Search results for "Language assessment"
showing 10 items of 55 documents
Item transformation for computer asisted language testing: The adaptation of the Spanish University entrance examination
2010
Since the Spanish Educational system is changing and promoting the use of online tests, it was necessary to study the transformation of test items in the 'Spanish University Entrance Examination' (IB P.A.U.) to diminish the effect of test delivery changes (through its computerization) in order to affect the least the current model. The purpose of this study was to describe and suggest the properties of a new test item taxonomy for the Spanish University Entrance Examination. After a convenient study and piloting by using previous research in computer-based language testing, the researchers created a taxonomy of test items for the I.B. PAU Keywords: Language test; item design; computers; edu…
Proactive and reactive dimensions of life-course agency: mapping student teachers’ language learning experiences
2014
Although the concept of agency has received a lot of interest in recent educational research, its significance in language learning biographies as well as contextual and relational aspects of learner agency are still little studied. This paper aims at a more thorough understanding of agency by studying student teachers’ previous language learning experiences. This paper is based on a dialogical analysis of 12 student teachers’ biographical essays describing their relationship with English as a foreign language. The participants are students in a Finnish class teacher and language teacher education programme that uses English as the primary medium of instruction. The study proposes a tripart…
Developing and using tasks for the assessment of speaking
2019
This article provides an overview of the development and use of tasks for the assessment of speaking. It first addresses the key role of the assessment of the skill of speaking within language assessment in general and in the context of teaching and learning foreign languages. Then, it discusses how social changes and research have reshaped the way speaking is defined and operationalized, and focuses on how speaking can be assessed more validly and reliably today. The central role of tasks is also discussed, together with the importance of taking into consideration the implications and impact of different task characteristics. Some recommendations for the development of useful and meaningfu…
Intercultural Communication in Teaching Chinese to European Students
2015
Abstract The major goal of the present study is to highlight to tight connection and interdependency between language and culture from both theoretical and applied perspectives, with special focus on the reciprocal influence and impact on teaching Chinese language and literature to foreign students, particularly in the European context. Famous scholars have wisely noted the sine-quanon relation of society, culture, history, geography and language evinced in the process of communication, at large, and most notably in translation, literary studies and language learning, which are complex processes requiring a thorough and conscious immersion in the context of the language. The paper also incl…
Yleisten kielitutkintojen arvioijien käsityksiä thainkieliseksi tunnistettujen suomenoppijoiden suullisesta kielitaidosta
2020
Artikkelissa tarkastellaan sitä, miten thainkielisten suomenoppijoiden (N=10) ensikielen tunnistaminen vaikuttaa Yleisten kielitutkintojen (YKI) suomen arvioijien (N=44) käsityksiin kielitaidosta ja millaisia käsityksiä arvioijilla on thainkielisten suullisesta kielitaidosta. Artikkelin aineisto liittyy Rikkinäistä suomea-hankkeeseen, jossa thainkieliset oli yksi tutkimukseen osallistuneesta ensikielen ryhmittymästä. Artikkelissa määrällisen aineiston avulla tarkastellaan tunnistamista ja arvioinnissa käytettyjen kuuden analyyttisen arviointikriteerin käyttöä. Laadullinen aineisto koostuu arvioijien kirjoittamista ensikielen tunnistamiseen ja oppijoiden kielitaitoon liittyvistä huomioista, …
Accommodating Teachers Attitudes Towards New Educational Testing Paradigms Through the OPENPAU Project
2015
Abstract Testing is an issue of increasing importance. While for many teachers language learning should be communicative; in fact, they expect their students to provide evidence of their knowledge. Thus, there is a clear mismatch on the approach to language teaching and language testing. As a consequence, there is an evident need change the testing paradigms. Purpose of the paper: This paper suggests guidelines that are currently researched in the OPENPAU project to change the teachers’ perspective towards oral testing. Sources of Evidence: Evidence was obtained through the interaction of four expert teachers with experience in oral testing. Analysis and results: The study indicates that te…
The Technical Language in the Practice of the Students Learning the French Language
2012
Abstract The technical language is a basic element in the practice of the students in the modern organizations. At present moment the situation of the technical language acquired by the students is rather uncertain, because in universities there is the tendency to teach the classical French language, based on literary texts. In this context, they are only few teachers having a cognitive and lexical knowledge which includes the technical specialized language.The objectives of our study dedicate themselves to the discovery of new strategies and didactic methods in order to make easier the study and the education of the technical vocabulary. We worked with a group of 87 students of French lang…
The European sTANDEM project for certification in medical English: standards, acceptability and transgression(s)
2014
In the global world of international communication, employers or institutions that wish to determine the language skills of non-native speakers of English usually turn to generalist proficiency tests such as the TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language) or the slightly more business-oriented TOEIC (Test of English for International Communication). These tests enable test takers to certify that they have reached a certain level in skills needed in everyday life and, sometimes, workplace situations, but they do not assess language skills for specific purposes.Aware of this vacuum, a consortium of European teachers/researchers and international experts in the domain of medical English unde…
"The thing… is kinda complicated" : What and how do you assess in CLIL?
2021
“Every teacher is a language teacher” has almost become a mantra in educational systems throughout the world. However, what does it mean in practice? If language learning and teaching is a part of any classroom, how do you teach and assess both content and language simultaneously? This question inspired a collaboration of teachers and researchers from all around the world which we reflect on in this paper. nonPeerReviewed
Design perspectives on technology, language teaching and language teacher education
2012
Despite the national strategies and major efforts to promote pedagogical use of ICTs in education, training programs for in-service teachers have often failed to develop sustainable pedagogical practice. For sustainable development, teachers need to be offered opportunities to explore the role of technology in relation to their concept of language and learning, and reforms should be designed in negotiation with teachers and students. In teacher education, aspiring teachers are being informed of the latest research results, but bringing the theory down to practice is a major task that calls for development work soundly based on research. In this paper we suggest that design-based research (D…