Download or read book Diagnosing Foreign Language Proficiency written by J. Charles Alderson and published by A&C Black. This book was released on 2006-11-01 with total page 297 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book addresses the need for tests that can diagnose the strengths and weaknesses in learners' developing foreign language proficiency. It presents the rationale for, and research surrounding, the development of DIALANG, a suite of internet-delivered diagnostic foreign language tests funded by the European Commission. The word 'diagnosis' is common in discussions in language education and applied linguistics, but very few truly diagnostic tests exist. However, the diagnosis of foreign language proficiency is central to helping learners make progress. This volume explores the nature of diagnostic testing, emphasizing the need for a better understanding of the nature of appropriate diagnosis. The book starts with a debate about how diagnostic testing might most appropriately be developed. Charles Alderson argues that the field has neglected to construct diagnostic tests, partly because other forms of testing have dominated the field. Alderson examines how proficiency has been diagnosed in the key areas of language: reading, listening, writing, grammar and vocabulary. The value of self-assessment is discussed and exemplified as a key component in developing learners', and teachers', awareness of the complexity of language learning. The book ends with a consideration of and recommendations for future developments in the diagnosis of foreign language proficiency.
Download or read book Diagnosing Foreign Language Proficiency written by J. Charles Alderson and published by . This book was released on 2005 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book The Diagnosis of Reading in a Second or Foreign Language written by J. Charles Alderson and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2014-10-03 with total page 282 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Diagnosis of Reading in a Second or Foreign Language explores the implications of language assessment research on classroom-based assessment practices by providing an in-depth look at the little-examined field of diagnosis in second and foreign language reading. This volume examines the development of second and foreign language reading and how subsequent research findings, couched in this knowledge, can help facilitate a more-informed teaching approach in second and foreign language classrooms. By contextualizing the latest in classroom settings and presenting implications for future research in this developing area of linguistics, this book is an ideal resource for those studying and working in applied linguistics, second language acquisition, and language assessment and education. About the NPLA Series: Headed by two of its leading scholars, the series captures the burgeoning field of language assessment by offering comprehensive and state-of-the-art coverage of its contemporary questions, pressing issues, and technical advances. It is the only active series of its kind on the market, and will include volumes on basic and advanced topics in language assessment, public policy and language assessment, and the interfaces of language assessment with other disciplines in applied linguistics. Each text presents key theoretical approaches and research findings, along with concrete practical implications and suggestions for readers conducting their own research or developmental studies.
Download or read book The Diagnosis of Writing in a Second or Foreign Language written by Ari Huhta and published by Taylor & Francis. This book was released on 2023-07-07 with total page 317 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Diagnosis of Writing in a Second or Foreign Language is a comprehensive survey of diagnostic assessment of second/foreign language (SFL) writing. In this innovative book, a compelling case is made for SFL writing as an individual, contextual, and multidimensional ability, combining several theoretically informed approaches upon which to base diagnosis. Using the diagnostic cycle as the overarching framework, the book starts with the planning phase, cover design, development, and delivery of diagnostic assessment, ending with feedback and feed-forward aspects to feed diagnostic information into the teaching and learning process. It covers means to diagnose both the writing processes and products, including the design and development of diagnostic tasks and rating scales, as well as automated approaches to assessment. Also included is a range of existing instruments and approaches to diagnosing SFL writing. Addressing large-scale as well as classroom contexts, this volume is useful for researchers, teachers, and educational policy-makers in language learning.
Download or read book Language Testing Reconsidered written by Janna D. Fox and published by University of Ottawa Press. This book was released on 2007-06-01 with total page 191 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Language Testing Reconsidered provides a critical update on major issues that have engaged the field of language testing since its inception. Anyone who is working in, studying or teaching language testing should have a copy of this book. The information, discussions, and reflections offered within the volume address major developments within the field over the past decades, enlivened by current "takes" on these issues. The real value of this collection, however, lies in its consideration of the past as a means of defining the future agenda of language testing.
Download or read book A Principled Approach to Language Assessment written by National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine and published by National Academies Press. This book was released on 2020-09-19 with total page 113 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The United States is formally represented around the world by approximately 14,000 Foreign Service officers and other personnel in the U.S. Department of State. Roughly one-third of them are required to be proficient in the local languages of the countries to which they are posted. To achieve this language proficiency for its staff, the State Department's Foreign Service Institute (FSI) provides intensive language instruction and assesses the proficiency of personnel before they are posted to a foreign country. The requirement for language proficiency is established in law and is incorporated in personnel decisions related to job placement, promotion, retention, and pay. A Principled Approach to Language Assessment: Considerations for the U.S. Foreign Service Institute evaluates the different approaches that exist to assess foreign language proficiency that FSI could potentially use. This report considers the key assessment approaches in the research literature that are appropriate for language testing, including, but not limited to, assessments that use task-based or performance-based approaches, adaptive online test administration, and portfolios.
