2% en 57.2% onderskeidelik, wat aangedui het dat die deelnemers aan die studie beperkte kennis gehad het van alledaagse Engelstalige woorde om in ‘n wetenskaplike konteks te gebruik. Geen noemenswaardige geslagsongelykheid in terme van prestasie is bevind nie. Indiepte ontleding van die bevindinge toon dat die onderliggende uitdagings die resultaat van deelnemers se relatiewe vlakke van taalvaardigheid in Engels, ‘n gebrek aan presiesie in die gebruik van die taal, gebrekkige leesvaardigheid en verwarring rondom die gebruik van woorde weerspiëel. Die resultate was verder in lyn met vroeëre bevindinge van ander lande, soos deur verskeie outeurs gerapporteer. Die bevindinge sal bydra tot kennis rondom effektiewe klasonderrig en onderwysersopleiding uit die oogpunt van wetenskaplike taalgebruik.
Science and Technology Education
M. Ed. (Natural Science Education)