Search results for "proficiency"
showing 10 items of 79 documents
Effects of reading proficiency and of base and whole-word frequency on reading noun- and verb-derived words: An eye-tracking study in Italian primary…
2018
The aim of this study is to assess the role of readers’ proficiency and of the base-word distributional properties on eye-movement behavior. Sixty-two typically developing children, attending 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade, were asked to read derived words in a sentence context. Target words were nouns derived from noun bases (e.g., umorista, ‘humorist’), which in Italian are shared by few derived words, and nouns derived from verb bases (e.g., punizione, ‘punishment’), which are shared by about 50 different inflected forms and several derived words. Data shows that base and word frequency affected first-fixation duration for nouns derived from noun bases, but in an opposite way: base frequency ha…
Modelling healthcare access for migrants and refugees in Europe: identifying the major health issues
2019
Abstract The Mig-HealthCare systematically searched to identify the key health areas of refugee/migrant health in order to facilitate interventions that help access to care services for migrants and refugees. The literature review was carried out in March 2018 using 3 large scientific databases using a combination of search terms following the PRISMA methodology and a standard set of items used to report on systematic reviews. Based on the predefined inclusion and exclusion criteria, a total of 118 publications were used for data extraction. It is important to note, that in almost all of the sources identified, the following cross-cutting factors were described as influencing access to heal…
Identification of Vulnerable Groups in Terms of Language Proficiency in Higher Education
2021
The language proficiency of university students is considered a key factor for knowledge acquisition and success in higher education. Recent research has revealed a connection between language proficiency and academic performance. Some studies identified certain groups of learners who show deficits in language proficiency when entering higher education and who can be considered to be vulnerable groups who need particular support. The present study analyzes the level of proficiency in the language of instruction among two vulnerable groups of students at the beginning of their university studies: (i) students with a refugee background and a mother tongue other than English enrolled in Englis…
Influence of a Specific Aquatic Program on Social and Gross Motor Skills in Adolescents with Autism Spectrum Disorders: Three Case Reports
2019
Swimming pool activities revealed to be efficacious to train psychomotor skills and increase adaptive behaviors in children with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD). Therefore, the purpose of this study was to investigate the efficacy of a specific multi-systemic aquatic therapy (CI-MAT) on gross motor and social skills in three adolescents with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD). Methods: three adolescents with ASD of which two boys (M1 with a chronological age of 10.3 years and a mental age of 4.7 years; M2 with a chronological age of 14.6 and a mental age inferior to 4 years) and one girl (chronological age of 14.0 and a mental age inferior to 4 years). The study was divided into three phases: …
Ensikielen tunnistamisen merkityksestä suullisen kielitaidon arvioinnissa Yleisissä kielitutkinnoissa
2020
In this paper, we present a multidisciplinary study addressing fairness in the speaking test in a high-stakes language proficiency test in Finnish, National Certificates of Language Proficiency. The background of the research lies in studies on language assessment and (reversal) linguistic stereotyping and language attitudes. The focus L1 groups were Thai, Estonian, Finland Swedish, Arabic and Russian. Altogether 49 speech samples of test takers of these L1s were rated on a digital platform by 44 raters of the test system. The current paper reports on the sub-study that investigated whether the raters’ recognition of the test takers’ L1 affected their ratings and whether the effect differed…
“Come join us, and lose your accent!” : Accent Modification Courses as Hierarchization of International Student
2021
In this article, we examine the hierarchization of international students by bringing together perspectives of linguistic legitimacy and language ideologies. Our data stems from 26 accent reduction (AR) or accent modification (AM) course descriptions and websites from US universities. Based on their analysis, we discuss the socio-political implications of the phenomenon of these courses for international students and the ways in which language-based, particularly accent-based, arguments are used to create or reinforce different categories of students. We argue that while international students are presented as having different kinds of “comprehensibility problems” that AM/AR courses are cla…
Social factor comparisons of noun and verb insertion patterns in Spanish and English bilingual clauses
2016
This paper compares noun and verb insertion in bilingual clauses in a Spanish and English bilingual data corpus collected in northeast Georgia (U.S.A.). Even though Myers-Scotton and Jake (2014) have given grammatical reasons why verbs theoretically can be as easily inserted as nouns, most bilingual data corpora, from many different language contact settings, show that far more nouns than verbs of one language are inserted into clauses of the other language. The northeast Georgia Hispanic community data set examined here is no exception. Analysis of the northeast Georgia data reveal that some social factors are associated with higher EL verb use. Children, who have more English proficien…
Effects of summarization tasks on comprehension monitoring of science texts in university students with elementary or intermediate English proficiency
2012
Two studies were conducted to improve Spanish university students" comprehension monitoring of macro-ideas when reading expository Science texts in English (L2). The first one evaluated the effects of using summarization tasks on comprehension monitoring compared to other reading-for-understanding tasks. A significant improvement of comprehension monitoring was obtained from the summarization tasks. Results in study 1 suggested study 2 aimed at instructing students on summarizing texts in L2. The instructional work had a single significant contribution to students" comprehension monitoring on the macro-structural level. English proficiency also explained a significant proportion of the vari…
Interaction of Language Policy and Assessment in Finland
2008
This paper reviews developments and future challenges in language policy, planning and assessment in Finland, where several important changes in legislation, curricula and assessment systems have recently taken place. Language proficiency requirement of immigrants and civil servants have been redefined, school curricula have been revised and new language examinations have been developed. The Common European Framework has been particularly influential. The paper also explores the tensions caused by changes, such as uncertainties in implementing new curricula in teaching and assessment, and differences between curricula and national examinations. The gate-keeping function of examinations also…
Finnish teachers as policy agents in a changing society
2018
As policy agents, teachers are involved in representing and reproducing language education policies in their talk, practices and classroom interaction. Contemporary Finland and its education system...