Download or read book Self assessment of Foreign Language Skills written by Mats Oskarsson and published by . This book was released on 1984 with total page 60 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A review of research in self-assessment techniques for foreign language skills is based on a survey of the literature and the results of a survey of teachers, researchers, and administrators in adult education centers in many areas of the world. Two late 1970s surveys of self-assessment research and pilot experiments concerning the general validity and usefulness of learners' estimates are described, and more recent research is reviewed. A growing body of research on the use of self-assessment procedures for continuous evaluation purposes is also examined, and the survey results are reported. The pattern emerging is of consistent overall agreement of self-estimates and external criteria, but the need for practice in autonomous learning and self-directed evaluation is emphasized in some of the sources, and it is suggested that teacher training in these areas is a further prerequisite for effective development of self-evaluation techniques. A variety of self-assessment aids are described and illustrated, and it is noted that the kind of instrument seeming to yield the most accurate information consists of descriptions of concrete linguistic situations that the learner can interpret and evaluate in behavioral terms. Implications of the findings and areas needing further study are discussed. (Author/MSE)
Download or read book Handbook of Second Language Assessment written by Dina Tsagari and published by Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG. This book was released on 2016-03-07 with total page 470 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Second language assessment is ubiquitous. It has found its way from education into questions about access to professions and migration. This volume focuses on the main debates and research advances in second language assessment in the last fifty years or so, showing the influence of linguistics, politics, philosophy, psychology, sociology, and psychometrics. There are four parts which, when taken together, address the principles and practices of second language assessment while considering its impact on society. Read separately, each part addresses a different aspect of the field. Part I deals with the conceptual foundations of second language assessment with chapters on the purposes of assessment, and standards and frameworks, as well as matters of scoring, quality assurance, and test validation. Part II addresses the theory and practice of assessing different second language skills including aspects like intercultural competence and fluency. Part III examines the challenges and opportunities of second language assessment in a range of contexts. In addition to chapters on second language assessment on a national scale, there are chapters on learning-oriented assessment, as well as the uses of second language assessment in the workplace and for migration. Part IV examines a selection of important issues in the field that deserve attention. These include the alignment of language examinations to external frameworks, the increasing use of technology to both deliver and score second language tests, the responsibilities associated with assessing test takers with special needs, the concept of 'voice' in second language assessment, and assessment literacy for teachers and other test and score users.
Download or read book Foreign Language Testing written by Mary Finocchiaro and published by . This book was released on 1983 with total page 368 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Assessing Reading written by J. Charles Alderson and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2000-02-24 with total page 417 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book is the most comprehensive of the assessment of reading in a foreign or second language.
Download or read book Diagnostic Writing Assessment written by Ute Knoch and published by Peter Lang. This book was released on 2009 with total page 326 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The diagnostic assessment of writing is an important aspect of language testing which has often been neclected in the literature. However, it is an area which poses special challenges to practioners both in the classroom and in large-scale testing situations. This book presents a study which set out to develop and validate a rating scale specifically designed for the diagnostic assessment of writing in an academic English setting. The scale was developed by analysing a large number of writing performances produced by both native speakers of English and learners of English as an additional language. The rating scale was then validated using both quantitative and qualitative methods. The study showed that a detailed data-based rating scale is more valid and more useful for diagnostic purposes than the more commonly used impressionistic rating scale.
Download or read book Language Proficiency Classification and Instructional Placement Instrument written by Robert C. Park and published by . This book was released on 1993 with total page 150 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Diagnostic Assessment at the Superior Distinguished Threshold written by Bella Cohen and published by . This book was released on 2014-09-02 with total page 144 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Diagnostic Assessment provides teachers of foreign-language students working at high levels of language proficiency with tools and techniques for determining gaps in students' knowledge and skills and with suggestions for tasks that can help students. The book is written by an experienced teacher, diagnostic assessor, proficiency tester, and tester trainer. The suggestions are based on work with literally hundreds of students in government language programs.
Download or read book A History of Foreign Language Testing in the United States written by David Patrick Barnwell and published by Bilingual Review Press (AZ). This book was released on 1996 with total page 228 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Providing an in-depth historical understanding of the subject, the author charts the evolution of language testing from its earliest existence as a coherent activity in the final years of the nineteenth century to its current status as a legitimate focus for specialization and inquiry. He also suggests future directions in the field such as computer-assisted testing.
Download or read book Language Proficiency in Native and Non native Speakers written by Jan H. Hulstijn and published by John Benjamins Publishing Company. This book was released on 2015-02-15 with total page 209 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book, written for both seasoned and novice researchers, presents a theory of what is called Basic and Higher Language Cognition (BLC and HLC), a theory aimed at making some fundamental issues concerning first and second language learning and bilingualism (more) empirical. The first part of the book provides background for and explication of the theory as well as an agenda for future research, while the second part reports on selected studies of language proficiency in native speakers, as well as non-native speakers, and studies of the relationship between literacy in a first and second language. Conceptual and methodological problems in measuring language proficiency in research on second language acquisition and bilingualism are also discussed. Further, the notion of levels of language proficiency, as rendered by the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR), is critically examined, suggesting ways of empirically investigating a number of questions that the CEFR raises but is not capable of answering.
Download or read book Assessing Language Through Computer Technology written by Carol A. Chapelle and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2006-04-20 with total page 139 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Publisher description
Download or read book Cognitive Diagnostic Assessment for Education written by Jacqueline Leighton and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2007-05-14 with total page 353 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: With the current push toward educational reform, there is great potential for innovation and change, particularly in large scale testing. One area where change is possible is in cognitive diagnostic assessment. Researchers in educational measurement and cognitive psychology are finally in a position to design tests targeted specifically for providing valuable information about students' cognitive strengths and weaknesses. This self-contained volume organizes what is known about cognitive diagnostic assessment in education, including its conceptual and philosophical basis, methods, and applications. The complete list of topics includes educational demand, philosophical rationale, construct validity, cognitive methods, test construction, statistical models, and unresolved issues (e.g., how to best translate diagnostic information into teaching practices). Leighton and Gierl present a comprehensive and up-to-date examination of cognitive diagnostic assessment in education.
